Goatcast by Bookatrekking is where mountain stories come to life. Hosted by Sierd van der Bij, Goatcast features conversations with hikers, guides, hut wardens, mountain rescue teams, authors, photographers, and the people who make the world's greatest trekking destinations so special. From the Alps and the Dolomites to Nepal, Patagonia, and beyond, we explore the trails, traditions, and adventures that inspire us to keep walking.
Maddy Williams on Cicerone, the Tour du Mont Blanc at 11 & Writing a Guidebook
Maddy Williams did her first hut-to-hut trek at 11 and never forgot it. Today she is director of operations at Cicerone, the guidebook publisher she runs with her brother Joe. She also wrote the guide to the Tour of Monte Rosa, a book that took two summers after fresh snow in Zermatt turned her and her dad back from the glacier.
Maddy and Sierd talk about growing up around guidebook authors like Gillian Price, how Cicerone works with about 150 authors and around 420 guidebooks, and how books are kept up to date after printing. They also get into why an expert author on the ground matters more as AI content spreads, overtourism in the Dolomites, and Cicerone's first navigation app.
Maddy also shares her own trail stories: the Camino Francés in January 2022, horseback trips through Mongolia and Kyrgyzstan, and walks near her home in the Lake District. New guides are coming for the Jordan Trail and St Olaf's Way in Norway.
Chapters
0:00 Meet Maddy Williams and Cicerone
0:40 Trekking the Tour du Mont Blanc at 11
3:52 Inside Cicerone's guidebook archive
5:46 150 authors, and walking with Gillian Price
7:07 How the TMB and hut booking have changed
8:25 Overtourism and sustainable trekking
13:45 Writing the Tour of Monte Rosa
15:13 Turned back on the glacier
18:33 What goes into a good guidebook
21:06 History and culture of Monte Rosa
24:35 The Alps vs Tajikistan
27:34 What "Cicerone" means, and 420 guidebooks
31:16 Why expert authors matter in the age of AI
33:20 Keeping guidebooks up to date
37:01 Where to buy, ebooks and the new app
41:56 AI as a tool for publishers
45:20 Camino Francés, Mongolia and Kyrgyzstan
50:31 Running Cicerone with her brother
54:37 New guides: the Jordan Trail and St Olaf's Way
56:18 Wrap-up
2 Nov 2026
Jeff Sandifort on Huayna Potosí, the Cordillera Real and a Restless Life in the Mountains
Jeff Sandifort trained as a mineralogist and spent years on mineral exploration in East Africa and Pakistan before the mountains took over. Climbing in New Zealand, Chile, Argentina and Bolivia followed, and a backpacking trip through South America turned, almost by accident, into a guiding job in the Andes. Eventually he built his own mountain guiding company in La Paz.
Jeff tells Sierd van der Bij how it started with a chance six-day climb, what guiding in Bolivia was like in the early days, and what it actually takes to run expeditions across Bolivia, Chile and Argentina: custom itineraries, acclimatisation, vehicles, food supplies and long days on the road.
Jeff and Sierd also get into what makes Bolivia different. A capital at altitude, Inca trails, rough landscapes and 6,000-metre peaks like Huayna Potosí within reach of the city. Jeff explains why a slow, steady pace matters up high, how guiding standards have changed, and what goes on behind a climb that looks simple from the outside.
And it gets personal. Jeff now lives in Australia with his family, keeps the business in Bolivia running from a distance, and still thinks about going back to the country that feels like home.
21 Oct 2026
George Soan and Rach McInerney on Tour du Mont Blanc & Hiking as a Couple
George Soan and Rach McInerney met in Sydney seven years ago. He’s from England, she’s from New Zealand, and both have called Australia home for years.
This year George left his corporate job to go all in on hiking and has since walked the Great North Walk and the Larapinta solo. For Rach, the Tour du Mont Blanc was their second long trail together, after the Camino Portugués.
In September they set off around Mont Blanc, hut to hut. Somewhere along the way one of them got injured. There was some hitchhiking, a bus, a fair amount of pain, and they still finished.
We talk about walking a long trail as a couple, sharing dorms in the huts, what the TMB is like compared with hiking in Australia and tramping in New Zealand, and what comes next: George walking the Te Araroa solo, with Rach following in a campervan.
