“I look out the window towards K2 and it's this splitter blue day with this little wisp of white snow coming off the top of the second highest mountain in the world and I'm feeling this sense of terror and this realization of, oh shit: What have I agreed to?”

Cory Richards is one of the world’s most renowned mountaineers and adventure photographers. He has climbed Everest without oxygen, been on the front cover of National Geographic and is the first American to climb an 8000m peak in winter.

In this episode, he shares his favorite adventures from the Andes to the Himalayas. But he also shares what he calls his “journey to quiet the chaos within”. Cory was diagnosed with bipolar disorder as a child. He was put in psychiatric hospitals, suffered extreme depression, and even - in his darkest moments - thought about ending it all.

Climbing mountains for Cory became a way to escape the “madness that was haunting him”. But it was a race he was doomed to lose. 

This story is both an edge of your seat adventure, told by one of the world’s greats, but also an extremely honest and vulnerable account of what it means to fall apart and rewrite your story anew. 

CONNECT WITH CORY

Cory’s latest book is called The Color of Everything: A Journey to Quiet the Chaos Within. It is exquisitely well written, and my personal favorite adventure travel book this year. 

Check out his award-winning photography on Instagram: @coryrichards

MENTAL HEALTH

This episode deals with issues of mental health, specifically bipolar disorder and depression. If you’re going through anything, and need some help, there’s some links below. These are not personal endorsements. Make sure you do your own research, there’s a lot of great assets out there and there’s no need to suffer alone.

• National Institute for Mental Illness (USA): https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/find-help
• Mind (UK): https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/guides-to-support-and-services/seeking-help-for-a-mental-health-problem/where-to-start/ 

CONNECT WITH US

If you enjoy the show, please subscribe on whatever podcast player you’re reading this on right now. Go on, do it. It means you get to choose what episodes you listen to, rather than the algorithm guess (wrongly) and kick us off your feed. 

Following the show on socials will definitely maybe bring you good travel karma!

Facebook: @armchairexplorerpodcast

Instagram: @armchairexplorerpodcast 

CREDITS 

Armchair Explorer is produced by Armchair Productions. Aaron Millar and Jason Paton presented the show, Charles Tyrie did the audio editing and sound design. Our theme music is by the artist Sweet Chap.

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