peru – The Enormocast

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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On Episode 289 of the Enormocast, I connect to Nashville, TN to talk to climber and musician Smith Curry. Smith is one of the busiest session players in Music City on dobro and pedal steel. He also happens to be a veteran climber with big walls, first ascents, and alpine gnar under his harness-belt. Smith was introduced to climbing as a kid on a trip to Yosemite when Wayne Merry gave him a lesson at the Church Bowl. Then the next 15 years saw Smith on two paths: climbing and music. Music edged ahead as an obsession after he saw a young Jerry Douglas on Dobro. Then Smith ended up in Nashville and a 30 year career which lead him to play on over 20k songs, record for or with over 200 signed musicians including Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton. All the while, Smith snuck in his climbing with ascents from Canada to Peru, Yosemite, the Southeast and everywhere in between. Smith is still on a session recording hot streak with the current Hot 100 #1, The Bar Song (Tipsy), and his climbing is still going strong.

Smith’s Website

T- Swift with Smith

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Tag: peru

Enormocast 301: Quentin Roberts – Listening to The Mountain

Enormocast 289: Smith Curry – A Climber Boy Can Survive