The Careless Talk Climbing Podcast
Aidan Roberts and Sam Prior host this climbing-themed podcast that covers a wide range of topics, often going on tangents and rambles. While sometimes focused on climbing, the show frequently veers off-topic, with guests typically being elite level climbers. The podcast aims to provoke thought and discussion, even when it gets lost in the weeds.
Episodes
E220: The most influential boulderer knockout tournament *Exclusionary criteria apply*
If you only tune in every week to enjoy listening to our opening jingle then I must apologise as I am away at the moment and don't have a copy of it with me. I could download an old episode and rip it from there but I'm hungry and I want to go and make dinner. Once again, soz.This week we get a little bit of inside scoop from Aidan about Adam's experience on Exodia. Then we aim to t
E219: Noah Wheeler - Board styling in Squamish, ego and sacking it all off to go play tennis
If you go out and send a bunch of 9A boulders, we will probably ask you to come on our podcast where we will ask you about anything other than the 9A boulders you sent. There's an inherent contradiction here, I don't really know why we do it, but yet we do it so regularly. Today is no different, our elite athlete of the day is Noah Wheeler, the world class level boulders he has climbed a
E218: Michael Rosato - Tension, Board Lords, Bilbo vs Brad Pitt
Much requested, Michael from Tension joined us this week. I sort of hoped this episode would devolve into a mudslinging match as we fought to shift the tiller of board climbing towards our respective visions of board utopia. As it turned out, we actually agreed on most things when it comes to board climbing, but we enjoyed chatting about them anyway. It's a nerdy chat about boards, obviously,
E217: Jakob Schubert - Are the best climbers in the world lead climbers?
At Glastonbury there is a legends slot on Sunday, I felt like we were doing something similar this week. One of the contenders for the tag of 'GOAT', Jakob has climbed top grade boulders and lead climbs, has got two Olympic medals as well as medals almost every year since 2008 on the world cup circuit. We chatted to him about some stuff in relation to the above really. It was very exciti
E216: Round Table - Benn's back! Catch up and rambling
I spend a a day editing a podcast and then can't remember almost anything that was in it to write the description. I quite often have to click through it again to remember whichever 'unforgettable' moments there were to try and sell you with. It probably doesn't help that I'm also currently rewatching the Real Thing on YouTube and I keep getting distracted by the incredibl
E215: James Pearson - Finnish Line, Exodia and trips with kids
James is back this week! I was tempted to release this split into two episodes because I think the discussion might appeal to different people. In the first half we talk about James going on adventurous trips with his kids and his ascent of the Finnish Line in Rocklands. In the second half we talk about Exodia but more interestingly in many ways we talk about the way the ascent of Exodia was publi
E214: Louis Parkinson & Joel Robertson will help you Get a Grip
Description description description, Joel and Louis wrote a book, and that means there was immediately a potential for a symbiotic relationship with us on the pod. We like talking about the psychological element of climbing and they wanted to promote their new book. Synergy.Louis is a very famous coach and very strong and highly caffeinated climber, Joel is a psychotherapist and new(er) climber. T
E213: Charlie Schreiber - New coaching program, goal adjudication and climbing when time-poor
Ah the episode description section. Every week I dread filling it out because it feels so superfluous to requirement but here we go again... Joining us this week is Charlie Schreiber (as you can see from the episode title), we talk about coaching, goals, becoming busier, the bouldering progression formula, movement patters and so much more (information you have no doubt gleamed from the title). Al
E212: CTCP X Backseat Climbing - Hot takes and strong opinions well defended
