The Power Company Climbing Podcast

TAPED TIPS | When Beta Isn’t Better

You’re a coach, or a climbing partner, or simply a concerned friend. You’re watching your client, student, partner, or bestie struggle.  And you want to help. 
But how?
That’s actually a great question. Because the answer is situational. It entirely depends on the goal.
Today, we’re going to learn why.
 
In our Coaching for Mastery course, we go DEEP into how coaches and climbers can create an effective practice. That’s literally what the entire course is about. The research, the theories, my experience, and how you can practically apply it.
 
The Power Company Podcast is brought to you by Power Company Climbing and is a proud member of the Plug Tone Audio Collective.
You can help us keep episodes ad-free by becoming a Patron for as little as $3 a month.
Find full episode transcripts and more at our website.

TAPED TIPS | I Said What I S.A.I.D.

You’ve heard of the SAID principle, right? S-A-I-D: Specific Adaptations to Imposed Demands. You’ve heard of it.  And you thought that it meant simply that to get better at climbing, you have to climb on boulders that look just like the climbs you do outside, right? 
If that was you, you were in the majority. But you were wrong. 
Is climbing pulling straight down on edges? Not always.Is it compressing on slopers? Not always.Is it jumping from grip to grip? Sometimes.Is it moving slow and precise. Pretty often, actually. Is it full-crimping? Half-crimping? Open hand? 3 Finger Drag? Middle 2? Back 3? Mono? Crosley? Pinch? Back-stepping, drop-kneeing, twisted, square, toe-hooking, heel-hooking, edging, smearing, blah blah blah…
Well, It’s all of these things. And thousands more things. It’s too much. So today, we’re going to learn a little more about what specificity actually means.
 
In our Coaching for Mastery course, we go DEEP into how coaches and climbers can create an effective practice. That’s literally what the entire course is about. The research, the theories, my experience, and how you can practically apply it.
 
The Power Company Podcast is brought to you by Power Company Climbing and is a proud member of the Plug Tone Audio Collective.
You can help us keep episodes ad-free by becoming a Patron for as little as $3 a month.
Find full episode transcripts and more at our website.

TAPED TIPS | Are You Always Performing?

Climbers are really good at creating a performance environment. Really, really good. No, I’m not saying that you’re good at performing – some of you suck at it and could use a lot of help –but you’re always TRYING to perform.
But if you want to get better, that might be a big mistake.
Today, we’re going to find out why.
 
In our Coaching for Mastery course, we go DEEP into how coaches and climbers can create an effective practice. That’s literally what the entire course is about. The research, the theories, my experience, and how you can practically apply it.
 
The Power Company Podcast is brought to you by Power Company Climbing and is a proud member of the Plug Tone Audio Collective.
You can help us keep episodes ad-free by becoming a Patron for as little as $3 a month.
Find full episode transcripts and more at our website.

Coaching Mentorship Scholarships Now Available!

We are happy to announce that due to the generous donations from two anonymous donors, we are able to offer two scholarships for our 10 Week Coaching for Mastery Mentorship Group, as well as three spots for the course itself. 
Having worked with a lot of climbing coaches over the past decade, it’s been exciting to see the industry becoming more diverse. We want to do what we can to help that trend. 
Applications are open to everyone, with priority given to those who otherwise may not have the resources to participate. Applications will close on Monday, October 17th and winners will be notified later that week. 
Please share this post or link with your network, and particularly with the folks you know who deserve the opportunity - or you can pop into the applications and nominate someone yourself!
Thanks. 
Learn more about the Coaching for Mastery Course.
Apply for one of the Scholarships.

Dale Wilson | Climbing Performance Metrics

How to use data and measurements to inform training decisions had been a topic of debate amongst Kris and the other Power Company coaches for years. That is until today’s guest, Data Analyst, Dale Wilson, stepped in to settle the score once and for all.
Dale and Kris chat about how and why Power Company Climbing collects certain measurements from their clients. They discuss the usefulness of these measurements in predicting climbing performance and how this data can be helpful to coaches when designing programming. They also talk about how important it is not to get too wrapped up in the numbers, and how easily many climbers fall into the trap of training to improve numbers rather than to reach their goals.
DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE:
How Power Company Climbing uses data and measurements in their program design.
How Kris and Dale personally use data in their own climbing and training.
Which measurements seem to “matter” - and which don’t.
The downside of putting too much stock in numbers.
 
Learn more about Metrics for Climbers from Dale.
See the charts and tables we've compiled based on our ever-growing data set.
Let Dale crunch the numbers for you with our Mini-Assessment + Analysis.
 
Check out the newest course from the Power Company Climbing Academy, Coaching for Mastery, available now!
 
The Power Company Podcast is brought to you by Power Company Climbing and is a proud member of the Plug Tone Audio Collective.
You can help us keep episodes ad-free by becoming a Patron for as little as $3 a month.
Find full episode transcripts and more at our website.

