Following his grueling 145-day solo ascent of Mount Hunter's South East Spur in 1978, Johnny Waterman's life took a troubling turn. As his personal struggles intensified, a new team emerged to attempt the formidable route. Peter Metcalf, Glenn Randall, and Pete Athens set their sights on doing the climb in alpine style. Thanks to Jon Waterman and Glenn Randall for their help in creating this story. For more on the story of Johnny Waterman, check out Jon's book, In The Shadow of Denali . ********...
Sep 17, 2024•55 min•Season 6Ep. 95
In 1978, an iconoclastic climber named Johnny Waterman spent 145 days soloing (and traversing) Mount Hunter. It was one of the boldest and strangest mountaineering feats of all time. But what could have been a launch pad into acclaim and prominence, turned into a descent of infamy and madness. Meanwhile, a group of 3 young gun alpinists prepared to attempt the same route in alpine style. Thanks to Jon Waterman and Glenn Randall for their help in creating this story. For more on the story of John...
Aug 27, 2024•58 min•Season 6Ep. 94
While working on an upcoming 2-part series, I stumbled onto this interview with Alaskan author and adventurer, Roman Dial. We recorded this back in November 2017 and for some reason, I never got around to publishing it. Roman is a natural storyteller, so I’ve decided to leave this pretty raw with minimal editing. If you enjoy stories of adventure and unique characters from Alaska, this episode is for you. Read Roman's book, The Adventurer's Son: A Memoir ************** Recorded and produced by E...
Aug 06, 2024•1 hr 20 min•Season 6Ep. 93
A few months ago I had a conversation with climber, historian, writer and podcast producer, Christian Beckwith . He’s been working on this really incredible project called 90 Pound Rucksack , which details the remarkable history of the 10th Mountain Division and it’s influence on outdoor recreation in America I have to admit, this chat was fun for me because I really do enjoy history and Christian - he’s basically an encyclopedia of information when it comes to the history of climbing in North A...
Jul 23, 2024•53 min•Season 6Ep. 92
A few weeks ago I interviewed North American alpinist, Clint Helander, for a deep-dive feature I'm working on for The Firn Line. At the end of the conversation, I wanted to have a little fun. So we did a quick-fire back and forth on what we think the top 5 traits of an alpinist are. It's a short conversation, but it's packed with knowledge and a good a bit of humor. *************** Recorded and produced by Evan Phillips Music curated using Artlist . Check out Evan's new single NOT OVER YOU! SUBS...
Jul 09, 2024•22 min•Season 6Ep. 91
Will Stanhope is a Squamish-based rock climber, who is known for his free solos, big adventures, and witty sense of humor. All of those avenues are explored in this conversation. We talk about his inspirations as a kid, how he got into climbing, who inspired him as a young climber, his most memorable free solo climbs, his memories of the late Marc Andre Leclerc, and more. *************** Recorded and produced by Evan Phillips Music curated using Artlist . Check out Evan's new single NOT OVER YOU...
Jun 25, 2024•39 min•Season 6Ep. 90
The Cassin Ridge is the ultimate classic line on Denali, rising almost 10,000 directly up the middle of the South Face. First climbed in 1961 by a large Italian expedition led by Riccardo Cassin, the route continues to be a testing ground for alpinists to this day. Recorded and produced by Evan Phillips Music curated using Artlist . SUBSCRIBE to The Firn Line on YouTube ! Support The Firn Line PATREON • MERCH • MUSIC • DONATE Sponsors: The Hoarding Marmot Alaska Rock Gym...
Jun 11, 2024•44 min•Season 6Ep. 89
During a stretch of amazing weather and conditions in April, 2024, Suzanna Lourie and her partner, Olga Dobranowski, made an ascent of the ultra-classic Ham & Eggs route on The Moose's Tooth. The Moose's Tooth is a rock peak in the Central Alaska Range, 15 miles southeast of Denali. Despite its low elevation, it's a challenging climb due to its large rock faces and long ice couloirs. Its name comes from its structure, resembling a moose's tooth with its long summit ridge and steep drops. The...
May 28, 2024•40 min•Season 6Ep. 88
When Fred Beckey and Ed Cooper climbed the Northwest Face on Forbidden Peak in 1959, they had to have known it was a classic route. It had all the features mountaineers look for in a North Cascades alpine climb: an arduous and long approach, tricky navigation over crevasse-laden glaciers, and steep exposed climbing to a sharp pointed summit. Since that time, the Northwest Face of Forbidden Peak has become an ultra-classic mountaineering route, and is still regarded as a challenging climb for mod...
May 14, 2024•40 min•Season 6Ep. 87
Today, we’ll get to know Seattle-based author, climber, skier, and historian, Lowell Skoog. Lowell is a fixture in the Northwest outdoor scene, and has been exploring mountains in the Pacific Northwest for 60 years. In this conversation, we’ll talk about Lowell’s early years of exploration in the Cascades, some of the folks who’ve inspired him over the years, as well as his recent book, Written in The Snows . Lowell is an encyclopedia of information when it comes to the Northwest and Cascade Mou...
