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.

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Recorded and produced by Evan Phillips
Music curated using Artlist.

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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.

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Recorded and produced by Evan Phillips
Music curated using Artlist.

Check out Evan's new single NOT OVER YOU!

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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.

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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 true summit is usually reached via steep couloirs on the southwest, as the west ridge route is very difficult.

Recorded and produced by Evan Phillips
Music curated using Artlist.

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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 modern adventurers.

Written and produced by Evan Phillips

Music curated using Artlist:
Then There Was You - Beneath The Mountain
My Home - Louis Island
Growth - Kyle Preston
Open Water - Alex Munk
A Ghost In Someones Body - Ben Reener
Light Storm - Taxi Letter Writers
Horizon - Dear Gravity

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The Hoarding Marmot
Alaska Rock Gym

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 Mountains, and you’ll be hearing from him more this season. But for now, enjoy this conversation with Lowell Skoog.

Written and produced by Evan Phillips

Music by Evan Phillips

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Check out Lowell's book Written in the Snows: Across Time on Skis in the Pacific Northwest

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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 Beddall

For more podcasts and bonus videos SUBSCRIBE on YouTube.

Support The Firn Line:

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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 Mount Hunter.  

Franzen agreed instantly, and in May of 2021, the duo flew into Denali Basecamp.  The route, which starts with a 9 mile ski from Denali basecamp, weaves its way up and through the broken labyrinth of the Ramen Icefall, up to a dicey corniced ridge, then through a plum line up the golden granite buttress, before finally topping out on a plateau below the south summit.

But on that first trip, many lessons had to be learned.  First, Helander took a 30 foot crevasse fall in the icefall.  Able to extract himself, the team was shaken, but continued on.  19 hours later, they shivered through a miserable night a few pitches up the crux buttress - a lone soggy sleeping bag shared between them.  Mentally and physically exhausted, they retreated the next morning.  But as they took the edge off with whisky in basecamp a day later, the duo made a pact.  They would return to finish the west buttress.

Links:

Climbing Magazine

The Firn Line Website