Beyond the Mountains podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Lucy Bartholomew takes the questionnaire designed to reveal her true mountain character and reveal your beliefs and aspirations.

My guest today is Lucy Bartholomew.

At the young age of only 28, it feels like Lucy is a veteran of Ultrarunning. She did her first 100km run with her dad's supervision at just 15 years old. Since then she has been a regular protagonist in the ultra-running scene. She is competing in the races all over the world.

In 2023 she was 10th in the UTMB (Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc) the biggest trail running event in the world. This year she is trying to go faster and improve on her time of 27 hours. Shortly after she competed at the Ironman World Championships in Kona. So you can see she loves a challenge.

In the same year, she won the Tarawera Ultramarathon and was 2nd in the Ultra-Trail Australia.

Her ever-positive attitude and constant smiling face make her a fan favorite and I'm one of those fans. 

We talk about the power of a smile and how it can change the world, turning a bad day into a great day and her strategy of nibble nibble sip sip to get through an ultra marathon. 

Her wanderlust for curiosity and new experiences and the power of connection and community.

On today's show, we talk about all this and more, so I think you are going to enjoy listening to Lucy's.

So when I saw her training and running around the mountains in my village in the remote French Alps I had to try and get her on the show.

As a bonus episode, Lucy stuck around to take the Beyond the Mountains Questionaire to reveal her true mountain character.

Hello friends, I am your host Ashley Pettit welcome to another episode of Beyond The Mountains Podcast. Where I talk to people who live, work and play in the mountains.

Let's start the intro music and get on with the show. Allons-y

My guest today is Lakpa Gel jen Sherpa.

At the age of 25 with no training or experience, he reached the summit of Mt Everest the highest mountain in the world.  He has reached the summit of Everest 7 times and climbed many other 8,000-meter summits in Nepal.

With no education, no English or training but a strong belief in taking positive action and karma he has managed to transform his life. 

He has led international treks across Nepal and Tibet with clients from all over the world. 

His family and children are now living the lives many people from Nepal can only dream of. 

Lakpa now splits his time between working in France and Nepal. 

During the cold winter months of Nepal when there are no tourists and little work, he lives and works in the French Alpes. 

During the trekking season in Nepal, he now has his own successful trekking and tour agency employing a team of local Sherpa Guides.

His children have all received an education, his daughter is now living and studying in the US his oldest son is in the Philippines and his 2 youngest sons work in the family trekking business.

Knowing how fortunate his life is now, he is also giving back to the local sherpa community through a charity and foundation he has established with his good friend Zebulon Roche.  

This foundation aims to help families and children who have lost their fathers through death in the mountains. 

It is called Solida Sherpa. If you would like more information about the foundation you can send an email to solidasherpa@gmail.com or telephone +33 6 75 57 69 01. And the foundation will gratefully accept any donations.

I simply know him as Lakpa, an incredibly friendly guy that always greets me with a warm “Namaste” whenever I see him at an altitude restaurant in the French Alpes.

Hello friends, I am your host Ashley Pettit welcome to another episode of the Beyond the Mountains podcast. Where I talk to people who live work and play in the mountains.

Let's start the intro music and get on with the show. Allons-y

My guest today is LIv Sansoz and she still has the hunger to compete and test herself with new challenges or as she says “she has a thirst for effort. Which is something I need to taste again.

In her youth she was a climbing superstar, winning world championships, and world cups, and competing all over the world.

Then through a climbing accident, she refocused and set about conquering all the 82, 4000-meter summits in the Alpes. She is a true mountain athlete, Alpiniste, base-jumper, paraglider, climber, big mountain skier, and sponsored athlete.

Now she is taking those skills and years of playing in the mountains and passing on her knowledge as a qualified mountain guide. Leading clients to conquer their own personal challenges. A goal she did not think possible at one stage.

Seeing firsthand the impact that global warming was having on the mountains where she - lived worked and played. she has become a leading voice in their protection and wants us to change our behaviors to protect the mountains for future generations. We talk about her role as a spokesperson and ambassador for Protect Our Winter and Une Bouteille À La Mer - a bottle in the ocean.

In this episode Liv and I share a rope together and climb through the different chapters of her life and her philosophy for living life to the fullest.

Liv’s official Instagram account is @livsansoz 

A life in balance.

Balance and flow on two skis, on a snowboard, surfboard or skateboard.

Balancing the seasons cold and snow of winter, warmth and ocean swells of summer.

Balancing life between the mountains and the ocean.

My guest today is Victorien Irissou and he has a life many people will envy.

You can follow him at @victorien_irissou on Instagram.

A professional ski instructor in the winter and a seasonal worker in the summer following the surf and finding work as he needs.

