Podcast: Guy Cotter on Making Tenzing, and the Lessons of a Hard Year in the Mountains
If you follow mountaineering, you know Guy Cotter. He summited Everest as a guide with Rob Hall and Gary Ball in 1992, has run Adventure Consultants for thirty years, and has quietly helped bring mountains to the big screen since Vertical Limit. Tomorrow, October 16, Tenzing premieres on Apple TV. It’s Jennifer Peedom’s film about Tenzing Norgay, with Genden Phuntsok as Tenzing and Tom Hiddleston as Edmund Hillary, and Guy was the alpine production supervisor. He scouted locations in Nepal and New Zealand, then kept as many as 150 actors, stunt doubles, and crew safe on Aoraki Mt Cook and the Tasman Glacier in mid-winter, at temperatures down to -23C. #tenzingmovie #guycotter
Podcast with Ryan Mitchell & Justin Sackett: No O’s Everest Update and Plans
Ryan Mitchell, a Summit Coach client, planned to climb two 8000-meter peaks without supplemental oxygen with his friend and professional mountain guide, Justin Sackett, but not everything went as planned. In this podcast, we discuss the expedition, its risks, decision-making and emotions. Both climbers wanted to climb without supplemental oxygen. #everest2026
Podcast with Astronaut & Everest Summiteer Scott Parazynski
In this podcast, I speak with Scott Parazynski, who is about as unique an individual as you will find these days. Consider a small fraction of his achievements:
Five-time space shuttle astronaut, seven spacewalks, and a former NASA researcher.
Spent over 8 weeks in space with more than 47 hours outside on spacewalks, and traveled over 23 million miles in orbit.
Attempted Everest in May 2008, but was forced to turn back before the summit due to a ruptured disc while at Camp 3
Served as team physician for the Discovery Channel’s Beyond the Limit series for IMG
May 20, 2009, at 4:00 am, he successfully summited Everest
Visited the wreck of the Titanic
Conducted a scientific dive in the summit caldera lake of the 19,700-foot Masaya volcano, the world’s highest lake
Life-long SCUBA diver and accomplished mountaineer
Commercial, instrument, multiengine and seaplane-rated pilot with over 2,500 flight hours
I hope you enjoy the episode and perhaps consider reading his book, The Sky Below: A True Story of Summits, Space, and Speed.
Climb On!
Alan
Memories are Everything
Podcast with Ryan Mitchell & Justin Sackett: Plans for Two 8000ers, No O’s
Ryan Mitchell, a Summit Coach client, is preparing to climb two 8000-meter peaks, without supplemental oxygen, with his friend and professional mountain guide, Justin Sackett. In this podcast, we discuss the expedition, its risks, decision-making and emotions. As usual, Ryan will film the climbs and post on his very popular YouTube channel. We also discussed the upcoming Everest season and some potential policy changes, especially on the Nepal side. #everest2026
7-Summits-in-One-Year-Podcast-with-Garrett-Madison
As we close out 2025, I caught up with Garrett Maddison, founder of Madison Mountaineering, for a rare moment while he was home in the Seattle area. Garrett summited all of the Seven Summits (Messner List) in 2025, plus had some interesting times on Cho Oyu, watched one of his teams struggle, like the others, on K2, and is actively guiding on Vinson. We discussed all this, including what to expect for Everest in 2026, with the more expensive permit fees, new requirements for Everest applicants from China, and proposals from Nepal. #everest2026
Podcast with Peter Hillary
New Zealander Peter Hillary needs no introduction, as his last name recalls the historic achievement of his father, Sir Edmund Hillary, who, along with Tenzing Norgay, first summited Mt. Everest on May 29, 1953.
An adventurer in his own right, Peter has undertaken over 40 expeditions and adventures that most of us only dream of. He’s been to the North and South Poles, summited Everest twice, jet-boated the entire length of the Ganges River, and more. He’s also an accomplished author, speaker and adventure guide company operator.
I first met Peter at Everest Base Camp in 2003 and again last month here in Colorado, where I thoroughly enjoyed one of his legendary talks.
In this podcast, we discuss Peter’s relationship with his father, his upbringing, adventures, and the future of mountaineering. We also discuss the Himalayan Trust, a foundation started by his father in 1961 that continues today, building schools, infrastructure, roads, and more throughout Nepal, a country close to Peter’s heart.
Everest 2025 Podcast with Bianaca and Paul Adler
Australians Bianca Ader, 17, and her dad, Paul Adler, 50, are back in Melbourne, Australia, after their recent Everest attempt. They were thwarted by strong winds and illness, but made a valuable attempt. Bianca’s social posts have gone viral as she struggled to breathe upon returning to Camp 4 at the South Col after reaching 8163 meters on the 8848-meter peak. She climbed with Rinji Sherpa of the Makalu region.
This podcast discusses Paul’s Everest attempt and summit, Bianca’s Ama Dablam attempt and summit and of course, Everest with the risks, decision-making, and emotions. I think you’ll enjoy meeting this young lady, who, by the way, has become friends with Ryan Mitchell. The two give me a lot of hope for the sport I love, seeing two very mature young people embracing mountaineering. #everest2025
K2 Podcast with Ryan Mitchell–After K2
Ryan Mitchell, a Summit Coach client, is back from his recent K2 attempt. They were thwarted by a deadly rockfall that killed two other people on other teams.
They climbed to Camp 1 to see the conditions firsthand and abandoned their expedition. However, they climbed a previously unclimbed peak near K2 for acclimatization, so there was some solid mountaineering this year for the Madison Mountaineering team led by Terray Sylvester. They also collected 600 pounds of trash, primarily from the K2 Base Camp and Advanced Base Camp, which were exposed to unexpectedly dry and warm conditions.
In this podcast, we discuss the expedition, its risks, decision-making and emotions. Ryan is currently dropping a new YouTube episode almost daily on his channel, which provides his followers with a unique inside look at what K2 offered in 2025. #k2025
K2 Podcast with Ryan Mitchell–Preparing for K2
Ryan Mitchell, a Summit Coach client, has gained considerable recognition thanks to his impressive video documentation of his 2024 summit of Mt. Everest with Madison Mountaineering. Exciting news! He’s all set to leave for K2 on Saturday, June 21, 2025.
In this podcast, we discuss his training, why he chose K2, and walk through the stages of his exciting climb, using pictures from my 2014 climb as well as his training adventures. Also, I’ve added at the end my video documentary of my 2014 summit climb. #k2025
Live from Denali Summit with Garrett Madison
Live from Denali Summit with Garrett Madison in a season of the lowest summit numbers in history from the summit of Denali on June 14, 2025. It’s been a very cold year, as documented by the Rangers: # Denali 2025