Guest Bio
Karl Egloff is a renowned Swiss-Ecuadorian mountaineer, mountain guide, and endurance athlete, celebrated for his speed ascents of some of the world’s highest peaks. Born in Quito, Ecuador, to a Swiss father and Ecuadorian mother, Karl’s passion for mountaineering was nurtured from an early age. He has set multiple speed records, including:
- ✓ Kilimanjaro (2014): Ascended and descended in 6 hours and 42 minutes.
- ✓ Aconcagua (2015): Completed the climb in 11 hours and 52 minutes.
- ✓ Elbrus (2017): Achieved a round-trip record of 4 hours and 20 minutes.
- ✓ Denali (2019): Set a record time of 11 hours and 44 minutes for the ascent and descent.
Beyond his athletic achievements, Karl is the founder and general manager of Cumbre Tours, a mountaineering agency based in Ecuador. He is also an International Federation of Mountain Guides Associations (IFMGA) certified guide and a motivational speaker, sharing his experiences and insights with audiences worldwide.
Show Summary
In this episode, Karl Egloff discusses his journey from growing up in Ecuador to becoming a world-renowned speed climber. He shares insights into his training regimen, the challenges faced during his record-setting ascents, and the importance of mental resilience in extreme environments. Karl also emphasizes the significance of balancing his professional guiding career with personal athletic goals and how he inspires others through motivational speaking engagements.
Key Takeaways
- ✓ Mental Resilience: Cultivating a strong mindset is crucial for overcoming extreme challenges.
- ✓ Balance: Successfully managing professional responsibilities alongside personal goals requires dedication and planning.
- ✓ Inspiration: Sharing personal experiences can motivate others to pursue their passions.
- ✓ Continuous Learning: Embracing ongoing education and training enhances both personal and professional growth.
- ✓ Community Engagement: Involvement in local and global communities enriches one’s perspective and impact.
What You’ll Find on Karl Egloff’s Platform
- ✓ Speed Climbing Records – Detailed accounts of Karl’s record-setting ascents on major peaks.
- ✓ Guided Expeditions – Opportunities to join Karl and his team on mountaineering adventures through Cumbre Tours.
- ✓ Motivational Speaking – Information on booking Karl for speaking engagements and workshops.
- ✓ Training Programs – Insights into Karl’s training routines and advice for aspiring climbers.
- ✓ Media Gallery – A collection of photos and videos showcasing Karl’s expeditions and achievements.
👉 Visit Karl Egloff’s Official Website to explore his achievements and learn more about his contributions to mountaineering and adventure sports.
Learn more about Cumbre Tours Ecuador and connect with Karl at:
https://www.cumbretours.com/
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Podcast Transcript
This transcript is auto-generated on recording, and has not been edited by a human. It may contain lots of mistakes, crazy words, and stuff that makes no sense. The host and the guest are not responsible for the accuracy of the transcript.
Jason Elkins (00:04.466)
Welcome everybody to another episode of the Big World Made Small Adventure Travel Podcast. Happy to have each and every one of you back here today. Today we’ve got a real treat. We’ve got Karl Egloff from Cumbre Tours Ecuador with us today. Karl, welcome to the show. Happy to have you here.
Thank you, Jason. It’s a pleasure talking to you. Thank you for your time. It’s a absolutely pleasure to talk about Ecuador, about my athlete career and yeah, discover beautiful things surrounding the mountains and everything. Well, you’re very passionate. I remember our first conversation, you were telling me some stuff that I just, it wasn’t even on my radar. I did not, I mean, I know that people climb mountains. I did not realize that it was kind of a race to the top.
type of thing. And that’s something you have really done quite a bit of and excited to share some of that kind of some of your stories and really kind of, you know, what this whole career of yours has, has done for your personal development, your just kind of understanding the world, share it with, with all of us. That would be super wonderful. So, so happy to have you here. And before we jump into, jump it, I’m not sure jump into is the right word, but
before we get into all your feats of mountaineering, really just wanna connect with you as a person and can I share your story? Cause I find that everybody that does this type of stuff has some sort of interesting twist in the beginning or they just were born into it and it’s in their blood. So I’d love to have you share with the listeners, how did you get from where you were, to where you are now? What did that journey look like?
Well, thanks for asking. Well, I was born here in Ecuador. I have a Swiss father. He was always involved in mountaineering. He used to guide a lot. So he took me out to the mountains when I was very young. I don’t even remember how old I was. I just have seen so many pictures. He carried me on his back and taking me to the highlands and to the glacier. And sometimes I talked to my dad and said, dad, it was a bit, you know, like not really.