Follow George: @georgesoan
Follow Rach: @rach_mac_
George on YouTube: youtube.com/c/georgesoan
0:00 Intro: Hiking the Tour du Mont Blanc
1:21 Rach’s knee injury begins
4:10 The rescue plan — and meeting Carlos
7:35 Deciding whether to continue
10:24 Fear of heights and the ladder sections
17:34 Finishing the trail and George’s UTMB goal
20:28 The appeal of hut-to-hut hiking
22:08 Making friends on the trail
27:11 Leaving corporate life for content creation
30:14 Van life and George’s next big hike
33:36 Why mountain huts feel like luxury
35:55 The legendary blueberry pie and marmots
38:33 Favorite mountain huts on the route
42:34 Exploring Chamonix
45:51 Why they chose the Tour du Mont Blanc
48:36 Future hiking plans: Dolomites and beyond
49:45 What gear they’d bring next time
54:06 Should the Tour du Mont Blanc be your first long hike?
14 Oct 2026
Evans Mwangi on Mount Kenya: From Porter to Guide to Company Owner
vans Mwangi was 18 when he carried his first load up Mount Kenya in 1989. He worked his way up from porter to cook to guide, and today he runs his own company, Go To Mount Kenya. In this conversation with host Sierd van der Bij, he talks about a life spent on Africa’s second-highest mountain, what each of those jobs taught him, and why Chogoria is still his favourite way up.
They also talk about the people who live around the mountain, what trekking means for local porters and guides, and how Mount Kenya compares to its better-known neighbour, Kilimanjaro.
Two stories from the mountain’s history also come up. On the night of independence in December 1963, Kisoi Munyao planted the Kenyan flag on Batian. In 1943, three Italian prisoners of war escaped a camp near Nanyuki to climb the mountain. Read their story in No Picnic on Mount Kenya by Felice Benuzzi: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/1121565.No_Picnic_on_Mount_Kenya (https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/1121565.No_Picnic_on_Mount_Kenya)
Trek Mount Kenya with Bookatrekking: https://bookatrekking.com/en/trekking/kenya/ (https://bookatrekking.com/en/trekking/kenya/)
Chapters
00:00 Evans’s 37 years on Mount Kenya
01:13 Starting out as a porter
06:11 From porter to mountain cook
09:34 East Africa and visitors’ expectations
11:23 Local names and the story of Kirinyaga
15:34 Why Chogoria is his favorite route
22:16 Mount Kenya compared with Kilimanjaro
24:19 Altitude and the role of the guide
32:15 The Chogoria-to-Sirimon trek
36:29 The summit push to Point Lenana
48:10 The Italian POW story
51:19 The shrinking glacier
54:07 Why the work is about people
7 Oct 2026
Jan Bakker on Big Treks Beyond Europe: Nepal, Africa and the Pamirs
Jan Bakker doesn’t exactly do ordinary hiking trips.
He has trekked extensively in Nepal, spent years exploring East Africa, crossed remote parts of the Rwenzoris, climbed mountains including Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya, and led expeditions into places where there isn’t always a trail to follow.
He is also one of the driving forces behind the Pamir Trail, a 1,310-kilometre long-distance route across Tajikistan, and co-author of the Cicerone guidebook Trekking in Tajikistan.
In this episode of Goatcast, Sierd talks to Jan about exploration, route finding, the Pamirs, Nepal and Africa, what it takes to create a trail from scratch, and why there are still plenty of places left where a line on a map can turn into a proper adventure.
And naturally, we start with the most important question: what is the coolest thing Jan has ever done?
Follow Jan and his projects on Instagram:
@jb37north
@pamirtrail
@summitsofafrica
Jan’s Cicerone guide, Trekking in Tajikistan:
https://www.cicerone.co.uk/trekking-in-tajikistan (https://www.cicerone.co.uk/trekking-in-tajikistan)
00:00 Introduction: Meet Jan Bakker
01:16 A honeymoon sea-kayaking adventure
03:01 Life in the Scottish wilderness
05:36 How the Pamir Trail began
13:30 Expanding into Afghanistan
17:15 Travel, culture, and genuine local connection
20:34 Scotland, family, and raising adventurous kids
22:43 Climbing Africa’s highest peaks
28:34 Trekking freedom: Tajikistan vs. Nepal and Africa
32:59 Packrafting across Uganda
35:54 A packrafting guidebook for Scotland
38:37 Solo adventure, fear, and mountain therapy
42:48 Trekking in Nepal and travelling respectfully
50:51 Preparing physically and mentally for the mountains
55:20 Cultural tips for East African trekking
59:22 What adventure means to Jan now
60:33 The best adventure partner
30 Sept 2026
Soffi of the Pfälzerhütte on Running a Mountain Hut in Liechtenstein
Sophie Sandkühler shares the realities of running the Pfälzerhütte in Liechtenstein: water shortages, unexpected visitors, demanding logistics, and the teamwork behind a remote mountain hut. She and host Sierd van der Bij discuss guest safety, mountain culture, and how shared dinners bring strangers together. Sophie also reflects on her final season and what comes next.
