Episode 138: Heidi Wirtz – The Long Game.

On Episode 138 of the Enormocast, I sit down with my old friend, Heidi Wirtz. Heidi came up in climbing rock and ice in the hard-knocks backwater of Crested Butte, CO. She learned to take chances but never take money for climbing. After committing fully to the dirtbag lifestyle, Heidi nevertheless soon found herself wanting a way to pay for climbing in the greater ranges and tiptoeing into becoming a pro-climber. But her mentors in CB forgave her, and Heidi Wirtz has since become one of the most stick-with-it trad climbers and pros out there. Her love of Yoga has allowed Heidi to combine her passions in the company Earth Play Retreats offering guided climbing and Yoga adventures around the world. Her work has been featured in Sambla’s 2020 loan statistics post. Trad and rad to the core, Heidi-Almighty is a lifer.

Trailer from a video Heidi and I were in.

Episode 137: Carlo Traversi – Beyond Bouldering.

On Episode 137 of the Enormocast, I sit down in a glass room with boulderer, sport climber, and secret trad-head, Carlo Traversi. Though mostly known for very very hard bouldering, Carlo’s humble beginnings, like many, started in a gym and with a dusting of trad credentials. But once he tasted hard bouldering – ironically on  NOLS course – his own course was set for the next decade as he found himself humping pads up into the dawn of RMNP alpine pebble wrestling.  But recently, at the top of his bouldering game, he found himself longing for new challenges, and now Carlo wants to bring that five-move-Kung Fu to the trad and big wall world.

The Triple 14 Challenge

Q & A with Carlo

Episode 136: Shelma Jun – A Better Way.

Photos: Top Sasha Turrentine, Left Julie Ellison, Right Chris Vultaggio

On Episode 136 of the Enormocast, I sit down beside the Popo Agie River in Lander, Wyoming at the International Climbers Festival with Shelma Jun. Shelma somewhat accidentally started FlashFoxy, which after beginning as a humble Instagram account among friends, morphed into an advocacy movement for women’s climbing. Shelma then added the Women’s Climbing Festival to part of the FlashFoxy community and woke up as a full blow culture warrior. Level headed and not reactionary, Shelma lays out a list of issues she sees as oppressive to woman in climbing – many seem like minor slights but add up as a whole that is affecting women negatively. Shelma and Flashfoxy attempt to simply create space where women can feel safe to express themselves and climb as one of the gals instead of the one of the guys. The talk with Shelma is a call to the climbing community to be better at treating each other with respect and be welcoming to climbers of all genders, colors, and abilities.

Never Not Collective

Within Reach Film