Jason Elkins (02:20.126)
Not really like what you’re expecting for a father, bit irresponsible taking me so young to the mountains, but of course it changed my life. I was kind of born to do this. He brought me out there very young and I started joining him even in my school days, every weekend and my father used to guide a lot. So he always said to me, as soon as we have Saturday or Sunday, you’re just coming with me. I have some people to guide and you just.
can come and follow and this is why I was introduced to the mountains very early. And my wish to become a mountain guide was always there since I was a teenager. I always was kind of figuring out what it takes to become a mountain guide and international mountain guide. And this is the reason why I started with mountaineering because normally local people here in Ecuador, they are not much involved with mountaineering. It’s much more tourists who are coming here to climb our mountains,
And this is why I started early and I lost my mom when I was young. And I was just 15 years old. So that changed a bit because after losing my mom, my father sent us to Switzerland because studies are there for free and we continued our, our journey is studying university and everything there in Switzerland. So I was missing a lot.
my lifestyle in Ecuador. I was missing a lot of guiding, I was missing a lot of the nature and everything, even if Switzerland has it all also, but I was living in the big city, I didn’t have the access to go to the mountains there. So I came back to Ecuador every single year while I was there and I was always joining his expeditions and all. And as soon as I came back to Ecuador to make my living here, I was 26.
I started my guiding career. I started all the courses to become an international mountain guide. And this is how I always was close and have been close to the mountains. Uh, and of course later I discovered speed climbing and doing records and all that, but it’s just one part of Karl The other part of Karl was mountaineering as a lifestyle. And, um, yeah, I just always try to be there and teach my kids the same lifestyle and going camping there. And.
Jason Elkins (04:41.066)
Enjoying nature and admire the wildlife there and everything. That’s a very cool story. And first I want to acknowledge, losing your mom at a young age, I can’t even imagine what that would have been like. And then, I guess it’s in my words, going off to Switzerland. So that’s a big transition, both with losing your mom and going to a new place. I can imagine that would have been quite challenging.
So it sounds like your father stayed and continued to run his guiding business, mountaineering business. You went off to Switzerland, spent some time there and came back, okay. I’m curious, so early on, cause I’m envisioning you like in a backpack being hauled up the mountains by your father. What did your mom think about that early on? I’m always interested in how…
you know, people that work in this business, how that impacts their relationships. So I’m trying to imagine your relationship, I guess your mom’s relationship with your dad early on when he was taking you off into the mountains. How did that go? Well, this is an amazing question because my mom was always very conservative and my mom always said like, take care of my son. And my father- Most moms do. Yeah, exactly. Most moms do and actually this is kind of normal. And I always was the one
asking my mom and begging my mom to let my father take me with him. And I was always saying like, I won’t be complaining I won’t be willing to go home. Uh, I will be, I don’t know. I just, I will not disturb him while he’s working. This was kind of the big thing. Of course we were not just out there, dad and son and having a dad son time. No, I was there to help him or to come be and kind of be a, uh, yeah, kind of a ghost. He thought did not want to be.
out there with a son who is asking, when are we going home or how many hours do we still have to walk or all that stuff. So my father always said, like, if you want to come with me you have to be kind of a military son, just to be quiet and walk. And I always loved that. I always came back home and I remember on a Sunday my mother said, but don’t forget to do homework and don’t forget to be.
Jason Elkins (06:57.342)
a good student and everything. And I was already Tuesday asking, where are we going next weekend? And my mom said, like, I just focus on school, okay? And I said, yeah, but I wanna come with him to the big mountains. And my father always said like, yeah, but you are a bit too young to do the big volcanoes. It’s too high, it’s dangerous for your lungs and everything. So since I was 12, I was begging him to take me to the big ones. And my father said, as soon as you become 15, you will come with me. So I was waiting long.
And until I became 15, I joined him to the very first Cotopaxi tour, which is a tough mountain here. It’s not technical, but it’s a very high and tall mountain. So I felt the altitude. I struggled all the way up. And I remember when I arrived to the summit, I said to my father, why do people like this? This is like so, so heavy and so strong. And I went home and I was, I was remembered like a nightmare out there.
And the next morning I woke up and I said to my dad, when are you taking me again? And he said like, but you did say something completely different yesterday. And I said, yeah, but I already slept and I’m ready to go. So he said, you have already the guiding mentality. So it’s just a matter of time. And he immediately started to focus me. And he said like, okay, if you wanna be a mountain guide, you have to do this and this and this and this and.
develop your languages, develop your skills, do all the courses, do an international certification and everything and have always a plan B and everything. So actually I was brought to the mountaineering scene because of my dad. I’m thankful because normally here in Ecuador, as I said, it’s difficult to kind of have this connection directly.
Was he a mountain guide in Switzerland earlier, or when did he start getting into the guiding and mountaineering? Well, he was never a guide. He was always working with furniture. He’s a carpenter, and he came to Ecuador very young. He was 18 years old when he came to Ecuador, and he fell in love in Ecuador.
Jason Elkins (09:06.81)
He actually met my mom in Switzerland because she was Ecuadorian, but she went for studies in Switzerland. That’s the reason why they met. And they came here to Ecuador very young, both 18 and 20. And my father started a furniture company here, but he was always involved in mountaineering because of course big companies from abroad were always looking for people who were talking their language. So my father was always very close to the Swiss embassy, to the German embassy.
And this is how he was always recommended. And of course he was a strong guy. He woke, he actually grew up in the Alps. He was very strong, but he never did kind of a certification as a mountain guide. Those days, there were not many ways to become an international mountain guide or even a local mountain guide. You just were out there and you knew what you knew, but experience, of course things changed. And today it’s very hard to become an international mountain guide. This is why I…
when I start learning from him, it was basics. And then at a certain point he knew that I needed other people to teach me and other level of knowledge. And this is why I started in the best international school as a mountain guide. So I’m able to guide everywhere worldwide. But of course the roots all that were because of my dad.
