Tag: Ice Climbing

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Enormocast 317: Alik Berg – A Climber’s Climber

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On Episode 317 of the Enormocast, I sit down at the Banff Mountain Film Festival with alpinist Alik Berg. Born in Edmonton and living in Canmore, Alik has spent most of his life forging himself into the climber’s climber: reliable, strong, smart, and bold. His view of the ethics and philosophy of alpinism were instilled by his dad, but also tested on the big walls of Yosemite as a teenager. As the years progressed, big wall Alik transformed himself into an expert winter alpinist in the Canadian Rockies. Though he is relatively unknown outside of the deep community of alpinists in the Bow Valley, he is revered and respected throughout that realm of compact, snow-dusted, limestone and rime-covered necky leads that is Canadian Rockies winter climbing. Never one to spray about himself, Alik agreed to sit down for the Enormocast because he wants to share the hard fought wisdom of his years in the range and beyond as those that came before shared with him.

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Enormocast 316: Chantel Astorga – What Would Voytek Do?

Art: Chantel Astorga, Lower right photo: Michael Kennedy
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On Episode 316 of the Enormocast I sit down with alpinist Chantel Astorga. Though Chantel didn’t grow up in a climbing family, it was her dad who lit the fire for climbing by giving a tween Chantel a book on the Alaska Range. Then an encounter with the writings of the enigmatic Polish climber Voytek Kurtyka in a Salt Lake City library sealed her fate. Voytek’s evangelism for the “night-naked” style of fast and light alpinism became Chantel’s lodestone as she pursued her mountain skills first through skiing, then ice climbing, then forays to the Alaska Range. In 2021, it all came together when she soloed the Cassin Ridge on Denali and found her own “contact with the mystical” (Kurtyka). Since then, she’s become a sought after partner for ascents around the globe. Though Astorga recently joined the North Face Team, she spent most of her climbing career funding her own way through her work as an avalanche forecaster. Pretty damn old school.

The Art of Suffering by Voytek Kurtyka

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Enormocast 308: Angela Vanwiemeersch – The Stars Not Wanted

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On Episode 308 of the Enormocast, Alpinist Angela Vanwiemeersch returns after over a decade since her first interview on the show. That interview featured a spunky overstoked girl who had more or less just discovered climbing. She had been ushered into the big leagues by association with her then boyfriend, Scott Adamson. Scott’s “no weak shit” motto was already practically Angela’s own when they met. A love affair and bountiful climbing partnership bloomed for 4 years. But then Scott and Kyle Dempster disappeared on Oger II in Pakistan and Angela was shattered. On this deep and emotional face to face interview at The Michigan Icefest, Angela explains her journey through the darkness of grief and how she put her life back together, sort of. Her connection to climbing and the climbing community was a lifeline that never let her go.

Angela’s latest grand adventure with Bronwyn Hodgins et al

More with Bron

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