Reverence for the Wild: Climbing Everest with Mingma Tsiri Sherpa & Understanding Black Bears with Trina Moyles

As summer draws to a close, the season has offered powerful reminders of nature's force—from extreme heat to devastating wildfires. In this episode of That Said, Talia Schlanger speaks with two extraordinary guests whose lives have been shaped by deep, transformative relationships with the natural world.

First, author and journalist Trina Moyles joins us to discuss her book Black Bear and the article she adapted for The Walrus, What a Standoff with a Black Bear Taught Me About Life in Northern Alberta. Trina shares how a chance encounter with a black bear evolved from fear into fascination, challenging everything she thought she knew about coexistence, risk, and the wilderness.

Then, Talia speaks with legendary mountaineer Mingma Tsiri Sherpa, who has summited Mount Everest an astonishing 19 times. Widely regarded as one of the world's greatest high-altitude climbers, Mingma recounts surviving the catastrophic 2015 Nepal earthquake while on Everest and explains why, after retiring from the mountain, he felt compelled to make one final climb—not for glory, but to recover the bodies of fellow Sherpas who never made it home. His story is featured in the powerful documentary Everest Dark.

Together, these conversations explore courage, loss, fear, stewardship, and the profound respect required to live alongside forces much larger than ourselves.