ROB MURRAY: I’m speaking today with Sabina Litherland, one of the two hosts of the Altitude Check podcast. Tell us a little bit about Altitude Check.

SABINA LITHERLAND: We are two young women living in Canmore and we just have these great conversations. I was sitting on the chairlift and I just had this idea – Jaiden (Hayward) and I need to start a podcast. I messaged her right away from the chairlift, and that was the birth of this project. It’s been such a passion, and it’s so amazing to see it grow and see people in the community and elsewhere really connect with it and really find value in what we’re saying.

RM: Do you bring different perspectives to the table when you have your conversations on your podcast?

SL: Definitely. We try to have guests on fairly regularly. We like to talk about other projects that people are working on here in the Bow Valley. We recently had an episode with Luna from Banff Isn’t Disposable, as well as so many other amazing people locally. We also have episodes where just the two of us sit down and chat and talk about issues or topics that we really connect to, and just kind of see where the conversation takes us. theme

RM: Is there a theme around your podcast?

SL: I like to describe it as anything and everything that we like to talk about and how it relates to the two of us living here in a mountain town. I think, as young people and young women, we do have that unique perspective of mountain culture and mountain lifestyle here in the Bow Valley.

RM: What brought you to the Bow Valley? How long have you been here?

SL: I have been here for almost two years. I came out after university for a five-month contract and I’m still here. Jaiden is from Edmonton originally and she kind of made her way here via Jasper. She’s been here for a few years as well.

RM: The idea of, “Hey, let’s do a podcast,” and actually doing a podcast, there’s probably a few steps in there. Were there any challenges along the way, anything unexpected getting this launched?

SL: Definitely. We had probably a month’s worth of meetings and conversations before we even launched, about what we wanted it to look like, who we wanted to reach, the topics that we wanted to talk about. Everything from the logo, which Jaiden worked so hard on and it looks amazing. For me, a big challenge has been the technology and wrapping my head around all this stuff that I learned in school with podcasting and editing,  just trying to get that to function properly for us. We’ve had some hiccups but we’re definitely finding our groove, and our audience has just been amazing and patient with us which is great.

RM: What’s the response been so far?

SL: Only positive. We’ve had so many amazing messages and DM’s from people who appreciate the content that we’re putting out and are supporting us. We’re just super grateful for that.

RM: Where do you hope to take this podcast in the future?

SL: I have big dreams of hopefully reaching more people, covering more topics, and having bigger and bigger names come on and speak with us. The sky’s the limit at this point.

RM: Where can people find your podcast?

SL: We are on every platform. If you just Google ‘Altitude Check podcast’ we pop right up. The two main ones are definitely Apple and Spotify. We also have our Instagram page and we’re growing our Facebook as well.

RM: How often do you release?

SL: We release every single Tuesday, so it should pop up for your morning commute or bike ride.

Filed under: Canmore, podcast