00:00 Welcome to the Goat Coast
01:23 Life at the Pfälzerhütte
01:54 The tourists who drove to the hut
04:05 Supplying a remote mountain hut
05:41 Water shortages and a busy summer season
08:59 Why Sophie took over the hut
11:50 The reality of working in the mountains
14:30 Living and working as a close-knit team
17:51 Friendship, teamwork, and running the hut together
18:58 Building a sense of community in the hut
20:31 Safety, inclusion, and making guests feel welcome
24:16 Balancing tradition with change
30:20 Caring for an old mountain hut
31:56 How strangers become friends around the table
38:42 Alcohol culture and team boundaries
41:42 Mountain safety and helping unprepared hikers
46:35 Hiking the Liechtenstein Panorama Trail
49:34 Sophie’s decision to leave after two seasons
52:29 Life in the kitchen and future travel plans
54:47 The final weeks of the season
56:24 Goodbye from the Pfälzerhütte
24 Sept 2026
Daniel Sulaiman on Six Epic Treks, Friendship, Group Dynamics and Filmmaking
Daniel Sulaiman has spent years walking some of the Alps’ bigger hut-to-hut routes with the same loose circle of friends, a camera, and a practical sense of what the mountains do to people. In this conversation, he talks about how those hikes became a yearly ritual, why he films them the way he does, and how group dynamics can become just as important as the landscape.
They discuss the Tour de Mont Blanc, Alta Via 1, the Stubai High Trail, and the Berliner Höhenweg, and what happens when the weather, food, altitude, and friendships all start asking something of you at the same time.
[9:07 AM]
00:00 - Daniel’s hiking films and how the project began
05:26 - Making long documentaries for the group
06:08 - Filming people, not just scenery
10:22 - The difficult Alta Via 1 trip
14:25 - Why a hike should be slightly challenging
16:45 - Carrying 18 to 20 kilos of camera gear
19:43 - Why the films stay private
21:38 - The Berliner Höhenweg and a missed lunch
24:30 - Fixing problems as a group
26:31 - Making the films for Teddy
29:43 - Comparing the different hikes
38:01 - A tough section of the Berliner Höhenweg
41:38 - Merel joins the group
44:51 - The camera setup and charging in mountain huts
47:42 - Future trips and advice for Teddy
52:23 - Challenge yourself, but do it together
23 Sept 2026
Nicole Hill on TMB, Fisherman’s Trail and the Differences Between Hiking in North America and Europe
Nicole Hill joins Goatcast for her first podcast and talks about discovering hiking, taking on the Tour du Mont Blanc, and exploring Portugal’s Fisherman’s Trail.She shares what trekking is really like, from carrying your own pack and sleeping in shared mountain huts to dealing with heat, sand, limited water, and long days on the trail. Nicole also talks about growing up in Oklahoma, snowboarding in Pennsylvania, recovering from a serious car accident, and how travel helped her build confidence.
00:00 Meet Nicole Hill: hiker, traveler, and trail creator 00:43 From Oklahoma to Pennsylvania 05:15 Discovering the outdoors and backpacking 10:44 Snowboarding, discomfort, and pushing boundaries 13:31 Hiking the Tour du Mont Blanc for the first time 18:06 Hut-to-hut life, strangers, and trail community 24:03 Why the TMB resonates with American hikers 32:22 Going viral and sharing trail stories online 35:33 The Fishermen’s Trail and Madeira 42:34 What’s next: the Dolomites and more adventures 43:40 Recovery, gratitude, and choosing to keep moving 47:22 Quickfire questions 49:08 Who Nicole would share a mountain-hut drink with
22 Sept 2026
Kimberly Kephart on Solo Hiking, Confidence and Hut-to-Hut Trekking in France and Italy
What happens when solo travel, mountain huts, bad weather and a bit of stubbornness all meet on the same trail? Kimberly Kephart has spent years finding out. From the Dolomites to the French Alps, she talks honestly about what hut-to-hut hiking really feels like when you are on your own, carrying your own doubts, and learning to trust your own judgment.
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