Episodes Feed
EP 179: Cat Runner
Cat Runner is the winner of the HBO show The Climb. Cat sat down with me and Ethan Pringle at our cabin here in Rocklands to talk about what his life has looked like after The Climb, his experience filming the show, the stereotypical trans narrative in the media, why he chooses to be visible, his ungendered childhood, gender roles in sports, why people feel threatened by trans or queer identities, dealing with trolls, owning your accomplishments, building the Queer Climber’s Network, Rocklands highlights, and much more!
EP 178: Ethan Pringle Returns
Ethan Pringle is back on the podcast! We talked about our first few weeks in Rocklands, the style of climbing here, his plans to try Monkey Wedding 8C, nemesis boulders, micromanaging holds, two habits that Ethan does every day, taking your time while executing hard moves, adjusting on holds, and Ethan talked about his dad’s life after his stroke, his final weeks, and his passing on November 6, 2022.
EP 177: Tiba Vroom
Tiba Vroom is a Dutch professional climber and cofounder of Wildflower Climbing Gym. We talked about the pressure that comes with early success, her first trip to Magic Wood and sending Riverbed 8B, confronting fear of failure, separating self-worth from performance, being the 8, starting a non-profit gym in the Netherlands, taking responsibility for your life, dream climbs in Fontainebleau, and more!
EP 176: Eric Hörst Returns
Eric Hörst is back on the podcast! We talked about his upcoming road trip, fitting in training around work, sending Kaleidoscope 5.13c at age 59, motivation as the ultimate wildcard, autoregulation and tracking how you feel, what to do when you have a bad training day, and the top 7 most common training mistakes climbers make.
EP 175: Ady Wright
Ady Wright is a climbing instructor and routesetter based in New York. We met up in Red Rock and recorded a nice long chat in the van, covering her introduction to climbing and routesetting, why she pivoted from veterinary science, being raised by a cautious father, analyzing risk, the benefits of meal prepping, losing her grandmother to cancer, the pressure that comes with opportunity, the rebellious act of existing, and much more!
EP 174: Bernd Zangerl
Bernd Zangerl a bouldering legend from Austria. We talked about his early climbing and making the 2nd ascent of Dreamtime, some of his proudest FAs, how he recovered from a career-ending injury in 2016, his mindset for highballs, meditation and the power of the mind, believing in love, our impact as climbers, sustainability, and discovering world-class bouldering in the Himalayas.
EP 173: Louis Parkinson
Louis Parkinson is a London-based climber and coach and is one of the best in the world at teaching dynamic movement. We talked about the benefits of indoor climbing, how practicing comp-style boulders can help your rock climbing, sending his first 8B in Magic Wood, timing your breathing with hard moves, skill drills for experienced climbers, how to break down dynamic movements, cultivating confidence, and much more!
EP 172: Brittany Leavitt
Brittany Leavitt is a climber, backpacker, educator, and the co-founder and CEO of Brown Girls Climb (BGC). We talked about Brittany’s climbing origin story, her unique family upbringing, unmasking and educating about race, teaching kids at the Smithsonian, the mission of BGC, creating more accessible spaces, lessons from her first road trip, using TikTok to stay informed, climbing goals, inspiration, and much more.
EP 171: Leo Houlding
Leo Houlding is one of the greatest adventure climbers of all time. He’s put up new free routes worldwide from the Amazon Rainforest to the remote regions of Antarctica. We talked about his upcoming trip to Baffin Island, his childhood in the UK, using the fix-and-follow system to climb 2000’ big walls with his kids, epic stories from his El Cap days, what he learned from his worst injury, and much more!
EP 170: Karly Rager & Casey Elliott
Karly Rager is back on the podcast and is joined by Casey Elliott to talk about the factors that affect climbing performance. We’ve got three engineers in one podcast, and we geek out on the data! Do things like weight, height, and ape index affect how hard you can climb? Is max finger strength more important than days spent climbing outside? Listen to find out!