Apr 23, 2024•39 min•Season 6Ep. 86
When Jamie Logan and Mugs Stump first ascended Mount Robson's Emperor Face in July 1978, it was hailed as one of North America's greatest alpine climbs. Since then, the face has continued luring some of the world's best climbers, maintaining it's reputation as one of North America's most enduring alpine walls. Written and produced by Evan Phillips Music by Evan Phillips Additional music curated using Artlist . Artists include: Andrew Word T Asco Yehezkel Raz Marshall Usinger Evert Z Steven Bedda...
Apr 02, 2024•59 min•Season 6Ep. 85
Begguya - Mount hunter - at 14,537 feet tall - a massif that is dominated in scale by its neighbors Sultana and Denali - but a mountain that dominates the minds and hearts of many a mountaineer. And this was the case for Alaskan alpinist Clint Helander in the spring of 2021 when on a hunch, he called August Franzen - a young Alaskan climber who’d been making a name for himself on the frozen waterfalls of Valdez - with a proposition. To attempt a monolithic line on the unclimbed West Buttress of ...
Mar 03, 2023•43 min•Season 5Ep. 84
In the summer of 1995, John Climaco and Andrew Brash were young dirtbag alpinists looking for the adventure of a lifetime. The duo certainly got that and more when they flew to Pakistan for an attempt on Chogolisa (7,665 m / 25,148 ft). Turns out, the climb was only a small part of the journey. ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Notes Special thanks to John Climaco Learn more about John and Andrew's 1995 expedition to Chogolisa: Dangerous Liaisons Produced by Evan Phillips Editing &...
Dec 30, 2022•43 min•Season 5Ep. 83
For mountaineers and adventurers, there’s a rich history of exploration in and around Alaska's Denali National Park. And although the park is mostly known for the hordes of people who attempt to climb Denali each season - few have ever thought about circumnavigating the Denali, Foraker (Sultana) and Hunter (Begguya) massifs - let alone in winter. The first circumnavigation-like explorations, of non-indiginous people, came around the turn of the century, around the 1900’s. These trips were fueled...
Aug 14, 2022•1 hr 16 min•Season 5Ep. 82
You know that saying - “they just don’t make em’ the way they used to”. I guess you could call it a quintessential American expression. In the climbing world, It conjures up icons like Lynn Hill, Jim Bridwell, Catherine Freer, and Royal Robbins - just to name a few. You know you have someone like that in your life. It’s someone who’s tough. They have a determination and resolve that’s made of granite. There’s something about them - maybe you can’t quite put it into words - but they just have an ...
Jul 05, 2022•1 hr 34 min•Season 5Ep. 81
Today we head into the Kichatna Spires - a compact subrange of monolithic granite towers located just south of Denali. In early June, North American climbers Graham Zimmerman, Dave Allfrey and Whit Magro, headed into the Kichatna’s - their sites set on a new line up the beautiful northwest face of the ranges namesake - Kichatna Spire. Although many parties attempting lines in the Kichatna’s get hammered by bad weather and poor conditions, the trio was blessed by the mountain gods - which allowed...
Jun 19, 2022•32 min•Season 5Ep. 80
Notes Produced by Evan Phillips Editing & Sound Design by Pod Peak Support The Firn Line Patreon PayPal Merch Sponsors Alaska Rock Gym The Hoarding Marmot...
Jun 13, 2022•4 min
The western Chugach - the mountains surrounding Anchorage and the Mat-su valley to the east, are a veritable playground for hikers and climbers. Although the rock is predominantly poor in quality, the peaks are striking, sometimes rising 5,000 from the valley floor, with a variety of snow and ice lines penetrating their faces. Historically, these peaks have been scaled by mountaineers of all skill levels. But in recent years, skiers have started exploring some of the larger objectives - and one ...
Jun 05, 2022•31 min•Season 5Ep. 79
Call me old school, but nothing gets me more fired up than adding a new adventure, climbing or mountaineering book to the collection. So I was excited last month, when Valley Of Giants: Stories From Women at The Heart of Yosemite Climbing , arrived at my doorstep. This anthology, edited and curated by Lauren DeLaunay Miller , is a collection of 39 stories - written and told by the trailblazing, often-times under the radar, women who have been at the center of Yosemite climbing over the past cent...
May 01, 2022•52 min•Season 5Ep. 78
This month’s trip report takes place in one of Alaska’s most remote and mythical mountain ranges: The Revelations. First explored in the late 60’s by David Roberts and friends, The Revelations hold a mystique, and reputation, that has continued to grow over the years. The range, which is nestled between the southwest tip of The Alaska Range, and the north and western aspects of the Aleutian, Neacola and the Tordrillo Mountains, is as remote, as it is fierce. The jagged peaks, which average betwe...
