Out Outdoors – Details, episodes & analysis

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Cat is a climber, photographer, and community organiser based in Kentucky who made history as the winner of the first series of The Climb.

Beyond his climbing achievements, he is the founder of the Queer Climbers Network and co-founder of Trans Climbers Belong, initiatives aimed at fostering inclusivity and support within the climbing world. 

He is also a board member of the Red River Gorge Climbers' Coalition. 

Cat's path is a testament to resilience, authenticity, and the power of community.

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Ben Soto is a transgender surfboard shaper based in Orange County, California. His work stands out not only for its quality but also for the love and intention he infuses into each piece, which he describes as both a science and an art.

Ben's personal journey is deeply tied to his identity as a transgender man and his return to surfing after initially stepping away due to discomfort with traditional surf attire during adolescence. 

He strives to make surfing more inclusive and accessible, working to break barriers in the industry.

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For Episode 6 I am joined by one of the headline speakers from ClimbOut Festival that I sadly missed getting a chance to interview over the weekend.

Abbie Robinson is a climber, coach and sport psychology student currently based in Leeds. Having competed for the GB Paraclimbing Team for the last 6 years in the B2 (visually impaired) category. 

Since then, she has picked up 10 gold medals, including 4 consecutive world championship titles. 

Beyond the competition stage, she is keen for any opportunity to get outdoors, whether that's climbing, mountain biking or swimming.

Follow her over on Instagram @abbie.paraclimbing

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For the fifth episode I wanted to celebrate Climb Out Festival.

Climb Out is the UK's first queer climbing festival - combining trad climbing, sport climbing, and bouldering with queer joy outdoors, they want to celebrate LGBTQ+ climbers and create a community centred on the intersection between queer joy and climbing.

The Festival happened earlier this year in the summer and I wanted to try and capture just some of the joy from the weekend.
We hear from the team, volunteers, attendees and guest speakers - which a couple surprises thrown in!

You can follow them on instagram on @climboutfest and the website https://climbout.org/ 

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For the fourth episode I was joined by Varun Jyothykumar

Varun is a very keen and very talented cyclist based in the Midlands. 

During the week he is a secondary school teacher, specialising in Design and Technology.

And at the weekends, well his instagram and blog are a mere peek into his mileage, his love of bikes and how his heart lies in wandering the outdoors, whether on foot or by bicycle.

You can him over on on Instagram at @twowheeledteacherman 
To follow his writing adventures, Varun's website is https://varunjk95.wixsite.com/two-wheeled-teacher 

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For the third episode I was joined by Ailish Breen.

Ailish is a non-binary, queer hiker and outdoors person living on the outskirts of Manchester with their partner. 

They are a consultant, coach and trainer with expertise and experience building inclusion for the LGBTQIA+ community, particularly trans and non-binary people. 

Their background is working on these issues as a policy advisor in Government and for the Equality & Human Rights Commission.

At the end of 2019 they set up a community group called Queer Out Here.

You can find them over on Instagram at @coach_ailish and on their website https://www.ailishbreen.co.uk/
To follow the adventures of QOH you can follow them on @queerouthereadventures

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For the second episode I was joined by Carla Benton.

Carla is a Clinical Psychologist, queer vegan and a lover of all things outdoors; adventurer, runner, endurance cyclist and lapsed climber based near the Peak District in the UK. She is an advocate for the LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC communities taking up space in the outdoors and is a committee member with the awesome Peak Queer Adventures and a member of the Women of Colour Cycling Collective.

You can find her at @acurlyoutdoors; check out Peak Queer Adventures at @peakqueeradventures and the WCCC at @wccc_uk. 

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It's here!
The first episode of Out Outdoors and I am over the moon to share with you conversation with the incredible Nikki Smith.

Nikki is an artist, writer, photographer, guidebook author, runner, and climber based in Salt Lake City, Utah. 
Much of her work is focused on trying to build a more inclusive, diverse, and safe community within climbing and the outdoors. 
She is an advocate for the LGBTQIA+ community and serves as a Board Member for the University of Utah Transgender Health Program, and is a committee member for the American Mountain Guide Association’s JEDI committee.

You can find her  on:
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/nikkik_smith/
Website - https://nikkismith.com/ 

You can find us on:
Instagram - @out_outdoors_
Twitter - @out_outdoors_
Donate - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/outoutdoors 

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