The Power Company Climbing Podcast

TAPED TIPS | 3 Tips for Training for Climbing Trips

Training is training is training. You’ve done your homework, you know how to periodize a training plan, you understand set and rep schemes and RPE and autoregulation, you’ve got all the latest tech and warmup tools, and you’ve somehow figured out how to fit all 482 things into a week, including recovery time and self-care mental health days. You’ve optimized.
Congrats.
But now you have a climbing trip coming up. The rock is different. The style is different. Your pre-trip time is short and the number of days you’ll be climbing even shorter. What’s more, if you do your normal training block for this upcoming trip, it’ll overlap with the good days in your climbing season and you want to optimize for BOTH. 
Well, realistically, you probably can’t. What you can do is learn the best way to train for a climbing trip, which is different from training for your normal climbing season. And you’re going to do just that, because we’ve got you covered with some useful tips.
 
(00:00:00) Intro and Topic Explanation
(00:02:00) Train Specifically for the Demands of the Area
(00:04:32) Hit the Ground Running
(00:07:02) Introduce Pressure in the Preparation
(00:09:51) Resources and Outro
 
Check out our What When How to Train series.
Check out our Trip Prep Plans.
Learn the Art of the Second Try Send.
Watch Nate break down the Ten Minute Takedown.
 
Watch this episode on YouTube.
Taped Tips is presented by Power Company Climbing and Plug Tone Audio.
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.

REWIND | Craig DeMartino on Making Hard Decisions and Using Limitations

For most climbers, a 100-foot ground fall would be the end of their lives, or at the very least, the end of their climbing careers. Not so for Craig DeMartino.
21 years ago this week, while climbing in Rocky Mountain National Park, a moment of miscommunication nearly cost him everything, and did lead to the eventual amputation of his right leg. But instead of letting the resulting limitations do just that – limit him – Craig changed his perspective and kept on climbing, ultimately becoming one of the most accomplished paraclimbers in the world. Today, we REWIND to this conversation with Craig about motivations, limitations, perception, and moving forward.
Learn more about Craig at his website.
Follow Craig on Instagram.
Check out Craig's book: After the Fall.
Hear Craig's story on "The Enormocast".
Watch Craig on "The Season".
 
This episode originally aired on January 3, 2017.
 
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 Struggle Climbing Show | Tactics

In this episode, which comes to us from The Struggle Climbing Show podcast, Kris sat down with host Ryan Devlin to talk tactics. Kris took a look at episodes from the show’s second season – which included interviews with some of today’s biggest names in climbing, like Jonathan Siegrist, Tommy Caldwell, Melina Costanza, Matt Fultz, Alison Vest, and more – and breaks down the biggest tactical takeaways for us.
 
Check out more episodes of The Struggle Climbing Show.
Follow The Struggle Climbing Show 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 sponsor-free by becoming a Patron for as little as $3 a month.
Find full episode transcripts and more at our website.

REMIX | FAILURE : How Quitting More Leads to Bigger Sends

As climbers, we fail a lot. And yet, we don’t even like to hear the word. Our ability to return to unsent projects time after time, season after season, along with the deeply ingrained idea that every failure ought to be reframed as a successful learning experience means we rarely – if ever – actually confront the concept in our sport.
But maybe we should.
In this REMIX episode, we'll hear from climbers Nina Caprez and Erica Lineberry, mindset coach Josie McKee, movement coach Jeremy Fein, and cognitive psychologist turned professional poker player turned decision strategist, Annie Duke, about how we can accept, embrace, and maybe even practice failure to become better athletes.
Find videos, links, a full transcript, and more for this episode HERE.
Music for this episode comes from Blue Dot Sessions.
 
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.

REWIND | Paul Piana on Mentorship, Partnership and Big Dreams

Today we REWIND to this classic episode with living-legend and climbing pioneer Paul Piana himself, 35 years after he and Todd Skinner completed their historic first free ascent of El Cap’s Salathé Wall on June 15, 1988, helping to shape the dreams of many generations of climbers to come. Lynn Hill doing the Nose a few years later, Tommy Caldwell on the Dawn Wall, and the new generation of climbers like Connor Herson, Jordan Cannon, Brittany Goris and Amity Warme.
And most important, what this latest generation has pulled from Paul and his contemporaries, is that it’s important to do it all – bouldering, sport, big walls, both adventure and difficulty, and a reverence for history without letting the mythology hold you back.
 
