Episodes Feed
EP 69: Ron Kauk
Ron Kauk is a legendary Yosemite climber. He recently received a Lifetime Achievement Award for his many accomplishments, within and beyond climbing. We talked about life in Camp 4 in the 70s, climbing ‘Astroman’ with John Bachar, influential music and books, stories from a brief career in Hollywood, doing the FA of ‘Magic Line’, his non-profit Sacred Rok, daily practices, connecting with Mother Nature, and much more.
EP 68: Steve McClure
Steve McClure is one of the best rock-climbers in the world, having made the FA of the hardest sport route in the UK at 9b (5.15b), at age 46. We talked about early hitchhiking stories, discovering sport climbing, the three parts of climbing ability, how to improve over the long haul, foot-on campusing, and much more.
EP 67: Heth Jennings
Heth Jennings is a Physical Therapist and Functional Medicine Practitioner who has been studying pain for over 20+ years. We talked about where pain comes from, how the brain uses pain to protect us, why chronic pain isn’t “just in our head”, how to rehab finger and elbow injuries, and other lifestyle interventions that help with recovery.
EP 66: Mercedes Pollmeier
Mercedes Pollmeier is a climbing coach with a master’s in human movement. We discussed key stretches for climbers, how to warm up for a limit session, whether or not static stretching reduces power, how to improve your flexibility in 6 minutes per day, and “food rules” from her recent book, Peak Nutrition.
EP 65: Natalie Duran
Natalie Duran is a “Proish Climber”, Ninja Warrior finalist, Guinness World Record holder, television host, actor, influencer, and scientist. We talked about her new rollerskates, growing up with the pressure to become a doctor, early YouTube fame, climbing structures, studying neuroscience, brain scans, overcoming fear, motorcycles, and making a TV show.
EP 64: Christophe Bichet
Christophe Bichet is a world-class rock climber and a motivational speaker. He was born with a rare blood disorder called Fanconi Anemia and is also a cancer survivor. We talked about climbing as a metaphor for life, finding your “why”, learning new skills, how to achieve world-class endurance without training endurance, and holding on and letting go.
EP 63: Megan Mascarenas
Megan Mascarenas is a multiple-time World Cup gold medalist and the 2016 Open National Champion in bouldering. She is currently 23 years old. We talked about her fascination with puzzles, why she retired from competing in 2017, discovering a new self-identity outside of climbing, pole dancing, getting back to climbing, her goal to climb V14, and current training.
EP 62: Q&A 1
In this Q&A, I tackle some of my patron’s most burning questions about how we getting stronger, takeaways from my experiments with nutrition and intermittent fasting, dealing with injuries, favorite training playlists and climbing books, life on the road, patterns I’ve noticed among high performers, dream guests, recommendations for first-time trainers, and much more.
EP 61: Chelsea Murn
Chelsea Murn is a climbing and business coach, and the founder of Lady Beta Coaching. We talked about making 100k in her first year of climbing coaching, recommendations for new entrepreneurs, getting uncomfortable, investing in ourselves, scarcity vs. abundance, rewiring our limiting beliefs, money mindset, and Hogwarts letters.
EP 60: Leif Gasch
Leif Gasch has been a climber for over 25 years and now works as a trainer and coach. We talked about his path from construction to coaching, balancing training with a physically demanding job, how to be a better weekend warrior, mini-goals, breaking into new grades, warming up for hard redpoints, and much more.
EP 59: My Eating Disorder
In this solo episode, I share my experience with an eating disorder. I talk about how an inaccurate DEXA scan and a desire to climb harder spiraled into body dysmorphia, failure, and shame. I also talk about what led me out of it, reframing the way I think about weight, key lessons and takeaways, where I am at now with weight and diet, and how I plan to move forward.
EP 58: Carlos Tkacz
Carlos Tkacz is a teacher, author, and lover of literature. He also lives in a van and climbs V13. We talked about many things, including a reading list given to him by his friend, impactful quotes, lessons learned from students, starting climbing in his 20’s and discovering training, writing a training book, self-publishing sci-fi novels, public speaking advice, and sharing ideas.
EP 57: Dave MacLeod (Part 2)
This is part 2 of my conversation with Dave MacLeod. We talked about key points from Dave’s book 9 Out of 10 Climbers, how he uses flexible programming to train around the weather in Scotland, his current carnivore diet experiment, and listener questions about aging, piles of eggs, disordered eating, fatherhood, Scottish climbing, and more.
EP 56: Dave MacLeod (Part 1)
Dave MacLeod is a professional climber from Scotland and might be the best all-around climber in the world. Dave also has two master’s degrees and has authored two books. We talked about improving from 13d to 14d in 18 months, the ritual of approaching the fingerboard, how to reduce the risk of tendon injuries, interpreting scientific research, nutrient density, and more.
EP 55: Kai Lightner
Kai Lightner is a professional climber and the founder of Climbing for Change. We talked about how Kai discovered climbing, his reflections on an eating disorder, the importance of flexibility for tall climbers, early racist encounters, starting a non-profit to help open doors for other people, and some of Kai’s favorite training music.
EP 54: Matt Segal
Matt Segal is a professional rock climber and the founder/owner of Alpine Start, a company that makes “Instant Coffee That Actually Tastes Good”. We talked about how Matt got started in climbing, his nickname ‘Miami Vice’, early mentors, losing friends in the mountains, recovering from a paragliding accident, starting a business, and innovating new products.
EP 53: Jon Glassberg (Part 2)
This is part 2 of my conversation with Jon Glassberg. We talked about flexibility training, how Jon uses the MoonBoard and why he thinks it is such a useful tool, why how he structures a six-week training block, an example training day, the value of training with a partner, favorite Louder Than Eleven films, and foreign haircuts.
EP 52: Jon Glassberg (Part 1)
Jon Glassberg is the owner of Louder Than Eleven, a leading media production company in the Outdoor Industry. He is also a total crusher, having climbed 400+ boulders from V10 to V14. In part one we talked about filming Emily Harrington on her in-a-day ascent of ‘Golden Gate’, about Jon’s early climbing, about pursuing the goal of V15, and about his struggle with a bizarre injury.
EP 51: Chris and Heather Weidner
Chris and Heather Weidner are a hardcore climbing couple, both with many 5.14s under their belt across multiple rock climbing disciplines. We talked about drink counting, New Year resolutions, current injuries, the steps to becoming a kneebar wizard, projecting tips, hard conversations, and balancing climbing goals with maintaining a healthy relationship.
EP 50: Jon Cardwell
Jon Cardwell is a professional rock climber who specializes in bouldering and sport climbing. Jon’s tick list includes V15, multiple 5.15a’s, and hundreds of 5.14s. We talked about lessons learned from ‘Biographie’ and ‘La Rambla’, about his off-season and pre-training modes, about bouldering for sport climbing, and about his current 5.15 project at The Fortress in Colorado.