Elite Performers

Chris Sharma is one of the greatest climbers of all time. We talked about his rapid ascension as a teenager, the knee injury that almost ended his career, why La Dura Dura was a turning point, reinventing ourselves as climbers, the importance of finishing what you start, what he does in the off-season, mini objectives, embracing competition, finding contentment, having kids, and much more.

Alex Megos is a German professional climber and a living legend. He recorded this podcast from the Flatanger campground during his recent sending spree in Norway. We talked about sending Change 9b+, why he is practicing his kneebar skills, future 9b+ and 9c projects, what it meant to him to send Bibliographie, his America Tour in 2013, how onsighting Estado Critico changed his career, making changes to reach his full potential, how many carrots he eats in a day, future competition goals, and more.

Natalia Grossman is a World Champion and 3x overall World Cup winner and will compete for Team USA at the Paris Olympics. We talked about spending time in Mexico as a kid, her breakout year in 2021, dealing with public criticism, working on her mindset, how to win without being the strongest person competing, hard outdoor sends and goals, her happiest moments, her top training advice, and much more.

Colin Duffy is a 2x Olympian, 3x World Cup winner, and V16 boulderer from Colorado. We talked about puzzles, studying applied math, early competitions, joining Team ABC, getting 70th in his first open event, learning how to lose gracefully, qualifying and competing in Tokyo, how the Olympic scoring has changed, his strategy for Paris, future outdoor rock climbing goals, and much more.

Emma Hunt is the US speed climbing record holder and will compete in the Paris Olympics. We talked about her intro to speed climbing, how strong you have to be for speed climbing, speed training, how speed shoes compare to other climbing shoes, her mental game and strategy in comps, prejudice against speed in the climbing world, whether the speed route will ever change, why speed is cool, and much more!

Shauna Coxsey is the most successful competition climber in the UK and the first British woman to climb V12, V13, and V14. We talked about becoming a mom, sitting in and sharing our emotions, human nature and the joy of climbing, inspiration vs. aspiration, motivation vs. commitment, competing in Tokyo, retiring from comps, sending Hazel Grace V14 in terrible conditions, pushing for her V15 goal as a mom, and much more!

Aidan Roberts returns to the podcast! Aidan is at the cutting edge of bouldering and is one of the most genuine people I’ve had the pleasure of talking to. We talk about professional climbing and today’s media landscape, and he brings us up to speed on the last year and a half of his climbing and shares the full stories of ‘Spots of Time’ and ‘Arrival of the Birds’, two new boulders proposed 9A/V17.

We recorded this a couple of days after my chat with him and Sam on their podcast. I was honored to join them and I loved the conversation. Check it out for some reflections amongst the three of us about our podcasting and climbing.

Keenan Takahashi is one of the top boulders in the world. We talked about the origin story of his clothing company ANTIGRAV, the importance of carving out space for creativity, establishing his latest V15 FA ‘The Gold Standard’, watching Sean Bailey send ‘Devilution’, unclimbed king lines in Bishop, shifting his focus to meaningful hard climbs, his stubbornness, why trying limit moves makes him a better climber, learning the macro from the micro, accessing try hard, why he started training, upcoming goals, and much more! I’ve wanted to talk to Keenan since the very beginning of the podcast, and this turned out to be one of my all-time favorite interviews.

Fitz Cahall is the cofounder of Duct Tape Then Beer, and the creator of The Dirtbag Diaries and Climbing Gold with Alex Honnold. We talked about the early days of the internet, what podcasting was like in 2007, being on the fringe, storytelling, virtual reality, spending your time on the right things, the unglamorous parts of our work, results vs. success, his new book States of Adventure, and much more!

Simon Lorenzi is a world-class climber from Belgium and the first person to climb three boulders graded 9A/V17. We talked about lessons from his three hardest boulders, tactics for trying ‘Burden of Dreams’ in -13°C, the projecting bubble, the goal of struggling, dealing with bad weather on ‘Alphane’, facing frustration with optimism, using a book under his kneepad on the FA of ‘Soudain Seul’, dream V18 projects, and much more!

Stefano Ghisolfi is an Italian professional climber and one of the most accomplished sport climbers in the world. We talked about racing bikes growing up, discovering climbing, using humor in his YouTube videos, how having fun helps him send, why he loves projecting limit routes, chasing the impossible, trying ‘Silence’ 9c, sending ‘Excalibur’ 9b+, two drills for legendary endurance, supporting his girlfriend Sara through hard times with her health, and much more!

