The Broad Beta Podcast

Joanne Urioste’s story is a masterclass in charting your own course. Growing up in New York under strict, old-school expectations, she channeled her rebellious energy into an obsession with mountains before she ever actually climbed. Once she did, she went all in, tackling big alpine climbs in the Northeast with her partner Jorge, back when gear was minimal. Joanne shares how she learned to compartmentalize fear and channel total calm, and that climbing is ultimately about building a foundation of mastering your systems and managing your mind.

Joanne explains how she built the confidence to navigate a male-dominated climbing culture, sometimes choosing to document routes in private to protect them from backlash. Her mountain ventures evolved with motherhood when she pivoted from high-risk climbing to ultrarunning, and she ultimately crushed the brutal Hardrock 100. From her legendary Red Rock first ascents and guidebook to the long arc of a life built around wildness, Joanne's life story is sure to inspire anyone.

LINKS:

Purchase Joanne's memoir Collages of Rock & Desire: Re-imagining Climbing in Red Rock, Risk in the Andes & Running into Dreams:

https://www.amazon.com/Collages-Rock-Desire-Re-imagining-Climbing/dp/B0G45SK5R9

https://www.desertrocksportslv.com/ (a local/order-by-phone option other than Amazon)

AAC short documentary about the Uriostes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ob-piZ51wBw&t=2s

-

Episode hosted by Jeannie Wall & Cat Coe

Audio production by Cat Coe

Music by Holizna Radio (intro & segues) and Ketsa (conclusion). All music sourced from freemusicarchive.org.

www.broadbeta.com

Tune in to get reacquainted with Jeannie Wall, co-founder of Broad Beta. Jeannie epitomizes the term mountain athlete, with high-level accomplishments in a mind-boggling array of disciplines from nordic racing to mixed climbing. She is the ultimate mentor, sharing her knowledge and stoke with climbers of all levels. In this episode, Jeannie shares a story about climbing Ruby Peak in the high Sierra. She and her partner deal with exfoliating rock and rockfall, and she reflects on Yvon Chouinard's quote, “If the trip is planned to the nth degree with no risk or surprise, then it’s just a vacation.” Sit back and enjoy this short story, and get inspired for your next adventure.

Climbing's Unspooling was originally published on the Broad Beta website in July of 2026. Check it out here to see photos from Ruby Peak.

-

Recorded by Jeannie Wall

Produced by Cat Coe

Music by Holizna Radio (intro) and Kirk Osamayo (conclusion). All music sourced from freemusicarchive.org.

www.broadbeta.com

Getting Consent on El Cap was written by Amber Smith and originally published on the Broad Beta website in June of 2026 (visit the link to see photos!). Amber shares her past hesitations about climbing El Cap, and how she eventually overcame them with a successful ascent of Lurking Fear. We love how she articulates her questions and fear about this endeavor.

Amber is a Certified Rock Guide with the AMGA and has been guiding for over a decade. The first half of her career was spent in the North Cascades, where she climbed, guided, and skied many of the Cascade volcanoes via multiple routes. Later, she based herself in Yosemite National Park, where she climbed and guided hundreds of iconic granite multi-pitch routes. Amber climbs at the 5.12 grade on both traditional and sport routes across limestone, granite, and sandstone. But most importantly, she believes these accomplishments don’t define her as a climber. Over the course of her career, Amber has developed tools not only to perform, but to enjoy climbing. Through her business, the Embodied Climbing School, she teaches these tools to help others cultivate joy, presence, and confidence in their climbing.

Check out Amber's business the Embodied Climbing School

Follow her adventures and offerings @embodiedclimbingschool

-

Recorded and produced by Cat Coe

Music by Holizna Radio (intro) and Kirk Osamayo (conclusion). All music sourced from freemusicarchive.org.

www.broadbeta.com

Our guest, mountain runner, climber, and mountaineer Jenny Abegg, tells the story of how wild places became her venue for finding agency and learning to live from the heart after leaving a religious community. We talk about the shift from hard rock climbing to mountain running, and Jenny shares what it means to earn the style of moving fast on technical terrain. Her parents took her into the alpine as a young child, and she continues to build on that foundation of skills by going further and faster into big mountains.

Jenny talks to us about her Patagonia partnership, why she doesn’t feel sponsorship pressure, and how Better Trail - a company she co-founded - aims to cut through sustainability marketing by providing real data on outdoor gear. We talk about recycled materials, repairability, durability, and the uncomfortable truth that the greenest choice is often buying less.