Joining us this week are the cohosts of a rival British Podcast, Backseat Climbing. Originally they came to fame when they humorously slandered half of climbing on a subsequently deleted pod, but they meant well and a lot of water has disappeared under the bridge since then. Solly has been on the pod twice before and is one of the best British Boulderers of all time, Matt is also a strong climber
E211: Ben Moon - The Moon Spray, the next step in the evolution of commercial boards
Ben is back! Ben is very close to launching his new innovation, the Moonboard Spray. He even paid me to set it, but then he crumpled up my offering and launched into the bin and did it again with a completely different team. Why? What is it? Can I have a crack at doing the app instead? Basically just a fun chat going over it as well as our philosophies about training boards etc. If you're enj
E210: Jen Wood - Climbing 9a, running and mindless ARCing
Jen Wood comes to join us on the pod this week! Someone who used to compete on the World Cup boulder circuit with Aidan but they went in totally opposite directions at the end (not because of any personal beef I hasten to add) Jen has transformed herself via the most gruelling methods into one of the UKs top sport climbers. All that hard work culminated in sending Climb for Life (9a) in Sicily. We
E209 : Billy Ridal's Grand Day Out
Billy is back to talk about another audacious challenge. This time Billy attempted to climb 100 7s on gritstone in 24 hours. It was quite the adventure with a some high highs and some devastating (and humorous) lows. Billy came on to tell us the story!If you're enjoying the podcast and would like to support us, please consider checking out our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=703
E208: Red Pill vs Blue Pill game, controversy and summer training updates
Home team this week and Katie jumped in to join us for a friendly round of Red Pill vs Blue Pill, a chat about some storm in a teacup controversies that will probably be forgotten about in a week and a catch up about Aidan and Katie's summer training. We also rambled for quite some time about various sports, but that is on the Patreon so if you want even more rambling please consider checking
E207: *NSFW* Lillian Frances - Fingerbanging for climber boys, communication, consent
If you normally listen to this podcast with young children, maybe tell them we didn't upload this week, or give them an old episode and test their memory!Okay we'll level with you, this episode has given us a bit of anxiety. Having a moderately successful podcast can sometimes lead to the erroneous thought 'people like listening to us talk about climbing, so maybe people like listen
E206: Paul 'Huffy' Houghoughi - New digital training devices, Thoracic Outlet Syndrome and other injuries
Wow it's been a while since Huffy was last on! Generally considered the foremost climbing physio in British circles, Huffy really knows his stuff and is also one of the nicest and easiest people you could hope to meet so it was a pleasure to have him back. Lots of good stuff, give it a listen!If you want to hear more from Huffy then check out his podcast 'The Climbing Injury Podcast&apos
E205: Eric Bissell - Yosemite ranging and film making
I can't remember the last time I had a faster two hours than during this conversation. We had a long (mental) list of things to talk about and after asking a couple of questions I looked down and discovered we'd run out of time. We mostly talked about Eric's time as a Yosemite climbing ranger and his film-making and I still can't quite believe we didn't get to anything els
E204: Roundtable with Hamish McArthur and Ethan Salvo
Two return guests coming back for a new look round table. We chat about a range of topics from social media, awkward crag interactions, Hamish's new not for profit, what climbing means to us, Dean Potter and of course our new favourite Ebird comes up from time to time. It's a bit of a sprawling chat and we have to chase Ethan down a few rabbit holes but we got somewhere in the end, actua
E203: A 'big year' for climbing, commercial boards and how much could you suffer for gains?
