She can barely breathe, the avalanche snow reaches past her waist and it’s 40 below. But Mountaineer Lotta Hinsta couldn’t be happier. We talk mountaineering, the dangers of alpine life, breaking into the boys club and how she went from model to mountaineer. Then we countdown the Top 5 Popular but Unpopular Things.
Lotta Hintsa: 01:51ish
Pointless: 40:35
Top 5: 58:01ish
https://www.instagram.com/lottahintsa (Lotta Hinsta Instagram)
https://www.instagram.com/theswimfluencenetwork (SwimFluenceNetwork)
https://www.instagram.com/arlasuomi (Arla Suomi - Lotta’s Sponsor)
https://www.instagram.com/up2unutrition (UP2U Nutrition - Lotta’s Sponsor)
https://www.instagram.com/vitaminwell (Vitamin Well - Lotta’s Sponsor)
https://www.instagram.com/karitraa (Kari Traa Sportswear - Lotta’s Sponsor)
https://www.instagram.com/julbo_eyewear (Julbo Eyewear - Lotta’s Sponsor)
https://www.instagram.com/donbowie (Don Bowie Instagram - Photos Courtesy of)
Interview with High-Altitude Mountaineer Lotta Hintsa
Nick VinZant 0:11
Welcome to Profoundly Pointless. My name is Nick VinZant. Coming up in this episode, high altitude mountaineering, and the most popular, unpopular things,
Lotta Hintsa 0:23
oh, I absolutely loved the suffering. It's like that's how you go there, you would feel so alive when you're just so focused on in the moment like, and then the Snowbird just collapsed underneath me. And somehow I was able to just get my ice axe in my crampons and hold on to the row and above 8000 meters, you have about 24 hours until you die, you actually get to be yourself, your eye for one second, I didn't feel too short, or to this or to that, like what you always kind of feel like you're trying to measure up to some sort of sort of standard.
Nick VinZant 1:05
I want to thank you so much for joining us. If you get a chance, like, download, subscribe, share, leave a review, we really appreciate it really helps us out. So our first guest spends her life climbing some of the highest mountains on Earth. And she has this fascinating story, not just about what it's really like when you're 8000 meters 27,000 feet up there, but about not letting what people think you are, dictate the things that you want to do. Because the more uncomfortable conditions get, the happier she is. This is high altitude mountaineer lotta hintsa. When you look at like the difference between saying the backyard mountain, right, the 8000 9000 foot one, how is that different than the kinds of mountains that you're climbing when you're really getting up there.
Lotta Hintsa 2:02
So the difference is mostly the amount of oxygen that you can get into your system. So it's about 50% of the atmospheric pressure, pressure, sea level. So our body needs the oxygen to function aerobically. And when you're doing long distance, what you usually do on the mountains, it you use the aerobic system in your body a lot. So the higher you go, the harder it's function.
Nick VinZant 2:31
Is there a point where like, you're going up, say 4000 meters, 5000 meters, 6000 meters? Is there a certain Is it a gradual thing? Or is there a point where you're like, Oh, you suddenly really notice,
Lotta Hintsa 2:44
it's quite a bit about a climatization, as well. So our body can adjust to high altitude and the lack of oxygen pretty pretty well, it depends on a person as well. I have I seem to have the ability to acclimatized pretty easily to higher altitudes.
Nick VinZant 3:05
How long does it take you to kind of get used to the change to the higher altitude,
Lotta Hintsa 3:09
it takes about two weeks to acclimatized entirely. Then again, of course, this depends on the altitude as well, above 6500 meters, your body doesn't acclimatized anymore. So after that, the higher you go, the faster your body will just shut down.
Nick VinZant 3:27
Now that's the death zone, right? Is that the? Yes,
Lotta Hintsa 3:31
that is exactly the death zone. And above 8000 meters, you have about 24 hours until you die if you're not on supplemental oxygen. So a lot of climbers use supplemental oxygen to climb high. I've never used it. I never will. And just my style of climbing, going up against the mountain.
