Year: 2023

Everest, Everest 2023 Coverage, Interview

Everest 2023: Interview with Scott Lehmann and Shayna Unger, Deaf Climbers

Podcast: Scott Lehmann and Shayna Unger, are aiming to be the first American couple and, to their knowledge, the second and third deaf climbers to summit Mount Everest. Also, they are trying to become the first deaf couple to compete the Seven Summits. Both were born, as they say, profoundly deaf, meaning they had no hearing at all. They live in the Washington, D.C., area and are educators and mountaineers. They summited Denali, Aconcagua, Kilimanjaro, Ecuador’s Chimborazo and Cotopaxi, and Mont Blanc, plus Scott has all the US High Point.

A third-generation deaf person, Scott is an educator and a mountaineer. Given the lack of deaf representation in the outdoors and lack of communication access to outdoor education, the outdoors was not a big part of Scott’s life until he was 23 when he climbed a mountain for the first time. Shayna is a deaf woman, an educator and a mountaineer. Growing up, Shayna often went on camping trips with her deaf family in the 1990s, but they never did. They have full access to outdoor sports. It was not until college that Shayna started traveling and fell in love with climbing mountains.

Everest, Everest 2023 Coverage

PODCAST: with Jost Kobusch’s Solo, Winter 2023 Denali Summit

PODCAST: German Alpinist Jost Kobusch became only the third person to complete a solo winter Denali Summit successfully. He summited on Sunday, February 19, 2023, around 3:00 am. I caught up with him at his home in Chamonix, France, only a few weeks after his summit. Jost style is to climb alone during a season that few other people would choose. He climbs completely unsupported and often on the most difficult routes. On Denali, he summited via the Messner Couloir.

We cover route, gear, weather, what he learned, and his plans for another Everest West Ridge climb in late 2023. Jost is doing a several-part series on his Facebook page, including his clothing, footwear, handwear and face wear. Visit and follow to learn more about how he pulled this feat off. I think you’ll enjoy meeting this 30-year-old climber.