Tag: Patagonia

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Enormocast 305: Caro North – Magnetic

Middle Photo Ramona Waldner
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On Episode 305 of the Enormocast, alpinist and guide Caro North joins me in my lovely hotel room in Banff, AB during the Banff Mountain Film Festival for a heartfelt talk about her journey as an international female climber. Born in Switzerland, but raised in Germany, Caro actually found herself on top of Aconcagua in Argentina at the age of 16. She was hooked on the climbing life from that moment forward. Soon she was deep in the alpine clubs in Germany and learning amongst a group of her female peers. So once Caro set out on her own, it seemed natural to try and climb with women in the mountains. Then she found that being a polyglot and multinational opened her partner pool to the world and a frantic decade of expeditions ensued. Some burn-out was the cost, though, and Caro took assessment of her exhaustion at the ripe age of 26. This talk finds her a part time resident of El Chalten, a full blown UIAA Swiss guide, and on a (very) slightly more restful path as she still pursues her goals in the mountains.

Caro on the Gram

Passes for Banff 2025

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Enormocast 303: Sean Villanueva O’Driscoll – A Very Particular Set of Skills

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On Episode 303 of the Enormocast I sit down with one of the most compelling and somewhat enigmatic climbers of our times: Sean Villanueva O’Driscoll. It was a multi-year dance, but we finally sat down puss-a-puss in the Canadian Rockies at the Banff Mountain Film Festival. Sean is known for his big wall antics across the globe, often in the company of his broer van een andere moeder, Nico Favresse. But that bright and shiny sense of humor belies the fire and climbing beast that Sean can muster when the going gets tough, cold, and seemingly insurmountable. We discuss his Belgian, Irish, Spanish multi-cultural background and what his Irish roots in particular mean to him. Sean also fills us in on his beginnings, partnerships, forced COVID retreat in El Chaltén, Greenland, sea sickness, meditation, philosophy and more. And of course, I didn’t unlash him from his seat until we got some Irish tin whistle. I mean, come on!

Riders on the Storm and Reel Rock 19

Sean’s mentee Siebe Vanhee on the Enormocast

Wide Boy plus Sean in Patagonia

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Enormocast 301: Quentin Roberts – Listening to The Mountain

All photos Jesse Huey
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On Episode 301 of the Enormocast, I sit down in a posh hotel in Squamish, BC, with alpinist Quentin Roberts. We met up at the Arc’teryx Academy in August 2024 on a rainy day to talk about Quentin’s life as a climber. Quentin grew up attending boarding schools in several countries and despite not fitting in with the style of education, he managed to find climbing and skateboarding. In his teens, Quentin focused on hard sport climbing before the bug of alpinism took control after finishing high school in Vancouver. In his 20s, Roberts racked up standout ascents like the third ascent of Canadian Route on Cerro Fitz Roy, the first ascent of The Devil’s Reacharound on Chacraraju Este in the Cordillera Blanca, and the first ascent of Hiding in Plain Sight in the Canadian Rockies. Somewhere in there, soloing took hold culminating (so far) in a solo ascent of Striving for the Moon on Mt. Temple in the Canadian Rockies. Now in his 30s, and after years of expedition climbing, Quentin is ready to reflect on some close calls, some lost friends, and his future dancing on the razor’s edge.

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