Pretty cool story and relate to that. I remember, you know, it’s, I think you and I, you might be a little younger and definitely in a lot better shape than me. And you won’t have any problem beating me to the top of them unless we’re about it. And when I was growing up, my grandfather, you know, he was, you know, when I look back at it, now I realize he was a guide that’d take people hunting. And it was the same thing through work connections. Everybody knew that he was a hunter and liked to go up in the mountains
he would get out of state, people would come and go hunting with him. I’m not sure they even had guide licenses or any of the, you know, any of the requirements back then. Um, so things, yeah, things have shifted a little bit. It’s, uh, now we’ve got, you know, technology, internet, and I can appreciate why some countries or municipalities might not want people putting themselves out there as guides without some, some certifications and training, so I get that completely. I’m curious.
Jason Elkins (11:30.354)
So what I heard you say was I was always begging mom, I want to go with dad. I want to go with dad. Dad, take me with you, take me with you. And I’m sure there were times when she just said no. And I’m envisioning, I know me, I can envision me just being a total pain in her butt when I was left behind to almost to like not manipulate, but you know how kids are. Kids are like, I don’t want to be here. You didn’t let me go with dad I’m going to show you. So did you do that on those?
times when you didn’t get to go with dad? Do you remember what was the weekend at home with mom like when you wanted to be on the mountain? Well, it’s a funny story because I’m the youngest of three kids and I have two older sisters. So my sisters, they have girl times. They were always with mom doing girl stuff. And I always said to my mom, what should I do if I don’t go to the mountain? Should I play with the ball against the wall or what should I do?
And she said, like, I don’t know, do something. And I said, like, I don’t want to be staying here asking you 10,000 times what I should do as a boy. And she always agreed and said, okay, just go with your father, okay? Just take care and come back home and be happy. So these discussions were not too long because I was a good boy. I always came back and I promised mom to help her out in the kitchen. I was always like kind of having this balance.
And I was always the one begging. Of course, probably would have turned differently if dad would have been the one pressuring me. And I was the one telling in secret to my mom, don’t give me a allowance to go there because I don’t wanna go there. It’s different. But of course I was the one like begging and putting my arms together and saying like, please let me go, let me go, let me go. And of course in my room, in the entire wall, mountain pictures were hanging. And I was asking dad, my mother was always like,
would you like to watch television with your sisters? And I said, no, girl stuffs. I just want my dad to tell me stories about mountaineering. And my father always said, like, I don’t have so many stories. I give you some magazines and all that stuff. So I was always very curious, like, what’s out there? I always was asking like, dad, are there other mountains besides the ones we have here higher? And he said like, yeah, there are tons of mountains And I said like, and where and how high and how difficult? And my father always said like, I don’t know, I don’t know. Don’t ask too much.
Jason Elkins (13:50.934)
Yeah. That’s pretty, pretty cool. And you mentioned a couple of things that I’m just going to let’s have this conversation because I just mentioned about, you know, times have changed. We’re talking about times have changed in the guiding and tourism, but they’ve also changed in the definition of girl things. And I feel like I’d be remiss to stop you there and have that conversation, because as part of the podcast, for example, we’ve been, you know, I’ve interviewed some women that.
Basically their story is the same, whether it was with their mom, their dad, I’ve interviewed male guides who got into it with them, grew up with a single mom. And she was out guiding people, specifically in Ecuador, I remember her story. So I just wanted to kind of address that because as you’ve been going through your life and you’re married now, right? Yes, I am. Okay, so love to hear a little bit about your wife. Is she outdoorsy? Do…
I’m sure you’ve been out on the mountains. I’m sure you know women climbers that are probably just as athletic as they’re driven as you are. So let’s do fair justice here and talk about that here just a little bit too, if you don’t mind. I know, absolutely, absolutely. This is absolutely right. Actually, just to go backwards, my sisters, they were brought to the mountains too. Actually, my father took us all three, but they didn’t like it too much, probably because they started late
teenagers and they didn’t enjoy it too much. And of course, when he was discussing at home, who wants to come? I was the only one raising the hand and then- But they had the opportunity. Of course, the opportunity was there. The funny thing is that like many years later, my sisters came to me and said like, you know, everyone in the streets asked me if Egloff has to do something with Karl Egloff. And I said, yeah.
Yeah, why are you asking that? Because I don’t know, it’s my kind of my responsibility to climb big mountains too, because I have the same name. And I said, oh, this is funny. Are you kind of asking me to bring you up there? And they said like, yeah, actually, but not your rhythm, but take us up there. We have to climb big mountains too, because we are Egloff And I said, yeah, of course, I take you up there. So I trained them.
Jason Elkins (16:14.162)
and we made it up to Cotopaxi It was a beautiful, beautiful journey. I enjoyed, probably I enjoyed more than them, but for them, there was life changing. They have this beautiful picture on their living room. And of course I met my wife in the mountains because my, probably it’s the only kind of woman they’re gonna understand, the mountain guide. So- I thought that might be the case. We didn’t discuss that last time we spoke, but I had a feeling that it probably went that direction. So you met her in the mountains. Tell us that story.