Nick VinZant 3:57
How did you kind of get into this,
Lotta Hintsa 4:00
a lot of my childhood I spent in Ethiopia. And we lived in Addis Abeba, which is like a mountain region itself. I just completely fell in love with the mountains in there. Finland where I'm from is completely flat. And in general, I've just always been I've loved the outdoors and had this like need to get to higher levels. So or just higher it's higher elevations when I was a kid my mom always tell the story, how I brought this really high chair like they had guests over. So I brought this chair in front of the earth yeah in front of everyone and just climbed on top of it and was like very proud of it. How I know climbed this high chair. I was to
Nick VinZant 4:47
know like when did you really get into the high alpine stuff like when did you start doing that?
Lotta Hintsa 4:55
Well, the extreme high altitude which is considered to be above 5000 meters. That was, Well, my first mountain like that was Kilimanjaro, which is basically I don't want to sound arrogant or anything, but it's a bit of a walk in the park. And it felt like that to me, I was just really excited to be there. And because you do feel the effects of the altitude, my then husband, he started puking and feeling really, really sick. And I was just like, oh, this is so awesome. And this is so fun. And I just didn't. I mean, of course, I was trying to be nice to him and empathetic towards him. But it was just, I thought it was just so cool to feel the challenge of what it brings to you that you're not getting enough oxygen, because there's ways to mitigate that to like, the way you breathe, the way you move, you need to be very strategic when you go up there, especially if you're doing it without supplemental oxygen. So 2016 was, was the year I got into the higher and then has been higher and higher and higher. And
Nick VinZant 6:14
for for somebody who's never been up that hot. Like what is that like?
Lotta Hintsa 6:19
Well, last summer, me and my climbing partner splash nowadays life partner as well slash my coach, we were on Broad Peak, which is above 26,000 feet. And for the first three weeks, we were the only two people on the mountain, we climbed without ropes, if we had used ropes, we put them in ourselves, we always carry our own stuff, it's very independent. But when you're when we're tackling a lot of snow, like much more than usual. So how I described it to someone who asked how it feels to climb a mountain, just the two of you, when you're Breaking Trail, which is like exhausting, especially when the snow is like up to your waist at times, you can't breathe as much oxygen as you would like. So it's kind of like having three face masks on top of each other. And then you're carrying almost half of your weight. And then you're doing like step ups onto a bench at a gym. With with the weight on and with the masks on. And sometimes the bench just collapses underneath you. So do that for I don't know, 10,000 reps. And then you get to camp one.
Nick VinZant 7:46
But then you get to camp one, right? Then you get to the first part of like four or five camps, I'm assuming Yeah. Is for
God, that sounds really hard. So now to be able to do this, is it simply you need to have this amount of physical training and everybody in anybody have average athletic ability? If they put in the time training? They could accomplish this? Or do you need to have there's something about you, your body the way that you're designed? Do you have to have that? Right? Can you just work and get here or is like, look, some people genetically can do this. And some people just can't,
Lotta Hintsa 8:27
I do believe that there is quite a bit of genetic predisposition. Because even when, so the way I started climbing, like I just dropped everything else sold my house and just started climbing like full time. That was three and a half years ago after my current coach, Don Bowie. He's one of the best climbers in the world. And we ended up on the same mountain in same base camp. And almost no one climbed that year, we were on Aconcagua, which is the highest mountain outside of the Himalayas, almost 7000 meters. And we made it into like, a record time, like in really good time, from camp to, to the summit in super bad conditions. We were the 10th and the 11th or something like that, during that season, who had even made it to the summit, because the conditions were just really bad. And I just kind of floated it. I hadn't been training methodically for for like, this sport. And he was just like, I don't care who you're going to climb with, but you need to start climbing hard. And if you give me a year, I'll make you a beast. So it's like, just a second I'll do a little arrangement. And, and yeah, so I got a few sponsors. I was Miss Finland in 2013. And I was in the like, I've been doing quite a bit of work in the public eye in entertainment industry. For at that point for quite a few years, so I had connections. And my first sponsors for the year were a lingerie company and makeup company, super food company and a jewelry company. So not the basic or the usual, high altitude climbers.
Nick VinZant 10:21
Has that then as you've kind of gotten into the community has that been? Have they received you as one of their own? Or have you always been like that? Here comes the model here comes to social media girl, or have do you think that they've kind of influenced or accepted you? And I don't mean that, like, you shouldn't be, you know what I mean?
