The Adventure Podcast

Episode 106 of The Adventure Podcast features British Explorer and founder of Explorers Connect, Belinda Kirk. Belinda has spent her life leading dozens of international expeditions and remote filming trips. She has walked through Nicaragua, sailed across the Atlantic, searched for camels in China’s Desert of Death, discovered ancient rock paintings in Lesotho and gained a Guinness World Record for rowing unsupported around Britain. In this episode, Matt and Belinda chat all things life and the importance of adventure.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-adventure-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 105 of The Adventure Podcast features climber and writer Zofia A. Reych. According to Zofia’s Instagram bio, they are the Director of the Women’s Bouldering Festival, author of the book ‘Born to Climb’, non-binary, queer and autistic. Born and raised in Warsaw, they now call Fontaine-Bleu in France their home.This is a proper mixed bag of a conversation in a really fun and brilliant way. There’s a time and a place for rip-roaring adventure stories, but this is not that time and this is not that place. In this episode we cover a vast swathe of topics, from Zofia’s backstory and life, feminism, autism, climbing, ethics, a little bit of philosophy amongst various other topics. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-adventure-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 104 of The Adventure Podcast features English fell running legend, Joss Naylor. We recorded this conversation in November 2021, but delayed its release due to Joss suffering a stroke just before Christmas. He is now back home in Wasdale, but is on a huge road to recovery. Apparently he’s in good spirits and is still ‘same old Joss’. We’ve been in touch with his friends who have sought permission to release this episode, as obviously the conversation happened before such a radical change to Joss’s life.But the conversation is still extremely relevant and poignant. For those of you who need an introduction, Joss is, and we use this word extremely specifically a ‘legend’ in the fell running community. Hailing from the remote Wasdale Valley in the Lake District, Joss has been not just a pioneer of fell running, but also one of its most infamous athletes. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-adventure-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 103 of The Adventure Podcast features Kenyan mountaineer, whitewater kayaker, mountain biker and outdoor instructor, Schaniela Wright.Ella is a former professional hockey, water polo and athletics player, who moved to the UK (after some solid advice from none other than Reinhold Messner) to get her outdoor qualifications. In this conversation, host Matt Pycroft and Ella talk about overcoming fear in the mountain, the culture shock of moving from Kenya to the UK, and the ultimate goal; to stand on top of the world’s highest mountain.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-adventure-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 102 of The Adventure Podcast features Adventurer and Award Winning documentary filmmaker, J.J. Kelley. J.J is best known both for his work with National Geographic and his coverage of stories about environmentalism and conservation. His career began when at age 19 when he had the thought that there has got to be more to life and he loaded his pickup truck up with camping gear and drove to Alaska. From there, life only got more interesting…Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-adventure-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 101 of The Adventure Podcast features athlete, adventurer, activist, and author, Ana Zirner. Ana grew up in the Bavarian foothills of the Alps and is a former theater director turned mountain guide. Once a year, Ana takes on a big adventure in the outdoors. In 2017, she crossed the Alps on foot from east to west, followed in 2018 by the Pyrenees in the same direction. In 2019, she walked and packrafted the Colorado River from its source in the Rocky Mountains to the ocean in Mexico. In 2022, she set off on a crossing of the High Caucasus on horseback (while pregnant).In this episode, Matt and Ana dive deep into topics like slow and sustainable travel, the effect social media has on the outdoors and becoming a parent.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-adventure-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In episode 100 of The Adventure Podcast, host Matt Pycroft sits down with Vaughan Smith. Vaughan introduces himself, but in overview he’s a conflict journalist at heart. He’s also the founder of The Frontline Club, a charity he set up to support freelancers in honour of the many friends and colleagues he lost doing the job he has done. Please do listen this conversation with Vaughan, and if the story resonates with you then please do donate to the #straightfromthefrontline campaign here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/frontline-ukraine-support-courageous-reportingSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-adventure-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 099 of The Adventure Podcast features ultra-endurance cyclist, Lael Wilcox. Her story is jaw dropping. She tells it brilliantly herself so we’ll leave her to it, but suffice to say Lael doesn’t seem to have anything in her head holding her back. She just seems to get up and get on with whatever she feels like doing next. We loved this conversation, mostly because it’s a rip roaring adventure story of a woman who found long distance adventure by chance, accidentally became a competition winner, and has now gone on to inspire a whole new generation of cyclists.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-adventure-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 098 of The Adventure Podcast features two world class rock climbers and alpinists, Renan Ozturk and Freddie Wilkinson. In terms of quick intros, both Freddie and Renan are world class rock climbers and alpinists. Freddie is also a historian and writer and Renan is a filmmaker, photographer and artist. They are currently on their PR tour for their latest film 'The Sanctity of Space’."More than eighty years after Brad Washburn first photographed Denali in Alaska, climbing buddies Renan Ozturk and Freddie Wilkinson look at some of Washburn’s images and have this crazy idea: rather than go up, their dream is to go sideways — across the range’s most forbidding peaks, the Moose’s Tooth massif. It’s a decidedly new school way to explore the same landscape Washburn first discovered.As they pioneer the route over the course of two expeditions, enduring freezing bivies, cut ropes, and rockfall along the way, their desire to be the first to complete the audacious line grows into an obsession." It's a wonderful and really authentic piece of filmmaking. Find out where you watch ‘The Sanctity of Space’ on their website: https://www.thesanctityofspace.com/Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-adventure-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 097 of The Adventure Podcast features climber and alpinist, Thomas Bukowski. We first stumbled upon Thomas when we were on the hunt for stories to tell for Pertex, one of our outdoor brand clients. We worked really closely with photographer Ted Hesser to find and then shoot a story based in the US and Thomas was the subject of that story. You can read that article here: https://pertex.com/2022/01/28/visibility-matters/. Thomas does a brilliant job of introducing himself but to quickly outline who he is, he is predominantly a rock climber and an alpinist. He currently lives in his van full time but at the time of recording this, he was down in Patagonia on a climbing trip. He grew up in Hong Kong and in this episode he tells me about how his life has being shaped and changed by not being from the place he now calls home, as well as by being a gay man. We dig into the philosophy of all I’ve just mentioned fairly seriously and despite the sketchy connection and background noise of the cafe he is in, it’s a great chat. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-adventure-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.