Tough Girl Podcast Cathy Alldred - Planning and leading an expedition to climb Fox Jaw Cirque in East Greenland (2014)
Jun 10, 2021
44:46
A lover of all things outdoors, Cathy is an explorer, mother, wife and USA Operations Lead at global drone-based inspection company, CyberHawk - and that doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface. Back in 2014, Cathy led a climbing expedition to a remote part of East Greenland, establishing four new, never-before-explored routes. Cathy passionately believes that these kinds of life-changing experiences don’t just fall into your lap - you have to work hard for them. Expeditions are born from a book full of notes and ideas, endless nights of planning, and more spreadsheets than any outdoor-lover cares to imagine. Australian-born and adopted-Scot, Cathy currently splits her time between Colorado and California, where she’s learning to both snowboard and surf, while spending time with friends and family. It’s safe to say that she’s really taking advantage of every opportunity life throws at her. Listen to Cathy on the Tough Girl Podcast! New episodes every Tuesday and Thursday at 7am UK time - Subscribe so you don’t miss out! The Tough Girl Podcast is sponsorship and ad free thanks to the monthly financial support of patrons. To find out more about supporting your favourite podcast and becoming a patron please check out www.patreon.com/toughgirlpodcast. Show notes
- Who is Cath?
- Currently based in Denver, Colorado, USA
- Living in Scotland for the past 20 years with her husband and children
- Working for CyberHawk using drones
- Growing up in Adelaide in South Australia
- Spending time in the outdoors and climbing trees at a young age
- Leaving Australia to go to Canada in her early 20s
- Meeting her husband in Canada and moving to Scotland
- Starting climbing in her mid thirties after having her 3 children
- Making progress in climbing
- Having an accident and spending 9 months in recovery
- Building her confidence back up
- Finding people to climb with
- Venturing outside to climb
- Not giving up when challenges happen
- Dealing with fears and building confidence
- Deciding to head to East Greenland in 2014
- Wanting to climb in a remote and challenging location
- Needing to find a team and get people on board
- Starting with the research
- Struggling to find women to come and climb
- Spending 5 weeks in East Greenland
- Planning the new routes
- The tent sent up and what base camp was like
- Feeling confident but apprehensive
- Paying and funding for the expedition
- Being supported by Tiso
- Figuring out the food requirements for 5 people for 5 weeks
- Human waste and dealing with poo!
- The wildlife considerations from crows to polar bears
- Her physical preparation and working with a personal trainer
- Being part of a “fit-family”
- Reflecting back on Greenland and the lessons learned
- Being careful of the people who you surround yourself with
- Being open to the learning
- The next challenge…. and wanting to head to South America
- Final words of advice to encourage other women to take the next step
- The power of talking about what you want to do