The Enormocast: the climbing podcast

Chris Kalous
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The Enormocast: the climbing podcast

With 35 years of climbing experience and going on 14 years behind the mic, Chris Kalous brings interviews, tributes, discussion, tears, and lots of laughs from the full breadth of the climbing zeitgeist. Rock climbing, bigwall (big wall?) climbing, alpinism, ice climbing, bouldering, and competition climbing. If it’s climbing related, it’s here. In the words of Alex Honnold, “If you are a climber, you pretty much have to do the Enormocast.”

  1. FEB 5

    Enormocast 301: Quentin Roberts – Listening to The Mountain

    All photos Jesse HueyOn 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.

    1h 23m

  2. JAN 13

    Enormocast 300: Chris Kalous by Alex Honnold – No Retreat, No Surrender

    Photos: Castleton Tower by Andrew Burr, Suesca Colombia by Cody Roth, Independence Pass by Chris NobleOn the auspicious Episode 300 of the Enormocast, Alex Honnold hijacks the Enormocast to interview Chris Kalous of the Enormocast. Yes, it turns out that Alex Honnold gets to have everything. Alex takes the interview skills that he’s honed over at Climbing Gold and talks to Chris about his climbing origins, podcast pioneering, and why he’s so much more scared now. Some old ground covered from a new perspective, and some new shit comes to light. Finally, here’s just too experienced climbers shooting the breeze about a combined 65 years in the sport. Upcoming Runout Live Show

    1h 25m

  3. 12/27/2024

    Enormocast 299: Nina Caprez – Two Roads Just as Fair

    Photos: Jérémy BernardOn Episode 299 of the Enormocast, I sit down in a fine hotel suite with the elegant Nina Caprez. We met up at the Arc’teryx Academy in Squamish, and after a Co-MC gig on the main stage the previous night, Nina and I reviewed our performance and then got down to business reviewing the 9 intervening years since our last Enormocast. Among other things, Nina climbed El Nino on El Cap, got shut down on the Nose, fell in love, had a kid, moved into a surplus military vehicle, and got pregnant a 2nd time. But that’s not all! She also had an epiphany that perhaps, just perhaps, there was more to life than the next big climbing trip. We now get a Nina who is in an ongoing mission to calm down, balance momming and climbing, and be a less selfish partner.Nina’s remarkably up-to-date blogClassic Nina in WOGÜThe UBER-Duo of Nina and Babsi Zangerl

    1h 20m

  4. 12/12/2024

    Enormocast 298: Jim Erickson – Clean and Free in the 1970s

    On Episode 298 of the Enormocast, I sit down in with Boulder, Colorado legend, Jim Erickson. Turns out that when Jim climbed the crags and roamed the streets of Boulder in the late 60s and 70s, it was a cow-town – not the bougie climbing mecca we love to hate on today. Erickson grew up climbing at Devil’s Lake, Wisconsin, but was looking for a college experience with close-by climbing and ended up out west. Quickly, he established himself as the most psyched climber of the small community and was raging through Eldo in no time. Jim’s free ascent of the Naked Edge with Duncan Ferguson in 1971 put him on the top of the heap worldwide. But just months later, Jim embraced clean climbing and embarked on a sending spree that went a very long way to evangelize for using removable rock-friendly nuts exclusively. Jim’s ethics evolved to eschew chalk and several other modern conveniences, yet he nearly sent Half-Dome free in 1976 with Art Higbee. This ascent and many others established Jim as one of the best and unique free climbers of all time.Free Climb: The Northwest Face of Half Dome, Jim Erickson and Art Higbee scale Half Dome

    2h 13m

  5. 11/26/2024

    Enormocast 297: Paul “PK” Kuenn – The Dairylander

    On Episode 297 of the Enormocast, I sit down in Munising, Michigan with local Midwest legend, Paul Kuenn. In his youth near Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Paul was drawn to the outdoors: fly-fishing, cross-country skiing, and finally, climbing at Devil’s Lake. Climbing became obsession which brought him to the PNW to become a guide and to Colorado to ply his craft as a guide but also a builder. But the upper midwest drew him back, and Paul set out on a mission to find and climb ice all around Lake Superior. He also created Dairyland Expeditions which specialized in alpine training in Wyoming and Montana, and guiding ice in Munising. Paul also help organized and popularize the AMGA. Now decades later, Paul still revels in the ice climbing community he helped to form on the lonely ice flows of Lake Superior and attends the Michigan Ice Fest nearly without fail since its inception in a tiny cabin on the shore of mighty Gichigami.

