Ice Ice Beta

This episode is part of the Meet the Maker series where we highlight an entrepreneur who is making specialty gear for ice climbers. If you’ve ever wanted to hear the story behind some of your favorite – and soon to be favorite – products, that’s what today’s conversation is about.

We’re doing this because we believe that thoughtfully-designed gear is more than the sum of its parts: they are crafted by folks who have decades of experience in the sport, are refined through countless iterations and testing, and brought to life with genuine passion to solve real problems. 

Said another way, these folks represent the heart and soul of product innovation.

Ben and Nick make gym-safe training equipment for ice climbing and drytooling.

Quite simply, you’d be hard-pressed to find another company that has done more to promote drytooling in the U.S. Core to it all, it’s because they care.

The company was started as a way to give back to the community. Ben and Nick knew they weren’t going to chase FAs or push the grades, but they could help folks train year-round and encourage new people to try the sports. Why? They believe in giving back to the sport that has given them so much – from sponsoring ice fests and Team USA to loaning out tools for drytooling nights to producing educational material – Furnace Industries is always forging ahead to help the community.

Hear more about their story and what makes their tools special in today’s episode.

Ben and Nick are generously offering a set of DRY ICE Evolutions.

Here’s how to enter:

In the conversation, be on the lookout for the answer to the following question:

• 👉 On the original DRY ICE prototype that Ben saw, the tool was made with a fan belt from what car?

Once you have the answer:

• Follow @furnaceindustries and @ice_ice_beta on Instagram
• DM the answer to the question to @ice_ice_beta
• Comment on the giveaway post on our Instagram: “#itsalwaysiceseason” once you’ve sent in your answer
• Share the giveaway post to your story for an extra entry
• Winners will be randomly selected from submissions that meet all the rules on Monday, December 2!

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu  Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.  

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others. 

This episode is part of the Meet the Maker series where we highlight an entrepreneur who is making specialty gear for ice climbers. If you’ve ever wanted to hear the story behind some of your favorite – and soon to be favorite – products, that’s what today’s conversation is about.

We’re doing this because we believe that thoughtfully-designed gear is more than the sum of its parts: they are crafted by folks who have decades of experience in the sport, are refined through countless iterations and testing, and brought to life with genuine passion to solve real problems. 

Said another way, these folks represent the heart and soul of product innovation.

Kevin is the the Founder of OuterU, who has turned the ski and mountaineering face mask from a source of complaint into a spark of joy.

If you’re sick of face covers that fog up your goggles or buffs that get wet and freeze up, you’re going to be psyched about OuterU’s faceGloves and bala that covers noses and cheekbones without restricting breathing — solutions that were long overdue.

Kevin is generously offering a few sets to listeners — the faceGlove and bala can be used separately, but are optimzied to work together.

Here’s how to enter:

In the conversation, be on the lookout for the answer to the following question:

• 👉 What is the name of Kevin’s mentor who helped him turn his prototypes into their first commercial products.

Once you have the answer to the question:

• Follow @outerugear and @ice_ice_beta on Instagram
• DM the answer to the question to @ice_ice_beta
• Comment on the giveaway post on our Instagram: “#abetterfacemask” once you’ve sent in your answer
• Share the giveaway post to your story for an extra entry
• Winners will be randomly selected from submissions that meet all the rules on Monday, December 2!

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu  Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.  

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others. 

This episode is part of the Meet the Maker series where we highlight an entrepreneur who is making specialty gear for ice climbers. If you’ve ever wanted to hear the story behind some of your favorite – and soon to be favorite – products, that’s what today’s conversation is about.

We’re doing this because we believe that thoughtfully-designed gear is more than the sum of its parts: they are crafted by folks who have decades of experience in the sport, are refined through countless iterations and testing, and brought to life with genuine passion to solve real problems. 

Said another way, these folks represent the heart and soul of product innovation.

Doug is the the Founder of Aniiu, which makes technical ice climbing gloves.

Doug is a longtime Salt Lake City climber, route developer, and alpinist, among many superlatives. He’s also the VP of Product Development at Black Diamond. What do you get when you combine 30+ years of ice climbing experience with technical chops? 

Listen to the episode to find out.

Doug is generously offering a few pairs of their Viinson™ Short gloves to listeners.

Here’s how to enter:

In the conversation with Doug, be on the lookout for the answer to the following question:

• 👉 Takashima, Aniiu’s partner, and perhaps the premier technical glove makers in Japan, are now under which generation of family ownership?

Once you have the answer to the question:

• Follow @aniiu_gloves and @ice_ice_beta on Instagram
• DM the answer to the question to @ice_ice_beta
• Comment on the giveaway post on our Instagram: “#yourfriendinthecold” once you’ve sent in your answer
• Share the giveaway post to your story for an extra entry
• Winners will be randomly selected from submissions that meet all the rules on Monday, December 2!

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu  Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.  

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others. 

This episode is part of the Meet the Maker series where we highlight an entrepreneur who is making specialty gear for ice climbers. If you’ve ever wanted to hear the story behind some of your favorite – and soon to be favorite – products, that’s what today’s conversation is about.