A home team episode, just us chatting about some various bits and pieces. Most of the bits and pieces are in the title and in the episode description so I probably shouldn't write them out here again should I? Maybe I should, but that's starting to feel like hard work so I won't... It's just dawned on me that in the time it took me to write that I could have just written a prop
E202: Tristan Chen - Recovery, pottery and the similarities between bouldering and birding
Long overdue, but we managed to get Tristan on the podcast. We've wanted him to come on for a long time. Tristan is a really strong climber from the south east who also has a witty and dry sense of humour which we really appreciate. Known for his hot takes and funny way of phrasing things he was great fun to have on and we enjoyed the chat immensely. Tristan recovered from Leukaemia a couple
E201: Yannick Flohe - Big sends, big downgrades, let's sort this mess out
Yannick did it! I've been saying for a while we need to see some 9As get downgraded (and potentially some 8Cs/8C+s upgraded) and Yannick has helped to get the ball rolling. He's always fun to talk to, you never feel far away from a clipable comment or quote that would make us serious bank on instagram if I could be bothered to clip it and post it. He's honest and he says what he thi
E200: 9A boulderer draft, Squamish and chat
It's our 200th episode! To celebrate we're doing absolutely nothing out of the ordinary! Just Aidan and I this week, chatting about Squamish, media we've watched, some stats from the pod and we play a silly game where we have to draft 9A boulderers for some challenges. If you're enjoying the pod and would like to support us: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=70353823Support the sh
E199: Natalia Grossman - Success, setbacks and prioritising mental health
This week we were joined by four time overall boulder world cup winner Natalia Grossman. Natalia is in the thick of an unfortunate set of injuries, having initially ruptured her ACL she now has picked up a nasty shoulder injury. Despite these debilitating setbacks she came back and won American nationals! On the face of it that sounds like an amazing comeback story but there's a lot more goin
E198: Sam, Aidan & Katie - Pride, confidence, projects and hypotheticals
We had a great time doing 75% of a round table. Alas no Benn this time, but Katie has done a hard new boulder in Yosemite so that gave us something to talk about. We got to talking about confidence in the projecting process, comparison to others, how much pride we feel about our achievements and I throw a bunch of hypotheticals at them at the end!If you're enjoying the podcast and would like
E197: Connor Herson - Quick ascents of the hardest trad routes in the world, drifters escape and trad style/ethics
We had a great time chatting to Connor for this week's episode. I feel like you have to really make waves in the Trad world for us to know that much about you and Connor has done just that. After sending what was potentially the hardest ever trad pitch Connor went around the world to try the other contenders for the title, and in so doing, discovered that yes, it's probably the hardest e
E196: Jana Švecová - 8C first ascents, Terranova and injury comebacks
Jana Švecová joins us this week! We've been trying to get this sorted for a while so glad it finally came together. Jana is a super impressive climber, and has climbed multiple 8C boulders (she climbed another one since we recorded this episode). We chat to her about those projects, coming back from injuries, her long term battle with Terranova, Czech climbing and we also run through some des
E195: Yosemite season round up, news and desert island boulders
This episode is just the home team having a bit of a round up. We talk about Aidan's yosemtie season and I push a little harder to get his thoughts behind how it all went than I normally do. Then we just have a little catch up about some of the goings on in the climbing world and finally return to our desert island boulders, this time with more examples to plagiarise. If you're enjoying
E194: Bruce Zou - The first Chinese person to climb 8C talks barefoot sends, quick progression and grade chasing
This week we had a great time chatting to Bruce Zou. Bruce is a very charismatic chap who is incredibly passionate about his climbing. He has climbed up to 8C and has also developed an affinity for climbing barefoot. His opinions about what climbing means to him and how they have changed were really interesting and we also talked about the pros and cons of grade chasing. Really enjoyable chat, som
E193: Max Milne - Winning the PCL, campusing The Ace and injury comebacks
*Warning the sound quality in the first 5 minutes is pretty dodgy but improves after that :)We had one of our favourites back on the pod for this week's episode! Max Milne has recently won the new Pro Climbing League after qualifying as a wild card and he's been putting in great performances on the World Cup circuit for a while now. He's also dabbled in rock climbing, flashing The A
E192: Round Table - We've got to talk about Ondra and D&D alignment chart
