Mountains on Stage : The Vertical Interview

In this new episode, we take you 200 meters above the ground, into the heart of the Gorges du Verdon, for a suspended conversation with Bronwyn Hodgins, one of the world’s top expedition and big wall climbers.Bronwyn recently sent her first 8c+, a grade far beyond anything she had climbed before. But behind this athletic achievement lies a powerful and honest story of the burnout she went through — a central theme also explored in the film La Rubia.🎙️ The interview was recorded by Jan Novak, as we hung together on a portaledge, midway through the legendary Marches du Temps route.A big thank you to Le Vieux Campeur for their support.Enjoy the listen, and welcome to the vertical world of Bronwyn Hodgins.

Despite starting climbing relatively late, Bronwyn Hodgins quickly became one of the world's top big wall climbers. Alongside her husband Jacob Cook and four other friends, she embarked on an extraordinary journey to Greenland, searching for a colossal sea cliff to conquer, traveling with inflatable sea kayaks. Their incredible adventure is captured in the film "Sea to Summit," which is currently touring the world as part of the Mountains on Stage film festival.

Today we have a conversation with the legendary Beth Rodden. Beth has been a huge inspiration to many, with incredible ascents in Yosemite, like the third free ascent of the Nose, or the first ascent of Meltdown, still considered to be one of the hardest pitches in the valley 15 years later. We had the opportunity to talk with Beth at the end of her annual family pilgrimage to Fontainebleau. She talked to us about her accomplishments, but also about her fight with eating disorder and her mental battles. Mountains on Stage film festival will be on tour this April and May, and will feature 4 amazing films, taking place in the Himalayas, Corsica and Yosemite. All the info on www.mountainsonstage.com

I am really honored to have a conversation with the legendary Tommy Caldwell. Tommy has lived 100 lives already from climbing the Dawn Wall after a seven year fight, to climbing the Nose in less than 2 hours with Alex Honnold. Tommy is currently spending time with his family in Fontainebleau and we had the chance to talk to him about a few of his most amazing climbs, from the Fitz Roy traverse to the Dawn Wall. Tommy also gave us his insight on the project Cap on El Cap, currently on tour with Mountains on Stage film festival around the world. All the info on www.mountainsonstage.com

Alex Honnold is probably the most famous climber in the world since the film Free Solo, documenting his amazing free solo up El Capitan. But Alex has way more achievements under his belt than free solos. We had him in our program at Mountains on Stage film festival several times, from the long bike trips called Sufferfest with Cedar Wright, to the Fitz Roy traverse with Tommy Caldwell, that earned him a Golden Ice Axe, or Piolet d’or, for the best alpine achievement of the year. Alex is currently spending a month in the mecca of bouldering that is Fontainebleau, and we had the privilege to talk to him after a climbing session.

Jimmy Chin is probably the most awarded mountain documentary film maker in the world, with an audience award at Sundance for Meru and an Oscar for Free Solo. But before being a successful director, Jimmy was an elite rock climber and alpinist. In this interview, he shares with us the struggles of climbing Meru, the reason why he wanted to document Alex Honnold's free solo of El Capitan, and why it is important for him to share those stories to a wider audience. Jimmy is also a talented photographer, and he took the photo of the official poster of the 2023 Summer Edition of Mountains on Stage film festival, on tour from April 13th 2023!