Tag: woman climber

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Enormocast 330: Shara Zaia – What’s Past is Prologue

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On episode 330 of the Enormocast, I sit down in Lander, WY at the International Climbers Festival with climber Shara Zaia. Shara grew up solidly in the midwest- Ohio and Indiana- with parents who immigrated from Iraq. Though Shara was born in the US, she also has roots in the Assyrian community and culture. By the time Shara found climbing in 2019, her life had been a roller-coaster of trying to find her place in America, the Assyrian community, professionally, and in climbing. This interview falls on the eve of the premier of her short film, Sharp Edges, which takes an artful look at the intersection of her Assyrian roots and her climbing. Shara also helped found Cruxing in Color to promote broader diversity in climbing. And though Shara’s path had seemed to smooth out a bit into the climbing/working lifestyle, a tragic event two years ago changed her relationship with climbing forever.

Shara on Instagram

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Enormocast 318: Babsi Zangerl – 10 Years Later

Photos: Austin Siadak, Jacopo Larcher
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On the latest Enormocast, Austrian rock master Babsi Zangerl returns to the show after I discovered her 10 years ago. Just kidding, but to say that her fame has rocketed since her first Enormocast over ten years ago is an understatement. Since we last talked, Babsi took her bouldering base and parlayed that into becoming one of the dominant big wall free climbers of all time. She’s racked up 8 free ascents of El Cap including the first flash, climbed most of the important alpine walls in Europe, and brought her talents to the Karakorum in Pakistan on Nameless (Trango) Tower. In between, she’s sent single pitch trad test pieces on both sides of the Atlantic and climbed 9a+ sport. All while dragging her boyfriend Jacopo Larcher around (wink). All the while, Babsi maintains her day job as a medical radiographer just to keep it real. Truly one of a kind and one of the best, its an honor to have her back on the show.

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Enormocast 315: Kate Kelleghan – Turbocharged Life

Photos: Abbey Bergh, Kate Kelleghan, Julien Scherliss, James Lucas
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On Episode 315 of the Enormocast, I sit down with Boulder-born Yosemite-trained speed climbing maestra, Kate Kelleghan. Kate came to climbing at 20 despite, or maye TO spite, her climbing dad. A youth of dark eye make-up, music, art, and smoke-sessions behind the school finally gave way to a life of climbing adventure when dad took Kate up the 3rd Flatiron as a teen. Then, as was her way, she leapt into the deep end and became a CLIMBER, eventually moving through the gym to finding trad climbing on the cliffs above Boulder like Castle Rock and Eldo. Then she fell into the quirky world of the Naked Edge speed games eventually creating, setting, then breaking her own women’s speed record. Eventually, Yosemite pulled her further west where bigwall speed climbing was her future. This path culminated (for now) when Kate and Laura Pineau became the only women (so far) to ever complete the Yosemite Triple: Half Dome, El Capitan, and Watkins in a day.

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