We’ve still got a handful of signed copies of Paul’s 1997 book Big Walls: Breakthroughs on the Free-Climbing Frontier available HERE. With every purchase, you’re donating to The Todd Skinner Legacy Fund, which aims to support the continuing mission of the late Todd Skinner by funding endeavors and programs in his spirit.
Click HERE to hear Kris’s poem The Cowboy King, mentioned in the episode, which features over 100 classic route names from the Lander area.
This episode originally aired on October 7, 2020.
 
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 | What Pro Climbers Can Learn From Taylor Swift

Whether you are a pro climber, small business owner, coach, writer, filmmaker or any other entrepreneur in the climbing industry, Taylor Swift has something to teach you.
In this Board Meeting, Kris and Nate draw what might seem an odd comparison: pro climbers and Miss Americana herself, Taylor Swift. With some of the recent industry drama surrounding the Eddie Bauer athlete team firing and the shuttering of the big print mags, the topic of what it means to be a paid pro climber, writer, or creative these days is up for debate. Kris compares the outdoor industry to today’s music industry, where – thanks to streaming services like the one you’re probably using to listen to this episode right now – artists are no longer making money from their music but rather ticket sales, brand collaborations, and other outlets. An artist or athlete’s accomplishments alone, be they a #1 hit song or a groundbreaking FA, are no longer enough. Taylor Swift seems to have figured it out, so maybe the pros should be taking notes.
Special thanks to Lauren Abernathy and her crew of Swifties for pointing me to good lyrics to pull 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 sponsor-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 | Ten Sleep with Taylor Fragomeni

Looking to spend your summer sport climbing on gently overhanging crimps on beautiful limestone cliffs? Look no further than Ten Sleep, a picturesque canyon nestled high in the Bighorns of Wyoming offering tons of generously bolted lines up to grades of 14+.
Our very own coach Taylor Fragomeni started climbing in Ten Sleep more than a decade ago and it’s where she experienced many of her “climbing firsts”. She’s seen it grow from a once quieter spot for weekend warriors of the west into one of the busier destinations for climbers from all over to spend summer months.
Head over to this episode's blog post to see Taylor's picks for Must-Do Routes, Overlooked Classics, guidebook recommendations, and more.
Also be sure to check out our new Trip Prep Plans for Ten Sleep!
Support the Big Horn Climbers' Coalition
Follow Taylor on Instagram.
Want to train with Taylor?
 
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.

REWIND | Jonathan Siegrist on Volume vs. Strength and Climbing as Training

We begin this REWIND episode a little differently, with a call to Jonathan Siegrist while he was recently in Catalunya, Spain, to find out if he knew why we're releasing this on May 18th. It's an interesting fact about his own climbing that he wasn't aware of. Until now.
Since this episode first aired, Jonathan has climbed 5 routes at 5.15b (9b), with his most recent send of “Stoking the Fire” being the first to break his unintentional May hotstreak.
So now, almost 5 years exactly after he ticked his first of that grade, we REWIND to this classic conversation with Jonathan about when and why to change things up in your training, and one thing that training should definitely include a whole lot of: climbing.
Follow Jonathan on Instagram.
This episode originally aired on March 2, 2017.
 
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.

Justin Brown | Skin Care Tips and Myths for Climbers

When it comes to skincare in the climbing world, Rhino Skin Solutions is the one name you need to know. They’ve got a complete line of products to help you address whatever skin woes you may be having, whether your tips are too wet, too dry, or just totally torn up. Rhino’s founder and CEO Justin Brown joined Kris to explain the different products they offer and how best to use them. And then they chat about some of the best tips and tricks they’ve learned over the years, and also debunk some common myths that seem to pervade the climbing community on the subject of skincare.
Learn more about Rhino's products at Rhino Skin Solutions.
Follow Rhino Skin on Instagram.
Check out the Breaking Beta episode about chalking up that Kris and Justin talk about in today's 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 sponsor-free by becoming a Patron for as little as $3 a month.
Find full episode transcripts and more at our website.

BOARD MEETINGS | Things That SHOULD Affect Grades But Don’t (Bonus Episode)

In an ideal world, grades would be objective and we’d have some universal formula for how they’re decided. But we don't live in an ideal world.
In this bonus Board Meeting episode, Part 1 of 2 on grades and what affects them, Kris and Nate talk about some things that should be considered when deciding on a grade, but rarely are. They break down these things into two main headings: physical factors (external, environmental, etc.) and user factors (internal, how we as climbers engage with grades) and consider why we seem to ignore some of these factors when determining grades.
 
This is a bonus episode, so if you want to hear Part 2: Things That Shouldn't Affect Grades But Do, and more episodes like this one, become a Patron or Apple subscriber today!
Head over to www.patreon.com/powercompanypodcast or subscribe to Power Company + in your Apple Podcasts app!