Lotta Hintsa 10:42
No, I get it. Yeah. Well, one of my goals in life or kind of like themes in life has been just breaking barriers or glass ceilings, I feel like whatever I've done in my life, whether it's been working as a very young store manager or jumping from, I graduated from business and economics, and then suddenly became Miss Finland. And just like, I've had quite quick turn, turnarounds, or people have felt like they're quick turnarounds. But for me, it has all been based in curiosity. And where I've felt like my attraction point in life is and it's adventure, and it's going towards fear and it's going towards challenges. So So yeah, I've, I've definitely noticed that there is there is this. Like, I've been called a mascot. Like when I was doing a winter expedition on broadpeak with two of the best climbers in the world, people outside, like we were three people on this mountain, it was around, I'd say, I don't know Fahrenheit that well, but I know minus 40 Celsius and minus 40 Fahrenheit or the say, so it was around that temperature. We're climbing blue. Yeah, we're climbing blue ice, it's like you make one mistake, you're at the bottom of the mountain and kilometres of like, just climbing ice. So it's, it was definitely very cool for me like a big learning curve. But at the same time, I did hold my own, I carried my like, my weight. And I, I was I had, like, righteously I had my place in that team. So hearing stuff, like, Oh, who's carrying your makeup, and she's just the mask on? I'm like, you'll see. It's not my business. Like if someone has, has these prejudices, it's more than more their problem than mine.
Nick VinZant 12:42
Well, I guess what do you like? What keeps you coming back? What do you think is like the ultimate draw of it for you, putting myself
Lotta Hintsa 12:49
out there facing the challenges, feeling discomfort going towards things that might feel scary. I don't really ever feel scared, I acknowledge that this is like a dangerous situation. But I need to focus really, really hard. And I can mitigate the situation. That's what I bring into my training, like I train, depending on the cycle, but 20 to 30 hours a week of endurance during the endurance period. And then we have like, more technical training periods or cycles and more like strength based but I just, I work my ass off. So I bring that idea of like, this will make me be better in this in this situation I can take on the mountain. Like every time I go to a mountain I want to take the mountain on on its terms and not bring the mountain down to my level,
Nick VinZant 13:51
as there have been a shift in climbing like this. I don't know if this is the right word, the climbing like ethos or perspective in which, you know, I used to watch these things about right like the documentary going up at Everest. And I always wondered like, it looks like everybody somebody else is doing all the work. Right. Like they got the Sherpas just fixing the ropes and carrying the stuff there been a shift where like, No, you got to do this whole thing yourself.
Lotta Hintsa 14:14
Um, I hope there is a bit more but I do see more and more of this kind of, I mean, last year on Broad Peak, it ended up in a death of a climber because there were people who were not experienced enough to be there. And we were involved in a bunch of our few rescue operations. And it just I wish there was more of this. I will apprentice and like take a step by step by step but nowadays because this is an exaggeration, but you kind of want the picture on the summit on your Instagram page. And then To get there, you need to use a lot of money and just pay for someone to get you up there. It's but then when something goes wrong, you don't know what to do. And people don't know what to do
Nick VinZant 15:16
when you go in terms of like, alright, from your average mountain? Obviously, it's different for every single one. But is it generally? Like how long of a trip are you looking? Usually looking at you like you've got to, it's gonna take you this long, you got to cover this many kilometers, this much vertical. Like I know that every mountain is obviously different. But in general, kind of like, what are you preparing for?
Lotta Hintsa 15:39
Like you said, every mountain is different. But basically, I would say that the higher the mountain along it longer you need to be on the mountain or at the base of the mountain. acclimatized waiting for weather windows, like that's the most. To me, it's the hardest part of expeditions like you might sit in Basecamp for 10 days, just waiting for the weather window to open. So you get to like, either go up, and acclimatized or have a summit push, but an 8000 meter peak. So there are 14 8000 meter peaks in the world. And they usually take about two months, even more to climb, but then you go to 7000 like Aconcagua in South America in Argentina, and it's 1000 meters lower. And three weeks max,
Nick VinZant 16:35
there's that much of a difference just in that 1000 meters. Yeah, yeah. Wow. Is that just because that 8000 meter peak, is that much bigger than a 7000 meter peak? Or because No, having that much less oxygen is going to take you that much longer? Yeah, it's the oxygen. So if you go above like the death zone, right, like the thing that I've always heard, is that okay, your body is basically dying. Once you're up here. Once you go back below, are you like, you're back to normal? Or are there long term effects that like, you have taken this out of your body, and it's not coming back.