BOARD MEETINGS | Systematic Tactics vs. Battle Mode

Do you have a default climbing mode? If so, do you value the other side? 
In this episode, Kris and Nate discuss the two approaches to sending - tactics vs. going to battle - and how we can better learn both sides. 
Check out the Coaching for Mastery course!
 
The Power Company Podcast is brought to you by Power Company Climbing and is a proud member of the Plug Tone Audio Collective.
You can help us keep episodes ad-free by becoming a Patron for as little as $3 a month!
Find full episode transcripts and more at our website.

BOARD MEETINGS | The Gym to Crag Performance Gap

In this episode, Kris and Nate sit down to talk about the ways the gym doesn’t prepare you for climbing outside, and provide some tips on how you can address this gap.
 
The Power Company Podcast is brought to you by Power Company Climbing and is a proud member of the Plug Tone Audio Collective.
You can help us keep episodes ad-free by becoming a Patron for as little as $3 a month!
Find full episode transcripts and more at our website.

WHAT WHEN HOW TO TRAIN | Chattanooga Bouldering with Juliet Hammer

Looking for a winter bouldering destination with seemingly endless amounts of rock, hosting classic problems of every grade, all within driving distance of one of the coolest cities in the Southeast? Look no further than Chattanooga.
Juliet Hammer first climbed in the Chattanooga area as a college student at the University of Virginia and has recently returned to the area after living in Colorado for a number of years. She’s since then racked up an impressive tick-list of southeastern sends, and even walked away with the win at last year’s Triple Crown Bouldering Series. Now she’s helping climbers reach their goals as a coach. Hear more from her in this previous episode.
Head over to this episode's blog post to see Kris and Juliet's picks for Must-Do Boulders, Overlooked Classics, guidebook recommendations, and more.
 
Support the Southeastern Climbers Coalition!
Find Juliet on Instagram and at her website!
 
The Power Company Podcast is brought to you by Power Company Climbing and is a proud member of the Plug Tone Audio Collective.
You can help us keep episodes ad-free by becoming a Patron for as little as $3 a month.
Find full episode transcripts and more at our website.

Sam Prentice | The Giant Sequoia Mortician

As wildfires become more common and powerful, the Giant Sequoias of the American West are burning at alarming rates. These enormous beings stand at a few hundred feet in height and a hundred feet in diameter.
Due to climate change and 100 years of human mismanagement, the forests where these Sequoias live are being lost to wildfire.
In this episode, Kris sits down with Sam Prentice, District Hydrologist for the USDA Forest Service, to speak about how wildfires are impacting our Giant Sequoia groves, the surrounding communities, and what we can do about it. 
This episode also dives into our history of fire management, or mismanagement, in the United States, and how current government bodies and nonprofits are not on the same page for a mitigation plan. 
Links from this episode:
Save The Sequoias Act
10 Tips to Prevent Wildfires
Smokey Bear’s Helpful Website
The Sequoia Conservation Fund
Read the Access Fund article about how wildfires are impacting climbers. 
Plug Tone Outdoors is part of the Plug Tone Audio Collective. Check out our website or follow along on Instagram to learn more about our other shows.
This episode of Plug Tone Outdoors was created and produced by Kris Hampton.
Music by Mepa Melson, Serge Quadrado, Anton Vlasov, LesFM and Coma Media from Pixabay.com
Find a full transcript of this episode, images from Sam, and more, at the blog post for this episode.
 
The Power Company Podcast is brought to you by Power Company Climbing and is a proud member of the Plug Tone Audio Collective.
You can help us keep episodes ad-free by becoming a Patron for as little as $3 a month!
Find full episode transcripts and more at our website.

Prerna Dangi | Finding Her Power

Every summer, Kris emcees the International Climbers Festival here in Lander, Wyoming. One of his favorite parts of doing the event is being able to introduce the keynote speakers. It was quite a lineup this year, with big names like Chris Kalous and Brittany Goris. But it was one of the opening speakers who ended up stealing the show: Indian climber and force of nature, Prerna Dangi.
Prerna’s time in Lander was just one of many stops she’s making this year on a big climbing trip throughout the US. With plenty of hours logged in the alpine, on a rope, and over crash pads, she’s got experience and goals on ice, rock, and beyond. But her biggest goal of all — and the one she’s certainly dedicating the most to — is to continue building an empowered community of female climbers in India.
DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE:
How Prerna got her start in climbing.
The climbing scene in India and how it differs from here in the US.
The ongoing development of climbing in India.
How organizations like CLAW (Climb Like a Woman) are empowering women in India to climb.
How Prerna is finding her power — as a climber, a role model, and a community leader.
 
Support Prerna through The Climbing Leadership Fund!
Learn more about CLAW - Climb Like a Woman!
Follow Prerna on Instagram!
 
The Power Company Podcast is brought to you by Power Company Climbing and is a proud member of the Plug Tone Audio Collective.
You can help us keep episodes ad-free by becoming a Patron for as little as $3 a month.
Find full episode transcripts and more at our website.