If any of this hits home, subscribe, share this with a mountain adventure friend, and leave a review so more listeners can find the show.

Follow Jenny on Instagram @jabegg

Watch the Emmy-winning film The High Route: Director's Cut about Jenny Abegg and Kaytlyn Gerbin's North Cascade High Traverse (127 miles and 60k feet of elevation gain in just 7 days!)

Check out Better Trail - the company that Jenny co-founded 

-

Hosted by Jeannie Wall and Cat Coe

Audio production by Cat Coe

Episode photo by Steven Gnam

Music by Holizna Radio (intro) Ketsa (segue) and Kirk Osamayo (conclusion). All music sourced from freemusicarchive.org.

www.broadbeta.com

She broke a legendary New Zealand endurance race record. She completed Eco Challenges in places like Australia, Patagonia, and Borneo. Then she walked into an even tougher arena: environmental governance. We’re joined by Andrea Hamilton Davis, an American expat who’s lived in New Zealand since the ‘90s, to unpack how a life built in wild terrain can shape the way you lead, decide, and collaborate as an environmental policy decision-maker.

We get into what adventure racing really entails: navigation, discipline, and the ability to keep a team moving when everyone is sleep deprived. Andrea shares the practical side of performing for days with minimal rest, and how risk tolerance changes when you’ve spent decades managing real-time hazards in mountains, rivers, and storms. 

Andrea explains why she went back for a graduate degree in environmental policy, what it’s like to serve on a regional council responsible for water, air, land, and farming impacts, and why trust and relationships matter as much as data. We also dig into unintended consequences in regulation, and why unlimited GDP growth collides with planetary boundaries. If you care about conservation, clean water, climate resilience, and how change actually happens, this conversation offers both realism and agency.

Subscribe for more stories at the intersection of wilderness, leadership, and environmental action, share this episode with a friend who cares about the outdoors, and leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. What’s one belief you’ve changed after spending time in wild places?

-

Hosted by Jeannie Wall and Cat Coe

Audio production by Cat Coe

Music by Holizna Radio (intro and segues) and BOPD (conclusion). All music sourced from freemusicarchive.org.

www.broadbeta.com

We sit down with IFMGA-certified mountain guide Lyra Pierotti, a rare blend of international guide, avalanche professional, and strength and conditioning specialist, to unpack what it actually takes to build a long career in the mountains. Lyra shares how she found her way to the Sierra and the French Alps in early adulthood, her path into the guiding world, plus the honest realities of paying for certifications, chasing seasonal work, and making “security” mean more than a paycheck.

The conversation turns personal and practical as Lyra describes a major physical shutdown after a trip on Denali, the wake-up call of celiac-related inflammation, and the work of rebuilding toward true durability. We talk about why guiding is basically a high-volume endurance job, how climate change is reshaping glacier terrain and seasons, and why the old expectation of constant field days is fading.

Then we get into the training details women athletes wish they’d learned earlier: why many women need focused strength and power work, how menstrual cycle phases can affect recovery and fueling, and how to keep it simple with an energy log, cycle awareness, and optional HRV tracking. If you want better performance in climbing, ski mountaineering, or uphill endurance without burning out, this one is for you.

If it resonates, subscribe, share it with a training partner, and leave a review so more mountain athletes can find cycle-smart coaching and sustainable guiding stories.

Check out Lyra's business Movementum Training

Follow Lyra on instagram @pierotly

Listen to another interview with Lyra on the Female Guides Requested podcast

-

Hosted by Jeannie Wall and Cat Coe

Audio production by Cat Coe

Episode cover photo by Mary Brown

Music by Holizna Radio, Kirk Osamayo, and Ketsa, respectively. All music sourced from freemusicarchive.org.

www.broadbeta.com

Our guest is Anna Pfaff - an alpinist and expedition climber, and a critical care nurse. Anna has completed numerous expeditions and put up first ascents all over the world. Her resume includes the Great Trango Tower and The Nameless Tower in Pakistan, Shishapangma in Tibet, Holtana Peak in Antarctica, and most recently a new route on Mt. Providence in the Alaska Range.

Anna became a nurse at 20, moved from rural Ohio to Denver, and accidentally found the thing that would reshape her whole life: climbing. What starts as tagging along to Indian Creek turns into a decades-long pursuit through Yosemite big walls, Patagonia seasons, and a travel nursing lifestyle designed around the mountains. We dig into the realities of making that life work, including stacking shifts, choosing contracts near climbing zones, and building the calm, people-first communication that both nursing and alpine climbing demand.