Apr 17, 2022•56 min•Season 5Ep. 77
On today’s episode of The Firn Line, we’ll get to know backcountry skier, advocate and adaptive athlete, Vasu Sojitra. When Vasu was just 9 months old, his right leg was amputated due to a blood infection called Septicemia. Although his life was forever changed, it didn’t stop him from pursuing his passions through childhood, which included skateboarding, soccer and skiing. But things changed in college, when Vasu discovered the joy of backcountry skiing - which opened a whole new world of explo...
Apr 10, 2022•51 min•Season 5Ep. 76
They say that Alaska is a place of extremes. This ranges from the stark changing of the seasons, to the scale of the wilderness landscapes, and of course, the size of the monolithic mountains. But it also applies to the races - and I’m not talking about Nascar. There’s the Iditarod - a grueling 950 mile dog sled race from Anchorage to Nome, that travels through bitter cold temperatures and sub-arctic, coastal storms. There’s Mount Marathon - a blistering roundtrip run up and down a nearly 3,000 ...
Mar 20, 2022•34 min•Season 5Ep. 75
It was the summer of 1996. At the time, I was 21 years old, living in a primitive cabin in the small fishing village of Ninilchik, Alaska. That summer, I’d landed a job working as a park ranger assistant for Alaska State Parks, and although I’d like to say I was doing something cool like building trails, the reality is that I was cleaning gnarly outhouses, packing up bags of garbage, and picking up fish guts off the beaches. Although I was far away from any climbing, I was often mesmerized by th...
Mar 06, 2022•1 hr 13 min•Season 5Ep. 74
Adam Gellman , a young glacier guide, tells the story of his adventures on an obscure (but challenging) Alaskan peak called Mt. Wickersham. This Trip Report is made possible with the gracious support of The Firn Line Patreon backers. To learn more about how you can become a Patreon subscriber, go to The Firn Line Patreon . ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Notes Written & Narrated by Adam Gellman Produced by Evan Phillips Editing & Sound Design by Pod Peak Original Mu...
Feb 20, 2022•12 min•Season 5Ep. 73
On today’s episode of The Firn Line , we’ll get to know rock climber, big-wall soloist and AMGA certified rock climbing guide, Miranda Oakley . Growing up in Maryland, Miranda learned from a young age the values of compassion, teaching, and working with others. Born to a Palestinian mother, and an American father, Miranda grew in a family that cared deeply about social justice issues, whether it was participating in peaceful anti-war rallies, or attending meetings of the Palestine Aid Society wi...
Feb 06, 2022•58 min•Season 5Ep. 72
Hey Firn Line fans, this is Evan, and I wanted to tell you about a new monthly series I’m launching called The Trip Report. Storytelling is an integral part of human nature - and climbing and adventure stories are no exception. There’s nothing better than sitting around a campfire on a crisp, desert night - listening to a friend share a story of adventure, perhaps a brush with danger, or a time when everything came together perfectly. Stories are a way to carry on traditions to the next generati...
Jan 25, 2022•1 min
When people think of ice climbing in North America, the first places that might come to mind are Ouray, Colorado, Hyalite Canyon outside Bozeman, Montana - or the vast alpine region of the Canadian Rockies, just to name a few. But perhaps the ultimate mecca for pure frozen waterfall climbing, is in and around Valdez, Alaska. This temperate region, which encompasses the shared traditional land of the Ahtna, Athabaskan, Alutiq and Eyak cultures, averages around 300 inches of snow each year, making...
Jan 16, 2022•38 min•Season 5Ep. 71
On today’s episode of The Firn Line, we’ll get to know legendary mountaineer, outdoor adventurer, author and conservationist, Rick Ridgeway. I first learned about Rick back in the early 90’s, when I read his mountaineering classic, The Last Step , which details the 1978 first American ascent of K2. Rick was an early hero of mine, as I admired his tenacity, grit and determination in the mountains. But it turns out, the world’s high peaks we’re just one chapter in Rick’s life: a life that’s been f...
Jan 02, 2022•1 hr 23 min•Season 5Ep. 70
The mountain ranges of North America are beautiful and diverse. From the prominent glacier cones that dominate the skylines of the Pacific Northwest, to the rugged granite plutons of Yosemite Valley, to the sawtooth razor points of the Tetons, the mountains of North America are a veritable playground for mountaineers. But for climbers and alpinists looking to put their physical, mental and psychological fortitude to the test- perhaps no range is better suited, than the Canadian Rockies. Although...
Mar 15, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Season 4Ep. 69
It’s easier to stay alive if you know what’s out there. Whether it’s understanding local climate patterns, snow conditions, or predators that inhabit certain areas. Having even a basic understanding of what lies ahead, can be the difference between having a great day out, and not coming home at all. And that’s the philosophy behind Emma Walker’s Dead Reckoning , which comes out June 1st on Falcon Guides. Dead Reckoning is an honest, gritty, and sometimes gripping collections of close-calls and a...
Mar 07, 2021•52 min•Season 4Ep. 68
