The Power Company Climbing Podcast

Brittany Leavitt | Listen + Teach

Brittany Leavitt is an educator. By profession, by passion, and by choice. It’s a choice I appreciate. She’s also a listener, though maybe that goes hand in hand with being an educator. 
I sat down with Brittany because something about the way she presents herself online, and the fact that she's involved in EVERYTHING, made me want to know more about her perspective. She recently went on a roadtrip sponsored by Patagonia, on which she asked important questions to the people she met - I wanted to know how she would answer. 
You can find Brittany online at https://www.britleavitt.com/
You can find her on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/bleavitt8
Groups and Organizations Brittany is affiliated with: 
www.browngirlsclimb.com
www.outdoorafro.com 
www.colorthecrag.com
www.appalachiantrail.org/
Sign up for the Performance Climbing Coach Seminar at www.performanceclimbingcoach.com
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 sponsor-free by becoming a Patron for as little as $3 a month.
Find full episode transcripts and more at our website.

BOARD MEETINGS | Top 5 Reasons You Abandon the Training Plan

We've all done it, and not always for the right reasons.
Find the new Proven Plans at www.powercompanyclimbing.com/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 sponsor-free by becoming a Patron for as little as $3 a month.
Find full episode transcripts and more at our website.

Yves Gravelle | For the Love of Training

Yves Gravelle is a legendary Canadian strongman, and pound for pound may have the strongest grip in the world. I suppose that likely helps him climb V14, but it's not the only reason. He's also a workhorse who is a stickler for the details. He's also a father, husband, business owner, and youth coach. Somewhere in there he's found time to be an Armlifting World Champion with numerous world records, as well as a prolific first ascentionist near his home in Ottawa. 
You can find Yves on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/yvesgravelle
You can check out his mask making company at: https://www.instagram.com/metamorphose_masks
Some of the tools Yves uses:
Saxon Bar: https://www.armassassinstrengthshop.com/products/saxon-bar-custom?variant=29697039237233
Wrist Wrench: https://www.armassassinstrengthshop.com/products/axle-wrench?variant=16730872774769
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 sponsor-free by becoming a Patron for as little as $3 a month.
Find full episode transcripts and more at our website.

Troy Fauteux | Try Harder

Troy Fauteux tries harder than you. His try hard might have gotten him up hard boulders before the mental skills had a chance to catch up - but I suspect those are coming along just fine. 
To make the most of this interview go HERE and watch the video of Troy doing The Mandala in Bishop. THEN listen to the episode. 
Once you're finished, go HERE and watch this video of Troy just two weeks before doing his first V11. Turn up your volume and enjoy. 
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 sponsor-free by becoming a Patron for as little as $3 a month.
Find full episode transcripts and more at our website.

BOARD MEETINGS | Art of the Side Goal

Not all goals need to be major, far off events. Not all goals need to lead you directly toward those major goals. Sometimes it's perfectly ok - even encouraged - to have a side goal.
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 sponsor-free by becoming a Patron for as little as $3 a month.
Find full episode transcripts and more at our website.

Dr. Favia Dubyk | Survive to Thrive

The phrase “a force to be reckoned with” doesn’t quite do justice to Dr. Favia Dubyk. Yes, she is a force, but that phrase conjures up images of some stoic, menacing figure, and Favia is the polar opposite of this image. She’s funny, excited, genuine, and unassuming - unless you happen to see her in a tanktop. However, it’s not the biceps that I’m most interested in. It’s the brains and the spirit.
In her 3rd year of medical school Favia was diagnosed with late stage Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and given a few weeks to live. A fight that had nothing to do with biceps ensued, and Favia has now been in remission from cancer for several years.
Yes, she is a survivor, but again, she defies the word. Thriver seems to be a much better fit. Dr. Dubyk finished her degree and now works at the University of New Mexico as a pathologist, having switched her focus from sports medicine surgery to an area where she could impact other people who had been diagnosed with cancer. As is evident from the biceps - she doesn’t pour all of her time into pathology. She’s competed on American Ninja Warrior and climbs at a high level - preferring hard roof climbing to other styles.
We sat down in Hueco Tanks for not nearly enough time to hear the whole story, but plenty to know that Favia is indeed a force.
You can find Favia online at www.traversegirl.com
You can follow Favia on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/felinefavia
Watch the ANW video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oybWgRWsB9g
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 sponsor-free by becoming a Patron for as little as $3 a month.
Find full episode transcripts and more at our website.