    1h 50m

  6. 11/11/2024

    Enormocast 296: Barry Blanchard Live in Banff

    On Episode 296 of the Enormocast, we rebroadcast an interview that was recorded live at the Banff Mountain Film Festival with alpinist and Canadian legend, Barry Blanchard. Barry showed up at the Banff Centre at 9:45am and brought the fire and the wisdom of 50 years in the game. Barry’s feted exploits range from his home in the Canadian Rockies to the worldwide ranges of Alaska, Pakistan, India, Chamonix, the Andes, Patagonia and frankly, anywhere there are mountains to climb. During the one hour interview in front of a hometown crowd, we talk about the Rupal Face on Nanga Parbat, The North Pillar of North Twin, but more interestingly, we get into Barry’s motivations, indigenous roots, darker side, and lost partners. Finally, we preview Barry’s next book and hear the story of his rebirth after a more domestic accident nearly took his life. Just a fine hour of Barry Blanchard. The BMFF World TourSpindrift: The Barry Blanchard StoryMore Barry over at the Firn Line Podcast

    1h 11m

  7. 10/28/2024

    Enormocast 295: Aaron Peterson – Paying His Dues

    Middle Photo: Fallon RoweOn Episode 295 of the Enormocast, I sit down at a splintery picnic table on a hot morning in Lander, Wyoming with Aaron Peterson. Aaron is a young (ish) climber for whom activism, protest, and speaking his mind goes hand in hand with his motivations as a climber. At a cost to his mental health, Aaron will engage on the thorny subjects of racism and Trumpism online and in person wherever he goes. His need to speak up comes from a youth exposed to inequality in Phoenix, AZ and a previous life with one foot in the dangerous side of hip-hop culture. A difficult illness for his mother and theft of his life-collection of music production equipment sent Aaron on a difficult path to wellness and climbing, in that order. Now Aaron is a half-time road-dawg spreading the gospel of equality, inclusion, and environmentalism as he sees it while climbing and visiting the far corners of the America. Music Tracks:Boom, BoomWake Up, E$cott ft. Shawn PE$cott – Cliche Ft. DobermanJames Baldwin Quote

    1h 16m

  8. 10/11/2024

    Enormocast 294: Simon Carter – Climbing Through the Lens

    On Episode 294 of the Enormocast, I connect to Katoomba, NSW in Australia- the heart of the Blue Mountains – to chat with photographer Simon Carter. Simon has been in the game as long as anyone currently active, and after four decades of producing some of the most iconic images in climbing, he’s published a retrospective: The Art of Climbing. After a demoralizing start in the mainstream world of photography, Simon began using his camera to capture climbing in the late 80s and early 90s and thereby found his muse. A State-promoted course in business planning resulted in Simon creating a selling a climbing calendar and voila, he was a professional. In the 40+ years since, Simon travelled the world shooting climbing, publishing photos, and writing guidebooks. He also worked through the shift from film to digital. Carter’s done more than anyone to bring the incredible beauty of Australian climbing to the world, and now he’s fighting a battle to keep two of its most legendary areas open to climbing. The Art of Climbing at CNN

    1h 37m
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About

With 35 years of climbing experience and going on 14 years behind the mic, Chris Kalous brings interviews, tributes, discussion, tears, and lots of laughs from the full breadth of the climbing zeitgeist. Rock climbing, bigwall (big wall?) climbing, alpinism, ice climbing, bouldering, and competition climbing. If it’s climbing related, it’s here. In the words of Alex Honnold, “If you are a climber, you pretty much have to do the Enormocast.”

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