A round table with Benn and Katie again this week. We had to talk about Ondra a bit because he's been busy! Then the main goal was to fill out a D&D style alignment chart we stole from Reddit. We had a laugh with it and I tried to herd the cats as best I could but it all got a bit messy!If you're enjoying the pod and would like to support us please consider checking out our Patreon p
E191: Allison Vest - Climbing 'big boy' boulders and the work behind the success
Fan favourite Allison is back on the pod this week! Thankfully Allison had a phenomenal run of form recently, culminating in some big sends, namely The Mantra, a three move V14 on tiny crimps, and The Expanse, a V15 boulder that had previously only been climbed by some of the tallest men in the sport! Climbing either of these boulders would be a good enough excuse to ask Allison to come back on th
E190: Keenan Takahashi - 10 seconds of fear a year, the pros and cons of large egos and getting distracted by trees
Keenan is back! A pod favourite for sure and someone Aidan has spent a lot of time with over the past few years. Keenan has been putting up more incredible first ascents, which we chat a bit about, namely Dreadnought but he also came equipped with a few of his own talking points! I've recently learnt that some more professional podcasts actually ask this of their guests the cheaters! Whilst w
E189: The Pro Climbing League, tactics and general chat
We got stood up! Some say we should send links and reminders to our guests but we've never bothered before, and now it's cost us! So Aidan and I just chatted happily amongst ourselves. Largely about the Pro Climbing League which is a new competition format that recently happened in London. Could this be the new more exciting competition format we've been hoping for? If not could it
E188: Round Table - Anecdotes, talking points and ramble shambles
A bit of a messy round table for you this week. A few decent talking points hidden away amidst a mess of off-topic rambles and general merriment. I hope you get something out of it, they're definitely fun to record! Looking forward to seeing how AI segments the 'chapters'...If you're enjoying this and want more, there are deleted scenes on the Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/u
E187: Zach Galla - An incredible run of form, discussions on mindset, physicality and confidence
Wow, what form Zach Galla is in! Recent sends of Hypnotised Minds, Devilution, Return of the Sleepwalker and Shaolin, could be the most impressive run of ascents ever recorded. We really wanted to try and discern what could have led to such form, is it a mentality thing or improvements in strength? What is the optimum level of confidence for repeat sending? Knowing that rich veins of form are ofte
E186: We're back! Life updates, outdoor comps and climbing à la Netflix
We're back! Just the reunited home team this week. Shockingly we hadn't spoken that much for a month so we had quite a lot to catch up on. Aidan is hard focussed on his 6 degrees project but has also had a couple of trips, and Sam continues his expansionary quest for global domination by having another child and building another board. We chat about outdoor climbing comps and weigh up wh
E185: Talking with a climbing CEO, Ged from the Hangar offers his views from the other side of the aisle
So, I never intended to make this episode. When I did the episode with independent gym owners I felt like I should probably reach out to a CEO of a chain gym for comment. I should have, but I didn't. I was planning to leave that thread as it was, but Ged from the Hangar got in touch to say he'd listened to it and would be up for having a chat to offer his thoughts from the other side of
E184: Aidan does an 'ask me anything' hosted by Katie Lamb
It's the 'Sam can't record anything this week' special! Where one of the knights of our round tables Katie hosts an ask me anything with questions from our Patroons (Patreon members). If you want to be one of the people throwing questions out then you too can join our fantastic community of Patroons via our Patreon page. Lots of insights into the inner workings of Aidan's
E183: The independent climbing gym special featuring Blocfit, Gym Sen and Rise
Hello all, I come to you with a different offering this week. There's no Aidan this week, it's just me chatting to three different independent climbing gym owners in London. Sounds a bit niche but I was hoping to get a bit of a conversation going and I thought that there would be good parallels to other areas of the climbing world. What do you reckon? Please leave your thoughts in the co
E182: Jim Pope - Yosemite big walling and New Zealand bouldering
The ever popular Jim Pope is back on the pod for his third time this week. A chap said to me he only knows Jim as a board climbing aficionado, which is quite funny really when in reality he is the hardest climber to put in a box that we know of. It's impossible to tell what he'll do next but he tends to do it pretty well and it's fun to talk to him about it afterwards. If you'r
E181: Round Table - Does climbing need grades? Cancellations and group therapy