Lotta Hintsa 17:16
In general, I always do feel weaker after a long expedition. But the use of supplemental oxygen that helps a lot in mitigating those, those symptoms, like you're just not functioning the same way. Like when you're, especially when you're climbing without supplemental oxygen, it compromises like all of the functions of your body. Like, when we went on winter Broad Peak, my Iman partner told me like, it's 5050, that you will lose a finger or a nose or something. Because when you're, you're just your blood circulation doesn't work the same way it doesn't work as effectively. And the first place it leaves is your fingers or like the extremities of your body. Yeah, and there is a saying that we do lose brain cells up into higher elevation. So yeah, sure, if we can ever recover, though.
Unknown Speaker 18:14
It's it's a debatable topic. We
Nick VinZant 18:16
did have a neuros, a neuroscientist on once, who said, Oh, you kind of replaced them. Just don't replace the ones you really need. That's what he's like you replaced the ones that have kind of like, keep your body moving, but not the ones. Notice it affects you like do your decision making at all?
Lotta Hintsa 18:33
Yes, it does affect your decision making. And you just feel like your brains work much slower. So far, I've I've felt pretty good. Like, as high as I've gone. I've always felt in control. And that's the thing you have to make the decision beforehand that you will never because you're every time you put yourself in a position where something bad can happen to you. You're compromising the lives and the safety of everyone else on the mountain as well. Like personally, I'm if there's something going wrong, I've left a summit push three times I've failed on while failed to me it wasn't a failure, because it was such a big cool adventure in general. And like, I don't go on these mountains for the summit. I go for the journey. But three times I've left a mountain without a summit because there has been a rescue situation, whether no matter how, like involved I've been but still I've taken that step back. And a lot of people when they go on these mountains, they think that this was what they would do. But you sort of go into default mode. And you see a lot of this kind of people come back and say that I never thought I would behave or act that way. Is
Nick VinZant 19:58
that a common thing though? up, they're like, Look, you get in trouble, nobody's coming for you.
Lotta Hintsa 20:05
You can't go there and expect someone to help you. And that's one of the issues that a lot of people do when they pay big money that someone's going to help you. But you got to be there with an attitude and with the knowledge that if everything else disappears around you like your safety net, every other person, you don't have ropes, ropes are taken down by an avalanche. You're just left with your ice tools, your ice axes and your crampons that you can get down the mountain by yourself. But a lot of people rely on the ropes so much. Like you don't necessarily even need to bring an ice ice axe to Everest nowadays anymore, because you can just use this Jumar thingy that you slide up the rope and it doesn't come down.
Nick VinZant 20:51
But that you know, is that for more kind of the like the tourist alpinist stuff, right? Like the the hardcore of the hardcore isn't doing that though.
Lotta Hintsa 21:01
90 II know 95% 90 to 95% of people who go up on these expeditions nowadays. Climb like that. Wow. But it's, it's, it's made easy. So like, why not?
Nick VinZant 21:16
Has then then like for people who are still kind of looking for like the true experience, then, like, where are they going for that? Right? Like if Everest is now Disney World, I'm being dramatic, obviously. But if Everest is now like, Where? Where are you going for the real stuff?
Lotta Hintsa 21:34
Well, definitely the 14 8000 meter peaks are very popular at the moment. That's kind of like the I don't know if you've heard of the Seven Summits? Yeah, yeah. But it's like climbing the highest mountain of every continent. And now it's become more like the 14 8000 meter peaks. So you'll climb all the 8000 meter peaks in the world. But I'd say that a lot of a lot of climbers that I know and climb with, are looking for experiences outside the normal routes. And that's kind of where, okay, let's just say that I'm gravitated towards routes outside of the normal routes. So it's more about just me and the mountain or just me my climbing partner and, and the mountain. So that's, that's where my future goals are. And future plans. It doesn't have to be an 8000 meter peak. There are a bunch of mountains that you throw a rock rock in the air and it reaches 8000. So it's like, I'm, I'm cool with the height not starting with an eight. As long as it's a fun route.
Nick VinZant 22:46
Are you ready for some harder slashed listener submitted questions? Yes. Did you hear my voice crack? I said that like I was a
Unknown Speaker 22:53
little boy. I've been a little sniffling.
