The Mountain People Podcast

Angus has climbed hard free routes on El Capitan, he climbed the infamous E9 Indian face on Cloggy as a youth, and recently set his sights on climbing a 9a sport route in Spain. Suffice to say, Angus Kille knows a thing or two about ‘being bold’. He talks about setting ambitious goals and making them a reality. How he handles the pressure on the climb and off it, and more specifically how he manag...

Jerry Moffatt is a living legend. He was one of the best climbers through the 1980s and 90s. Jerry excelled in all disciplines of rock climbing consistently pushing standards to new heights around the world - in bouldering, trad climbing, redpointing, flashing and on-sighting. But it wasn’t all plain sailing. Jerry battled with injuries and initially struggled to realise his best form in competiti...

Rab athlete Bronwyn Hodgins shares her mental approach to preparing for Golden Gate 5:13a, a desperate 30 plus pitch free route on El Capitan, Yosemite. As a guide, mentor and elite rock climber based in Squamish BC Canada, Bronwyn shares insights into the workshops she runs to help people overcome the fear of falling. Bronwyn also regales stories of her recent adventures in South America, big wal...

A candid chat with Professor Lew Hardy, who trained as a British mountain guide but went on to help set up the Institute for the Psychology of Elite Performance at Bangor University. He worked on research projects with Royal Marines, England’s cricket team, Olympians and countless other groups. Lew shares insights into what drives high achievers and how we might realise our potential. We chat abou...

Rab athlete, Tom Randall, has travelled the world in search of the quirkiest crack climbs that nature has to offer. Faced with the prospect of a year without international travel, Tom and his climbing partner, Pete Whittaker, needed a project closer to home. And so ‘The Great Rift’ was born. In this exclusive interview, he explains how an almost 800m, perfectly smooth, horizontal concrete crack un...

Ryan Vachon is a climate scientist and videographer. When he’s not researching frozen bits of the world, digging up ice cores, or making films about how caribou survive Arctic winters, he likes to climb. Being based in Denver, Colorado, he’s got plenty on the doorstep. Ryan’s big passion is to inspire people to engage in informed decisions on how they relate to the natural world. He speaks about t...

The energy and enthusiasm of Tim Fish are infectious. He rarely sits still, but I made him! This is a rare opportunity to glimpse into the mind of an innovative product design leader. Tim Fish loves trad climbing andbouldering. Hislove of wild places began whilst visiting his gran in Snowdonia as a kid. At school he was always drawn to art, design and has always enjoyed solving problems. Tim speak...

Jacopo was born in Courmayeur beneath the giant Italian face of Mt Blanc. He was skiing well before he started school and dreamed of becoming a mountain guide. Jacopo shares the thrill of climbing his first 4000 metre peak with his father, about his work as a guide and his passion for supporting mountain guides in the countries of South America. He talks about the inherent risks and how he transit...

Neil McAdie is a man who loves a journey. If it involves climbing, particularly adventurous climbing, even better. He has climbed everywhere, literally; Gogarth, Ben Nevis, Bolivia, Mt Blanc, first ascents of giant Himalayan mountains - he has crammed in a lifetime of quests. Neil shares stories of the places and characters he’s encountered along the way. Neil was the Sales Director of Equip betwe...

Rab athlete Tom Randall swapped life as a London city trader to become a cutting-edge rock climber. His visionary first ascents included the famous Century Crack, a project that he and his Wideboyz partner Pete Whittaker trained for in Tom’s legendary Sheffield cellar. Tom is a serial entrepreneur and founder of the global climbing performance Lattice Training. I caught up with Tom – once he’d put...

Dick Turnbull is the man behind a great British climbing institution, the Outside shop in Hathersage, Peak District. When it comes to climbing kit and clothing his knowledge is unparalleled. An accomplished mountaineer, through the 1980s and 90s Dick climbed many of the formidable Alpine north faces in winter. He talks about working with outdoor brands over the years and the importance having soli...

Rab Carrington is a climbing legend. In 1981 he began making down sleeping bags in his house in Sheffield. Rab likes solving problems whether on a mountain or designing and making kit for people heading to the mountains. In this second episode Rab talks about a ground-breaking and committing alpine-style ascent of the Himalayan giant Jannu. Rab talks about starting out making sleeping bags, the tr...

Rab Carrington is a climbing legend. In 1981 he began making down sleeping bags in his house in Sheffield. Rab likes solving problems whether on a mountain or designing and making kit for people heading to the mountains. In this first episode Rab talks about growing up in Glasgow and starting out climbing in the 1960s. Later Rab formed a formidable partnership with Al Rouse, exploring the Alps in...

Hetty Key and Charlie Low wanted a climbing community. So, they built one for themselves. The Women’s Trad Fest has gone from strength to strength since its inception in 2016. Connecting, inspiring, including and supporting women, as they transition from indoor climbing to outdoor trad in the Peak District, UK. In this episode we chat about their personal stories and the motivations behind the fes...

Bronwyn Hodgins has boundless energy. And she’s been putting it to excellent use. For 35 days she journeyed by pack raft through the Auyuittuq National Park, on Baffin Island. With her husband, Jacob Cook, and two friends in tow, she climbed some of the world’s biggest and most remote walls. We catch up on this latest expedition and hear about where it all started for her. From her outdoor family...

Angus Kille has pushed himself in all the disciplines of rock climbing. From Shropshire sandstone, to the Indian Face on Cloggy, and big free climb adventures on El Capitan. We talk about life on a big wall, climbing partnerships and pushing yourself physically and mentally. Angus has done so much and he’s still young. Perhaps his secret is to stay in the moment and not worry too much about the ou...

Kev Shields is straight talking and funny. He understands adversity. He climbs rock and ice at a very high standard, with only one fully formed hand. Kev claims that discovering climbing changed his life and helped him deal with tough times. We chat about what drives him and whether he thinks attitudes to disabled people have really changed all that much.

Former kickboxing champion Nasim Eshqi is one of Iran’s rock strongest climbers. A pioneer of new routes, we hear about the obstacles she has had to overcome, in climbing and in life. She tells us what she learned on her travels outside of Iran and explains why the liberation and energy she gets from nature is one of the her main attractions to climbing.

Julia Virat is one of a handful of French women to become a Chamonix High Mountain Guide. Here she shares how she broke through barriers into an elite male dominated world, recounting tales of adventures, on skis, in a yacht and on the world’s biggest rock walls. She relives the drama of getting lost on Yosemite’s 3,000 foot El Capitan. Solo. In the dark. And admits, that in this case, her mum had...