A round table episode with the A team, so Katie Lamb and Benn Wheeler joining Aidan and Sam to ramble about some climbing or vaguely climbing related topics. Does climbing need grades? Why are we so obsessed with maintaining the grading scale when other sports (that are similar but generally considered to be cooler) like skateboarding or surfing don't need them. Is climbing being underserved
E180: Will Bosi - Following inexhaustible psych, Silence, 9As and Scottish bouldering
Happy New Year! We're back with a bang with a return guest that we haven't had on since episode 6 of this podcast! Back then Will was a comp climber taking a break from competing and showing huge promise on rock. Since then... Well, he's done all the things and now his hat is in the ring when people talk about the strongest climbers of all time! We chatted to him about a bunch of th
E179: Aidan saves Christmas and meet the new year, same as the old year
Merry Christmas/seasons greetings (delete as appropriate) dear listeners! Every now and then I like to take a break from making a climbing podcast and just try and wind up my mate Aidan for a bit. The first half of this episode is just that. I will be playing the part of Father Christmas/Santa (delete as appropriate) and I'll be challenging Aidan to help me save Christmas, unfortunately I don
E178: The future for indoor and outdoor climbing, coming off the fence about recent developments
Does anyone read these? Right, we've been having too much of a good time these past few episodes and lots of good rambles have fallen away into wails of (useless) mirth. Time for us to actually have a chat and remember that this is a job and we can stop pretending to like each other for five minutes and actually get some of this climbing stuff straightened out. Sam makes up some words and use
E177: Niall Grimes - A general natter with a fixture of British (and presumably Irish) climbing
Niall Grimes, he's been around for a long while, he's part of the furniture here, but who is he? Where did he come from? What's he about? You may or may not find the answers to those questions somewhere within but he'll probably make you laugh at least once (no refunds). It was a great laugh having him on, he says what he thinks and he's got some great stories to tell. We
E176: Round Table - Climbing news, first 9A+, internet drama and hot takes
A classic round table episode with Katie Lamb and Benn Wheeler! We chat about some of the incredible climbing news that has happened in recent weeks, some of the internet storm in a teacup drama that has been born from it and we throw out a few hot takes. Keep listening to the end if you want to enjoy the story of when Sam got pelted with farm produce by some London youths. If you're enjoying
E175: Dayan Akhtar - Achieving incredible world cup consistency through self-coaching and the physical and mental challenges on the comp circuit
We were psyched to have Dayan on the pod with us this week, the British climbing team are at something of a high water mark at the minute and Dayan is right in the thick of it. Lots of chats about the competition scene and the many challenges it presents the climbers that are fighting to keep up with the level that increases year on year! Also, can these climbers who have only ever climbed inside
E174: Aidan's experience with Mount Doom and various rambles
Just Aidan and me this week trying out a new format! Basically, it was recorded over two days so we could get Aidan's thoughts and opinions about trying a last day ascent of Mount Doom 9A, and then the second part was recorded a few days later to see how it went, and more importantly how his mindset might have changed before and after. We also ramble about Tutankhamun and the difficulties of
E173: Ben Cossey - The situation down under, Action Directe, Groove Train, It's all lightweight baby!
We love chatting to Aussies, we've always had fun when given the opportunity and this week is no different. Ben is a highly requested crusher who's been heavily involved in the Australian climbing scene for quite some time now. We chat about the current state of the access issues, his first ascents, his battle with Action Directe and his famous line when topping out Groove Train (if you
E172: Round Table with Benn Wheeler and Katie Lamb, pub chat and Frankenclimber auctioning
This week we have fan favourites Katie Lamb and Benn Wheeler back for some round table chat as well as playing a game described as 'quite brilliant' by it's own devisor. Has climbing got a Burden of Dreams problem? Did Aidan flash Bugeleisen? What would it mean if someone flashes a problem they have a 3D scanned replica for? All great questions as well as a game where Aidan, Katie a
E171: Eliot Stephens - A chat about development, tactics and guidebook writing with one of Wales' finest
We reckon we've asked Eliot onto this podcast about 6 times since we started, clearly we aren't very good at taking the hint but hey, persistence won the day in the end. Eliot is quite a quiet voice on the British scene but he has been one of the most prolific first ascensionists and has repeated many hard classics at home and abroad. It was fun to finally sit down and have a chat with t
E170: Will it be the red pill or the blue pill for Aidan?
