Phil Wortmann doesn’t look at outrageous projects like most people. It can’t be that he took too many hits to the head, because he stopped boxing early, and it’s not la la optimism either.

Still, for someone to make a 5.13 project on Pike’s Peak their first at the grade and to establish what is likely the Lower 48's hardest, longest and most sustained mixed climb requires a little something something. That something something is something Phil thinks others can develop too, by the way.

In this episode, we chat about:

• 🧊 The importance of long-term goals and how he approaches them
• 🧊 What went into projecting “Samsara” and “Drop the Mic”
• 🧊 Establishing The Ghetto, the hardest drytooling crag in Colorado outside of Ouray and Vail
• 🧊 Helping to preserve The Golden Book and Colorado Springs climbing history
• 🧊 Why gatekeeping grinds his gears

🧊 Resources and links:

To follow Phil’s latest exploits, he’s on Instagram @thewordmann.

Here is his account of projecting “Samsara” and here is the AAJ article about “Drop the Mic.”

📸: Cover photo by Scott Turpin.

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others.

If JC Dubeau is known it’s somewhat as a dark horse.

Search for JC online and you won’t find any trip reports or beta spraying, but as a soloist with a selfie stick he has surprisingly good photos on IG for someone who likes to keep a low profile. JC is also an older athlete who doesn’t train or project yet he will likely send yours if you let him. 💪

So who is this guy?

In this episode, we chat about:

• 🧊 How there’s old and there’s bold, but there’s no old-bold climbers
• 🧊 His five goes rule and other principles to climb by
• 🧊 Climbing without a rope more often than with
• 🧊 Designing gear
• 🧊 And much more

🧊 Resources and links:
You can follow JC on Instagram — for often glorious fisheye photos — at @jcdubeau.

📸: Cover photo courtesy of JC.

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others.

Enni Bertling has seen it all when it comes to climbing in Finland. When she started she was one of the few climbers in the country, then she helped form the Finnish Ice Climbing Team, and is now the Head of the Youth National Team, among other roles too numerous to list but which also includes routesetting, coaching, and occasionally competing when the mood strikes.

Still, despite how it sounds, her path to a professional climbing career was anything but straightforward.

In this episode, we chat about:

• 🧊 Transitioning away from scientific research
• 🧊 Winning the first-ever World Cup medal for Finland
• 🧊 How she thinks about coaching and mentoring youth
• 🧊 What the climbing in Finland is like
• 🧊 What you do with only 1 hour of daylight in winter

🧊 Resources and links
As is a trend among many of our guests, Enni keeps a low social profile. But, if you’d like to follow her for occasional updates, her handle is @ennibertling.

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others.