He shares with us the steps to become a qualified french ski instructor with the ESF, one of the most difficult ski instructor courses in the world.

This was a great conversation with Victorien, he shares some great insights about finding freedom and personal expression with being at one on a board.

Make sure you stick around to the end and listen to Victorien talk about a potentially life-changing moment that could have ended in tragedy and changed his relationship with the mountains and life.

Yes, Season 2, EPISODE 1  it’s taken a while to get back here.

So let's get on with the show, hit the intro music 

Allons-y

I'm coming back. Season 2 is coming soon.

It's taken me a while to get unstuck. Last year was a challenging year for me. But I'm determined to relaunch or restart this podcast.

If you are interested to hear about my year and why I haven't been making any new podcasts. Stick around.

Maybe you've experienced some of the same feelings I've had last year. Maybe this will can help you. Let me know.

But I'm determined to start making more episodes. I've got some great guests I want to meet and interview.

thank

Ashley

This is a special episode dedicated to you. It is all about who you are and how I see this show and you the listeners.

This is my manifesto for the show.

Please grab a coffee and have a 5 min break. I hope you enjoy this little teaser. I'll have more episodes soon.

Thanks for your time.

Ashley Pettit. The Australian lost in the French Alpes.

There is something magical about the French Alpes, the silence, the landscapes, the pace of life and the cheese. This is where the creamy and luxurious Beaufort cheese is made.  , a tradition that is centuries old.

It’s a tradition that has been dominated by males. But my guest today is Pauline Collogne and she is breaking down those barriers as she is one of only 2 female cheesemakers in the Savoie region of France.

 She may follow the traditions of cheese making, but she is anything but traditional. She makes some of the finest cheese in France, but she is also a badass motorcycle rider and formidable skier in the winter.

But before we start the episode, it would be great for me to get your feedback. I’d love to hear from you and for you to tell me if you like the format of the show, my guests, the questions I’m asking, anything. 

You can do this via my facebook page or Instagram page. And please like, share, comment and subscribe to the show.

But , Let's just start the intro music and get on with the show. Allons-y.

You can connect and go :

https://www.coophautemaurienne.fr/

https://www.facebook.com/BEAUFORTHAUTEMAURIENNE

This episode was a long time coming, but it was worth the wait. It was a lot of fun.

My guest today is JB Buttard. He doesn’t fit into just one thing, like many people in the mountains he wears many hats. His day job for want of a better word is he works in aviation. He splits his time between the mountains of Canada and France.

In Canada, he is a helicopter pilot working as a gun for hire wherever the best work is. From gas and oil to forestry and commercial. In France, he is part of the ground crew for a helicopter business that transports all sorts of equipment deep into the hard to access mountains.

But he is also a ski guide, ultra-light pilot,   flying clients over the mountains and a budding micro beer maker with his brother just to name a few.

This was a fun interview filled with lots of great stories about his life in the mountains.

If you want to go flying with JB over the French alps you can connect with him on his Facebook page Maurienne ULM winter

But enough of the intro, I know you are going to enjoy this just as much as I did. 

So Let's just start the intro music and get on with the show. Allons-y.

You can connect and go flying with JB on his Facebook page here :

https://www.facebook.com/ulmmaurienne

Maurienne ULM winter

Would the idea of running 170 km non stop through the mountains, and climbing over 10,000 meters fill you with excitement or fear. My guest today dreams of such events.

My guest is Batiste Thomas, he is a mountain trail runner, who specialises in the ultra style events. And he has recently competed in his first  UT M B - Ultra Trail Mont Blanc. One the biggest trail running events in the world.

Crossing 3 nations, France, Italy and Switzerland. This is a 170km RACE with 10,000 meters in climbing. The spectacular scenery and gruelling course around Chamonix.

I’ve known Batiste for a few years now, and I knew he loved to run. I'd followed him on Instagram and seen him running up the mountains of the Haute Maurienne. He was always standing on the top of some huge mountain peak overlooking the valleys below.

But when I saw a post on IG a few months ago that he was going to compete in the UTMB, I knew I had to speak to him on the show.

Now Batiste is a fairly reserved type of guy, and he was a little nervous to come on, he was worried about his English. But I knew, just like RUNNING, once he was warmed up he would be fine. And he sure does start to open up. 

So please stick around to the end. Batiste really gives some great advice about trail running and shares his emotional experience of running 170km around the mountains of Chamonix, France.

You can follow Baptiste here :

https://www.instagram.com/instabat/

https://www.instagram.com/valfrejus/

https://www.strava.com/athletes/8667545

Ok So Let's just start the intro music and get on with the show. Allons-y.