EP 169: Scott Johnston
Scott Johnston is a world-class coach who specializes in mountain endurance sports. This episode is a masterclass in training principles and is packed full of nuggets for climbers, including boulderers. We talked about why it’s a mistake to mimic top athletes, tips for balancing climbing with other sports, capacity vs. utilization, why to back off after a personal best, developing layers of endurance, the flaw with HRV, how to test your recovery before training, how to fail successfully, the future of alpinism and mountain running, and much more!
EP 168: Don McGrath
Don McGrath is the author of Vertical Mind and an expert on mental training for climbing. We talked about the two simple diet changes he made to get back in shape in his 60s, our untapped potential in mental training, debunking and rewriting unhelpful scripts, how to tackle fear of falling and fear of failure, pre-climb rituals, how to use your climbing partner as a coach, how to stay in love with climbing as we age, duct tape and baling wire, embracing the suck, and much more!
EP 167: Alex Honnold
Alex Honnold is on the podcast! Who? The guy that free handed Yellowstone? Close enough. Seriously though, this was such a great interview. We talked about his two most epic solos that nobody heard about, near misses, lessons from other climbing legends like Tommy Caldwell, Jonathan Siegrist, and Peter Croft, pooping while free soloing stories, how the film Free Solo exceeded his hopes and dreams, the commitment to excellence, and much more!
EP 166: Will Bosi
Will Bosi is a 24-year-old climber from Scotland who has emerged as one of the best climbers in the world. This interview is hot off the press! Will made the second ascent of ‘Burden of Dreams’ V17 less than two weeks ago and joins us for a proper geek out about the send. We talked about his process of projecting the replica and the actual boulder, his feats of finger strength and where to draw the line between party tricks and useful strength, doing the second ascent of ‘Mutation’ at Raven Tor, his absolute dream project, and much more!
EP 165: Charlie Schreiber
Charlie Schreiber is a world-class climbing coach who has helped day 1 athletes become National Champions, 5.14d sport climbers, and V15 boulderers. We talked about the value of asking “why”, giving kids hard work and then reward, finding fresh lemons to squeeze, puzzle books and getting inside the mind of the puzzle maker, our shared goal to climb V13, how to have a good poop in the morning (every time), and much more!
EP 164: Melina Costanza
Melina Costanza is a competition powerhouse and the 2021 US Boulder National Champion. She opened up recently about her struggles with an eating disorder and decided to step away from competitions. We talked about her foot injury and surgery, why patent law is similar to climbing, how sports glamorize suffering, getting stronger during recovery, how gratitude can impact your training, and fun facts about Melina from ketchup to baby teeth necklaces.
EP 163: Johnny Dawes
Johnny Dawes is a legendary British rock climber known for his exceptional footwork and unique dynamic style. We talked about his first ascent of Indian Face (the first-ever E9) when it was likely the most dangerous route in the world, climbing 5.13b (8a) slabs without using his hands, tips for mastering footwork, his writing practice and current book project, and life lessons involving three-legged stools, omelets, pasta, icebergs, and more.
EP 162: Fundamentals Part 6
Fundamentals (Part 6 of 6) — In this episode, Jesse and I dive into how to structure your climbing year. We talk about the circumstances that led to some of our best years in climbing, the importance of having a plan and taking notes, why focus tends to produce excellence, how to build from one phase to the next, and making sure your training supports your climbing. Happy planning!
EP 161: Sam Stroh
Sam Stroh is caffeinated, psyched, and ready to send everything from double-digit highballs to free routes on El Cap. We talked about his early climbing and onsighting Moonlight Buttress (5.12+), our coffee and chocolate addictions, finding the perfect climbing partner, the biggest lessons from each discipline of climbing, suffering on the side of El Cap, botching it with tactics, and harrowing sends.
EP 160: Fundamentals Part 5
Fundamentals (Part 5 of 6) — In part 5 of this series, Jesse and I share our tips and pitfalls for picking a project. As Jesse says in this episode, picking the right projects is a key part of having a satisfying climbing experience. We cover some of our best projecting experiences, as well as times we botched it, and we try to pass on what we learned along the way. Have fun projecting!