Action In Solitude

Timmy O'Neill's career in the outdoor industry had taken him in many direction. From his modest start as a cashier at the Old Faithful Gift Shop in Yellowstone, to breaking the-then speed record for climbing The Nose on "El Cap" in Yosemite, to founding Paradox Sports, a non-profit organization that helps disabled individuals participate in human-powered sports and enjoy the great outdoors. With all he has achieved, Timmy continues to expand his horizons physically, intellectually, and spiritually. Recently, he became an ophthalmic technician to work with the Himalayan Cataract Project. Come March, Timmy will be traveling to Ghana to assist with cataract surgeries and help cure preventable blindness. Seriously. He's like a superhero alpinist or as Timmy puts it, an adventure caregiver. Kevin met up with Timmy in his hometown of Boulder, Colorado to rap over a couple mics about public transportation, growing up in a large Catholic family, rock climbing, kayaking, and doing good for others. Enjoy! Connect wit

Anton Krupicka came onto the ultra running scene when he took 1st place at the Leadville 100 Run in 2006. He was 22 years old. In 2007, he took 47 minutes off his time and won the heroic race, once again. That time still stands as the 3rd fastest on the course. Those highly celebrated wins helped Krupicka turn his passion of running in the natural world into a career. Currently, he is sponsored by La Sportiva, Buff, Petzl, Ultimate Direction, Zeal, and Stance. Krupicka stopped by the basement in Denver, Colorado to talk about his upbringing in Nebreska, his back-to-back wins at the Leadville 100 Run, and how his pursuits in the outdoors have changed over the years. Enjoy! Photo Credit: Matt Trappe (mensjournal.com) Connect with Krupicka: Website Instagram Strava

Even though Whitney Boland was born in Florida, a state with absolutely no worthwhile climbing and went to school in Ohio, a state with very limited climbing, somehow she fell in love with the sport and made a career of it. She serves as a contributing editor for Rock & Ice. She climbs for Black Diamond, La Sportiva, and Sterling. A number of outdoor industry brands hire her for marketing copy work. And she does all this from her home base in New Paltz, NY. Not a bad gig. Whitney recently gave a talk at Rock & Snow in celebration of the 80th anniversary of the Gunks. Seemed like a good time to sit down with her and hear what she's up to. Turns out she's up to a lot. Whitney and Kevin sat down in the open spaced kitchen in her quaint home the bumps up against Minnewaska State Park and talked about her upbringing in Florida and Kentucky, how she got into climbing after losing interest in gymnastics, why she loves East Coast climbing, and her upcoming trip to Spain. Enjoy.   Photo Credit: blackdiamondequipme

Paul Nelson is a lot of things. He holds a PhD in history. He's a Misty Mountain and Blue Ridge Outdoors sponsored climber. He authored a book called Wrecks of Human Ambition: A History of Utah's Canyon Country to 1936. He started playing guitar at the age of five and recently started playing bluegrass mandolin. To say he's a passionate individual would be a gross understatement. Kevin sat down with Paul at the American Alpine Club Campground, which Paul manages, at The New River Gorge in Fayetteville, West Virginia. The conversation moves from Paul's Mormon upbringing in Northern Utah, his time in graduate school at Southern Methodist University in Texas, and why he decided to stick around the East Coast instead of returning to the West Coast. Want to more? Check out Paul's blog riversandstone.

Andres Marin won't tell you he's a badass climber, but don't let him fool you. He is. He has represented the United States in five Ice Climbing World Cups, which is a bit funny since he was born in Columbia and lived there for most of his youth. As an AMGA mountain guide he leads climbing expeditions all over the world. His mountain resume, which includes climbs in Alaska, Peru and the Alps, is quite extensive for such a young climber. Andres is a really nice dude that also has an enormous passion for music. Andres was in town for the WMCC Rendezvous to represent Millet and give a talk about an adventure he lead with Timmy and Sean O'Neill. He had a little extra time to chat. We sat down in the library of a New England farmhouse and chatted for an hour. It was great to hear about his unique upbringing and his genuine excitement for climbing rock and ice. Enjoy! Special thanks to Wayne Burleson for hosting Andres and allowing us to use his house as a studio. Much respect!

Kevin meets up with Molly Kitchen at her beautiful new home in Montague, Massachusetts to discuss yoga, herbalism and life choices. Molly talks about growing up in a typical midwestern family in Kalamazoo, Michigan, her transformative years at Humboldt State in California, working on an organic farm in Hawaii, and the Yoga + Herbs Convergence workshop she founded. In addition to teaching public classes, Molly teaches Ayurvedic herbal and lifestyle workshops, offers personalized private sessions to help students take their practice to the next level, and provides one-on-one guidance for individuals recovering from illness or trauma. At Hampshire College she teaches semester long yoga courses, and also collaborates with Baystate’s Family Advocacy Center to study yoga as therapy for trauma. Busy, busy, busy...

