The Power Company Climbing Podcast

BOARD MEETINGS | The Worst Sport Climbing Tactic

In this Board Meeting, rather than make a list, Kris and Nate discuss their individual top picks for the most common, most egregious, absolute worst tactic we see sport climbers using. If you're making this mistake, consider actively exploring something different in your next session.
We don't tweet. We scream like eagles.
 
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 Worst Bouldering Tactic

In this Board Meeting, rather than make a list, Kris and Nate discuss their individual top picks for the most common, most egregious, absolute worst tactic we see boulderers using. If you're making this mistake, consider actively exploring something different in your next session.
Watch The Worst Punt of all Time video.
We don't tweet. We scream like eagles.
 
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.

Kerry Scott | Ambition, Confidence, and Climbing All The Things

How do we get better at climbing? That's a question we ask, and are asked, ALL THE TIME. One of the best answers is certainly something along the lines of, "Be very intentional about challenging yourself while climbing as many things as you can."
A bit simplistic, but it works. 
Kerry Scott embodies this. From her goal to climb 100 new boulders in a year from V3 to V11, to doing her hardest boulders, to her recent send of Mango Tango (14a) in the New River Gorge on a week long trip, Kerry gets after it. Consistently. 
Check out Kerry's 100 Boulders Diamond.
Follow Kerry on Instagram.
We don't tweet. We scream like eagles.
 
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.

Juliet Hammer | Grades, Body Comments, and Internet Trolls

Juliet Hammer is a straight up crusher, with over 30 double digit boulders under her belt. Still, she isn't immune to the dark side of the internet. The side which so regularly has to push their "expertise" on grades and climbing. Many of these people are too incompetent to understand how incompetent they are - the Dunning-Kruger Effect. And their comments can be harmful to not only the original poster, but anyone who reads them.
In this episode, Juliet and I unpack a recent reel she posted to Instagram, of a V10 gym boulder, that brought the trolls out. 
Watch the reel we discuss in the episode.
Follow Juliet on Instagram.
Check out Juliet's website.
Check out these other episodes we mention:
Caroline Wickes | Eating Disorders in Climbing
Kerry Scott | Pride or Spray?
We don't tweet. We scream like eagles.
 
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.

Briana Mazzolini-Blanchard and Devin Dabney | Doing the Work

Doing the work in a social media world can take its toll. Today, good friends Briana Mazzolini-Blanchard and Devin Dabney discuss the hammers they wield, the way they interact with the work they do in public, and what that might mean for their well-being.
Learn more about Climb L8.
Follow Briana on Instagram.
Learn more about The American Climbing Project.
Follow Devin on Instagram.
We don't tweet. We scream like eagles.
 
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 | Hueco Tanks Bouldering

Hueco Tanks State Park, just outside of El Paso, Texas, is one of the world’s premier bouldering destinations, and for good reason. An oasis (literally) in the middle of the desert, Hueco houses every type of boulder you can imagine. You’ll find classics of every style, from techy slab to featured roof, and enough “party trick” boulders to keep you busy for damned near ever. 
Learn more about for training to climb in Hueco Tanks at the blog post for this episode.
Check out our Applied Body Tension Ebook.
Check out Fingers+ and all of our bouldering training plans in our Proven Plans.
We don't tweet. We scream like eagles.
 
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.

Devin Dabney | Figuring It Out

In July of 2020 we released an episode with Devin Dabney in which we discussed a podcast idea he’d been mulling over for quite some time. A podcast that would look at social issues within the climbing community from a variety of perspectives. Much of the feedback around that episode was that people wanted to hear more from Devin. He needed to do that podcast.
Fast forward a little over a year, and The American Climbing Project has just dropped Episode 3: Now That’s What I Call Racism.
Devin is one of the most thoughtful humans I know. Not to mention WILDLY creative. It’s been my absolute pleasure to give advice where needed and get a front row seat to watch him grow. Plus, I get to collaborate with him regularly, which pretty much means I’m winning.
If you haven’t listed to The American Climbing Project, go do it. If you haven’t read their blog, then DEFINITELY go do that. It’s an educational treasure trove. Devin and Rob do a spectacular job of teaming up to make something really special. Something this community needs.
Learn more about The American Climbing Project.
Follow ACP on Instagram.
We don't tweet. We scream like eagles.
 
