Episodes

Earlier this year, the Bears Ears Resource Management Plan dropped, outlining rules regarding camping, waste management, dogs, and, perhaps most controversially, fixed anchors for new routes across the monument, which includes, of course, Indian Creek. Jason Keith is a senior policy advisor at the Access Fund who has spent his career navigating the legal and relational fog of securing access for climbers across the country. He was deeply involved in the development of this plan and talks to us t...

Hannah Schubert is an Austrian climber who has podiumed at the World Cup and the World Championships. Now retired from professional competition, Hannah was recently profiled in Der Spiegel, one of Germanys’ largest publications, where she opened up about her struggles with eating disorders during the height of her competitive career. Our conversation traces Hannah’s career, from climbing alongside her brother Jakob, to the hyper competitive world of Austrian climbing, and what it meant to stand...

The Protect America’s Rock Climbing Act was signed into law at the end of President Biden’s term. The PARC Act mandates that various government departments issue guideance recognizing rock climbing as a legitimate use of public lands, including the placement and maintenance of fixed anchors in Wilderness. This historic act was the result of a multi-year campaign spearheaded by the Access Fund. Our guests today are Access Fund executive director Heather Thorne and deputy director Erik Murdock. Th...

Jason Kehl is a hold shaper, iconclast, and highball bouldering legend, perhaps best known for his first ascent of Evilution in the Buttermilks. Today, he lives in El Paso, Texas, where he continues to establish first ascents all over Hueco Tanks. He is also continue to work with So Ill to create climbing holds. Our conversation traces the evolution of bouldering as a sport for misfits and outcasts to the conformist scene of today. But first, we respond to the tragic news of an ice-climbing dea...

Ryan Devlin is an actor who has appeared in such shows as Brothers and Sisters, Cougar Town, and Grey’s Anatomy. Climbers, however, will know him as the host of one of our favorite climbing podcasts, The Struggle Climbing Show. In this episode, we catch up with Ryan after he redpointed his hardest rock climb to date at the Red River Gorge, and hear about what it was like to share that redpoint journey with his audience. But first, pass the xenon gas and strap in the nitro, it’s time to climb Ev...

Though just 21, Chris Deuto has already amassed an impressive lifetime of climbing since first starting the sport at age 7. Having ticked 5.14c and V14 and done national-level competitions, Chris has shifted his focus to more alpine-centered climbs, from Aconcagua to Fitz Roy. Most recently, he made the first free rope-solo winter ascent of the Diamond face of Long’s Peak in his home state of Colorado. Chris has consciously brought his process-centered approach to the forefront of his climbing, ...

Fred Nicole’s name is synonymous with hard bouldering. The dude is legend, responsible for establishing the world’s first V14 and first V15, always while bringing an artistic, quiet approach that has defined the soul of bouldering for over four decades. Today Fred works as a shoe designer for So Ill, and continues to explore the forests of his native Switzerland—among other areas around the world—for new boulders that capture his imagination. But first, Chris shares some stories about an escape...

Today’s guest is climbing’s Captain America, Tommy Cadlwell. Tommy’s latest film is called The Devil’s Climb, and it documents an epic adventure in which he and Alex Honnold rode their bike’s to Alaska and enchained all the summits on the striking and infamous Devil’s Thumb massif. The film was pitched as an environmental film, but the directors decided that global warming was less interesting than Tommy and Alex’s bromance. We catch up with one of the world’s greatest climbers of all time and h...

Today we’re honored to be speaking with Jerry Moffatt. Jerry was one of the most influential and best climbers in the 1980s and ‘90s, whose groundbreaking first ascents pushed the limits and also was incredibly influential on the direction of our sport. His autobiography Revelations is one of the best climbing books ever, and a must read for everyone who listens to this show. But first, we break down the news of the closures at Mt. Arapiles in Australia. Mt. Arapiles is arguably Australia’s bes...

Armando Menocal was a civil rights lawyer and climber who helped found the Access Fund. It’s safe to say that without Armando’s silent but hugely significant contributions, climbing would look very different today. Sadly, Armando recently died at the age of 83 from cancer. Here today to help memorialize Armando is Armando’s friend and colleague Brady Robinson. Brady is the former Executive Director of the Access Fund. He is a veteran of numerous expeditions, with first ascents in Pakistan, Patag...

Last year, Becca Steinbrecher broke a foothold while climbing in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison and took a 30-foot fall onto a ledge. It was only a couple of months later that Becca woke up and learned what had happened to her that day, including the heroic and miraculous search and rescue operation that navigated a thorny web of very tough decisions in order to get her out of the Black Canyon and to a hospital. Becca recounts the events of that fateful as they were told to her, and shares wha...

Fitz Cahall is the founder of the Dirtbag Diaries, a podcast that’s been downloaded over 18 million times. His new book is “States of Adventure: 30 outdoor adventure stories about finding yourself by getting lost.” But first, childless cat ladies may be a topic for some politicians, but we look at the childless climbers bringing their cats to the crags. Suffice to say, crag dogs are not happy, but at least we have figured out what animal is the best crag companion of all. Today’s final bit com...