Yeah, absolutely. She hired me to take her up to the mountains. And then of course I did what guides shouldn’t do. I dated my client and then we had a relationship. It was beautiful. We climbed many years together. Of course, she, in one point of the life, we became parents and then things become a little bit different. Someone had to stay with the kids. We tried to have a balance on it. And as I do a living out of it.
Of course, I’m more in the mountains, but of course in some free time, we try to go together and as our kids are still small, we are really looking forward to climb together and do some mountaineering together. And of course, I’m a father of a daughter too, not just of a son. And the big question is, would you allow your daughter to climb mountains? Of course, I can’t wait. I want her to destroy all my records and I will be the first father cheering. And I definitely believe a lot in woman power.
In my years as a guide, I always figured out that women have a stronger mind than men. Men give easily up and they probably are physically stronger, but women are very tough. They are fighters. Being father of a son and a daughter, it’s beautiful because you can compare it. My daughter is two years old and she’s already wearing my helmets. It’s just beautiful to see that.
is that it’s super cool to see that generational saying. I’ve got, I’m a third generation balloon pilot. So I had some experience similar. I was traveling with my father in the summers going to balloon festivals, learning how to fly ballooning. And I was the same way. All I wanted to talk about was ballooning. The whole like eight or nine months that I was back in school with my mom, it was like, I was, can’t wait to go ballooning, can’t wait to go ballooning. And
Jason Elkins (18:35.582)
And now with my son and I’ve got a son and daughter as well that I trust will both be fourth generation pilots at some point. Yeah, it’s pretty cool to share that. And I actually got back, I was out of ballooning for quite a while and then decided to get back into it because I wanted to have that experience with my kids and share that with them. And I’m so, so happy that I did that as well. So that’s, I get that.
So, and your kids are probably already like climbing all over everything in the house, I’m sure. I can imagine. Yeah. But when we have visitors, they always look at me like, are you allowing this? Like she’s jumping on the sofa and making huge and risky things. But I know that it’s just on her blood and I’m just so happy. And I’m the first one congratulating her every time she does something spectacular.
in home or climbing a wall or whatever. It’s on the genes, I guess. Well, it is. I think, you know, I’m a firm believer in nature and nurture. I think it’s a good mix. And I also believe that a lot of people squash that ambition in their children pretty quickly, not because they don’t love their kids and not because they’re trying to hold them back. It’s probably because they love their kids. So they, you know, they worry about
Oh, you’re going to get hurt. Don’t do that. Don’t do this. It’s staying in. So by the time the kids are 15, 18 or so, when they start to kind of typically want to kind of pull away and go do their own thing, they feel very limited by the way they were raised. So even if they’ve got the genes, if they don’t have the modeling at home, or if they’re not given the opportunity to take those risks, and unfortunately, it’s not just
physical danger risks, it’s everything. Because if you’re constantly told, don’t do this, don’t do this, don’t do this, your default becomes a no. It’s like, I’m gonna be socially ostracized. I’m going to get hurt. I’m going to not fit into maybe the story that I’ve created in my head of what my parents want for me. So I’d love that even when other people come over and question you, you’re like, no, this is, and obviously your parents.
Jason Elkins (20:54.546)
allowed you to do that as well. So anybody that’s listening to this with young kids, because I’ve had them, Karl, Karl SM’s, yeah, try really hard to, you know, don’t let them do really, really stupid stuff, but let them do enough stupid stuff. That they develop a pattern, willingness to try things. Because that’s the key. They’ll figure out what things work and don’t work, you know, but telling them it won’t work before they’ve even given a try is just…
it really stunts them in my opinion. So absolutely. I agree with you. Yeah. Wise words. Absolutely. I would now let’s dive into the athletic part of this, the part of this that, you know, tell us a little bit about, you know, kind of your journey on the athletic side of it, getting to the top and what drove you to want to be the quickest one to the top. All right.
and tell us some stories, Wayne, what is that all about? Well, I was always involved in sports very early in age. I was always the one wanted the best notes, the best grades when I was out there in school. I always wanted to be the captain of all the teams and being in the track team. I wanted to be in the…
football team, I wanted to be everywhere. And when my mom always said like, yeah, but you should have like other good notes, like math and chemistry and everything. And I always said like, no, sports, just the best one in sports. And my mom said, yeah, but you’re not coming very far with sports. And I said like, I will show you, I will show you. I was always challenging my mom. And- What she want, Karl, I want to pause you there for just a second. Is that, that’s interesting. What?
Do you know or what do you feel like she really wanted you to do with your life? Because she came from a generation where athletes were just very few out there. And the chances to become one in an undeveloped country like Ecuador were small, very small. And of course, your mom wants to protect you. And we had the same situation today, early this breakfast, exactly the same. My son had to write down.
Jason Elkins (23:13.386)
what he wants to become when he’s an adult. And he wanted to write football player. And mom said, like, are you crazy? This is not a career. And I was there watching. Did you just look at her? Did you give her the glare or how did that go? I wasn’t allowed to say a word because of course I would have seen, yes, of course, you wanna become the next Cristiano Ronaldo, go for it. But mom said like that, you just don’t say word out there.
