The Adventure Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Episode 187 of The Adventure Podcast features scallop diver, seaweed farmer, author, writer, and father, Guy Grieve. Guy spent a year off-grid living in a cabin he built in the Alaskan wilderness. In this episode, Guy talks to Matt about his past and what made him the man he is now. He tells stories of his time in the Alaskan wilderness, why he left his family behind in the UK, and what happened while out there. It's an emotional episode, and Guy is one of the most gracious, genuine, and grounded guests we've ever had on. Fair to say it's one of our favourite episodes ever recorded.

This episode is available in-vision on our substack channel, The Adventure Podcast+ ; www.theadventurepodcast.substack.com.

This episode is brought to you by Chimney Fire Coffee; a Certified B Corp™️, committed to the highest social and environmental standards. What sets Chimney Fire Coffee apart is their dedication to ethical sourcing. They pay their producers on average double Fairtrade prices, building direct, personal relationships. Plus, they give back by supporting Re-Cycle, donating to refurbish and send bikes to rural Africa.

They have 10 responsibly sourced house coffees from around the world, so there's definitely something to suit your taste and your brew method. And if you’re extra keen you can head out to Surrey to join their weekend tours and experiences to learn more about the journey from farm to cup. Head to chimneyfirecoffee.com/tap and 15% off your first order will be automatically applied. 

Photographer credit: Glenn Dearing

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In the second episode of our new series The Far Reaches, our guest is Emma Linford. Emma is an outdoor professional with a number of different strings to her bow. She’s a mountain instructor, international mountain leader, outdoor education and is heavily involved in the Right To Roam movement in the UK, as well as the Stars Are For Everyone movement that is campaigning to defend the right to wild camp on Dartmoor. This conversation is far reaching. Matt talks to Emma about her early life and inspirations, how she became an outdoor facilitator and why she started travelling overseas. She also speaks about her social and political views and their relevance to the outdoors, before discussing the right to roam movement in a little more detail.

The Far Reaches is a new long-term series where we speak to guests about subjects related to our planet and our place on it. These episodes will dig a little deeper, perhaps enter the realm of armchair philosophy, and will tackle some more existential questions surrounding adventure and exploration.

This episode is brought to you by Chimney Fire Coffee; a Certified B Corp™️, committed to the highest social and environmental standards. What sets Chimney Fire Coffee apart is their dedication to ethical sourcing. They pay their producers on average double Fairtrade prices, building direct, personal relationships. Plus, they give back by supporting Re-Cycle, donating to refurbish and send bikes to rural Africa. They have 10 responsibly sourced house coffees from around the world, so there's definitely something to suit your taste and your brew method. And if you’re extra keen you can head out to Surrey to join their weekend tours and experiences to learn more about the journey from farm to cup. Head to chimneyfirecoffee.com/tap and 15% off your first order will be automatically applied. 

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-adventure-podcast.

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Episode 179 of The Adventure Podcast features one of the world's best rock climbers, Tommy Caldwell. Tommy has set endless climbing records, made the first free ascents of several major routes on El Cap, and is the subject of multiple feature films and books. In this episode, Tommy talks to Matt about how he initially fell in love with climbing, and his motivations and propulsion to rock climbing celebrity. He also opens up about his fateful expedition to Kyrgyzstan, where he was kidnapped by rebel militia, and the lasting impact that had on him. He speaks about balancing family life with adventure, his involvement with the brand Patagonia, and how environmentalism and activism have been a side of his life just as important to him as rock climbing. Matt worked closely with Tommy on an expedition to Alaska in 2023, building up a rapport and trust with each other. This episode is a real personal insight into one of the climbing worlds' major names.

Photo: Bret Lowell

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Episode 104 of The Adventure Podcast features English fell running legend, Joss Naylor. We recorded this conversation in November 2021, but delayed its release due to Joss suffering a stroke just before Christmas. He is now back home in Wasdale, but is on a huge road to recovery. Apparently he’s in good spirits and is still ‘same old Joss’. We’ve been in touch with his friends who have sought permission to release this episode, as obviously the conversation happened before such a radical change to Joss’s life.