We're playing a game! Choices choices for Aidan and Sam is playing an incredibly convincing Morpheus, offering Aidan a selection of choices, all Aidan must do is choose!If you're enjoying the podcast and would like to support us: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=70353823Support the show
E169: Mina Leslie-Wujastyk - Eat to climb, hard climbing post-motherhood and the fun vs achievement spectrum
Mina is back on the podcast after quite some time! Since last time Mina has written a book all about nutrition for climbing! So we have a pretty long ramble about parenthood, whether you can maximise fun and achievement simultaneous and y'know general fear of death... All the fun stuff! I think we finally got to talking about the book after about an hour if you want to skip to that! https://b
E168: Aidan's plans, Trance and hypotheticals
Home team episode, we sort of forgot it was recorded at times so gets a bit rambly but we did cover a few big topics, how do you pronounce Nike? How would Jerry cope with the Ace being campused by a chap in a protective boot? As well as some hypotheticals and life updates. Very much a recorded chat really. If you're enjoying the podcast and would like to help us to keep it going then please c
E167: Stefano Ghisolfi - Transitioning into a boulder bro, hold fabrication and the collaborative future for elite sport climbing
Stefano, one of the world's best sport climbers has rapidly been becoming one of the world's best boulderers so we thought now was the perfect time to get him on our podcast! We chatted about a bunch of things, his processes with Excalibur, Silence and Burden of Dreams, the situation with hold fabrication in sport climbing, how the future of sport climbing rests in collaboration and his
E166: Adam Shahar - The Process, Burden, boards and World Cups
Joining us this week is one of the last (if not the last) board climbing specialist still on the world cup circuit! Adam is one of the strongest people around on a board and he's really started to show what he can do on rock, but he's fighting the siren call of the stone for a little longer because he's still competing internationally. We talk about his trip to Magic Wood, his four
E165: 'Barefoot' Charles Albert - Footprints down the paths least travelled
Charles definitely provides a different flavour for this week's episode. A man who truly goes his own way, he climbs without shoes, mostly without any gear and usually without crash pads. He climbs, he downclimbs, he jumps and sometimes lives a cave. On top of all these brilliant eccentricities he's also one of the strongest climbers in the world. Naturally we had a lot of questions for
E164: Zoe Wood and Ros Beveridge - Route setting pod Mk 2, this time with different perspectives!
The other side of the coin from episode 150, it's another route setting deep dive pod, but this time with renowned setters Zoe and Ros, who were able to offer some different perspectives that four dudes can produce by themselves, who knew right? Just a bunch of chats about route setting, some of it is specific to women in route setting and some of it is just general route setting rambling. If
163: Benn Wheeler - Wheel Rock, board climbs and rolls and rolls of euros
We had an absolute blast chatting to Benn this week. He's not just ebullient and funny he's also a heck of a climber. He makes YouTube content with his older brother and one of the best climbers in the world, Noah. It's a funny position to be in, to be one of the best climbers around but to have a brother who is even better so we did talk about that a bit but we talked about a range
E162: Darth Grading, climbing ethics and Aidan getting bullied by trad climbers
This week we answered a bunch of questions from our Patroon community on discord as well as rambled about a few extra bits and pieces as they came to mind. Pub chat stuff really, objective grading scales, when does gear become cheating, flash ethics, Aidan getting abused by trad climbers you know all the classics. If you're enjoying the podcast and would like to support us please consider che
E161: Ethan Salvo - Having an incredible trip without sending anything followed by one of the best ever weeks in Canadian climbing
We like chatting to Ethan, he's got some great perspectives and he thinks deeply about his climbing. The base of the chat was around two recent segments in Ethan's climbing, one trip to Bishop where Ethan didn't really climb anything and a few weeks back in Squamish where Ethan climbed some incredibly hard things. It was interesting to hear how the former experience seems to have le
E160: Adam Ondra - Legacy, the future, parenthood and rare failures amongst a litany of successes