We’re doing this because we believe that thoughtfully-designed gear is more than the sum of its parts: they are crafted by folks who have decades of experience in the sport, are refined through countless iterations and testing, and brought to life with genuine passion to solve real problems. 

Said another way, these folks represent the heart and soul of product innovation.

Paul and Charlie are the the Founders of Beartooth Alpine, who specialize in metal goods made in the USA.

Driven by an ethos of “do not conform”, their mission is to produce the best gear possible out of the best materials. Period. 

Their latest release — specialized picks — have gotten folks excited: their 2mm-tapered Ice Hawk is optimized for minimal displacement and durability while their Master Scratchers have been hailed as the best ice climbing mixed pick that will actually hold up to the rigors of scratchy terrain.

Paul and Charlie are generously offering a set of picks to listeners. They have picks for all major ice tool models, including the Nomic, X-Dream, Hydra, and Dark Machine.

Here’s how to enter:

In the conversation, be on the lookout for the answer to the following question:

• 👉 What is one fundamental difference between their picks and most stock picks on the market?

Once you have the answer to the question:

• Follow @beartoothalpine and @ice_ice_beta on Instagram
• DM the answer to the question to @ice_ice_beta
• Comment on the giveaway post on our Instagram: “#donotconform” once you’ve sent in your answer
• Share the giveaway post to your story for an extra entry
• Winners will be randomly selected from submissions that meet all the rules on Monday, December 2!

...

📸: Cover photos courtesy of Paul and Charlie

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu  Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.  

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others. 

Passion, conviction, obsession. Heart and soul. Words to describe the devoted. Those driven to produce what had never existed before — a crusade to push the sport forward. 

When Bill Belcourt talks product, you listen. The former head of R&D at Black Diamond, Bill helmed the department during the heydey, when anything was possible and all roads led to BD for product innovation. Chances are, if you’ve used BD climbing gear in the past 30 years, you’ve used Bill’s work.

Now, Bill leads Blue Ice - North America, where the work continues.

In this episode, we chat about:

• 🧊 Why product discovery is a life project, not a job
• 🧊 How finding your people can change everything
• 🧊 The lifecycle of innovation in business and industry
• 🧊 Life lessons from Randy Rackliff and Mark Twight

Resources and links:

Bill isn’t really active on social media, so no point in sharing links. We didn’t talk about it in the episode, but Bill has been at the vanguard of paragliding in the U.S. for decades (and has several long-distance records). If you’d like to learn more about that facet of his life, this is a good podcast episode.

If you’d like to dive deeper into the (mythology?) of Black Diamond, I enjoyed this article from Outside, “Welcome to the Mutant Factory”.

And of course, if you’d like to support a climbing brand who is continuing the work, check out Blue Ice at blueice.com.

...

📸:  Cover photo by Barry Blanchard. 

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu  Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.  

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others. 

Today, we dive into the mindset of a competitor. Gordon McArthur has been a staple on the World Cup circuit across 15 seasons, including a one-year retirement. We talk about the particular highs and lows of returning to the sport, the story of Storm Giant (the first proposed D16 in the world), and what role ego plays in it all.

In particular, our conversation hovers around themes of drive, our relationship to competitiveness, and understanding our true motivations. 

We also chat about:

• 🧊 The moment of retirement: Inner Mongolia, 2017
• 🧊 Challenges and reflections from Edmonton
• 🧊 Mentorship and the legacy we leave behind
• 🧊 The story of Storm Giant
• 🧊 Advice for younger climbers

Resources and links:

You can learn more about Gordon and read some of his reflections at gordonmcarthur.com. To follow him on Instagram, he’s @gord_mcarthur. If you’re curious to see how Storm Giant came together, definitely check out the Outdoor Research film, “Storm Giant: The World's Hardest Drytooling Route”.

...

📸:  Cover photo by Jeff Mercier

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu  Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.  

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others. 

Doug Heinrich has just about done it all and seen it all in ice climbing ⛏️ as both a climber and product designer 🧤. 

Doug hails from Salt Lake City where he began climbing in the 1970s. He was an extensive route developer, including many mixed climbs in the Wasatch, competed at the X Games, and has been at the vanguard for product at Black Diamond almost from the beginning.

In this episode, we chat about:

• 🧊 The climbing scene in Utah, from early bouldering to the evolution of ice climbing, to the advent of sport climbing and sport mixed climbing
• 🧊 Lessons learned from Mugs Stump
• 🧊 The importance of humility
• 🧊 His inverted professional career
• 🧊 The evolution of Black Diamond and what most people don’t understand about the company
• 🧊 How passion projects lead to innovation, and why he’s excited about his new venture, Aniiu

Resources and links:

Doug’s not much for social media, but you should definitely check out his side project, Aniiu, which are focused on making highly technical gloves for all disciplines of ice climbing, including working with some of the world’s leading drytoolers. You can check them out at aniiu.com and follow them on IG  @aniiu_gloves.

