On Creating Space with Jordan Revis

Explicit content warning

12/18/24 • 57 min

According to the American Alpine Club’s 2019 State of Climbing report, only 1% of surveyed climbers identified as Black.

Jordan Revis is trying to change that.

This past winter, Jordan helped lead the first-ever Black Intro to Ice Climbing workshop at the Mount Washington Valley Ice Fest and he is part of the DEI committee with the Western Massachusetts Climbers' Coalition, among other initiatives he’s involved with.

For Jordan, it’s a complicated position to be in and has led to a lot of self-reflection.

In this episode, we chat about:

🧊 What does representation really mean?
🧊 Concepts of identity and belonging
🧊 Managing anxiety on and off route
🧊 Balancing big goals with being kind to oneself

“Because of my lived experience, having the anxiety of it being different than somebody else's, now I'm like, why do I get anxiety over that when everyone else's lived experiences is different?"

🧊 Resources and links

Jordan is an AMGA SPI and Apprentice Rock Guide. If you’d like to hire Jordan for a guided day out, the easiest way is to get in touch via Instagram: @revissaywat.

You can also find him at this year’s Mount Washington Valley Ice Fest, which runs from January 31st to February 2nd.

Jordan is an ambassador for @arcteryxboston @cypherclimbing @aniiu_gloves and @barndoorhostel

Credits:

Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

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You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others.

According to the American Alpine Club’s 2019 State of Climbing report, only 1% of surveyed climbers identified as Black.

Jordan Revis is trying to change that.

For Jordan, it’s a complicated position to be in and has led to a lot of self-reflection.

In this episode, we chat about:

🧊 What does representation really mean?
🧊 Concepts of identity and belonging
🧊 Managing anxiety on and off route
🧊 Balancing big goals with being kind to oneself

“Because of my lived experience, having the anxiety of it being different than somebody else's, now I'm like, why do I get anxiety over that when everyone else's lived experiences is different?"

🧊 Resources and links

Jordan is an AMGA SPI and Apprentice Rock Guide. If you’d like to hire Jordan for a guided day out, the easiest way is to get in touch via Instagram: @revissaywat.

You can also find him at this year’s Mount Washington Valley Ice Fest, which runs from January 31st to February 2nd.

Jordan is an ambassador for @arcteryxboston @cypherclimbing @aniiu_gloves and @barndoorhostel

Credits:

Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

Previous Episode

Who Do You Want to Be? with Marcus Garcia

Who Do You Want to Be?

On the surface, it’s a simple question, but getting to the core is often a devious stumbling through masquerade — “Is this really what I want to be doing?”, “Is this me or who I used to be?”, “What’s next?”

Marcus Garcia is turning 50 this year and he’s lived a lot of lives in that time. These questions have been buzzing.

In this episode, we chat about:

🧊 Starting anew and learning to let go
🧊 Understanding our energy demands and value
🧊 Creating and coaching the USA Youth Ice Climbing Team (and what it means to see so many of the athletes flourishing)
🧊 Some useful mindset techniques and exercises for other youth coaches
🧊 And Marcus reads some poetry too

“What letting go really means is not just letting it go, but letting it give the space it needs so you can process and understand the why you're feeling these things. So in a way, you have to grieve that old identity to make space for this new identity. And that is part of what letting go is, is making room for this new person you become.”

🎁 Giveaway

Marcus is a Rab athlete, and to support Marcus and this podcast, Rab is giving away a few items to listeners:

Only members of the podcast will be able to enter, luckily, you can become a member for free, which gives you access to special giveaways like this (and other goods).

👉 To enter:

In this week's newsletter, we share a question which Marcus answers in this week's episode.

Once you have the answer:

1. Follow @rab.equipment.na and @ice_ice_beta on Instagram
2. DM the answer to the question to @ice_ice_beta
3. Comment on the giveaway post on our Instagram: “#TheMountainPeople” once you’ve sent in your answer
4. Share the giveaway post to your story for an extra entry ⭐️
5. Winners will be randomly selected from submissions that meet all the rules on Monday, December 16! 📢

🧊 Resources and links

Marcus would like to thank his sponsors, Rab, Camp, Osprey, Lowa, and Sterling. They support him in regularly teaching climbing workshops and clinics, from the art of the offwidth to how to mix climb. The best place to see where Marcus will be and what he’s teaching is on his Instagram, @mgclimber1.

For Marcus’ opening poem, here is the post, and here is his latest video “Beyond the Climb”.

...

📸: Cover photo courtesy of Marcus.

Credits:

Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

Next Episode

Ice Climbing in Norway with Matthias Scherer

In Matthias Scherer’s words, Norway provides the true character of ice climbing. That is to say, you can always find adventure, from single pitch up to vertical kilometer ice flows.

Outside of popular destinations like Rjukan and Hemsedal, you will rarely find a line that has been picked out. Depending on where you go — from the 1,000-meter ice falls of Gudvangen to the 1,700 fjords that fracture the coastline, to the arctic ice of the far north — you are likely to have a first ascent-like experience, if not an actual FA.

And of course, there are plenty of beginner and intermediate-friendly areas too. Rjukan, for example, has 100s of easily accessible climbs.

This is Matthias’ second time on the podcast. If you recall, he joined us last year to talk about his home, Cogne, another epicenter of ice in Europe. This time around, in classic Matthias style, we discuss:

🧊 Why so many of his top 100 ice climbs are in Norway
🧊 The history of ice climbing in the country
🧊 Classic routes and areas
🧊 Logistics for planning your own trip
🧊 The upcoming ice festival in Rjukan, which runs from Thursday, February 6 to Monday, February 10.

“The human brain, I think, cannot get what Norway means for ice climbing. It's a little bit like if you look up to the sky in the night and you see all the stars; it's the same with Norway, it's impossible. Because 1,700 fjords, over 50,000 kilometers of coastline, and you can say in every fjord at least there's 10 to 15 ice climbs — so you can do the math by yourself."

🧊 Resources and links

Matthias has climbed over 1,000 frozen waterfalls, and you can see his top 100 list here. To follow along with his adventures, check him out on Instagram, @matthiasscherer or his website matthias-scherer.net.

Want to join for the Norrøna Ice Festival in Rjukan? It runs from February 6-10 and you can find all the details on the website.

To learn a bit more about Matthias, he did an interview on the Norrøna podcast.

Lastly, Matthias would like to thank his sponsors for supporting his adventures: Norrøna, Petzl, Scarpa, and Gloryfy.

📸: Cover photo by Tanja Schmitt.

Credits:

Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!: