Devon O’Neil — On Nature’s Power and the Price of Adventure
Devon O’Neil is a journalist, author, and longtime friend of mine whose new book The Way Out: A True Story of Survival in the Heart of the Rockies is one of the best pieces of outdoor nonfiction I’ve read in years. The book tells the harrowing true story of a backcountry ski trip near Leadville, …
Paul Hendricks – The Conservation Alliance and the Future of Public Lands
Paul Hendricks is the Executive Director of The Conservation Alliance, a coalition of more than 270 businesses working together to protect wild places across North America. Founded nearly four decades ago by Patagonia, REI, The North Face, and Kelty, The Conservation Alliance has grown into one of the most important forces in conservation—pooling dollars, influence, …
Nicholas Triolo – What the Circuitous Path Reveals
Nicholas Triolo is a writer, endurance athlete, and educator whose life and work sit at the crossroads of ecology, activism, and storytelling. For years he’s been exploring what happens when we stop charging toward the summit and start paying attention to the circuitous paths that wind around it. His new book, The Way Around: A …
Brady Robinson Returns – Grassroots Conservation on a Global Scale
Brady Robinson is a lifelong climber, conservationist, and educator who currently serves as Director of Philanthropy for the Freyja Foundation. His career has spanned outdoor education, nonprofit leadership, and global conservation philanthropy, with past roles including Executive Director of both the Access Fund and the Conservation Alliance. These days, his work focuses on supporting high-impact …
Brendan Leonard Returns – On Writing, Teaching, and Staying Weird
Brendan Leonard is back for his third appearance on the podcast—this time recorded in person at his house in Missoula. Brendan’s the creative mind behind Semi-Rad, and over the years, he’s become a good friend and one of my most trusted advisors when it comes to creativity and building a life around the things you …
Cassidy Randall – The Untold Story of Denali’s First All-Women’s Ascent
Cassidy Randall is a journalist and author whose work explores the intersections of adventure, history, and the natural world. Her new book, Thirty Below: The Harrowing and Heroic Story of the First All-Women’s Ascent of Denali, tells the gripping true story of six women who, in 1970, became the first all-female team to summit North …
David Cronenwett – Lessons from Jiu-Jitsu, On and Off the Mats
David Cronenwett is the owner of Helena Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and a third-degree black belt under American Jiu-Jitsu legend Rafael Lovato Jr. David started his Jiu-Jitsu journey in Seattle in 1996, back when finding a place to train was like stumbling upon a secret society. Over the years, he’s not only refined his own game …
Joe Schobert – From NFL Pro Bowler to Western Conservation Advocate
Joe Schobert is a retired NFL Pro Bowler who is devoting the second act of his professional career to advocating for the West’s wild places. Joe was born and raised in Wisconsin, and despite having an exemplary high school football career, he was not offered a scholarship to play college football. So he took matters …
Jess Mudgett – Humble & Grateful
Jess Mudgett is an artist, skater, surfer, and occasional ranch hand who specializes in one-of-a-kind designs that appear everywhere from murals in the rural West to the Yeti offices in downtown Austin. Fans of Jess’s work can spot his art from a mile away– he’s known for bold, often-times big portrayals of western landscapes, horses, …
Rick Ridgeway – Purpose-Driven Adventurer
Rick Ridgeway is a world-renowned mountaineer and adventurer who has devoted his life to exploring some of the wildest regions of Planet Earth– from the summit of K2 to the jungles of Borneo to the mountain ranges of the American West and almost everywhere in between. Rick is also a highly regarded author, director, and …
The Life-Changing Magic of Living Strenuously, with Kate Kavanaugh
This episode is a little different– it’s me being interviewed by my friend and past Mountain & Prairie podcast guest Kate Kavanaugh. If you’ve been listening for a while, then I’m sure you remember Kate– she’s a farmer, butcher, and all-around interesting woman who co-founded Western Daughters Butcher Shop in Denver. Kate recently started an …
Chris Burkard, Part 2 – Seeking Beauty Through Adventure
Chris Burkard is a prolific photographer, filmmaker, and author who is known for diving headfirst into epic adventures, documenting them with his camera, and producing one-of-kind stories that resonate deeply with millions of people around the world. He’s bikepacked across Iceland in winter, scouted cold-water surf breaks in British Columbia, and explored some of the …
Heather Hansman, Part 2 – The Fascinating Story of Skiing’s Past, Present & Future
Heather Hansman is a Seattle-based writer and editor, as well as the author of the excellent new book Powder Days: Ski Bums, Ski Towns, and the Future of Chasing Snow. Longtime listeners will remember Heather’s first appearance on the podcast, when we discussed her book Downriver, one of my favorite books about the complicated subject …
Luke Smithwick – A Life in High Places
Luke Smithwick is a professional alpinist, ski mountaineer, and mountain guide best known for his cutting-edge climbs and descents in the world’s wildest mountain ranges. Luke is based in Victor, Idaho, in the shadow of the legendary Teton Range, but he spends large portions of each year deep in the Himalayas, guiding clients on remote …
John Branch – Seeking the Extraordinary in the Ordinary
John Branch is a Pulitzer-prize-winning journalist with the New York Times and the author of the brand new book Sidecountry: Tales of Death and Life from the Back Roads of Sports. He is also the author of The Last Cowboys: A Pioneer Family in the New West, which is one of my favorite books about …
