American Alpine Club Podcast

In this episode, we talk to AAC member, alpinist, and ski mountaineer Maddie Miller about a Nepal trip gone wrong. What she hoped was going to be a level-up in her climbing career, turned into a medical evacuation. At 16,200 feet, Maddie started experiencing signs of the extremely life-threatening medical condition HAPE, or High Altitude Pulmonary Edema. Thankfully, she had the ability to call for...

In this episode of the AAC podcast, we have adventure writer Cassidy Randall on to talk about her new book, "Thirty Below." Thirty Below is the gripping story of the Denali Damsels–a group of female adventurers who achieved the first all-women’s ascent of Denali, also known as Mt. McKinley, the tallest peak in North America. Everyone told the “Denali Damsels,” that it couldn’t be done, that women...

In this episode, we sit down with Kai Lightner to chat about his Reel Rock film, Death of Villains. Kai gives us a behind the scenes look at how the film came to be, some of the key themes of the film and how challenging it was to be so vulnerable about subjects like eating disorders and rediscovering how to climb in his growing body, and the big fight-->believing that he could meet his childhood...

In this episode, we’re sitting down with AAC member David Corvi to talk about his Live Your Dream grant experience—a beautiful day that turned into a 24 hour epic on Mt. Whitney in September of 2024. Getting off route, climbing through pockets of ice and show, and getting lost on the descent were only some of what the team experienced that day. Because there is another layer of complexity to this...

This episode is for the gear nerds out there. The climbing world loves to reminisce on some of climbing’s great inventions of the past, but what’s happening in gear innovation right now? We put together some brief interviews with innovators past and present, to dive into tinkering in the climbing world, then and now. We’ll start with an excerpt from Yvon Chouinard’s "Legacy Series" interview to he...

In this episode, we sit down with legend Jack Tackle to discuss all things cutting edge. We begin by diving into the many first ascents of Jack’s own alpinism career, his progress as a climber, and his deep history with the AAC. We cover the evolution of adventure grants in climbing, how the AAC’s Cutting Edge Grant got started, and why it’s the premiere climbing grant in today’s climbing scene. W...

The mentorship gap is a frequent topic of discussion in a lot of climbing circles, and the gap seems to be especially pronounced for climbers trying to get into crag and boulder development. In this episode, we dove into the joys of having too many mentors to count. Long-time developer and AAC member Josh Pollock decided to collaborate with Jefferson County, in the Front Range of Colorado, to deve...

We are so excited to have longtime AAC member Rick Accomazzo on the podcast to chat about his new book “Tobin, the Stonemasters, and Me, 1970-1980.” This book is part memoir of Rick’s own early climbing career, part revealing biography of Tobin Sorenson, the forgotten Stonemaster who was an incredible all-arounder; and part a distillation of a decade of climbing culture. With these three threads,...

On this episode of the Undercover Crusher series, we have Connie Shang on the podcast to talk about her recent send of Spyfiction, a 5.14c in Mt. Charleston, Nevada. We discuss her projecting process, how she’s leveled up over the years, how she got so strong without training, what counts as a crusher in today’s climbing world and especially for women’s climbing, and plateaus on the moonboard. She...

On this edition of the Undercover Crusher series, we have Rab athlete Nathan Hadley on the pod. We talk about what counts as “undercover,” and the reality of straddling the world of full-time work while being “pro.” We discuss the pressure to be obsessed with Yosemite, and maybe figuring out that performing in Yosemite is not the only place to make a name for yourself…as well as bolting and develo...

In this episode, we had Live Your Dream grant recipient John Thomson on the pod to tell us all about his trip to Denali! Our Live Your Dream grant is our most popular grant, and it’s powered by The North Face. John’s LYD story is about feeling a sense of urgency–how now is the time to explore and pursue big adventures, a strong sense of carpe diem really. After nearly a decade away from Denali, Jo...

Its another Yosemite episode! And with some of the most in-the-know climbers, pro Amity Warme and Climbing Ranger Jesse McGahey, who weigh in on what’s been happening in Yosemite, both climbing wise, and in terms of community discussions about the future of climbing ethics and style there. In this episode, we get to know crusher Amity Warme, and her perspectives on going ground-up on El Cap, how s...