And it was just me watching myself. I grew up exactly like that. And I remember the coaches always coming to my mom and telling her that like, I’m very talented. And my mom always said like, don’t tell him, don’t tell him, don’t tell him because he’s gonna drop everything. And then my mom left and the trainer said like, Karl, your mom didn’t, don’t want you to become better and don’t want you to come to a specific school, like I have athlete school and so on.
And I always was mad with my mom, but of course I understand her. Today I’m a parent too, I want the best for your kids. It’s hard being a parent. Yeah, absolutely. Maybe even a little harder for moms. I’ll just say it that way. Yeah, absolutely. I think so too. But coming to your question, I was always involved in sport and I was always successful in sport. I was competing in the very highest level as a soccer player.
And then I changed to mountain biking. I was always very focused competing. I was in world championships. I was representing Echor in more than nine years in international races and mountain biker. And then I switched to speed climber, but all this journey, I never left the mountain behind. I always was involved in mountains. I always was guiding in mountains. I always was doing my courses as a mountain guide and I was doing mountaineering as a living.
And definitely when I changed to speed climbing, it was a bit a coincidence because I didn’t know there was a sport out there called speed climbing. And when I, I didn’t know there was until I, yeah, you, Karl, it’s, it’s quite normal in certain cultures. It’s very big Spain, France, Italy. This is kind of the makeup for all these sports, but
Jason Elkins (25:27.094)
when I was beating all the records here, running up and down Corpaxi, Cayambe, Cimborazo and all these Ecuadorian beautiful volcanoes, I didn’t know there were people making out a living of it and being absolutely professional and sponsored and everything. And this is when the very first time I was watching them on YouTube and seeing like they have special and specific gear. They have like everything is ultra light and carbon gear and everything.
And I become smarter. I was watching them. And then of course I said, I should go for a big project. And this is how I started with speed climbing. And actually in a very few time, very few months, I was already out there internationally trying to beat all these records. And I was successful. I have done 14 world records out there. But of course I’m a father of two kids and
I’m running my tourism travel agency here in Ecuador. And I know that sport is not my main source and won’t never be because I’m already 42 years old, but I still have this healthy life. I’ve trained every day. I still am very good in shape, but of course it’s not like a football career where you’re just training three times a day and nothing else matters. I’m just doing sports in a very high level, but…
My main source is still my family with my travel agency and with all the tours and guidance that I’m doing. And I still do some projects in speed and everything, trying not to risk too much because always too much can be discussable. But I try to have this healthy balance right now. Do you make it clear to your potential guide clients?
that you’ve got this background in speed climbing. And do you feel that sometimes they’re intimidated by that? Because I can imagine a scenario where I’m like, OK, I want to climb X mountain, but I don’t want to go with the guy that’s going to go the fastest or that I’m not going to be able to keep up with or I’m going to feel embarrassed. So how do you over, I’m just curious, how do you overcome that with your clients? Does that come up very often or?
Jason Elkins (27:45.478)
Or are you the one that’s like, come on, we gotta go? Well, this is a very precise and good question, Jason, because it always happens when they don’t know me. That means they have heard about my achievements and they don’t know me as a human. As soon as I’m there with them. Which is why we’re here, Karl. Exactly. So we can get to know you as a human. People believe that I’m just a robber out there or a machine out there. And as soon as I arrive, I’m gonna pull them up to the summit to be back.
home to train and that’s not the way I never stopped guiding because they put my feet very, very down to earth and I love to guide. I really enjoy it even if I climb Coropaxi in an hour and 26 minutes, I can do it in 19 hours too. It’s beautiful and I enjoy to be out there because I don’t do it because of the money, I just do it because I love this lifestyle and I love the mountains and…
This is why I love to work with also very, very special cases. For example, I guide every year amputees that had struggled really a lot to walk. And it’s beautiful to guide them. Even if we have three times more than any other client out there, it’s just to be out there and help others to achieve their dreams. And something that it’s beautiful for me is that I never stopped guiding because many people say to be efficient in sports, you have to focus on
on certain pulse and certain training and certain rhythm and everything. And I always said, yeah, besides my work, I will, but my work is guiding. And it’s funny because I try to split my year in different objectives. Sometimes I have three, four months just focused on guiding. And then I have three, four months focused on my project. So I try to have all this balance where I’m more at home. And sometimes I’m more guiding.
And of course, to answer your questions, they are always very intimidated. And the agency, sometimes it’s, they don’t want to publish anything related with my records because they say every time I put Karl is going to be the guide. They, they, they are asking if there’s someone else. For someone slower on the team. That would be someone, someone who is willing to have a beer and start to run, but it’s okay. It’s absolutely okay until they know me. As soon as they know me, it’s beautiful because.