When speaking to Josh Helke, owner and founder of Organic Climbing, it quickly became evident that his passion for quality products is equal to his immense passion for climbing and bouldering. He's not a flashy guy, nor one to toot his own horn (maybe it's his humble Midwesterner upbringing), but when he gets to talking it's almost as if he gains momentum like a long distance runner, speaking about each topic comprehensively and candidly.  We talked about his upbringing in a small Minnesota town. We talk about how he got into the sport at a young age. We talked about the modest beginnings of his company Organic Climbing and why he believes it's been so successful. We talked about his parents and his climbing heroes. I found our conversation endlessly fascinating and could have continued talking for another hour or two. Maybe another time.  

It's hard to start an outdoor brand. Like really hard. I've always admired those that ignore the odds and go at it full steam. So I enjoyed having product designer and founder of MHM Jeff Popp stop by the basement studio to talk about growing up in Golden, CO, snowboarding for the University of Colorado and growing a business. Enjoy!

I first met Kathy Karlo during a trad climbing trip to Tennessee Wall in Chattanooga. I was looking for athletes to film. A friend of a friend suggested I reach out to a visiting climber from Brooklyn that loves to climb off-widths. We talked. We made plans. A couple days later we met in the parking lot and headed up the burly trail for a day of bushwacking, climbing, and lots of full belly laughs. We had so much fun we met up later to climb at the Gunks. Sharing those pitches with Kathy I can confidently say she has a natural talent for rock climbing that makes me explode with jealousy. How can she be that strong? Did she really find a placement there? She's only been climbing for how many years? Kathy is a god damn climbing wizard. That has got to be it. Kathy stopped by the Action in Solitude studio on her way to the Denver airport. We talk rock climbing (obviously), blogging (she writes the blog fortheloveofclimbing.com), bolting the gunks, road trippin', dating, Shooter McGavin (her dog), and a bunch of

Maddie Berky lives in Denver, Colorado. She writes for her blog MadWellness.com, owns Elevation Rowing, provides health and nutrition counseling and coaches Crossfit. Maddie stopped by the Action in Solitude basement studio with delicious muffins to share (how delightful!) and we talked for over an hour covering an array of topics, like Crossfit, nutrition, rowing, Tinder, and Concord, Massachusetts. Listen for tips about eating healthy on the road and making simple changes to your diet to reap huge rewards! Do you have a friend that would be a great guest on Action in Solitude? Would you be great on Action in Solitude? Go to the contact page and send us an email or simply leave a comment below. We'd love to hear from you!

Peter Miller and Hilary James are two of the six members of the band We Are the Willows, an indie-pop band that hails from Minneapolis. They were in town playing some concerts in support of their second album, Picture [Portrait]. We got to see them perform at The Walnut Room in Denver and it was truly amazing. The following day, a bit weathered by the previous evening, they stopped by the basement studio with coffees and waters in hand to speak with Action in Solitude. Take a listen. You'll be glad you did! Editor's Note: Kevin mispronounced the name of the band Dewi Sant twice in this podcast. It's pronounced Dewi [ˈdɛwiː], also [ˈdauwiː] or [ˈdeːwiː]).

Shannon Davis might be the most interesting man alive. Well, not really. But he has held a number of jobs that any outdoor enthusiasts would consider "dream jobs" and he's pretty funny to hang around. Currently, he serves as editor-in-chief at Climbing Magazine. He's worked at Backpacker Magazine. He worked as a wrangler on a ranch and as a mountain guide in the Pacific Northwest. I drove over to Shannon's place in Longmont, Colorado and we chatted about his career, his current injuries, and other random stuff. Enjoy!

Welcome to the first audio episode of Action in Solitude. The goal of the show is to have guests from pro athletes, to outdoor industry professionals, to musicians and artistes come join us for extended, yet relaxed interviews. For the first episode I sat down with an old friend, Yoni Geffen. Yoni Geffen hails from Denver, Colorado. We first met through a mutual friend of ours, Jonah. All three of us expressed interest in starting an organization that took underprivileged students rock climbing. So we did it! Our combined resources and professional training allowed us to reach a large number of students in a relatively short amount of time. Unfortunately, our paths went in different directions and the organization fizzled out. Yoni, unlike Jonah and I, kept pursuing our shared vision and co-founded Adventure Forward, a non profit organization that provides students from diverse, low-income backgrounds equal access to outdoor-based experiential and character-focused learning opportunities with the support of