Then Anna talks to us about her devastating frostbite injury after climbing Mt. Huntington in 2022. After the loss of six toes, she gives herself permission to walk away from climbing entirely. That honesty becomes the doorway back: easy gym laps in approach shoes, relearning balance without a big toe, and rebuilding confidence one small decision at a time. We talk about what risk management looks like after trauma, how partner communication changes, and why “turning around” can be the most professional move you make.

We also get into the less visible side of being a professional climber in the outdoor industry: long-term sponsorship relationships, mentorship projects, guiding, public speaking, and the daily work of showing up as a solid teammate. If you care about alpine climbing, injury recovery, travel nursing, or simply living with more intention, this conversation stays with you. Subscribe, share it with a friend who needs a reset, leave a review, and tell us: what’s your personal rule for knowing when it’s time to keep going or turn back?

https://www.annapfaff.com/

Watch the beautiful short documentary Anna about Anna and her injury

Follow Anna on Instagram @pfaff_anna

-

Hosted by Jeannie Wall & Cat Coe

Produced and edited by Cat Coe

www.broadbeta.com

Frost bites the air at minus 28, the Lamar Valley glows with steam from bison herds, and we shoulder packs toward a line that might vanish tomorrow. Dancing on Ice is Jeannie Wall's love letter to Montana’s winter: Hyalite Canyon’s storied walls, Cooke City’s elusive test pieces, and the quiet codes that bind a small tribe of climbers who choose presence over comfort.

This story was originally featured in The Big Sky Journal's winter 2025 edition. If it sparks your own winter stoke, follow the show, share it with a friend who loves cold adventures, and leave a review telling us your boldest dawn patrol or the climb that changed how you see winter. Then go to our website and check out Jason Thompson's awesome ice climbing photos that went with the story.

-

Story photos by @jason_thompson_photos

Read by Jeannie Wall

Audio production by Cat Coe

www.broadbeta.com

A moonlit push up Mount Hood lit a lifelong fire—and it didn’t stop at the summit. Arlene Blum opens up about how a strict, postwar childhood, overprotective grandparents, and one ecstatic first climb shaped her habit of choosing new routes when the obvious path was closed to women. From organizing the first all-women ascent of Denali and leading a death-defying rescue, to launching a 15‑month “Endless Winter” of high altitude ascents, she shares how grief, sexism, and logistics became fuel rather than walls.

Arlene explains how the death of her friend Bruce Carson motivated her to focus on children’s pajamas contaminated with carcinogenic flame retardants, and how one scientific paper—paired with national media—sparked sweeping change within months. Then came tougher terrain: outdated furniture and vehicle flammability standards that pushed toxic chemicals into couches and car seats with little fire safety benefit. 

As founder of the Green Science Policy Institute, Arlene breaks down the playbook that works: rigorous research, clear recommendations, unlikely alliances with firefighters and consumer advocates, and a focus on safer design that stops fires before foam ignites.

You’ll come away with a mountaineer’s approach to public health: define the summit, build a resilient team, pace for the long haul, and know when to change tactics. Arlene offers practical steps to cut exposure today—think fresh air in the car instead of recirculating—and offers several resources (listed below) for smarter choices and up-to-date science. It’s a conversation about optimism as a survival skill and how extraordinary persistence can out climb entrenched systems. If the episode resonated, subscribe, share it with a friend who loves mountains or public health, and leave a review to help more listeners find these stories.

Links to more resources:
www.ArleneBlum.com : Arlene's personal website with a photo library of her expeditions as well as links to her resources and talks related to both mountaineering and science
www.SixClasses.org : four-minute videos that explain the six classes of chemicals of concern and how to avoid their use
www.GreenSciencePolicy.org : facilitates safer use of chemicals to protect human and ecological health
PFAScentral.org : all things PFAS chemicals, including a list of PFAS-free products

-

Episode hosted by Broad Beta co-founder Jeannie Wall and Cat Coe

Episode produced and edited by Cat Coe

Music by Holizna Radio (intro) and Kirk Osomayo (conclusion). Music sourced from www.freemusicarchive.org.

www.broadbeta.com

Amity Warme joined a short list of climbers when she free climbed the PreMuir Wall (33 pitches, 5.13c/d) on El Capitan in Yosemite National Park this November. She joins us as a follow up to her full length interview and tells us all about it. Check out her full bio in the show notes of her interview. In summary, she's a badass!

Congratulations, Amity!

www.broadbeta.com