And for some behind the scenes into Black Diamond R&D and testing, here is a (sponsored, albeit interesting) article from Outside from 2014, with quotes from Doug.

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📸: Photos by Chris Noble (@noblefoto)

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu  Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.  

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others. 

Eliteclimb makes the lightest ice tools in the world, and it’s not even close. It’s possible because Jarosław "Jarek" Walewski uses a mix of carbon and kevlar composites, and nothing else—the only metal in his tools are the bolts and picks.

The one-man brand has been bucking industry trends for over a decade now, and it’s his unique position as an independent craftsman that lets Jarek pursue solutions that the bigger brands ignore.

By being attuned to the community and working with some of the world’s best, their tools have been used on no oxygen ascents of Lhotse, expeditions to places like K2 and Broad Peak and at the highest-end of drytooling today.

In this episode, we chat about:

• 🧊 How Jarek came to understand composites by working in one of the best glider factories in the world
• 🧊 Why he chooses to make each tool by hand
• 🧊 The advantages of composite materials
• 🧊 Why moving fast and trying things is a good strategy
• 🧊 Being open to opportunities and feedback (positive and negative)
• 🧊 His philosophy on business, craftsmanship, and production 

Resources and links:

To learn more about Eliteclimb’s tools, head to eliteclimb.com. All of their tools can be customized (from weight, strength, colors, etc.), so if you’re interested, be sure to reach out to Jarek. 

On the website, you can also read trip reports from expeditions where their tools have been used. Lastly, there are more updates on their Instagram, @eliteclimb.

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📸: Episode cover photo by Artur Małek courtesy of Jarek

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu  Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.  

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others. 

This episode is all about training for ice climbing, mixed, drytooling and speed.

To discuss these diverse disciplines, we’re joined by Kevin Lindlau, Aneta Loužecká, and Zac St. Jules and dive into how they think about and structure their training for their respective specialties. 

Kevin is a leading roof-climbing drytooler and the first American to send D16, Aneta was last year's World Cup Champion in speed, and Zac is a strong all-around ice and mixed climber who manages to send hard while also working full-time and raising 4 kids. 

In this episode, we discuss:

• 🧊 Each climber’s unique journey and some surprisingly common training mistakes
• 🧊 Why defining your goals is so important
• 🧊 How to break things down to first principles in order to structure your training
• 🧊 Why mastering technique matters as much as being strong
• 🧊 Mental tricks and tips for getting in the right head space
• 🧊 Cost-effective training solutions if access to drytooling is hard to come by

Resources and links:

To see how Kevin, Aneta, and Zac are training, you can follow them on IG:

• Kevin: @lindlaukevin
• Aneta: @anetkalouzecka
• Zac: @zacst.jules

Be sure to send them a thank you message if you found their advice useful.

A few other useful resources:

• Uphill Athlete has an article about Training for Ice and Mixed Climbing that I’ve personally used
• Furnace Industries has a series about Training for Ice Climbing
• We also had an episode about training for drytooling specifically last season, with Eli Ellis
• Lastly, if you don’t have access to a drytooling gym or crag, Furnace Industries' wooden tools are climbing gym safe and also make for great options for training at home. And if you do want to build out your home wall, they also have the largest selection of drytooling-specific holds in the U.S.

...

📸: Episode cover photo courtesy of Aneta

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu  Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.  

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others. 

Corey Buhay has made a life out of doing what she loves. That’s not to say it’s been easy.

Known as the go-to reporter for all things drytooling ⛏️, Corey quickly built a career as a freelance journalist regularly contributing to Climbing 🧗‍♀️, Backpacker 🥾, Smithsonian 🗿, and the like. Around the time she started writing full-time, she also started drytooling. Again, she quickly established herself, rising to the top of the rankings for comp ice climbing in North America. But, shortly thereafter, she decided to walk away. How come?

In today’s chat we talk about:

• 🧊 The assignment that changed everything
• 🧊 Going all in on things that give you happiness
• 🧊 Struggles with expectations, perfectionism and anxiety
• 🧊 Revitalizing Team USA and competitive pressures
• 🧊 Burnout and taking a break
• 🧊 Rediscovering balance and joy in climbing

I want to say that I really appreciated Corey’s openness and willingness to discuss difficult topics and her ability to infuse humor into the conversation. Further, if you’re struggling with mental health, know that you’re not alone and that there are folks and resources who can help, some of which we share in the show notes.

Resources and links:

If you’d like to follow Corey’s latest writings, her website is coreybuhay.com. 

Some of my personal favorite articles of hers are:

• Russia’s World Cup Ice Climbing Scene is as Hardcore as it Gets
• The Strange Underworld of Competition Ice Climbing
• Years After My Mentor Died in the Backcountry, I Retraced His Final Footsteps

Mental health resources:

• Mental Health in Athletes: Breaking the Stigma
• Resources for Athletes with Eating Disorders
• Athletes Against Anxiety and Depression Foundation (who offer a free therapy option)
• Managing Stress in Sports: Quieting the Mind and the Body

...

📸: Cover photo by Mike Thurk (@mthurk)

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu  Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.  

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others.