Jason Elkins (30:06.262)
They know that I will definitely not be running away. I’m there, I’m very passionate. I love to be there. And of course, in my free time, I go jogging, but that this doesn’t change anything. They are resting, they are reading, they’re recovering. So it’s a good balance. It’s interesting, cause it really is two different, well, I’m seeing it as two different things. One, like you said, is the athleticism of, you know, trying to push yourself to…
maybe break some records, hit some personal goals. And the other is guiding. That is, those are two totally different things in my mind, unless maybe you’ve got somebody who wants to also break some records and hires you to help them or coach you or train them, but that’s not really guiding. That’s coaching, I think. And it’s interesting because if you, let’s say you were a, maybe just, maybe Marathon Runner’s too close for a good analogy, but if you were…
you know, a soccer player, but you know, professional athletes, soccer player that also was a mountain guide, you wouldn’t have probably all that, right? You’d still be the same type. You’re still doing your things for different reasons, two different reasons, but maybe people would not make the dimension and think, oh, geez, how can he really be a good diet if he’s always in such a hurry to get to the top? So that’s why I wanted to ask that question or have this conversation a little bit. So anybody that is listening to this,
Um, cause what I hear you saying is you see it as two different things. And when you’re with type clients, it’s, you know, you’re writing them, right? Absolutely. What’s you mentioned a cup. You mentioned a couple of things. You mentioned the amputees, you mentioned some of the things. If you were to summarize what your favorite part of the guiding is. And it goes to answer to what would that, what would that sound like? I think it’s exactly that moment when they are willing to give up.
and you’re encouraged them and to say like, don’t give up. It’s not far away. We can still do it just step by step focus. We will do it. And then it’s the guy who is encouraging and encouraging and just trying to give them some power. And then on the end they achieve their summit and they start to cry. And then it’s all worth it. All deserved. So maybe there is some coaching mixed in there. Maybe.
Jason Elkins (32:29.206)
discounted that a little bit because what I just heard was some coaching as well, which I’m sure in mountain climbing is an important consideration. What is your, I’m sure that in your speed climbing, I’m sure that you’ve had some experiences presumably that weren’t so pleasant or that depends on how you look at the world. I get that. But maybe share an experience or a memory with us that
Maybe I would think, oh man, that sounds horrible. Maybe your mindset is different than mine, but do you have a story that pops into your mind of a day when maybe you wish you weren’t doing that or are you really happy you were doing it because you pushed through it? Sometimes we push too hard. And sometimes the mind of an athlete is hard as a stone. And sometimes it comes out that you are just a human and you can become
very weak out there. So I remember last year, May, 2022, I was climbing together with my climbing and road partner, Nicolas Miranda, from base camp to the summit of Makalu, which is the fifth tallest mountain in the world. We wanted to be the very first humans to do base camp, summit base camp without sleeping in any camp, just one single push without the use of artificial oxygen.
Um, it was already like a huge, a huge achievement just to think about it, because if nobody has done it so far, it’s because of something that’s definitely not a walk in the park. So when we planned everything in perfection, we did all these rotations and we went up and down many times to different camps. And then the big day came and we started to be like, push ourselves to the very limit. And we are, we achieved our dream to, to summit, uh,
before record time up there on the summit. It was beautiful. It’s difficult to describe it in a few words, but definitely it’s a childhood dream to be up there in the Himalayas and breaking a world record and kind of, yeah, your big dream is done. But on the same time, in a second, something came to my head and said, like, Karl you are so tired. How are you going down? Yeah, it’s the death zone. You are not with…
Jason Elkins (34:53.394)
any oxygen on your backpack. You are so tired. I was vomiting every 10 meters. I was looking out there and have hallucinations. People were out there, they didn’t exist. I was seeing ghosts and everything. And I said to myself, wow, I have to descend to base camp in a mountain that I’m not even able to walk 10 feet. So I started to become very, very
afraid of, yeah, just dying out there. And I remember I had these flashbacks of my family. I saw my kids growing up without me, looking back in church, looking back in their real life. And when they graduate from school and they were looking to this empty chair where dad should be sitting. And all these flashbacks came to me. And I said, like, Karl, you cannot give up right now. Don’t give up right now. You are meant to come home. And all these record things are.
just no important right now, just focus yourself. And I was sleeping when I was walking down and my teammate was exactly the same, struggling with the same goals and with the same issues as I was. So we started to team up and we were trying to watch our backs and trying to, okay, if you wanna sit down and.
and take a breath. The other one is really focused so we are not sleeping together. And the other one is standing up, the other one is feeding you and so on. So we tried to really do a good teamwork. And on the end we did it. We went down and it was probably the heaviest and strongest thing I’ve ever done in my life because I was beating my stomach so hard from summit to base camp, almost 10 hours vomiting all the time. And…
and yeah, sitting down and I slept while I was walking and everything. But as soon as you arrived to base camp, it was not that feeling of, yeah, we did it. That’s a world record. It was just smashed it. No, I just thought it was a bit too risky. It was probably the very first time I saw that I saw that it’s going to be over. So definitely it was a, a crazy experience. And I, I remember when I arrived,
Jason Elkins (37:05.998)
Only thing I wanted to do is just text my wife to say I’m okay. And she can sleep in peace because I’m back in base camp and everything else. It’s just an extra time and, and everything. Wow. That’s found. Do you think if you didn’t have a family come waiting for you?