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.

Lor Sabourin | Dealing With Fear

This summer I had a dinner at my house with a group of folks who I have immense respect for. Like-minded climbers who are interested in both exploring their own personal limits and pushing the community to be better. After the dinner, I heard the same feedback from nearly every person: that conversations with Lor were the highlight of the night.Lor is a climber who leans into every style in a really intentional effort to improve. They are a Warrior's Way coach who has the incredible ability to listen, empathize, and ask you very kind questions that introduce you to the precise first step you need to take. That might be an actionable first step, or it might be a thought or emotion you’ll have to grapple with, but it will lead you in the right direction.
Because of this, I decided to (very selfishly) turn this episode into, essentially, a private coaching session. 
I’ve recently been leaning into my fears of tall boulders and trying to document my process. I asked Lor to watch a video I had made about a recent scary project, a V10 called Flight of the Antelope, and give me feedback on my process. They delivered with an absolute gift of a conversation.Climbing better isn’t about just getting physically stronger. It’s about confronting whatever obstacles you find in front of you. Dancing with them instead of fighting. Better understanding your own motivations, and not taking the easier path just because it’s easier. Lor has written for us before about Finding Joy in Improbable Goals - an article that inspired me to lean harder into the things that scare me. They are the subject of a brilliant documentary film from Patagonia called They/Them that will be released on October 6th. 30 seconds into watching the film I said, out loud, “Fuck, I know exactly how that feels.” Lor has dealt with all of the same fear that you have. They have leaned into it, and emerged a better teacher for it. This film does a fantastic job of highlighting this incredible human.Work with Lor at The Warrior's Way.
Watch the video we discuss in the episode.
We don't tweet. We scream like eagles.
 
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.

Dirtbag State of Mind | Luke Mehall Interviews Kris Hampton

In this episode Kris is in the hot seat, and Luke Mehall takes over the interview duties. They discuss entrepreneurship, hiphop, climbing, and how creativity filters down through all of it. 
This episode aired previously on the Dirtbag State of Mind Podcast, found wherever you consume pods. 
You can find Luke, the zine, and the podcast at The Climbing Zine.
Follow them on Instagram.
We don't tweet. We scream like eagles.
 
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.

Kyle O‘Meara | Intentional Mentorship

In an Instagram post announcing that he had accepted the head coach position at The Climbing Academy, Kyle O’Meara wrote:
“I love the way we each find our own path in this sport. Some of us crave higher performance and chase the next level forever. Others seek an adventure where discovery and creativity are the primary focus. Most fall somewhere in the middle. We can ALL go further and bigger no matter what end goal inspires our personal pursuit, and if we’re enjoying the process, appreciating the journey, and smiling lots along the way, then that probably counts as ‘winning’.”
Climbing is an individual thing. What drives me may not be the same thing that drives you, and that’s ok.
While mentorship is – on its surface – a noble pursuit, it can often go wrong. Mentors are human and are just as prone as the rest of us to overvalue their own selfish ideas, and then pass them on to the next generation without much thought toward necessary change or evolution of those ideas.
Personally, I admire most the mentors and thinkers who work hard to directly engage with this unavoidable evolution. The ones who simultaneously continue their own growth. That interaction, even more than advancing the grades we climb, is what allows progress to happen and continue.
Mentorship isn’t dead. We just need more mentors like Kyle.
Follow Kyle on Instagram.
Get tickets for the Joe's Valley Festival.
We don't tweet. We scream like eagles.
 
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.
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.