
Jost Kobusch is just back from Everest, where he is doing a multi-year project to climb the tallest mountain in the world… by himself… without oxygen… up the incredibly difficult West Ridge route in the middle of winter.
In winter, the effective altitude of Everest is over 9,000 meters, and the winds can reach 250 km/hour (155 mph). And – on top of that – the mountain was hit by a powerful earthquake while he was on it.
In this episode of The Strenuous Life Podcast you’ll find out…
- How Jost Kobusch optimises his training
- The relative importance of physical vs mental attributes in extreme sport
- How he overcame a potentially career-ending injury
- The dichotomy of fitness vs experience for maximum performance
- What it’s like to be a full-time athlete
- Jost’s best advice for someone who is considering an Everest climb!
- And more
What We Can Learn from Extreme Athletes, Audio Format
You can check out my conversation with Jost Kobusch as episode 416 anywhere you get your podcasts, including
- Apple Podcasts
- Spotify
- Overcast (my favorite)
- Player FM
- Etc.
Or you can stream the audio on this site with this player:
Check out Jost’s Altitude Academy and/or follow him on Instagram at @jostkobusch
Finally, if you’ve read down this far, you must like adventure stories, so check out my new book, “Perseverance, Live and Death in the Subarctic” available everywhere you can get books, including Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Indigo, and everywhere else that books are sold.
Please share this episode with someone who you think will like it!
Cheers,
Stephan Kesting
Related Podcast Episodes
My First Interview with Jost Kobusch
On episode 392 of The Strenuous Life Podcast I’m joined by the amazing Jost Kobusch.
Jost is a German mountaineer who spent two seasons on Everest trying to ascend the legendarily difficult West Ridge route and the Hornbein Couloir alone, without oxygen, and in the middle of the brutal Himalayan winter.
Click here to check out my first conversation with Jost Kobusch.
Mindset, Preparation and Close Calls with Ice Climber Will Gadd
Will Gadd is an extreme athlete, perhaps best known for ice climbing Niagara Falls in the winter (video at the bottom of this page).
But he’s also pioneered many novel routes, including Helmcken Falls, icebergs in the ocean, and underground river tunnels in the Greenland ice.
In this chat we talked about those first ascents, but also touched on mindset, dealing with risk and unknowns, handling close calls, the 25 people he’s known who have died in the mountains, fear of loss vs hope of gain, and how to execute on audacious goals.
Click here to hear Will Gadd’s story.
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Click here to check out my interview of Les Stroud.
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Click here to find out more about the history of bareknuckle boxing and European swordfighting.