What exactly is a mountain? Gwen and the mountaineer talk all things mountainous: how you measure the height of a peak; what you have to wear so you don't lose your bits; and what foods keep you going on a hard climb.
Gwen entertains Kam with some gems from her joke book, and gets some good advice about how to follow her dream of becoming an adventurer.
You can see pictures of Kam's mountaineering, yoga and all things inspirational by visiting her on instagram, and we'll share some of her photos too, on our instagram and facebook.
I am a 7yr old. My name is Gwen Rose. I wanted to do this podcast so all the girls, boys and me could learn about what adults do all day. Visit our website for past episodes and to find out what's coming soon: https://gwengetstowork.com/
Produced by Enigma Records: https://enigmarecords.co.uk/
What exactly is a mountain? Gwen and the mountaineer talk all things mountainous: how you measure the height of a peak; what you have to wear so you don't lose your bits; and what foods keep you going on a hard climb.
Gwen entertains Kam with some gems from her joke book, and gets some good advice about how to follow her dream of becoming an adventurer.
You can see pictures of Kam's mountaineering, yoga and all things inspirational by visiting her on instagram, and we'll share some of her photos too, on our instagram and facebook.
I am a 7yr old. My name is Gwen Rose. I wanted to do this podcast so all the girls, boys and me could learn about what adults do all day. Visit our website for past episodes and to find out what's coming soon: https://gwengetstowork.com/
Produced by Enigma Records: https://enigmarecords.co.uk/
Have you ever been asked, 'what do you want to be when you grow up?'
Gwen's Mum :Gwen Get's To Work
Gwen :I like talking to people. And they like talking back to me. Well, that's what I think. One day I asked my mum, how do I know what I want to be when I grow up? My mum said, if I interview people about, like their jobs and things like that well, I will find out and like, all the people who are listening, um, you will find out too, if you don't know. Let's get to work! For an epic Everest conquering adventurer, she has climbed to the world's most tallest mountains. It should be a pretty thrilling chat. Hi Kam
Kam :Hi Gwen!
Gwen :Because you are probably a bit bored by thought I should entertain you a bit. So I'm going to try and make you laugh with mounting jokes.
Kam :Oh. I'm excited.
Gwen :How did the egg get up the mountain?
Kam :How did the egg get up the mountain? I don't know.
Gwen :It scrambled up.
Kam :Oh god. Haha. That's amazing. I'm gonna have to use that one. Can I use that one?
Gwen :Yeah. Why do mountains make the worst jokes?
Kam :I don't know.
Gwen :Because they always end in cliff hangers.
Kam :Haha. Good one.
Gwen :What does a mountain say when it's sick?
Kam :When it's sick? I dunno!
Gwen :I'm feeling hill What is the laziest mountain in the world?
Kam :I don't know.
Gwen :Av-a-rest
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Kam :Av-a-rest? Haha. That's quite funny. I'm gonna have to use these as my party jokes.
Gwen :What kind of music does a mountain like?
Kam :Stormy ones? I don't know.
Gwen :Rock music.
Kam :Ah, of course.
Gwen :Right. Time to ask you some questions. I love jokes about mountains, though. They are hill-arious. When you were a little girl, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Kam :Oh, don't know if I can remember that far back Gwen! Um, what did I want to be....
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Kam :I always wanted to go and explore places. Go and live in nature in the wild.
Gwen :Cool. First off, can you tell us some basic facts? Like what is a mountain?
Kam :What is the mountain? Now you're testing me. A mountain is a big hill, made of natural substances and they come up from the earth. They are things that you can climb up, pretty much.
Gwen :Are there any mountains in Great Britain?
Kam :There are lots and lots and lots and lots. And we have ..... three of the highest mountains in England, Scotland and Wales, you know which ones they are?
Gwen :No.
Kam :Want me to tell you?
Gwen :Yeah.
Kam :In Scotland, we have Ben Nevis. In the Lake District we have Scafell Pike. And then in the Wales, we have Snowden.
Gwen :How tall is Everist?
Kam :It is 8,848 metres that's been recorded. And it's recorded from sea level to the top, using various tools to figure out what the altitude and the height is.
Gwen :What do you have to wear when you're climbing?
Kam :Oh, depends how high you are. So the colder it is we have to wear lots of warm layers, but lots and lots of clothing. Got a big down suit?
Gwen :So you look like a marshmallow?
Kam :Basically, yes. And because mine's yellow and red it looks like a fluffy bumblebee - might go for a different colour this year or next year. But yes, all of those feathers keep you nice and warm. They're all padded out without the warmth i'll freeze and i'll lose all my bits. We don't want that.
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Kam :Then we need goggles, gloves, big boots like spaceship boots. And then you have to put on crampons with little spikes. So when you get onto the ice, you don't slip so they grip. We have ice axes.
Gwen :How would you lose your bits?
Kam :If you didn't wear the right equipment. For example like not warm enough gloves when it's really cold, then you can get frostbite. Or if you have an accident and you end up in the cold, you might get really really cold.
Gwen :What are frost bites?
