Mountain Whispers – Details, episodes & analysis

Rob Ó Cobhthaigh is a former elite whitewater kayaker turned psychotherapist and psychedelic facilitator. He's run some of the most intense waters in the world and completed exploratory first descents in rivers of Iran and Norway.

After retired from whitewater, Rob shifted to the exploration of inner realms, training as a psychotherapist as well as in the Celtic shamanic tradition. He now leads psychedelic retreats in Amsterdam and Costa Rica with his organization inwardbound.nl.

Links mentioned in this episode:

• Rob's article on Risk in Whitewater Kayaking: In the Eye of the Storm
• The Irish Centre for Celtic Shamanic Studies

You can learn more about Rob's work at inwardbound.nl or robocobhthaigh.com

You can support this podcast by leaving a review on the podcast platform you use, or connect with Tim on Instagram @timstewnz.

Peter Chrzanowski is an extreme skiing pioneer and Sea to Sky legend.

He has atleast 18 ski-mountaineering first descents to his name, including Wedge, Mount Currie, Atwell, Serratus, and Mount Waddington and has also directed or produced 19 ski, paragliding, or action sport movies since the 80's many of which are credited with bringing big mountain, extreme skiing to the level of popularity it is at today.

We chat about his life of adventure, how he deals with fear, what he's learned from having more brushes with death than one could imagine, and much more.

You can purchase Peter's book I Survived Myself on Amazon here.

Links mentioned:

• A clip from Peter's movie: The North Face: Seven Years on Mount Robson
• Recommended film: K2 The Impossible Descent

You can support this podcast by leaving a review on the podcast platform you use, or connect with Tim on Instagram @timstewnz.

Kyle Koch is movement coach and nature based facilitator, having studied at The Wilderness Awareness School in Washington, and coaching with organisations such as Evolve Move Play

In our conversation we explore what it means to cultivate connection with the more than human world, the practice of giving our attention as a gift, and the way that these practices connect us to a wellspring of meaning, a sensation that can can feel scarce as we navigate the modern world.

We also dig into the Evolve Move Play's method and how cultivating a state of play is intertwined with flow, the way that fear and risk is held in a container, and a bunch more.

You can find Kyle on Instagram @trottingsparrow.

Links from the show:

• John Vervaeke's Awakening From the Meaning Crisis Series
• Breaking the Jump: The Secret Story of Parkour's High-Flying Rebellion by Julie Angel

You can support this podcast by leaving a review on the podcast platform you use, or connect with Tim on Instagram @timstewnz.

Taylor Godber is a mountain athlete, entrepreneur and writer. Balancing her athleticism with a strong stillness & grounding practice, she has a lot of wisdom to share.

We chat about:

• Going Pro, going big, and getting hurt - what it means to be conscious of your competency
• Managing fear and risk in the backcountry - how one can be prepared for the worst without being psyched out + practices for regulating your nervous system
• The Art of the Send - what it means to cultivate an intention practice it sending it it past fear and doubt in all aspects of life
• The power of community retreats for facilitating transformation

Links mentioned in the conversation:

• Our Breath Collective - online breath-work community
• James Nestor's book Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art
• Retreat that Taylor co-foundered: thedrawout.com

You can find more of Taylor at:

• Instagram: @taylorgodber
• Taylor's website: createtravelinspire.com

You can support this podcast by leaving a review on the podcast platform you use, or connect with Tim on Instagram @timstewnz.

Fletcher Tucker is musician and practitioner of earth-based skills, co-founder of Wildtender, which offers immersive wilderness programs that cultivate intimacy with the natural world, connect with wisdom traditions, and nurture human wholeness.

We chat about:

• What it means to listen to the whispers of nature, of the more than human world
• The way in which modernity has severed our connection to this world
• Practices to participate and cultivate intimacy with the more than human world like reciprocity, foraging, and creating ritual space
• How natural history is the best way to form this connection for those with a low "woo-woo threshold"
• The way poetry is "the liberating form of language" that allows us to best describe these spaces
• 
  

You can find more of Fletcher at Wildtender and Gnome Life Records

Links mentioned in the conversation:

• The Gary Snyder quote comes from The Etiquette of Freedom essay, found in The Practice of the Wild
• Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants
• The Dharmanaut Circle community w Erik Davis

You can support this podcast by leaving a review on the podcast platform you use, or connect with Tim on Instagram @timstewnz.