One of the biggest names in climbing and a strong contender for being the best climber of all time, Adam Ondra joins us this week! Have you heard of him? We chat about a whole bunch of things:-Rock manipulation, Onsighting vs Flashing, Lexicon E11, goal-setting, competitions, The Olympics, B.I.G etc etc.... If you're enjoying the podcast and would like to support us, please consider checking
E159: Another round table with Katie Lamb, general chats and the fantasy climbing auction
Back by popular demand, Katie Lamb joins us again this week for some round table discussions about pro climbing, legacy athletes and if we could be motivated to climb with no chance of any further progression. We also play a game at the end which is a fantasy climbing auction devised by Sam which turned out to be a pretty good laugh. If you're enjoying the podcast and don't want to see i
E158: Nicolai Uznik - Comps, Maltatal and a long journey to the top of Mount Doom
We had another wad on the pod this week, Nicolai Uznik is a rare breed of climber who has somehow managed to climb the highest grades outdoors whilst also achieving some great results in the comps. We talk about that juggling act, what it's like to be a competitor in the current era of competitions, competition setting, Maltatal, and his experience with a candidate for the best looking 9As, M
E157: Let's devise a 4th Olympic climbing discipline
Yeah, it's one of those episodes this week. Nothing to learn and no great insights into the world of climbing, but we at least entertained ourselves trying to devise a new Modern Pentathlon after a chat about climbing films. Say what you want about the Careless Talk Climbing Podcast but at least they're making themselves laugh. We'll be back soon with more climbing specific content
E156: Brooke Raboutou - Growing up in a climbing family and climbing the highest grades whilst maintaining balance
It was very exciting to have Brooke join us on the pod this week! We had a wide ranging chat talking about growing up in a climbing family, the Olympics, social media, maintaining a healthy balance away from climbing, Excaliber, the future of comp climbing, what it's like to compete against Janja Garnbret and much more! Big thanks to Brooke for joining us on the podcast and giving us a snapsh
E155: Natasha Barnes - Should we all be strength training?
We had a lovely chat with Natasha for this week's episode. She's been an outspoken advocate of strength training for years now and so there's nobody better to talk to about the dark arts of the gym gym than Natasha. She knows a thing or two about both worlds, we speak about her experience as a professional climber 20 years ago, and how an injury and a lack of good information led he
E154: Austin Hoyt - The King of the North-East, Comp moves on rock and Lucid Dreaming
Austin Hoyt joins us on the pod this week! A name that's fun to say and he's a lovely chap who was really fun to talk to. We chat a lot about the lesser trodden North-East of the USA, heading to Finland to check out Burden of Dreams, using coordination moves to avoid having to pull too hard and the incredible crop of Wads that have popped up in his local area all of a sudden. If you&apos
E153: Using danger for clicks, Aidan's hardest climb of the season and Sam forgets his shoes
Hey all! You've had it too good with guests for the last couple of week so it's time to bring you back down to earth with a home team episode. We've got a few quintessentially CTCP rambles for your delight and delectation. Hope you enjoy :)If you like the pod and would like to support us to keep doing it whilst keeping it advertisement free for all, then please consider checking ou
E152: Daniel Woods - ROTSW, Alphane, shower gloves and the state of the game
A little over a year ago I got a message from Aidan just saying 'Daniel is in!'. You know you're a bit of an icon when surnames aren't required! It took a little over a year to actually get a date but much like a hard project, sometimes it just takes consistency! You know who he is, and we had a great chat about his hard projects, what the climbing scene is looking like from hi
E151: Kai Lightner -Comebacks, learning to work with the body you're in and climbing for change
We loved having Kai join us on the pod this week. He's a candidate for the most articulate climber around. He's been through a lot and he's come back swinging. We talk about his rise, fall and resurgence, his time climbing with Joe Kinder and the controversies there, his non-profit, and his hopes for the future. I poorly referenced this speech about how intelligence is linked to kin
E150: Ben Norman and Cailean Harker - Route setting deep dive, grades in indoor climbing and the state of the industry