Lotta Hintsa 22:56
Okay. Um, okay, well, no, I'm not sure if I'm ready. No,
Nick VinZant 23:01
right, right. Um, this is I like this question. Can you enjoy it? Or is it so physically difficult, that you're just suffering through the whole thing? Oh, I
Lotta Hintsa 23:13
absolutely loved the suffering. It's like, that's how you go there, you would feel so alive when you're just so focused on in the moment, like, there's no room for any other stress factors other than where you are at the moment. And I don't know I get this weird kick. Like, the harder it gets. I'm like, Oh, now we're getting started. So I do a lot of ultra runs as well. So the first 15 hours is boring, because you're just like, kind of suffering start already. And then you're like, Okay, now we're, now it gets interesting.
Nick VinZant 23:46
But does that ruin everyday life then? Right? Because I know that like people like yourself, you go on these massive adventures. But that can't be that much. Like does it ruin then? The kind of common commonality of everyday life or like alright, Tuesday's laundry day. Does it make everything else seem less impressive?
Lotta Hintsa 24:06
I get what you mean. I do. A lot of stuff that feels interesting. Like, even training that you tell someone to go on a stair stepper for five hours inside what looked like just staring at the same wall. You just change your mentality. You're like, Okay, well, not most most people couldn't do this or wouldn't want to do this. So take the challenge on and see how how I can make this interesting.
Nick VinZant 24:38
You've been on the Stairmaster for five hours straight.
Lotta Hintsa 24:42
Yes, five days in a week. That sounds like
Nick VinZant 24:44
the worst experience in all of life. That sounds terrible. What do you do? Like what how do you he's watching movies.
Lotta Hintsa 24:52
It's no I answer or reply to emails and messages and Sometimes I do like Instagram, Q and A's and that kind of stuff. Yeah, you'd have to. I always invent things. Yeah. Listen to music.
Nick VinZant 25:10
Five hours on a Stairmaster? Oh my gosh, that's
Lotta Hintsa 25:14
like an average. Sometimes it's four. Sometimes it's six.
Nick VinZant 25:18
Only four hours on it,
Unknown Speaker 25:20
man.
Nick VinZant 25:21
So then how many calories do you have to eat in a day?
Lotta Hintsa 25:24
I like, I have zero food rules other than not have food rules and eat a lot. Yeah.
Nick VinZant 25:31
No, will you? Will your body go through big changes during one of those expeditions? Right, like we just had a guy on that was solo sailing around the world. And he would say, Well, when I sail from LA to Hawaii, I know I'm gonna lose 25 pounds.
Lotta Hintsa 25:43
Um, so I always try to gain weight before I go on an expedition, which is sometimes hard because you're just training so much. But you do lose some body mass, mostly, it's muscle, which sucks. So that's why you can't really go on back to back expeditions if you're climbing without supplemental oxygen, because the effect is, is bigger that way. But then I just eat a lot. In Basecamp.
Nick VinZant 26:08
It's eat as much as you can get. It's like,
Lotta Hintsa 26:11
yeah, I try to aim at for four to 5000
Nick VinZant 26:15
calories. How do you go to the bathroom up there?
Lotta Hintsa 26:19
That is always the second question. Like, whenever I'm in a public speaking situation, people like try to soften things up with another question. And then they go to that. So I'm, there depends if you're in base camp, or if you're up on the mountain. But let's just say that, for example, if you're going for number two, sometimes your climbing partner has to belay you from the tent, so that you can go down a little like roped up. And, and there's situations where you're doing that stuff in very sketchy places, just hoping that your tombstone won't say that died while pooping. But it's, it's like a bathroom with a view.
Nick VinZant 27:00
That's it that actually leads us perfectly in this next question, what's the view like,
Lotta Hintsa 27:04
oh, great, amazing. This is what I tell people that because many people think that you need to get to the summit to enjoy the view. But wherever you you are in life. And whatever your journey or mountain it's like, look back, like every 10 or 100, or at least 1000 meters and just enjoy where you are. Look back how far you've come. And that actually works as a pretty good analogy for a lot of things in life. But always look back to see how far you've come
Nick VinZant 27:37
scariest situation you have ever faced.
