The Power Company Climbing Podcast

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!
 

Josie McKee | Exploring Identity and Discomfort (Part 2)

In this, the second of two episodes with seasoned big wall climber Josie McKee, she and Kris sit down to discuss how her recent trip to Yosemite turned out – what went well, what didn’t, what she might do differently to prepare for future trips, and so forth. But the conversation goes far beyond training and tick lists as they consider some hurdles every climber faces at one point or another, hurdles that can hold us back from a fulfilling and sustainable relationship with climbing.
If you haven’t listened to the first episode with Josie yet, do so HERE! Also be sure to check out Josie’s recent blog post HERE!
 
Learn more about Josie's mindset coaching at Mind Athlete.
Follow Josie 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.

Josie McKee | Sport Climbing to Train for Big Walls and Narrowing Failure (Part 1)

Josie McKee has been climbing for more than 20 years, racking up speed records, FA’s, and a huge wealth of experience and knowledge in that time. She’s been up El Cap more than 20 times, even working on the YOSAR team for 3 years. Now based in Lander, she found herself with limestone sport climbing as her primary means to train for a recent Yosemite trip. This is the first of 2 episodes where Kris and Josie discuss how this trip and prepping for it forced Josie to really consider her relationship with climbing – especially in Yosemite – and her identity as a climber.
 
Learn more about Josie's mindset coaching at Mind Athlete.
Follow Josie 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.

REWIND | Stevie Haston on Climbing 14d at 52 and Common Sense Training

13 years ago this month, British climbing legend Stevie Haston climbed 14d, for the second time that year, at the youthful age of 52. Even more impressive is the fact that Haston did this after recovering from a snowboarding accident in his 40’s that left him questioning if he'd ever climb hard again. So what are the complex intricacies of his training that led to such success? Plain and simple common sense.
 
This episode originally aired on December 6, 2016.
 
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 Pros and Cons of Replicas (Bonus Episode)

It's all the rage. Watching Will Bosi and Aiden Roberts work on the Burden of Dreams replica is fun, but is it valuable for the rest of us?
This episode is the first half of the full episode our Patrons and Subscribers get today. To get bonus conversations like this every month (over 100 in the archive currently!) you can become a Patron or you can subscribe to Power Company + in the Apple Podcast App by clicking on the full version of 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.