This year, the featured winner of the Rocky Talkie Search and Rescue Award is the Black Canyon Search and Rescue team, who performed an incredibly technical rescue in 2023 in the Black Canyon, after a climber took a bad fall that left them unconscious, needing medical attention almost 2,000 ft down into the canyon. In this episode, we sit down to chat with Sean Hart, one of the SAR team members at...

In this episode, we sit down with Jarod, a long-time AAC member, to discuss a crazy accident he had at his home crag in Missouri, and how he utilized the AAC’s rescue benefit to cover the cost of his medical expenses. If you’ve been wondering if the AAC’s rescue benefit is for you, Jarod’s story helps explain how it works. We dive into the quirky concept of “girdle traverses” or mulitpitches that...

This year’s editions of Accidents in North American Climbing and American Alpine Journal are off to the printer! We had Dougald MacDonald and Pete Takeda on the podcast, the editors of these world-renowned books, to discuss all the details of what goes into making these books: including how stories get selected, the challenges of investigating how accidents happen, how these books fit into the lar...

In this episode, we cover the untold and complex experience of local climbers in the Greater Ranges—how Sherpa, Baltis, and other local climbers have navigated the complex landscape of living and working on Everest and in the Karakoram. We sat down with three incredible writers—Nandini Purandare and Deepa Balsavar, who are the authors of the newly released book "Headstrap–Legends and Lore from the...

Note: This episode is explicit. In this episode, we had adventure photographer Jeremiah Watt on the pod to talk about all things climbing photography. Miah is a big fan of the AAC, and regularly donates his incredible photos to us! In this episode, Miah and the AAC’s award-winning Graphic Designer Foster Denney dive into topics like the life of a freelancer, what it takes to get the right shot on...

*Adaptive Climbing Festival is a finalist for the 2024 Changemaker Award!* Adaptive Climbing Festival (ACF) is crafting a shift in adaptive climbing. Not only is it easier than ever for a person with a disability to TRY paraclimbing, but through ACF, there are also now more opportunities to build skills and depth in the paraclimbing community, deepening the knowledge and expertise that adaptive le...

*Katie Lamb's send of Box Therapy is a finalist for the AAC's Climb of the Year Award!* In 2023, Katie Lamb sent Box Therapy. It was a definite level-up for her personal climbing, and with this ascent, she became the first woman in history to climb a boulder that many consider to be V16. Her landmark send made waves, and that’s why she is a finalist for the AAC’s Climb of the Year Award. We chatte...

"I like to suck" Babsi says...and this mentality means she's constantly trying climbing styles and skills that she's bad at. And with that sense of curiosity, she acquires a breadth of mastery that is evident in her Yosemite accomplishments... In many ways, Babsi Zangerl has flown under the radar here in the United States. She doesn’t like to brag—she just wants to climb hard. But her dedication t...

We sat down with the master of climbing mindset, Hazel Findlay. Hazel has made many significant free ascents of El Cap, and is one of the very few to climb the storied single pitch trad test piece, Magic Line. In this episode of the podcast, we talk with Hazel about her history with Yosemite, the projecting process for Magic Line, and of course, tips and tricks for building a strong mind. She shar...

It’s about to be game on for the 28th annual Hueco Rock Rodeo, and so we had our own Game Day panel to talk shop about strategies for the competition, the major players to look out for, and how the condies are shaping up. We had Nina Williams and Jon Glassberg on the pod to chat podium predictions, climbing rivalries, who's injured, and who's coming in with momentum, and whether Daniel Woods is re...

In this episode, we sit down with Mountain Hardwear athlete and Olympian Kyra Condie. Kyra has so much psyche and energy, and we had a wide ranging conversation, covering her past, present, and future climbing exploits. We start off with her experience winning the Hueco Rock Rodeo in 2017, her advice for competitors this year, and how her spinal fusion pushes her to have a creative mind and find h...

Tom Frost was one of the leading climbers of his generation, making important first ascents on El Cap, like the North America Wall and Salathé Wall. He was also a world-class alpinist and one of the main photographers who crafted a visual record of the Golden Age of Yosemite climbing, capturing the emotional imagery that would define a generation of climbers. Frost was at the forefront of defining...

Tom Evans is the creator of the El Cap Report. He started out taking photos of all the climbers he’d see on El Cap, and got tired of answering questions about who was doing what and how X ascent was going. So he innovated. He started posting a daily report, accompanied by his photos, of what was happening on El Cap during the main Yosemite climbing season—and he since has crafted a legacy of 22 ye...