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Based currently out of Oregon, and with nearly 2 decades of mountain climbing experience consisting of many first ascents, awards for excellence and New Zealand alpinist of the year, Graham is extremely established within the climbing and expedition community.\xa0\n\nGraham Zimmerman is more than just an alpinist though.\xa0\n\nGraham has a hydro glaciology degree which led him to work as a geo-physicist and search and rescue technician for many years. Now, climbing full time, this love has led him to not only continue to\xa0climb big mountains in awe of their beauty, but also give back and work with companies such as \u201cProtect Our Winters\u201d towards\xa0raising awareness and creating an impact towards climate change.\xa0\n\nListen on\xa0Spotify,\xa0Apple Podcasts,\xa0Google Podcasts, and all other platforms; just search \u201cBetween The Mountains\u201d or\xa0Ask Alexa! \xa0\n\nAn Award Winning Alpinist\xa0\n\nStarting at 15, Graham cut his teeth in the Southern Alps, New Zealand. Since then, Graham has gone on to climb in areas such as Alaska, Patagonia, the\xa0Pakistani Karakorum,\xa0Canadian Rockies, Himalayas, and Kyrgyzstan, always searching for that perfect route up the mountain.\xa0\n\nBeginning the podcast, we chat about the differences between New Zealand and America. Starting off broadly, and then zeroing into the climbing aspect. Reflecting on his background, Graham talks about his goal to do\xa0high-end, technical routes that have never been done before on big mountains.\xa0\n\n\u201cOne of my favourite things about climbing is we each get to choose how we get at it\u201d, Graham says. \u201cThere are no rules in climbing besides be nice to the people around you and be nice to the environment.\xa0If you\u2019re doing those two things you can climb however you want\u201c. This came about because I mentioned his new route \u201cThe Indirect American\u201c, and what his \u2018why\u2019s were for climbing new routes.\xa0\n\nDescribing Type 2 fun almost to the book, Graham describes how falling in love with\xa0wild places, heavy exertion, and a sense of exploration drive his passion and achievements for climbing new routes.\xa0\n\nIt is these reasons that have led Graham to win his most recent award: the\xa0Piolet d\u2019Or, or the \u201cgold medal of alpine climbing\u201d, for\xa0his first ascent of Link Sar in Pakistan, alongside Chris Wright, Steve Swenson, and Mark Richey.\xa0\n\nTelling Stories As An Imperfect Advocate\xa0\n\nFor years, Graham travelled wherever he could to climb. Due to this, he often wrote off any capability of fighting climate change because of his carbon footprint.\xa0\n\nEven if he thought he could, finding out how to go about raising awareness and creating change was proving difficult.\xa0\n\nEnter\xa0Protect Our Winters, stage left.\xa0\n\nProtect Our Winters essentially takes athletes and \u2018weaponizes\u2019 them to become climate activists. They provide all the information and tools for these athletes to tell and\xa0share their stories and become extremely effective in the climate policy space.\xa0\n\nSince then, Graham has spent a lot of time lobbying in Washington D.C., lobbying in the state capital in Oregon, and presenting to thousands of people across the United States.\xa0\n\nDiscussions on climate tend to be extremely partisan and divided. It gets people\u2019s back up, and, as Graham puts it, \u201conce you get people feeling like they\u2019re in a confrontation, they stop listening, and you stop being effective\u201d.\xa0\n\nWhat Graham and Protect Our Winters do, is use the tool and powers of telling stories to meet people in the muddle, and use the power of other\u2019s people\u2019s impact and perspectives to bring about change.\xa0It engages with our shared humanity, and brings about a connection on the issue.\xa0\n\n\u201cThe difference between climate change and ducking out of high winds is that climate change is not something we can avoid\u201d\xa0\n\nGraham Zimmerman\xa0\n\nGraham is such a fascinating and fantastic individual. He has achieved so much, and is only growing his accomplishments as he continues to climb mountains and lead against climate change.\xa0\n\nYou can find\xa0Graham\u2019s website here, and find out more about his work with\xa0Pr