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Ep. 40 - The Many Stages of a Climbing Career With Enni Bertling
Enni Bertling likes to joke that nothing happens in Finnish climbing without her permission. But her path to the top of a professional climbing career was anything but guaranteed.
🧊 About the episode
Enni Bertling has seen it all when it comes to climbing in Finland. When she started she was one of the few climbers in the country, then she helped form the Finnish Ice Climbing Team, and is now the Head of the Youth National Team, among other roles too numerous to list but which also includes routesetting, coaching, and occasionally competing when the mood strikes.
Still, despite how it sounds, her path to a professional climbing career was anything but straightforward.
In this episode, we chat about:
- 🧊 Transitioning away from scientific research
- 🧊 Winning the first-ever World Cup medal for Finland
- 🧊 How she thinks about coaching and mentoring youth
- 🧊 What the climbing in Finland is like
- 🧊 What you do with only 1 hour of daylight in winter
🧊 Resources and links
As is a trend among many of our guests, Enni keeps a low social profile. But, if you’d like to follow her for occasional updates, her handle is @ennibertling.
🧊 Credits
📸: Cover photo by Tapio Alhonsuo (@rollomixed).
Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!). This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
🧊 Sponsors:
A huge thanks to Aniiu Gloves and Furnace Industries for supporting this show!
Aniiu Gloves: What do you get when you combine 30 years of ice climbing and product design chops? Well, if you’re into gloves you get Aniiu — a boutique climbing brand on a mission to produce the best ice climbing and drytooling gloves around. Doug, Jun, and the rest of the team spare no expense in the pursuit of durable, dextrous and waterproof. Best yet, they are made from recycled textiles — which saves waste from the landfill — and they are robustly built so they won’t end up there anytime soon. To learn more about your friend in the cold, head to aniiu.com. That is aniiu.com.
Furnace Industries: We get it, ice season never really ends… it just kinda blends between rock, plastic, and plywood until waterfalls freeze over again. No matter how you train in the off-season Furnace Industries keeps you going ‘til your next bout of screaming barfies. With their gym-safe DRY ICE Evolutions you can keep up your fitness indoors. And if you’re looking to challenge yourself on your homewall, they have the largest stock of drytooling holds in America. Check out their full lineup of ice and drytooling gear at furnace-Industries.com… where It’s Always Ice Season.
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