Do you think that might’ve changed the outcome? I don’t think so, but definitely it’s a force. Of course you wanna be the best out there, but sometimes we think we are stronger than we are. And sometimes you think, yeah, this is just as soon as I’m there, I will figure out how to handle that situation. And sometimes you are just, yeah, out of power. You are just a human and humans can get sick. And
things can get out of control. I can tell you three, four other stories that always were very limited to success and death. And of course, this is something that we always discuss at home and we say, okay, how far are you gonna push? And I think this is very important as a professional extreme sport athlete to know that you are not crazy, that you are strong and you just…
You train strong and you do big things, but on the same time, never cross the border of death, having a family or having someone to come back. And yeah, I’m not just out there to die. I’m out there to know my limits and to know how hard I can push. But definitely when you are 40 and older, you know that your bodies can get weak. You don’t recover easily anymore.
So you start to think a bit different. When you are 20, you always believe you are stronger than the mountain. When you are 30, it’s equal. And when you are 40, you know the mountain is always going to be stronger than you.
Jason Elkins (39:14.53)
That’s, thank you for sharing that. That’s, I’m happy I asked the question. There’s so many more questions rolling around in my head. So the story you just shared, when your wife listens to this podcast, will she say, oh yeah, I’ve heard all that before, or is there gonna be something there that she’s like, oh, you didn’t tell me that. Of course I didn’t,
exaggerate too much when I was describing myself out there. I said like, I was, it was tough, but it was okay. But of course, she didn’t know that I was crying and I was really thinking with all these flashbacks and it’s, it’s delicate to tell too many details because at the end we are a family, we have kids and I don’t want to be like a silly dad to risk too much, but definitely it was a good experience for me. Good in
Well, here, in case she does listen to this, let’s give her something good to take away from it. So what have you decided? What did you decide to change or what have you decided to change going forward to make sure you don’t find yourself in that situation again? Definitely team up with the right people, then do a proper acclimatization because it was an issue of altitude.
Definitely be mentally prepared and have always a plan B. That means always having a solution if problems come in and don’t just give it as granted that you’re gonna do everything perfectly in plane A. That means you have always someone that could rescue or you have someone there watching you or there is a radio communication here and there. And of course, as every relationship.
we decided to do it to a certain point. That means in my case, I said, I wanna do this and this and then it’s over. And then I wanna be a good father and do their dreams and go for their dreams or her dreams and not just be the athlete like the rest of my life because it’s not fair. It’s a family. It’s not just a one-man show.
Jason Elkins (41:39.307)
You’re welcome. Not sure where to go after that. That’s I hope she does listen to this. She will. She will. I suspect she already knows that you love her and your family. And I hear it in your voice. And I’m fortunate to be sitting here looking at your face as you tell the story as well. And yeah, I think that she’ll appreciate.
hearing that in your voice as well. I’m sure she’s heard it many times, but yeah, thank you. Thank you so much for sharing that. Okay. Something a little lighter. Speaking about high altitudes and light air. Ella, you have a story with clients and hopefully one that’s not going to scare away your potential clients from going with you in the future, but I’m sure you have some funny, interesting, you don’t need to mention any names, but
What’s one of your most memorable, favorite experiences? Maybe you already alluded to it earlier with clients. Well, I guess clients, I’ve been able to guide clients from all over the world and sometimes it becomes the question like, how do you feel to climb the same mountain 500 times and still smile? And I said- Good question.
The answer is easy. Every single human is different. Every single experience is different. Every single day out there is different, but I always, and I still cry every single time when I arrive to the summit. And it’s funny because sometimes they don’t even cry and because they are so wasted that I say, no, I’m so destroyed. I probably gonna cry when I’m back home, but I’m the one crying always. And…
It’s funny because sometimes it’s difficult to describe, but it’s the reason why we climb is to see what’s out there. When you arrive to the summit, it’s just beautiful to see what’s out there. And I remember I had a client, he was blind, completely blind. And he lost both eyes because of cancer. And then he contacted me and he said, I want to climb them all. I want to climb the tallest peaks everywhere.
Jason Elkins (43:56.522)
And we were arriving to Aconcagua summit. He was, he is a so strong guy. He did just the seven summits. He climbed Everest recently. He’s a machine. He has done Ironman’s everything and he cannot see anything. He has, yeah, too prosthetic. Wow. And when we were very close to Aconcagua summit, I started to cry. And he said like, why are you crying? And I said like, because we are just around the corner out there. And he said, yeah, but.
You’ve been so many times up here.” And I said, yeah, but I’m here with you. And I feel so special because you are here. And he said like, Karl, you are making me cry. And I said, but you can’t cry, you don’t have eyes. You’re making me cry. And then he started to really cry. And then we were hugging each other. And I remember when we did the last steps to the summit, I hugged him and he was like very, very sensitive. And he said like,
Karl, describe me. Why are you so passionate of being in the summit? Because I can’t see. So describe me what you see. And I said, like, I had, I got, you know, like I had a good scheme and I said, like, you are in the top of the world right now. There’s just the Himalayas higher than Aconcagua. And we are here together. You are blind. You are showing the world that
Blindness is definitely not at this capacity. This is that you can climb everything what you want. And yeah, thank you for letting me be part of it. And he said like, Karl if you wouldn’t exist, I wouldn’t be here. So it was a beautiful conversation and I was trying to share what I see. And I said like, if you look here, it’s like, whoa, it’s like beautiful. It goes down like three, 4,000 feet and.
