Alpinist Aloud: “The Force of the Soul,” by James Edward Mills

04/29/20 • 30 min

In this inaugural episode of Alpinist Aloud—a podcast project in which stories from our print magazine are read out loud—James Edward Mills reads his story from Alpinist 60 (Winter 2017-18). In “The Force of the Soul,” Mills recounts the life of Hugues Beauzile, the son of a Haitian immigrant who became one of the most promising young alpinists in France before his death on the South Face of Aconcagua 1995. Produced by Alpinist magazine and Height of Land Publications. Audio production by Nick Mott.

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The Lifestyler: Chris Weidner

Chris Weidner began climbing as a teenager in the Pacific Northwest and is no stranger to being pinned on the summit of Mt. Rainier in a storm. The 45-year-old climbs 5.14 sport routes and continues to establish new free routes on the Diamond of Longs Peak and elsewhere. He has also written more than 300 articles related to climbing—for the Boulder Daily Camera newspaper, Alpinist and other climbing magazines—since about 2007. Weidner recently told Alpinist Digital Editor Derek Franz, "I think it's important to say that, along with these close relationships and the family feeling that climbing has given me over the years, I feel like it's also made me value lightheartedness.... And it's helped me realize that there's pretty much nothing in life worth stressing too hard about.... The other thing it reminds me of is just how important it is to be kind to people."

Next Episode

Alpinist Aloud: “The Raven at the Door” by David Stevenson

In this Full Value story from Alpinist 60 (Winter 2017-18), David Stevenson gets caught in a storm returning from a hut trip in Alaska and suffers a heart attack, forcing him and his partner to spend a cold night in a shallow snow cave. In the aftermath he discovers a new significance to a haunting experience that happened decades earlier in his childhood home.

Narrated by Matthew Richardson. Audio production by Nick Mott.

[Illustration] Andreas Schmidt