But the conversation is still extremely relevant and poignant. For those of you who need an introduction, Joss is, and we use this word extremely specifically a ‘legend’ in the fell running community. Hailing from the remote Wasdale Valley in the Lake District, Joss has been not just a pioneer of fell running, but also one of its most infamous athletes.

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Episode 103 of The Adventure Podcast features Kenyan mountaineer, whitewater kayaker, mountain biker and outdoor instructor, Schaniela Wright.

Ella is a former professional hockey, water polo and athletics player, who moved to the UK (after some solid advice from none other than Reinhold Messner) to get her outdoor qualifications. In this conversation, host Matt Pycroft and Ella talk about overcoming fear in the mountain, the culture shock of moving from Kenya to the UK, and the ultimate goal; to stand on top of the world’s highest mountain.

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Episode 102 of The Adventure Podcast features Adventurer and Award Winning documentary filmmaker, J.J. Kelley. J.J is best known both for his work with National Geographic and his coverage of stories about environmentalism and conservation. His career began when at age 19 when he had the thought that there has got to be more to life and he loaded his pickup truck up with camping gear and drove to Alaska. From there, life only got more interesting…

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Episode 101 of The Adventure Podcast features athlete, adventurer, activist, and author, Ana Zirner. Ana grew up in the Bavarian foothills of the Alps and is a former theater director turned mountain guide. 

Once a year, Ana takes on a big adventure in the outdoors. In 2017, she crossed the Alps on foot from east to west, followed in 2018 by the Pyrenees in the same direction. In 2019, she walked and packrafted the Colorado River from its source in the Rocky Mountains to the ocean in Mexico. In 2022, she set off on a crossing of the High Caucasus on horseback (while pregnant).

In this episode, Matt and Ana dive deep into topics like slow and sustainable travel, the effect social media has on the outdoors and becoming a parent.

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In episode 100 of The Adventure Podcast, host Matt Pycroft sits down with Vaughan Smith. Vaughan introduces himself, but in overview he’s a conflict journalist at heart. He’s also the founder of The Frontline Club, a charity he set up to support freelancers in honour of the many friends and colleagues he lost doing the job he has done. Please do listen this conversation with Vaughan, and if the story resonates with you then please do donate to the #straightfromthefrontline campaign here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/frontline-ukraine-support-courageous-reporting

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Episode 099 of The Adventure Podcast features ultra-endurance cyclist, Lael Wilcox. Her story is jaw dropping. She tells it brilliantly herself so we’ll leave her to it, but suffice to say Lael doesn’t seem to have anything in her head holding her back. She just seems to get up and get on with whatever she feels like doing next. We loved this conversation, mostly because it’s a rip roaring adventure story of a woman who found long distance adventure by chance, accidentally became a competition winner, and has now gone on to inspire a whole new generation of cyclists.

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Episode 098 of The Adventure Podcast features two world class rock climbers and alpinists, Renan Ozturk and Freddie Wilkinson. In terms of quick intros, both Freddie and Renan are world class rock climbers and alpinists. Freddie is also a historian and writer and Renan is a filmmaker, photographer and artist. They are currently on their PR tour for their latest film 'The Sanctity of Space’.

"More than eighty years after Brad Washburn first photographed Denali in Alaska, climbing buddies Renan Ozturk and Freddie Wilkinson look at some of Washburn’s images and have this crazy idea: rather than go up, their dream is to go sideways — across the range’s most forbidding peaks, the Moose’s Tooth massif. It’s a decidedly new school way to explore the same landscape Washburn first discovered.

As they pioneer the route over the course of two expeditions, enduring freezing bivies, cut ropes, and rockfall along the way, their desire to be the first to complete the audacious line grows into an obsession."

It's a wonderful and really authentic piece of filmmaking. Find out where you watch ‘The Sanctity of Space’ on their website: https://www.thesanctityofspace.com/

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