Episodes Feed
EP 111: Jerry Moffatt
Jerry Moffatt is one of my all-time climbing heroes. He is a British legend, and was arguably the best rock climber in the world during the mid to late 80s. We talked about his early days, wanting to be a “Crag Rat”, living for free before sponsorship, pushing world standards, writing his book on mental training, and what the top climbers have in common when it comes to their mental game.
EP 110: “The Verm” Returns
This is round 2 with John Sherman aka “The Verm”. We sat in the desert near Hueco Tanks and chatted over a few beers. We talked about ‘Wheatiesgate’ and the lost art of heckling, finding and developing areas before the internet, dealing with aging, photographing and studying birds, life lessons, injury stories, and John’s favorite beers.
*I recommend listening to my first episode with Verm (EP 108) before this episode.
EP 109: Martin Keller
Martin Keller is a Swiss boulderer, climbing coach, and teacher, and is known for his long-term dedication to his bouldering projects. We talked about spending 150+ days projecting his FA of ‘Ninja Skills Sit’ V15/16, how to change our brain chemistry, how Martin trains on his outdoor projects, and how changing his mindset unlocked his hardest climbs.
EP 108: John Sherman
John Sherman is a bouldering legend. His nickname “Verm” (short for “Vermin”) is where the “V” in our bouldering grade system came from. We sat down in a cave in Hueco Tanks and talked about what bouldering was like 30+ years ago, early climbing shoes, highballing before crash pads were invented, out-of-body experiences, and how some of the boulders got their provocative names.
EP 107: Tim Emmett
Tim Emmett is a professional climber from the UK who practices everything from cutting edge ice climbing to deep water soloing to hard sport climbing. We talked about the gritstone scene in the UK, the “why” behind taking risk, climbing his hardest after age 40 and becoming a parent, training finger strength to try to climb ‘Era Vella’ 9a (5.14d), and passing on life philosophies to others.
EP 106: Hans Florine
Hans Florine has held the speed record on ‘The Nose’ on El Capitan 8 separate times. He has climbed the route 112 times, with 100+ people. He loves ‘The Nose’ so much, he wrote a book about it. We talked about winning the first International Speed Climbing Championships in 1991, his earliest ascents of El Cap, top 3 big wall efficiency tips, and the value of doing hard things.
EP 105: Brent Barghahn
Brent Barghahn has rope soloed ‘The Nose’ in a day, freed multiple routes on El Cap, and is a former engineer at Black Diamond. We talked about how Brent combined van life and “house hacking” to effectively retire at 28-years-old, about motocross and extreme unicycling, cutting his teeth on hard trad routes in LCC, and his setup for redpoint rope soloing.
EP 104: Amity Warme
Amity Warme is one of the most badass trad climbers you’ve never heard of. She also has a master’s in nutrition. We talked about her incredible season in Yosemite including ground-up free ascents of ‘Freerider’ and ‘Golden Gate’, the importance of logistics in big wall free climbing, what she learned growing up in gymnastics, training plans, and eating more to do more.
EP 103: Mina Leslie-Wujastyk
Mina Leslie-Wujastyk is a professional climber from the UK. She is also a writer, speaker, and co-host of the Curious Climber Podcast along with Hazel Findlay. We talked about her early life, impermanence, flow state, learning to try really hard, how she made the switch from hard boulders to hard sport routes, what sets high-level climbers apart, and the decision to become a mom.
EP 102: Matty Hong
Matty Hong is a professional rock climber, photographer, and filmmaker. We talked about what it was like to grow up in a climbing family, about making the first repeat of ‘Flex Luthor’ 5.15b as well as a history of the route and his thoughts on the grade, training for sport climbing projects on his home wall, climbing waterfalls in Japan, and balancing photography and filmmaking with climbing.
EP 101: Nina Caprez
Nina Caprez is a professional rock climber from Switzerland, who is known for her many impressive ascents of hard multi-pitch climbs. We talked about her current trip to Greece and her newest passion project, trying to free climb ‘The Nose’ with Lynn Hill, why failing on the route was a gift, and about softening and leaning into womanness.
EP 100: Ben Moon
Ben Moon is a famous rock climber from the UK. He was the first person to climb 5.14c (8c+) with his route ‘Hubble’. He is also the inventor of the MoonBoard. We talked about his early climbing experiences as a kid, his first road trip to Buoux in France in 1984, how training and sport climbing have changed, how Ben uses the MoonBoard, and much more.
EP 99: Q&A 4
In Q&A 4, I tackle patron questions about Hueco round 2 and other goals for 2022, my plans for V12 and 5.14, how my trip to Leavenworth went and plans to return, my favorite features in the van, dating on the road, my remote working setup, what I’ve learned from nearly 100 episodes of the podcast, and making sense of conflicting advice.
EP 98: Kyra Condie
Kyra Condie is a 25-year-old professional climber based out of Salt Lake City, UT, and was one of four climbers to represent the US at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. We talked about whistling, dream broadway roles, training with a fused spine, pursuing the Olympic dream, separating self-worth from results, new tattoos, her cats, cleaning quirks, and thriving in organized chaos.
EP 97: Austin Hoyt
Austin Hoyt is an 18-year-old kid from New York whose tick list rivals some professional climbers. We talked about balancing school with climbing, what he learned from his first coach, his FA of ‘Flashing Lights’ V14, his love of The Gunks, making old-school climbing films, the support from his dad, and his ongoing goal to develop the bouldering scene in the Northeast.
EP 96: Joe Kinder
Joe Kinder is one of the hardest-working route developers in North America. We talked about his recent ascent of ‘Kinder Cakes’ 5.15a in Rifle, CO, putting up routes in mediocre rock, leaving a legacy through route development, his love of projecting, current training approach, fashion influences, creating LOV, and his experience with cancellation and rebuilding a new life.
EP 95: Tyler Algeo
Tyler Algeo is a Canadian who moved to Africa and started a climbing gym, with the goal of creating a socio-economically inclusive climbing community in Malawi. We talked about learning to climb in Ireland, living in Africa, founding Climb Malawi, adopting and raising his two black sons, Tyler’s work with The Climbing Initiative, and creating a better world through climbing.
EP 94: Nathaniel Coleman
Nathaniel Coleman is the men’s silver medalist of the Tokyo Olympics. We talked about his preparation for the games, training in a climbing sauna, the Olympic experience and winning silver, favorite root beer, Kendama as focus training, chess, why Nathaniel still practices the basics of climbing, doing the FA of ‘The Grand Illusion’ V16, and sport climbing plans.
EP 93: Tom Herbert (Part 2)
This is part 2 of my conversation with Tom Herbert. Tom shared some clarifications about part 1, we talked about the nervous system and the mind-body connection, how to relax before a session to improve your performance and power, how to turn off in the evenings to optimize recovery, and Tom shared about his childhood and ongoing struggle with anxiety from a chronic bladder issue.
EP 92: Tom Herbert (Part 1)
Tom Herbert is known as the usefulcoach, and is a leader in climbing sports nutrition. We talked about common themes in clients he works with, his philosophy of getting climbers to eat more calories to support a higher training volume, muscle protein synthesis, carbohydrate recommendations and timing, food quality, leucine supplementation, and much more.