Lotta Hintsa 27:41
This was one of those good lessons as well. We were coming down from broad peak last summer. And I was sort of like, it didn't focus anymore, because we're almost off the mountain. And there's big crevasse at the base of the mountain or Bertrand is the real name, but it's like a crevasse. And there's a snow bridge on top of it. So basically, it's like a very, you'll never know how thick the snow bridges and when it will collapse. But there was like an obvious spot where you need to go over it and then a spot where you definitely don't want to go over it. And I was just, I don't know, focusing on the french fries and pancakes and Basecamp that I was going to get soon. So I just didn't look and I was unbroken. I had my socks and my other hand crampons on. And I was holding on to a rope. So that was a very good thing. But kind of loosely and then the snow bridge just collapsed underneath me. And somehow I was able to just get my ice axe in my crampons and hold on to the row and got myself from like, out of there. And I was just laughing hysterically. I don't that was like a weird reaction. But it was just like, I was close and my climbing partner was like What did you just do? Why didn't you watch where you were going? And yeah, so finished with focus. That's a good lesson.
Nick VinZant 29:12
And then I would imagine if you wouldn't have stopped then that was the end Yeah, that close that quickly. Right like that kind of adheres like they have this is a mother question we got is like what where do people die? Like what what kills people up on the mountains?
Lotta Hintsa 29:31
So high altitude sickness is definitely one of the reasons. So you're either your brains or your lungs start filling up with water. And because of the altitude there's you can look those up if you want to know more. But then I think the objective dangerous are always there, but those you can mitigate by learning to read the mountain Sometimes you need to roll the dice a little and understand that you are taking some certain risk. So rockfall avalanches? Well, yeah, severe weather. Like the weather changes cold. But then other people is one of the dangers nowadays as well, especially if you're on a very popular route. And there's some sort of things like St. Kitts that not everyone necessarily knows. For example, if you kick a rock, you're supposed to yell rock, like really hard. I almost got killed last summer with someone dropping a rock that went like that close to my head at I don't know, but must have been at least like 50 miles per hour speed, this big chunk. And it was like, if it would have hit my face, I would have dropped it right there. Me and so and then just your own mistakes. That's that's one thing, but ropes that break
Nick VinZant 31:07
on pretty much every expedition, are you going to have like, yeah, you pretty much gonna almost die on every expedition at some point?
Lotta Hintsa 31:15
I hope not. I hope not. I don't think I had, I've had like, things that could have ended badly on a lot of expeditions. But then there's a lot of situations where your know that you made the right call. And then that's why nothing happened. So I think it's a lot about learning and knowing what you're getting into, so that you can mitigate those risks and just train your butt off so that you're, you'll be faster on the mountain, so you'll be less exposed to the objective risks. But just I hope it won't be every time that there is a story like that last summer was just crazy. It was like gut punch after punch and gut punch. And then you get up again, and then you fall down again and you get up again. So it was it was a hard one. But I published a book about it. So that's became a good adventure. Good for you. And it was actually yeah, and in the end, I was so exhilarated that it was like, every single time I was brought down. We still got back up. So it was just like, testing your strength. And in the end, I was like cool. I actually was able to get up every time that something happened. Like just get even through, like frustration and tears. I'd still get back off on my feet and try again until my visa ended and then we left the country.
Unknown Speaker 32:40
Ultimately it comes down to the government doesn't it? I can I can beat the weather and the mountain and myself but the government red tape is what's ultimately Yeah. Yeah. Um,
Nick VinZant 32:55
what is the next what is your holy grail? What's the thing that like, Ooh, this is this is this is what I want to do.
Lotta Hintsa 33:04
I don't think I can tell you because this has happened to me before that I've said my dreams out loud and then someone else went and did it because our Yeah, that's our sort of how we what we aspire to do is do and I haven't really done anything. I mean, I've done cool stuff but nothing that has gone into historic books yet. So our history books, but um yeah, there there are keep it secret new new routes Yeah, new routes or first first attempts or first summits that fired
Nick VinZant 33:42
okay, that to do that makes sense. Right? Like you can't tip your hat
Lotta Hintsa 33:48
Yeah, like if you tell that I want to be the first first woman to do this and this are the first person to do this in this it's often with a mountain the sight there is no he or she you just write the mountain doesn't care if you're a man or a woman.
