1#3 Nina Schlesener: the Berchtesgaden Guide
“When you go over your limits, you realise how much power and energy you have left”.
Episode #3…
… welcomes Nina Schlesener to the podcast. Born and raised in the Berchtesgaden Alps of Bavaria, Nina was until recently the youngest female Mountain Guide in the whole of Germany. She’s written the only summer guidebook to her home region which has been translated into English, can climb The Nose on El Capitan in one go, is used to heading up and down Mont Blanc three days in a row, and even finds time to work as a Rope Access Worker in urban landscapes too. But just in case you feel intimidated, rest assured that she’s also one of the most humble and encouraging people you’ll ever hear on record. Enjoy!
Check out Nina’s homepage at http://www.nina-schlesener.de/
[episode recorded on 23/11/20]
Main image by Klaus Fengler - https://klausfengler.de/
00:00 - Introduction
01:45 - Welcome
02:34 - Adventures on the Watzmann: “I have to say, you saved my life!”
03:48 - Female Mountain Guides: “We are equal, and they can’t say anything about us”
08:05 - Growing up in Berchtesgaden: “I have it in my blood… Lakes like fjords, mountains like Alps… As a mountain girl you have everything you need”
14:00 - What would you have done if you hadn’t been a mountain guide?
17:15 - “The day after I was so full of adrenaline… I conquered my fears”
21:15 - Steep wall climbing around the world: Yosemite’s “Nose” in a day (*normally 3-5 days).
25:30 - Virus chat - “The summer was a blast… now work as a Mountain Guide doesn’t exist”
27:50 - Rope Access Working in the city: “this is so different to being in the mountains! Sitting in a cafe and reading the newspapers… to breathe the air of the big world”
31:15 - Is it easy doing what you love?
32:45 - Guidebooks: “I was so glad to sit in my office for weeks and just write! … and it’s so cool to create something that afterwards you can hold in your hands”
39:03 - “At this moment I feel alive”
41:13 - Greatest Mountain Memory: 01:00 start on The Nose, no backpack, one litre of water, three Clif bars, “such a climbing flow”
43:55 - … and climbing Mont Blanc three days in a row
46:20 - Time, money, freedom… where do you go? Spiritual experiences in the American deserts
48:40 - “Do what you love, it’s really important that you follow your path… you don’t have to have success the whole time, this doesn’t bring you further, the failures bring you further”