Brendan Leonard, Part 2 – On Running, Creating, and Other Irrational Passions
Brendan Leonard is a prolific writer and artist who is best known as the creator of Semi-Rad.com. He’s also the author of a brand new book titled I Hate Running and You Can Too: How to Get Started, Keep Going, and Make Sense of an Irrational Passion. The book offers motivation and witty insights into …
Mitsu Iwasaki – Adventure, Advocacy, & Alpinism
Mitsu Iwasaki is the CEO of the American Alpine Club (AAC), a historic and storied organization whose mission is to “share and support our passion for climbing and respect for the places we climb.” Founded in 1902, the AAC began as a social club for east coast elites who shared a passion for climbing, adventure, …
The Ramblings of a “Conquistador of the Useless”
This episode is a little different than normal– it’s me being interviewed on the Off the Couch podcast by my friends Jonathan Ellsworth and Brendan Leonard. Brendan is likely familiar to many of you long-time listeners– he joined me on the podcast a few years ago to discuss his writing career, his film “How to …
Mike Foote – Perfection is in the Process
Mike Foote is a Montana-based professional ultrarunner and ski mountaineer who is best known for his inspiring performances in 100-mile ultramarathons and multiday endurance expeditions through wild landscapes. In 2018, he set the world record for the most vertical feet climbed and skied in 24 hours– a mind-blowing 61,200 feet. And in addition to his …
Chris Castilian – Community, Conservation, and Colorado
Chris Castilian is the Executive Director of Great Outdoors Colorado (also known as GOCO), an organization that has committed more than $1.2 billion toward preserving and enhancing Colorado’s parks, trails, wildlife, rivers, and open spaces. Founded in 1992, GOCO is truly a one-of-a-kind conservation funder—the organization invests a portion of Colorado Lottery proceeds into a …
Becky Edwards – Amplifying the Power of Women in the West
Becky Edwards is the Executive Director of the Mountain Mamas, an organization whose mission is to amplify women’s voices into a movement to ensure that kids grow up in a healthy climate with clean air and access to public lands. Operating out of both Montana and Colorado—and currently expanding throughout the West—the Mountain Mamas harness …
Chris Burkard – The Art of Suffering
Chris Burkard is a world-renowned photographer, filmmaker, and storyteller whose work captures the beauty and rawness of some of the earth’s wildest places. Whether documenting iconic climbs in Yosemite or frigid surf trips deep in the Arctic Circle, Chris has established himself as a committed artist who is willing to suffer extensively to get the …
Kyle Richardson – Mountains & Music
Kyle Richardson is a Colorado-based professional runner and mountain athlete who is best known for his high-stakes, high-speed endurance feats in the Rocky Mountains. Over the past two years, Kyle has set several Fastest Known Time (“FKT”) records in the Colorado mountains—most notably on Boulder’s First and Third Flatirons, as well as the renowned LA …
Jessica Lewis – Doing More With Less
Jessica Lewis is a Montana-based metalsmith who is best known for the beautifully unique jewelry she creates for her online shop, Ruby and Revolver. She is also the mother of a two-year-old daughter, who she is raising with her husband in the home they constructed with their own hands in Montana’s Bitterroot Valley. Thanks to …
Len Necefer – Indigenous Advocate
Len Necefer is a scholar, entrepreneur, and outdoor adventurer who is also a proud member of the Navajo Nation. Academically, Len holds a Ph.D. in engineering and public policy, and he is currently a professor of both Indian Studies and public policy at the University of Arizona. In business, he’s the CEO of NativesOutdoors, a …
Chandra Brown – Fostering Creativity Through River Adventures
Chandra Brown is an educator, writer, and river guide who has worked on the West’s most iconic rivers, including many seasons below the rim of the Grand Canyon. She’s also the founder of the Freeflow Institute, a unique Montana-based program that offers multi-day river trips for writers and creatives that combine immersion in the natural …
Jay Kleberg – True Dedication to Conservation, Adventure & Texas
Jay Kleberg is a conservationist and Associate Director of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation. He’s also the co-founder of Explore Ranches, a new company that connects outdoor enthusiasts to some of the most iconic private ranches in Texas and beyond. Jay has built his career and life around a deep respect for land and …
Erik Petersen – Stories of Public Lands & the People Who Love Them
Erik Petersen is a Montana-based photographer, filmmaker, and photojournalist whose work showcases the American West and the many ways we enjoy our wide open spaces. His most recent film, A Few Steps Further, explores the commonalities between backcountry hunting and mountain endurance sports, while highlighting the spectacular wild landscapes that make these activities possible. Historically, …
Adam Foss – Lessons Learned From a Life Afield
Adam Foss is a world-class hunter who has transformed his passion for wildlife and wild places into a rewarding career in filmmaking and photography. Adam has been obsessed with wilderness adventure for practically his entire life. At age 24, he was the youngest person to take all four species of North American sheep with a …
Brendan Leonard – Grinding It Out
Brendan Leonard is a writer and creative whose stories about adventure in wild places have built him a loyal following in the outdoor world and beyond. Whether it’s writing for his blog Semi-Rad, authoring eight books, or making films such as his recent How to Run 100 Miles Brendan combines humor, introspection, and skilled storytelling in …
