Shane found the story he was telling himself — and others — needed a revision.
🧊 About the episode
Life doesn’t follow a clean and cut narrative arc — unlike the stories we tell. Sure, it might all start and end the same way for folks, but it’s the complex, messy middle that makes us, us. One of our tendencies with storytelling is to simplify, which means skimming over a lot of the details. But when we do that we might find the narrative doesn’t actually work, it's not really who we are.
Luckily, we can rewrite it. Narrative is a choice.
In today’s episode, we talk with Shane Farver, an adaptive climber, writer, former journalism instructor, and now Director of Marketing & Communications based in Utah. After a climbing gym accident in 2018, Shane found the story he was telling himself — and others — needed a revision. Since then, he has embraced the problem-solving aspect of climbing and pursued the sport he loves while continually adapting his body through techniques and accessories.
We talk about what makes ice climbing particularly accessible for adaptive athletes, how to ask “how”, and what it means to belong in the outdoors on your own terms.
Go through life with a problem solving perspective. Go through life knowing that you're not going to have it all figured out. And, one day, whether it's disability, whether it's another challenge that arises from life —because I think that's the great unifier — like we all have big challenging things that happen. Just know that if you go forward with that problem solving attitude and recognizing that people, by necessity, have to move through the world a little differently, then I think you're set up pretty well.
🧊 Resources and links
Shane does a lot of work with the Adaptive Climbing program at The Front if you happen to find yourself in Salt Lake City, and he's also just down the street from the new location of The Scratch Pad. This winter, he’ll be at a few upcoming ice fests.
With Shane, we created a resource guide for adaptive ice climbing.
Paradox Sports is the leader in the adaptive climbing space and definitely worth checking out.
For more stories with adaptive ice climbers, here is a podcast interview with Kimber Cross and here is a recent video featuring Mo Beck.
If you'd like to go out with an adaptive ice climbing guide, consider Santi Vega, a full-time mountain guide in the Wasatch and Uinta mountains of Utah.
You can connect with Shane:
🧊 Credits
Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
🧊 Sponsors:
Big thanks to Blue Ice for supporting this show!
Blue Ice: Blue Ice is the best kind of ice, and also my choice when it comes to fast and light ice climbing gear. Their Aero Lites go in like a hot knife through butter and their climbing packs hit the sweet spot between function and lightweight. Designed to get to the point in the alpine, their gear is tested by mountain professionals between the Alps and the Wasatch. If you’re looking to get to the point too — and with a little less weight on your kit, check out Blue Ice’s gear at blueice.com or your favorite local retailer.
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