Hobbs Kessler is a 21-year-old professional runner who ran a 3:34 in the 1500m in his senior year of high school. He has also climbed as hard as 5.14c with an ascent of Southern Smoke in the Red River Gorge. Hobbs just returned from the Paris Olympics, where he competed in both the 800 and 1500m races. But first, your curmudgeonly hosts roll their eyes at one of climbing’s most bitter personas: the climbing curmudgeon. It’s like we’re looking in the mirror! Today’s final bit is a mother-daught...

Amity Warme is a professional rock climber and dietician, who has not only free climbed El Capitan five times, but has done so each time in true ground-up style. This ground-up style is captured in an awesome new film that tells the story Amity and Brent Barghahn’s ground-up free ascent of El Niño via the Pineapple Express Variation on El Capitan. Our conversation ranges from big-wall style and ethics, to her philosophy and approach to nutrition. But first we dive into what the American Alpine ...

Out #131: Drew Ruana Climbs Hard and Thinks Ahead Drew Ruana started climbing on the slabs of Smith Rock, and has since become one of America’s most prolific boulderers, with over 100 V14 and harder problems ticked. He’s currently a student at the Colorado School of Mines, and thinking ahead of what kind of career he wants in life, and how climbing fits into it all. But first, yr friendly podcast hosts debrief on their Olympic fever, and talk about where Paris soared, and where it fell short. ...

Thomas Huber is our favorite Huber brother—no offense to Alex. He needs little introduction, and is one of the most prolific climbers of the last 30 years thanks to a resume that includes establishing some of the best free climbs on El Capitan and across Europe, to winning the Piolet d’Or for his bold alpine ascents, to being a member of the beloved Stone Monkeys. His new book Freiheit, In the Mountains There is Freedom, is now available in English from DiAngelo. But first, yer hosts consider t...

Allyson Gunsallus is a climber and lawyer who serves on the board of the American Alpine Club. She is also the producer and director of Hand Holds, a new film interview series providing resources for climbing parents. Our conversation explores how climbing parents navigate the risks inherent to our sport with the demands of their new identity, not to mention the little person in their lives. But first, we’ve got a tepid Olympic fever and the only cure is more speed climbing. We give the run-dow...

Miranda Oakley is an AMGA certified rock climbing guide, who set the record for being the first woman to rope solo the Nose in a day. As a Palestinian-American, she recently made headlines by hanging a political banner on the side of El Cap. We discuss this unlikely nexus between climbing and activism, and imagine how it can go right or wrong. But first, fresh off a week of climbing in America’s new favorite sport crag, Kalous has some observations he wants to share. For our final bit, we’re s...

Today’s guest is climbing coach Justen Sjong. Justen is known for his first free ascents of Magic Mushroom (VI 5.14a) and The PreMuir (VI 5.13c/d) on El Capitan, and redpoints of 5.14 sport climbs. His approach to improvement in climbing is far more cerebral than most standard training fare, and his intuitions and sensibilities as a coach have helped numerous climbers mine their untapped potential by clearly mental barriers and finding the present. But first, your egotistical hosts talk about t...

Today we have a double-header. Two guests, same great show. First up is Rajiv Ayyangar—an entrepreneur, CEO, and host of The China Beach podcast, a show about his obsession with arguably the best sport climb on earth (at least according to him!). Rajiv might have the most niche podcast on earth, and we dive into where his obsession with this one route comes from. Next is OG Stonemaster Rick Accomazzo, who has just completed a new book on Tobin Sorenson. In the 1970s, Tobin completed some of th...

After Rock and Ice and Climbing magazines stopped printing issues, a hole was left in the climbing media landscape. Enter Michael Levy, a writer based in New York City and a former editor at Rock and Ice. He has recently revived Summit Journal, and reimagined it as a heavy stock climbing magazine for climbers today. We talk about climbing media and the viability of print, and what it takes to make it in today’s digital world. But first, yr crooked-helmet wearing hosts talk about Gumbies. What a...

Last fall, Jesse Grupper took home the gold medal at the Pan Am games, securing his spot on Team USA for the Paris Olympics in 2024. Now just a few months out from the Games, we caught up with Jesse to hear about how he is preparing and getting psyched to represent our country in lead and bouldering at the Olympics—all while balancing life as a mechanical engineer pushing the limits of soft robotics to improve people’s lives. But first, yr sticky, sweet podcast hosts get into a debate about glu...

Our guest today is #71 for the New York Jets: Wes Schweitzer, an offensive guard whose injuries sent him down a curious path of recovery: rock climbing. Since discovering the sport, Wes has fallen in love with climbing and uses it as a tool to improve his performance on and off the field. At 6’4” 330-pounds, Wes is considered one of the strongest lineman in the game, putting up 765-pound deadlifts well over twice his body weight. As a true professional athlete, Wes delivers some fascinating insi...

Will Moss is a comp climber turned traddie from New York City, who has been quietly ticking some of the hardest gear-protected routes in the country over the past couple of years. His most recent notable ascent is the FA of the Gunks hardest: The Best Things in Life Are Free (5.14d R). But first, we wind our way into a discussion about the elusive “undercover crusher,” and whether this mythical beast actually climbed the thing before everyone else, or if this is just what some bro is saying in ...