Anak Verhoeven is a professional climber from Belgium and one of the most accomplished female sport climbers ever. We talked about growing up with her mom as coach and dad as trainer, why she quit competitions, dealing with a strange injury that plagued her for 3+ years, winning her first World Cup, building 9a+ endurance with mediocre training facilities, making up rules in the gym, her onsighting strategy, being public about her faith, and much more!

Jakob Schubert is one of the greatest competition climbers ever. In 2023 he won the World Championships in both lead and combined, secured his ticket to the Paris Olympics, sent his first 9c with his FA of ‘B.I.G.’, and sent his hardest boulder with ‘Alphane’ 9A. We talked about his incredible year, learning from Adam Ondra’s risky and efficient climbing style, what he learned from failing on ‘Sleepwalker’ V16, plans for more 9c’s, and much more!

James Pearson is one of the world’s best trad climbers. We discussed a 15-year-old controversy that nearly ended his career, how meeting his wife Caroline saved him, climbing his first 9a after learning how to train, eGrader and quantifying E grades, his decision to suggest E12 for his new route ‘Bon Voyage’, why he was afraid of becoming a dad, what kids taught him, and much more! This was one of my all-time favorite interviews.

Brooke Raboutou is an Olympian and a V15 boulderer from Colorado. We talked about growing up in a family of world-class climbers, balancing college with training for the Olympics, her mindset for competitions, why she meditates every day, her favorite hype music, working on her confidence, using pressure as fuel, focusing on the bigger picture, competing to win while supporting friends and teammates, how she balances competitions with sending hard boulders, and much more!

Pete Whittaker is widely regarded as one of the best crack climbers of all time. We talked about his current trip to Moab trying Stranger Than Fiction, how he trained for the FA of Crown Royale 9a, the skills needed to climb cutting-edge cracks, why he is still working on improving at ring locks, the futuristic Crucifix Project, his most fun/rewarding/miserable/traumatic trips with Tom Randall, and much more!

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.

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!

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!

Katie Lamb is one of the top female boulderers in the world. We talked about her early climbing and falling in love with bouldering, climbing her first V14 and what led to her breakthrough in the last two years, projecting tips, superpowers, lifting weights, balancing training with outdoor climbing, what it will take for her to reach the next level, and working in climate data science.

Aidan Roberts is a 23-year-old from the UK, who has emerged as one of the strongest boulderers in the world. We talked about training for his trip to Switzerland to try Alphane V17, differences among top boulderers, how Aidan developed his climbing style, addressing finger weaknesses, training using replicas, his goal-setting philosophy, plans to train for Burden of Dreams V17, considering our environmental impact as climbers, and much more.

Tommy Caldwell is the most accomplished big wall free climber alive. He is best known for having free climbed The Dawn Wall, the most difficult big wall free route in the world. We talked about his achilles injury, doing the FA of Flex Luthor, training for V12 boulder problems on The Dawn Wall, undone lines on El Cap, exploring the limits of human endurance, being vulnerable through writing a book, parenting, and much more.

Drew Ruana is back on the podcast and is joined by his friend Cameron Hörst, who is one of the best young sport climbers in the country. We talked about lessons they’ve each learned from recent sends, what it was like growing up as kid crushers, training for bouldering vs. sport climbing, how to stay strong while projecting, Drew’s thoughts on climbing V18, and Cam’s thoughts on climbing 5.15c.

Magnus Midtbø is a professional climber turned YouTuber from Norway. He has climbed 5.15b (9b), and his YouTube channel recently hit 1M subscribers. We talked about burning out on competitions and starting his YouTube career, the hard work behind success, favorite collaborations, go-to climbing workouts, and takeaways from training with Adam Ondra.

Paul Robinson is one of the top boulderers in the world and has been climbing at a V15 level for more than a decade. We talked about building his new house, recovering from neck surgery, his recent diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder, climbing 1000+ V11s or harder, his analogy of climbing as a book, hardest FAs, trying to climb V16, travel routines, filmmaking, and much more.

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.

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.

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.

Allison Vest is a 3x Canadian National Champion in bouldering. We talked about her mindset after a recent competition, moving to SLC and training with her roommate Kyra Condie, goals and confidence, the downward spiral of failure, her training schedule, the secrets to one-arm hangs and campusing, having fun, Instagram challenges, and learning how to topout boulders.

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.