Enormocast 319: Freja Shannon – Moments of Glad Grace

Photos Fay Manners, Hamish Frost, Al Lee
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On episode 319 of the Enormocast, I connect across the Atlantic with Irish/Swedish climber and guide, Freja Shannon. Freja split her youth between the west coast of Ireland and Sweden. Her first mountain sport was snowboarding which took her to Chamonix for a winter season when she was 19. But in that spring, she found climbing and finally felt “this is it!”. Freja dove into all the alpine pursuits with abandon and started racking up ascents in Chamonix, her other home in Sweden, and discovered that the sea cliffs of Ailladie were only a few miles from where she grew up. Then an serious fall in 2023 in the Alps broke her back and dealt a major blow to her confidence. Freja’s body recovered quickly but she’ also had to reassess her risk tolerance and her commitment to the alpine. The fire is still there, but Freja’s focus may have changed for the better.

Enormocast Tweener: Matilda Söderlund Live in Squamish

Photos: Bill Hamilton
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On this Tweener Enormocast, we rebroadcast a live interview with Swedish climber Matilda Söderlund captured in front of a smart well-dressed audience at the Arc’teryx Academy in Squamish, BC. Matilda has become a bright star of Swedish climbing progressing from a tween competitor to hot shot sport climber, big route climber, trad climber, and gyn owner. She’s climbed 9a, complete the first all female ascent of Rayu 8c, and fearsome E8 in trad. Her gym Moumo was the first in Stockholm and is a hub for outreach to women climbers. Listeners may remember mentions of Matilda’s prowess on the rock in Episode 309 with Anna Hazlenutt.

Matilda’s Website