Great Expectations
The weight of expectations is real. Today, Olympians Natalia Grossman and Jesse Grupper share their journey through the highs and lows of winning and losing. Even when you're winning, the road to Paris is a difficult path.
Image: Lena Drapella
Brooke Raboutou: Paris Bound
At only 23, Brooke Raboutou has established herself as one of the best climbers indoors and out. While that’s taken an extreme amount of talent and dedication, Brooke and two other Olympians, Natalia Grossman and Colin Duffy, are graduates of a groundbreaking approach to climbing created by Brooke’s mom Robyn Ebersfield-Raboutou. Climbing has a lot to teach about life.
Image: Lena Drapella
War Games
Yes, the Olympics are entertainment, but they can also transcend sport. Ukrainian climber Jenya Kazbekova carries a weight few competitors have to shoulder. Two years into Russia’s unprovoked attack on her home, Jenya is channeling the strength of her country into competing in Paris. She just hopes the world doesn’t forget Ukraine.
Image: Lena Drapella
Ashima: The Competitor’s Mind
Since she was eight, Ashima made waves with staggering ascents beyond her years. In 2021, Ashima helped bring us into the mind of a competitor walking us through in meticulous detail of what it’s like to compete in a World Cup. Today, we reshare that short segment and then find out about Ashima’s new path through climbing far from the spotlight of the competitive circuit.
Image: Alex F. Webb
Head Games
When we think of cutting edge climbing, we think of cutting edge athleticism. But what about the mental side? The true test of finishing the world’s most difficult routes may not come down to strength, but mental fitness. Today, we are joined by Jonathan Siegrist to discuss the mental hurdles climbers experience. Sometimes you have to let go to hang on.
Image: Ryan White
Kai Lightner: Return To Form
Kai Lightner is on a tear. When we last spoke with Kai, his path in professional climbing was unclear. Last year, Kai turned his attention to climbing outside and took the emphasis off results. An incredible string of sends followed, and once again Kai has found himself at the forefront.
Image: Ian Dzilenski
Sierra Blair: Ahead of the Curve
A decade ago, climbing’s most controversial figure was a young woman who’d savvily harnessed the internet to power her competitive career. Today, Sierra Blair’s approach might simply be considered best practice for an athlete's social media, but a decade ago it sparked conversations about who gets to call themselves an athlete or a “real” climber, exposing a vein of misogyny flowing through our sport.
Image: Eric Greenhalgh
Gentlemen’s Race To 9a
Sometimes we all need healthy competition. Last summer Alex, Tommy Caldwell, and Sonnie Trotter hatched a plan – each would attempt to climb 9a in the coming year. Climbing at your limit demands attention and accountability, something each was struggling with on their own. Together, the goal seemed a little more probable.
Image: James Lucas
Put Me In Coach
When Kris Hampton launched the Power Company, training for climbing was in an awkward adolescence. Research and tactics were woefully behind adjacent sports like gymnastics. We dive into the evolution of training, the difference between a coach and a trainer, and how close we are to the limits of human possibility.
Image: John Wesely
Climbing With Kids
News flash: having kids changes things. Paige Claassen and Emily Harrington join Alex to discuss the new normal, reaching limits while sleep deprived and the calculus of risk as they move into parenthood.
Image: Arjan DeKock
The Adam Ondra Episode
For the last decade, no climber has moved our sport closer to the future than Adam Ondra. While he’s known for his visionary sport routes, he’s excelled in every aspect of rock climbing from competition to big walls. Adam sat down for a wide ranging interview to talk about the limits of what’s humanly possible, the Olympics and shiver bivying on El Cap with his father.
Image: Petr Chodura
Adapted Part 2
In Part 2 of Adapted, Mo Beck and Jim Ewing head to the Lotus Flower Tower. Hugh Herr embarks on life after climbing and tackles one of humanity’s greatest challenges. Denny Kowska seeks to build an adaptive community from the ground up.
Image: Jim Ewing Collection
Adapted Part 1
Climbing’s first phenom survives a near death experience and life altering accident on Mount Washington. In rural Maine, a young girl born without a hand discovers climbing. In the aftermath of an accident, an engineer resolves to complete a lifelong dream. Hugh Herr, Mo Beck and Jim Ewing take us on a journey in a two part series about human potential, generational friendships and the power of climbing.
Image: Hugh Herr Collection
The Fighter
When protests erupted in Iran in fall of 2022, human rights activist and professional climber Nasim Eshqi was climbing in France. As she watched the uprising back home unfold, Nasim knew that returning home at that moment would mean arrest and imprisonment at the hands of the government. She doubled down on her criticism of Iran’s repressive regime and used her climbing to bring the struggle to the international climbing community.
Image: Monica Dalmasso
Safety Police
Underground legend and editor of Accidents in North American Climbing, Pete Takeda joins us to talk safety. We can learn from mistakes, but sometimes it’s worth speaking up before they happen.
Image: Mike Thurk
The Greatest Lie Chapter 4: Belief
After successfully establishing the first fair means ascent of Cerro Torre’s SE Ridge and chopping Maestri’s bolt ladder, Hayden Kennedy and Jason Kruk smash into reality. In the mountains, a rescue for their friend is under way. In El Chaltén, frustration boils over and the police get involved. Meanwhile, David Lama heads back up the mountain.
Image: Kelly Cordes
The Greatest Lie Chapter 3: Fair Means
In the 2000’s, a new, global generation of alpinists armed with a broad toolkit of skills and advancements in weather forecasting led a climbing golden age in Patagonia. While popular, Maestri’s Compressor Route becomes the target of climbers looking to leave a lasting impression on the sport.
Liar, Liar
How big of a problem is lying in climbing? Jonathan Siegrist returns to the show to talk about dishonesty in our sport.
Image: Ryan Deegan
The Greatest Lie Chapter 2: Disneyland
In 1959, Cesare Maestri, an outsider and rebel drawn to the siren song of the world’s fiercest mountain, Cerro Torre, ripped a hole in climbing’s only true rule – a climber is only as good as their word.