And the wind comes in and describe it. Describe it as if you would describe it to your son. And I was describing everything and he was kind of spreading his hands and trying to feel it with his fingers. And I came back to base camp and I said, I regret, Karl, that you always said that you climb mountains because you wanna see what’s up there. You have to say, I climb mountains because I wanna feel what it’s out there. It’s completely different.
Jason Elkins (46:13.798)
and this client made me change absolutely my speech and my, of course, and my mentality. Man, that’s pretty cool. I’m thinking, one thing I’m thinking is we should probably interview him on the show as well. Yeah, you have to. Because I wanna hear his side of the story. Absolutely. And I’m sure it’s just, it’s impactful. And I’ve long been a believer, and this is, I guess, is kind of…
or at least validation of my story in my head is that, you know, adventure travel is not about the mountains or the islands or the, okay, I like to say beaches, but you know what I mean? It’s not, or the rivers. I was a fly fishing guide. It wasn’t about the fish. It wasn’t about the river. It’s really about the connection. Sometimes maybe with the adventure, you know, the speed climbing, maybe it’s the connection with self.
connection with competitors, I’m not sure because that’s way outside of my area of expertise, but with the guiding for sure. And I think every guide that listens to this program, every real guide that’s like heart and soul guide is gonna resonate with that story you just told. And they’ll all be like, oh, wow. He just put into words how I feel when I’m with my clients. Cause I remember, you know, I was a fishing guide and people were like.
Wow, you fish the same river every day, you know, the same drift boat, the same, generally the same river. Sometimes I see the same fish. But it was never like that for me. It’s like, no, every day, you know, even if the weather is the same and the water clarity is the same, I’m with somebody different. Sometimes I’d guide somebody for three or four days. And each one of those days was different because
the stage of the relationship between me and them had changed the first days. One dynamic by the third day, we’re talking about things that have nothing to do with fishing. Absolutely. And you just, you did a really, really great job of kind of summarizing that. And especially with your client who’s blind, that’s even more evidence. It’s not about the mountain. It’s not about the view from the top. It’s about the connection that you just described
Jason Elkins (48:33.61)
You don’t get that sitting on a fruit zip, sitting on a beach somewhere drinking cocktails, work, you know, and a traditional job in your work. Yes, maybe. So that’s, I really appreciate you sharing that. I feel like we could probably do a podcast about every step that you’ve guided and a bunch of other things.
And I’m curious, is there, feel like I asked some really good questions or I got some really good answers. It wasn’t because I asked the right questions, but I got some great stuff. So thank you for sharing that. Is there anything else I should have asked or that you feel like our listeners need to know either about you, Karl, about your guide business? We didn’t really talk a whole lot about that. So share with us whatever you want, the listeners of the show to know about you or any parting thoughts or anything that you wanna share.
Well, thank you. Thank you for that. Well, you’re very welcome to join us anytime here to Ecuador or to the world. We offer tours in Ecuador and we offer tours worldwide to the biggest and tallest mountains in the world. I try to guide them personally as a tour guide with all my team and you’ll be very welcome to come here to Ecuador too. There are beautiful things to see Ecuador like the Switzerland of Latin America with like beautiful sceneries and everything.
And also as an athlete, you can follow me on social media, as Karl Egglov or as Cumber Tours. And also if you just want an advice to start climbing or you’ve never done it before and you just wanna know what I think about these shoes or this training or whatever, I’m always there to answer you all the questions and I’m just happy that other people start to discover these beautiful mountains and sceneries. Thank you for asking that, Jason, and it was beautiful talking to you, definitely.
Thank you, Karl. Really, really appreciate you. We will have your link to your website and then you’ll have some, and you mentioned your social media as well. So anybody that’s listening to this, Karl, just that was a pretty great offer to connect and support the listeners as well. And Karl, does your, does Cumbre Tours also do non-climbing stuff? Are you able to set up tours with the combination of other natural, cultural,
Jason Elkins (51:02.154)
stuff as well or is it only climbing? Absolutely, absolutely well we are we are based here in Ecuador, but we are pretty everywhere right now in South America. We offer tours, trekking tours, culture tours. We do of course high altitude mountaineering tours. We do pretty everything. And
regionally, also worldwide, the November space camp trekking, Kilimanjaro, Europe, and Aconcagua, and all this stuff. So very welcome. And even if you just want to contact us for advice, we are also there.
That’s wonderful. Karl I will share real quick before we wrap it up. I had spoken with somebody else, another tour operator in Ecuador as well that had an interest in mountaineering and I mentioned your name. I won’t mention his name because I didn’t ask for permission, but I mentioned your name and his, I was on a Zoom call like we are now and his eyes just got big around like silver dollars. He’s like, Karl, I love Karl. Karl’s a great guy. And that’s from another tour operator.
in Ecuador and so you’re making, and he, it was very clear that you had mentored him in some of his climbing and just, so anybody listening to this remotely interested in climbing or just in connection really, because again, it’s not about the mountain. I would encourage you to reach out to Karl and his team. So Karl, thank you so much. That was fascinating. I really appreciate you opening up and sharing kind of that.
letting us behind the curtain a little bit. Thank you. You’re very welcome, Jason. All the best for everyone.
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