Kam :Frost bite is when it gets really, really super cold. And then you've been out in really really harsh conditions like really cold, minus temperatures with high wind. So yeah, it's basically when it gets too too cold for your body to handle and the circulation starts to stop flowing to certain parts of your body. Like mainly your fingers and toes first because they're the ones that are most exposed and sometimes people's noses. So yeah, don't want a little half a nose do we? We need that. But yeah. That's why it's so important to keep warm and cosy and make sure you eat and have lots of fluids.
Gwen :Can we share a picture of you on the mountain?
Kam :Of course.
Gwen :Thank you.
Kam :You're most welcome.
Gwen :What do you usually eat?
Kam :On the mountains?
Gwen :Yeah.
Kam :I eat a lot of fruit, dried fruits and nuts, mainly and chocolate and some nice sweets and not too many sweets because your teeth will fall out. They won't fall out on the mountain but you know. So lots of fruits, lots and lots of carby stuff...
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Kam :Looks of high-fats, protein, sugar, everything. Hot food: lots of soups. We have a lot of soup.
Gwen :So do you have to take it with you in a backpack?
Kam :Yes. We carry our own snacks. And when we're climbing big, big peaks like in the Himalayas, then we have the Sherpas. So we have Sherpas to help us. Without them, we wouldn't be able to get up the mountains. So they do so much to carry us through and then we carry what we can. I's a team effort.
Gwen :Okay. How do you become a mountain explorer? Do you have to be very strong?
Kam :You have to dedicate a lot of time. Yeah. I mean, you have to be mentally strong I think because we're all very strong. You have to be, first start trekking, going on lots of walks. If you love nature, and you want to go and explore, that has to come from the heart, doesn't it? And then that will drive you to become stronger. And then you become stronger through exercising and carrying backpacks and carrying your own stuff and carrying your little strong legs up the hills. And down the hills.
Gwen :Do you get reward money or gold?
Kam :No. Haha. I don't. But, what I do get, which is priceless, is memories and feelings and making new friends and coming back stronger and happier.
Gwen :When you climbed Everest how many days did it take?
Kam :Oo, a very long time. It took us around, to get to the top, around 53 or 54 days, maybe? Almost two months. Yeah. It takes a very long time.
Gwen :Have you ever been scared in your job?
Kam :Umm. I can't say that I have to be honest. I've been very fortunate that I don't get scared that often. There's been some scary., there's been some dangerous moments, but I don't think I've been scared.
Gwen :Yeah, I would be scared if I was at the top of the mountain.
Kam :Do you think?
Gwen :Like Mount Everest.
Kam :I don't know. We'll have to take you up some mountains first and see how you feel. How about that? How about we start off with the English, smaller ones?
Gwen :Yeah.
Kam :Yeah. Small steps.
Gwen :My Daddy has climbed up Scafell Pike.
Kam :Has he?
Gwen :Yeah.
Kam :That's a puppy one. That was one of my first mountains, in the Lake District.
Gwen :Oo!
Kam :Yeah.
Gwen :What would you like to do in your next career?
Kam :Oo, I want to continue to keep climbing; take groups up. I want to continue to teach yoga. But work more with children. Do some yoga with the children. Go trekking. Do stuff outdoors, and then take the grown ups to the bigger mountains. And we can scare them a little then.
Gwen :I don't want to climb mountains actually, but I do want to be an explorer and adventurer. Do you have any advice for kids like me who think they want to be adventurers?
Kam :Yeah, go out and try new things, go to the parks, go to the trails, go to visit different places around where you live. Go to new places, whether it's the sea, the beach, mountains, wherever it may be, because the more you explore. And sometimes doing the unknown is actually the most exciting thing because there's nothing to be scared. The whole point of exploring is trying new things.
Gwen :Yeah. Have any other jobs as well?
Kam :As well as climbing?
Gwen :Yeah.
Kam :I do my yoga. I teach yoga and then before then I used to work in lots of different places. I used to do work with in retail. And then I worked with mental health, people that were poorly or had disabilities. And I still volunteer.
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Kam :But no, not anymore. This is my main job now.
Gwen :You'd be good at that. The kids yoga.
Kam :Do you think? Would you come to my classes?
Gwen :Yeah.
Kam :Okay then. After lockdown, after Covid, come to the parks and we can do it outdoors..
Gwen :Yeah. Can we follow you on Instagram or anything like that?
Kam :You can! So my Instagram is Kam Kaur Official. And my Facebook is Kam Kaur.
Gwen :Okay. Thank you Kam. I missed you? I'm glad you are safe and not up a mountain right now.
Kam :Thank you, Gwen. I wish you guys so much I've missed you lots. It's so lovely to hear your voice and I can't wait to see you again.
Gwen :Me neither.
Kam :Love you.
Gwen :Love you. Thank you for listening. I hope you enjoyed that as much as me. If you did, please remember to leave me a five star rating and subscribe to the podcast, so you don't miss next week's amazing episode. In next week's episode i'm gonna be a cool cat, chatting with a jazz pianist to find out what he does all day on the keys. Transcribed by https://otter.ai