Ari in the Air makes a return to the pod to tell the story of his experience competing in Expedition Oregon: America's Toughest Race.

"At some point, everyone in this event will seriously regret their decision to race" - Lars Bukkehave 2018 ATR winner

Ari gives us a debrief on exactly what let a stuntman to test his hand at expedition racing, paints us an oil canvas of a picture on the level of suffering he inflicted on himself, and provides a glimmer of wisdom he was able to take back from the initiation.

You can find more of Ari at:

• ariintheair.com
• Ari in the Air Podcast
• @ariintheair on Instagram

You can support this podcast by leaving a review on the podcast platform you use, or connect with Tim on Instagram @timstewnz.

Jenn Segger is an adventure athlete, coach, and guide based in lower British Columbia.

We chat about:

• How she broke into the professional ultramarathon and adventure racing scene
• The challenges of adventure racing and team dynamics
• The art of chasing Fast Known Times
• Why Fastpacking beats backpacking
• Much, much more

Links mentioned in the conversation:

• Jenn's website (contact info can be found there)
• Hardrock 100 race

You can support this podcast by leaving a review on the podcast platform you use, or connect with Tim on Instagram @timstewnz.

Harley Rustad is the author of the new book Lost in the Valley of Death: A Story of Obsession and Danger in the Himalayas. It tells the story of Justin Alexander Shetler, American adventurer and influencer who disappeared in the foothills of the Himalayas in 2016.

While the circumstances surrounding Justin's disappearance grip you like a true crime story, Harley and I explore Justin's spiritual pursuit of adventure, and the forces that drove him to take increasing risks in pursuit of spiritual breakthrough and enlightenment. This includes:

• Justin's unique upbringing and how it shaped how he sought adventure and meaning
• The mysterious circumstances surrounding his disappearance
• How sharing adventures with the world on social media can warp intentions and risk-profile
• The magnetism of the spiritual mountain top and how it can draw you into taking increased risks

Links mentioned in the conversation:

• Justin's Instagram, Facebook, and Youtube channels that are still live
• Harley's article on Justin in Outside Magazine that inspired the book
• Mike Spencer Bown, the world's most travelled man, who Justin consulted about long-term wilderness survival right before his final adventure
• The contemplative practice of Sit Spotting that is taught at Washington's Wilderness Awareness School

You can find more of Harley at his website, on twitter, or on Instragram

You can support this podcast by leaving a review on the podcast platform you use, or connect with Tim on Instagram @timstewnz.

In this episode I chat to mountain athlete, podcaster, and filmmaker Ari in the Air.

Ari recently gave a talk at The Stoa on Brinksmanship, the art of finding and learning from your edge. Here we discuss the idea and some of the experiences that formed it.

Along with Brinksmanship, we chat about:

• Flow states in the outdoors, the do's and don't's of building a practice around peak states
• Developing a sensitivity for where your passion lies, for the information that fear conveys
• How endurance sports can change the way we understand the mind-body connection
• A bunch of other stuff in between

You can find more of Ari at https://ariintheair.com/ or on Instagram @ariintheair

Links mentioned:

• The book Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert
• The Stoa course Beyond Self Discipline. See here for a post with some more info
• Bonnitta Roy, who Ari references when describing the difference between the role self and the individuated self

You can support this podcast by leaving a review on the podcast platform you use, or connect with Tim on Instagram @timstewnz.

In this episode, I chat to Jeff Wirth the conservation filmmaker, photographer, and certified wildlife tracker.

I discovered Jeff through his Instagram @staywildmedia, where I was absolutely captivated by the shots he captures of some of the beautiful mammals living in the Pacific Northwest

We chat about:

• The lost art & science of animal tracking & all the clues these animals leave to let us know they were here
• Lessons Jeff has learned from his filmmaking & activism work, including filming on Greenpeace's Sea Sheppard
• Other nuggets of wisdom and awesome facts about grizzlies, cougars, lynx's and caribou

You can catch Jeff on instagram, @staywildmedia, or view Jeff's film work and buy awesome animal prints at https://staywildmedia.com

Links mentioned in the conversation:

• https://echoconservation.org/
• The trailer to the Sea Sheppard Doco Jeff worked on Chasing the Thunder

You can support this podcast by leaving a review on the podcast platform you use, or connect with Tim on Instagram @timstewnz