Ben and Cailean are joining us for a four way pod this week! Ben and Cailean are the chaps behind Impact Route Setting. Which is a business that, amongst other things, runs route setting courses. They are both very well established route setters in the UK, as well as being strong rock climbers. We wanted to have a good chat about the inside scene, and listen to their takes about the state of the i
E149: Aidan leaving Yosemite, new comp scoring and should sport climbers just bolt on resin holds
Just Aidan and Sam this week! We're catching up with Aidan as he looks to leave Yosemite, what life might look like for him if he lived in America and how that might impact his decision to not fly. At 52:45 we finally get to our first topic of conversation, the new IFSC scoring for boulder comps and at 1:21:45 we rattle a few cages and ask if sport climbers should bolt on resin holds if the a
E148: Eric Jerome - Searching for the best boulders, life lessons and working for KAYA
This week we're joined by Eric Jerome, Eric is a really strong boulderer who has been on a mission to identify the best boulders in the US. An avid climbing nerd he's been a big contributor to the climbing history website and has a really analytical mind for adjudicating quality. We talk about his hunt for boulders, why he moved to a less popular area for climbers, his previous eating di
E147: Katie Lamb, the first woman to climb V16...again.
It's always really good fun to have Katie on the pod, and thankfully she's done a thing which gives us an excuse to have her back. She has climbed V16 again, we talk about her process (amongst other ramblings) and her motivations and feelings towards how her motivations will be perceived by the climbing community. If you're enjoying the podcast and would like to support us please co
E146: Charlie Schreiber - Hot takes, life lessons and internet drama with one of the best hype men in the game
Joining us this week is coach of the stars (and other less successful (but no less valuable) rock climbers) Charlie Schreiber! We had a really good time chatting to Charlie, it was fun but also we got some good insights from a guy who has been through quite a lot of the ups and downs that climbing has to offer. I reckon this is a good'un!Check out www.paradigmclimbing.com or @paradigm_climbin
E145: Will Anglin - Board climbing nerdery, Tension, what is training anyway?
We were excited to be joined by Will this week. Will has been one of the most frequently requested guests on our discord. He's one of the brains behind Tension climbing, and so he knows a heck of a lot about one of our favourite topics, board climbing! He also used to be a coach and has clearly spent a lot of time thinking about training in general and has some great takes. Hope you enjoy!If
E144: Carlo Traversi - Motivation, Yosemite and developing the hardest V12s in the world
We were psyched to have Carlo Traversi joining us on the pod this week! He's an incredibly accomplished climber. developer and now gym owner! We chat about the gym, his changing motivations as he gets older and became a father, development in Yosemite and how to keep an incredible bouldering area off the map (just kidding). If you're enjoying the podcast and would like to support us, ple
E143: Allison Vest - Outdoor projecting, dealing with pressure and titanium tendons
Allison is a pretty great podcast guest! She's talented and accomplished but also honest and has a great sense of humour. We're fans of her and Kyra's podcast (CircleUp, check it out) and so it was a real treat to complete the set and have her on our rambly mess of a podcast to go along with Kyra's episode. We talk about the transition to outdoor climbing, the pressures of proj
E142: Jonathan Sin - Trying to become a world cup climber after starting (relatively) late
This week we're joined by the ever affable Jonathan Sin. Jonathan is a talented comp climber and Youtuber from Hong Kong. He's been on a publicised mission to try and get onto his national team and compete at a world cup. We talk about having audacious goals, his lifestyle as a climbing Youtuber and the mental and physical challenges that come with it as well as his insights from his tim
E141: Martin Keller - Defying aging and injuries to keep climbing harder than ever
Martin Keller, the Swiss climbing phenom joins us on the pod this week. Martin has achieved a huge amount in his long climbing career (we end up in the weeds talking about his football career for a while but we get there eventually) he's climbed some very big grades and taken down some very long term projects but he's perhaps best known for having done all of his hardest climbing in his
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