Live It Up with Mountain Life

Don Schwartz is one of the most badass dudes we've ever met. A snowboard pioneer (overall North American Champ 1988), he also rose to the top as a barefoot water skier and endurance racer in events like the Death Race and World's Toughest Mudder. He’s also a ski guide and a helicopter pilot, which is pretty crazy because at age twenty, Don survived a tragic helicopter crash that left him badly burned and took the lives of three of his friends. In his new book Beating The Impossible, Don talks about a life of comebacks, the power of the mind and his journey with post-traumatic stress disorder. Get the book here.

Host: Feet Banks

Sarah-Jane Dobner is an author, rock climber, part time van lifer, mom and all-around lovely person to chat to. Her book, A Feeling For Rock, is a collection of stories, poems, essays, cartoons and musings on the climbing life and being a woman in climbing culture. Sarah-Jane rips the finger tape off all the emotions that come with a life dedicated to putting one hand on the rock, then another. Along the way she serves up a fresh perspective and a cerebral window into the sport. Get the book at dobdobdob.co.uk

Siginaak Court Blackbird is the founder and executive director of the Indigenous Life Sport Academy, an organization providing Indigenous youth with access to unstructured sports like snowboarding, rock climbing, hiking and mountain biking to create social change and development in communities across Canada. And also, to connect to their territories and have fun.

Host: Feet Banks

Link to the books Court references: https://www.ictinc.ca/free-ebooks

Emma Segal is a disruptive designer by trade but she’s also an author, artist, master of the infographic, educator, chef and someone who is probably going to be hands-on involved when we figure out how to save the world. She has a new cookbook out and schools Feet on everything from asparagus-urine odours to the intentional design behind almost every aspect of our lives.

Host: Feet Banks

Jim McLennan is a fly fishing guide, instructor, television personality and author. After a life on the water you might even call him a purist, which is awesome because he has taught thousands of people to throw flies over the years and passed along—first-hand—much of the old-school knowledge and philosophy that’s also found in his writing. Jim’s latest book is Trout Tracks, a collection of essays now available from Rocky Mountain Books.

Host: Feet Banks

In 2005, with $20,00 earned the hard way (a car hit him while he was riding his bicycle), Robin Esrock embarked on a 23-country round-the-world tour with no real plan except to say yes to everything and let the weirdness lead the way. Along the way, he invented travel blogging (for better or for worse), kicked off a storied television and publishing career and became one of the most interesting dudes we know. 

Host: Feet Banks

Frank Wolf is the kind of guy who just heads out there into the wild and cranks off incredible trips and adventures. I.e., a 171-day paddle across Canada or a ski tour across Baffin Island. He’s an author, a photographer, a filmmaker and on this episode he talks about bigfoot, lunching with a Prime Minister in stinking paddling gear, and why getting out there is easier than people think.

Host: Feet Banks

Tony Richardson is a big wall climber and an industrial designer who has created gear for top-of-the-game outdoor brands, as well as up-and-comers. He's a tinkerer and a perfectionist and sometimes he has to accept that they've already made ten thousand of the plastic clip he suddenly knows how to make better. He also has a sick mullet. This one is for the gear junkies!

Host: Feet Banks

Lisa Lefroy has been described as the happiest person to ever ride a bike. A pioneer in the world of freeride mountain biking, Lisa's stoke for the shred and entrepreneurial spirit has taken her around the globe as an athlete, agent and seat-of-her-pants event producer. These days she's back in Squamish spreading the stoke through her unique bike rental company bikinginsquamish.com. We caught up with her to talk about the "dirty girls" days of the early freeride scene, breaking the sport in Panama, and how many bikes you can buy with an engagement ring diamond. 

Long-distance athlete Hilary Matheson says that whenever she’s out in nature shooting photos, her experience as a runner and an athlete helps her better anticipate where the raw and authentic moments are going to turn up. 

Host: Feet Banks