Dr. Natasha Barnes | Pain Science for Climbers

If you have been interested in training for climbing for more than a few days, it’s likely that you know of Dr. Natasha Barnes. She’s not only a former national champion climber and champion power lifter, but is a doctor based in San Francisco who specializes in rehabilitation, orthopedic sports medicine and physiotherapy for climbers and lifters.
I’ve known Natasha for some time, and when I booked a workshop in San Francisco, I knew I had to sit down and get her on the show. Hopefully the first of many appearances.
In this episode we discuss pain - how we experience and react to it, as well as actionable ways to try and determine if it’s actually an injury - or just your brain convincing you that it is.
Pain Science Resources
Lorimer Moseley “Why Things Hurt” TEDx Talk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwd-wLdIHjs
Tame The Beast https://www.tamethebeast.org/
Curable Health App https://www.curablehealth.com/
Pain is Weird from PainScience.com https://www.painscience.com/articles/pain-is-weird.php
Central Sensitization https://www.painscience.com/articles/central-sensitization.php
 
You can find Dr. Barnes online at https://natashabarnesrehab.com/
You can find her on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/natashabarnes
Check out the all new and updated Proven Plans at www.powercompanyclimbing.com/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 sponsor-free by becoming a Patron for as little as $3 a month.
Find full episode transcripts and more at our website.

Alex Megos & Ken Etzel | Rotpunkt

Alex Megos may well be the strongest climber in the world. But is he the best? 
In this episode I sit down with Megos and his good friend Ken Etzel, the director of the new film that we are discussing, Rotpunkt. 
Rotpunkt gives us a rare glimpse into the up and down struggles of someone trying to become the best in the world. Maybe not suprisingly, these are struggles that every single one of us can relate to. Possibly even more fascinating is the bond that was forged between filmmaker and athlete, and the pressures that this bond had to endure while making the film. 
You can find the film at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbWvFjUIt5k
You can find Alex Megos on instagram at https://www.instagram.com/alexandermegos
You can find Ken Etzel on instagram at https://www.instagram.com/ken_etzel
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 sponsor-free by becoming a Patron for as little as $3 a month.
Find full episode transcripts and more at our website.

BOARD MEETINGS | Thanks A Milli

ONE MILLION DOWNLOADS.
Thank you for the continued and growing support! It means the world. 
In this episode, Nate and I sit down to talk about where it all started and why we keep doing it. 
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 sponsor-free by becoming a Patron for as little as $3 a month.
Find full episode transcripts and more at our website.

Bill Ramsey | A Philosophy of Sending

Bill Ramsey is a legend. He had achieved near mythical status in the Red River Gorge by the time I started paying attention to sport climbing. Pioneering many of the best hard sport climbs that now draw flocks of people to Kentucky’s steep sandstone crags, Bill wasn’t the typical 24 year old developer with a part time job and nowhere specific to be. He was a Professor of Philosophy at The University of Notre Dame - an over 14 hour round trip to and from The Red - a drive that Bill made weekly. His routes Omaha Beach, Transworld Depravity, Golden Boy, and The Return of Darth Moll, among many other classics, came from this period. He’s done 26 5.14’s - 25 of those after turning 40. Bill recently checked one of his life list, Randy Leavitt’s stunning Jumbo Pumping Hate (14a) at Clark Mountain. He had just turned 59 and was a few days from hip surgery.
To say that Bill is dedicated is a massive understatement, and we haven’t even mentioned his training sessions. Without going too far into detail, Bill has found that marathon sessions work well for him, and he’s stuck to that with great results. Perhaps most intriguing, and most universally applicable, is his idea of The Pain Box, which we discuss in the episode. 
As I get older it gets a little tougher to find the same inspiration in the 20 year old crushers that I once did, and there just aren’t that many 40+ year old climbers still chasing progression. Bill has always been someone I’ve looked up to as not only a great example of perseverance and dedication in his climbing, but in his life choices as well. Bill moved from a tenured position at Notre Dame to UNLV so that he could be closer to the year round climbing in Las Vegas. Not content with a schedule that he could fill with climbing and training, Bill gives back to the community as Vice President of the Southern Nevada Climber’s Coalition.
Every step of the way, a legend.
You can find Bill's full Pain Box essay at https://www.powercompanyclimbing.com/blog/2019/11/11/ep-150-a-philosophy-of-sending-with-bill-ramsey
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 sponsor-free by becoming a Patron for as little as $3 a month.
Find full episode transcripts and more at our website.