This week on North of Normal, Amanda McKeen sits down with longtime climber, mountaineer, guidebook contributor, and route developer Jamie Cunningham for a conversation that goes far beyond climbing.
Jamie shares the remarkable story of a childhood shaped by family trauma, loss, and constant change—from growing up aboard a sailboat in the Caribbean to attending boarding school in England after the death of his mother. Along the way, he reflects on how those early experiences influenced his lifelong attraction to exploration, risk, and the mountains.
Together, Amanda and Jamie explore the relationship between fear and resilience, the ways trauma can be passed from one generation to the next, and what it means to reclaim your sense of self after years of uncertainty. Jamie also discusses his decades of climbing in the White Mountains, the Adirondacks, and beyond, including expedition climbing in the Himalayas, and how facing fear on the rock helped him better navigate life’s challenges off the mountain.
At its heart, this is a conversation about survival, self-discovery, forgiveness, and finding clarity after a lifetime of searching.
