The RunOut Podcast

Tag: Kelly Cordes

  • RunOut #55: Alpinism’s Bright Future and Dark Past

    RunOut #55: Alpinism’s Bright Future and Dark Past

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    Our two returning guests make this one of our strongest episodes yet. First, the great Freddie Wilkinson joins us from his home in New Hampshire to give us the latest reporting on the historic first winter ascent of K2 by a team of 10 Nepali and Sherpa climbers. And we muse about what this ascent portends for the future of cutting-edge alpinism in the greater Himalaya.

    Next, we connect with the great Kelly Cordes to talk about the recent passing of Cesare Maestri at the ripe old age of 91 years old. Maestri, the affectionately named Spider of the Dolomites, was legend and climbing icon in his home of Italy, but his legacy is inextricably linked to all but debunked claims of having completed the first ascent of Cerro Torre in 1959.

    For the Final Bit, Danny Parker serenades us with a song about climbing’s ubiquitous badge of honor—or greatest nemesis—the Gobi. We promise you’ll never go to the desert again without thinking about this song …

    SHOW NOTES

    “One Mountain, Thousand Summits” by Freddie Wilkinson.

    Guiding with Freddie.

    Freddie’s op-ed in the NYT about the first winter ascent of K2.

    “The Tower: A Chronicle of Climbing and Controversy on Cerro Torre” by Kelly Cordes.

    Maestri obit on Rock and Ice.

    Follow Danny Parker’s desert adventures on Insta.

    Photo: Cerro Torre in Patagonia, Argentina on December 28th 2009 // Corey Rich/Red Bull Content Pool

  • Runout #42: Climbers in Iso: Kelly Cordes

    Runout #42: Climbers in Iso: Kelly Cordes

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    Hello friends. It’s time for another edition of Climbers in Iso, our pandemic podcasting mini-series in which Chris Kalous and I, Andrew Bisharat, reach out to our fellow climbers to check in and see how life under lockdown is going.

    To quote Cormac McCarthy from his book The Road, “Nobody wants to be here and nobody wants to leave.” That just about sums up what a full month of self-quarantine feels like for many of us.

    But not today’s guest, who is just now really hitting his stride.

    Today, we’re speaking to one of the saltiest bastards in climbing, Kelly Cordes—a distinguished alpinist, writer, and online provocateur. I say salty bastard … but he’s also salt of the earth. Few people in climbing possess the authentic charm and charismatic delight of Kelly Cordes, even when he is in one of his notoriously misanthropic moods.

    I hope you enjoy this conversation, and please reach out with feedback. For one, Kelly loves seeing people write comments about him on the Internet, so don’t be shy. And if you have any suggestions for who we should be talking to next for our Climbers in Iso mini-series, we’re taking names and numbers now.

    Let the games begin. Here’s Kelly Cordes.