A new four-part season of the BBC World Service's Amazing Sports Stories podcast follows the stories of five mountaineers who aim to become the first women to reach the top of 14 of the world's highest mountains.
In a grueling and sometimes deadly quest that spans years, these women risk their lives to take on the ultimate challenge. The Karakoram and Himalayas have 14 mountains all over 8,000 meters above sea level and constitute some of the harshest environments on Earth. The race is set, but everything may not go as planned…
The series will include Spanish climber Edurne Pasavan, Austria's Gerlinde Katrenbrunner and Italy's Nives Melloi. They will also be joined by Korean climbers Oh Eun-sung and Ko Mi-young, who are aiming to win the title.
It's a quest that will change their lives forever. But who will make history?
This is a story about what makes us human, including the pursuit of dreams, personal struggles, and mental health. Chasing Mountains is hosted by Joanna Jolly and Kathy Carlo.
Joanna Jolie is a writer, producer and former BBC correspondent in Nepal. Throughout her series, Jo reflects on her own role in her story and reports on the elite female climbers who take great risks to achieve their goals. While the glamorous prospects of racing make headlines, Joanna reflects on the reality of women being sold against each other by the media.
Kathy Carlo is a rock climber, podcaster, and writer. Cathy draws on her own experiences to help listeners understand the challenges elite athletes face as they push the mental and physical limits of their sport.
Joanna Jolie said: “When I was reporting on this story in Nepal in 2010, I was focused on who would win the race. But Chasing Mountains was about the mental and physical challenges the women overcame. It's a story about big challenges, and it made me realize that being number one isn't that important.”
Kathy Carlo said: “As mountaineers, we invite danger every time we enter a mountain. The path of mountaineering asks us to stake our threads in order to receive everything in return. 'Chasing Mountains' brings us to the sport. tells the story of the transformative power of passion and how our greatest challenges and pains reveal who we really are. ”
The first episode of Chasing Mountains will be available as a podcast on BBC Sounds on Monday 15th April, and will be widely available on other podcast platforms from Monday 22nd April. Episodes are released weekly. Chasing Mountains will be broadcast weekly on BBC World Service Radio from Wednesday 26 June.
Amazing Sport Stories: Chasing Mountains is a bespoke media production for the BBC World Service.
Amazing Sport Stories is a BBC World Service podcast about sport, but not as you know it. There are also podcasts about champions, team news, and billionaire superstars. This podcast is about courage, rule breakers, the underdog, myths, legends, and the unexpected. We've searched all over the world for these stories told in mini-seasons and short stories. Previous mini-seasons have featured the story of the Black 14, a group of 14 American football players who were expelled from a Wyoming college team in 1969 for protesting racial discrimination at other universities, and a 12-year-old boy. It was included. A girl from Canada just wanted to play ice hockey with the boys. When she was told she couldn't, she headed from the ice rink to the courtroom, turning her sports dispute into a legal battle.
R.D.