Nick VinZant 34:02
What is your favorite climbing related movie here
Lotta Hintsa 34:05
climbing related movie? I don't watch a lot of them because I pick them apart a lot. Like, I'll be like, they shouldn't be doing that. They shouldn't be doing that. That's not possible to do that and that kind of stuff. So I think I watched Everest the like the 96 year stretch and try to tragedy and I was just like, I couldn't focus because that was just Noid by little mistake.
Nick VinZant 34:33
What what is something though that like you would notice that I wouldn't notice at all like climbers like yourself would be like, Oh my God drives me nuts. But for me, I would be I wouldn't notice at all.
Lotta Hintsa 34:45
Like good thing like someone being without proper eye shields high up in altitude and you're just like, that person's gonna burn their eyes. Like you just got to put your sunglasses on or you're gonna burn your eyes. I've done that a few times. And it's so painful. But I have never gone Snowblind. But I've like had the worst feeling in my eyes. And in a lot of these movies, there's just people like hanging out up there, there without their eye shields or without their gloves for a really long time. And you're just like, that person might lose a finger Sue. That kind of stuff for them, like looking at their harnesses and being like, I wonder why they're carrying that thing up this mountain because every single gram counts, but wire like, yeah, that kind of thing. I have equipment. I have
Nick VinZant 35:37
once also burned my eyes. And that was the worst. Like, oh my gosh, that's the worst. So painful. Yes, awful. You don't make that mistake again.
Lotta Hintsa 35:47
I've made it twice.
Nick VinZant 35:48
Well, I didn't make that.
Unknown Speaker 35:51
Well, you are not. You are not ready for these mountains. Let me tell you, as a person who has walked 10 Miles once you are not prepared. Get out of here. Yeah.
Nick VinZant 36:07
Best food to eat after getting off the mountain
Lotta Hintsa 36:10
and french fries and pancakes. Oh, yeah. They just like they're awesome. And in Basecamp, for some reason, like they're at 5000 meters in Basecamp. They're just the best. I think it's the saltiness of the French fries. That helps. Like you need salt.
Nick VinZant 36:30
Alright, oh, I could see that. That's pretty much all the questions I have. Is there, like anything else that you think we missed? Or like what's kind of coming up next for you?
Lotta Hintsa 36:38
Well, next for me is this exciting new adventure. So I'm part of the Sports Illustrated swim search. And there were 1000s of applications and 13. were chosen. We did a photoshoot in Dominican Republic, I believe at least what I saw from the screen that these shots will be amazing. So yeah, part of that.
Nick VinZant 37:04
Is that kind of like, what's that? Like? Is it what you expected? Or is it like, Whoa, this is really something big?
Lotta Hintsa 37:10
Well, definitely, whoa, this is something really big. I mean, the atmosphere at the shoot was just something out of this world. I've never been on a shoot like that. And I think it was mostly because the way everyone was just so kind of, I have the saying about redefining femininity. And I've been told so many times on the mountains that don't bring out your femininity, or that your feminine side, because that will make you less legitimate of a climber. And I don't understand that this is kind of like the message I got about being part of the swim search as well. And there. So I've decided that anything that I do on the mountains, because I'm doing it as a woman, it's feminine. Like if whether it's peeing in a bottle, or taking some cool dress, photos up on a glacier or up on the mountain, it's, that's feminine to me. And the way si redefines femininity, like, for example, I have a little ego, which is like, some parts of my body just don't get a tan or color. So they were just like before in photoshoots everyone's been photoshopping them or trying to cover them up with makeup and that kind of stuff. And they were just like, we loved love your vitiligo, we want to show it off, rather than cover it up. So there's this kind of the message that they have is so powerful, because it's you actually get to be yourself, like your eye for one second, I didn't feel too short. Or to this or to that, like what you always kind of feel like you're trying to measure up to some sort of sort of standard when you're at a photo shoot, like, or any photo shoot I've ever done before. And this was just like, be you we love you the way you are. And yeah, and that's the message they put out. Like, I think they put it out really well for all the world to see. So it's, it's really cool. They're very powerful that way,
Nick VinZant 39:17
you know, we talked a little bit about the idea like like the mountain doesn't care what you look like or if you're a man or a woman. Do you get pushback, right? Like do you is it different being a woman in what I would assume is kind of a boys club or do I know nothing about this?
Lotta Hintsa 39:36
You're pretty much right. You either need to kind of like I said, Bring out your traditional femininity, less or then you're considered a mascot. And I think um I like proving people wrong, so I don't mind