You probably recognize Nekaia from when she recently made her first boulder world cup finals in Curitiba and her sister, Sovarae, podiumed at her last USA youth boulder nationals. In this episode, we get a lot of insight into their sibling dynamic as comp climbers, we’ll hear about Nekaia’s experience in Curitiba and Sovarae’s experience going through mental battles at comps, and we’ll have some fun conversation about food and Harry Potter.

If it’s not obvious, Carl is Erin McNiece’s dad and I’m so thrilled to get a parent perspective on the podcast. In this episode, we’ll learn about the family’s dedication and honest approach to building Erin’s climbing career, how much it cost to support the training and travel of an athlete, why he’s no longer allowed to watch her comps in person, and get adorable dad-anecdotes from the Olympics.

Ty has done it all: He’s been competition belaying, judging, and coaching for over 10 years, and he started the belay programs at USA climbing and the IFSC. In this episode, we’ll learn about all things belaying, get behind the scenes insight, and hear about how the scene has changed since the Olympics came into play, leading to some toxic parents.

Antonin is the graphics operator for the IFSC! In this episode, we’ll learn about why the IFSC chooses to use local production teams instead of their own production team and the difficulties that come with that, why graphics don’t show up sometimes, and we’ll hear about his thoughts on why the bouldering format is inherently broken for watching on TV.

Erik is an accomplished speed climber from Spain! In this episode, we’ll learn about how politics destroyed climbing in Venezuela, what it was like starting over with life and training in Spain, injuries in speed climbing, and we’ll get his thoughts on other speed climbing formats like relays and yearly route changes.

So you all probably know who she is, but just in case you don’t, Shauna is a British climber, 2-time bouldering world cup season winner, Olympian, mom, and nowadays she’s still ticking off hard climbs outdoors. In this episode, we’ll learn about how not excited she was to compete in the Olympics, why she has an issue with the word “retirement,” and of course, the difficulty of managing climbing during and after pregnancy both socially and physically.

Chaz is a blind paraclimber from team Canada and is in the B3 category, meaning he has about 10% of his sight left. What’s crazy is that he didn’t start climbing until after he lost his vision! In this episode, we’ll learn about his rocky journey losing his vision at 32 years old and struggling with alcoholism, how to lead belay blind, and hear some surprising stories about run-ins with famous climbers that he doesn’t know because he can’t “watch” climbing content.

Tijl is currently the IFSC Europe president but he is now running for the president of IFSC with elections taking place in April. In this episode, we’ll learn about how IFSC politics works, hear about the changes he wants to make within the IFSC, and get his take on some hot topic issues like national federation quotas, RED-S testing, and the NEOM games.

Gregor was a boulder & lead climber from team Slovenia but he recently retired a few months ago from competitions. In this episode, we’ll get insight into the powerful Slovenian team, how he made the decision to retire and all the planning around it, what it’s like climbing with Janja, and we get to hear him geek out about holds and hold shaping.

Anna is a boulder & lead climber from team Germany and one of the younger athletes I’ve interviewed so far as she still competed in youth world champs last year. In this episode, we’ll talk about the differences between the youth and senior circuit, the pressure of expectations after FLASHING all qualis boulders in Innsbruck, and we get some insight into team Germany.

Rodrigo is a boulder & lead climber from team Brazil. He actually started climbing fairly recently in 2018, but since then has been a 2x South American cup winner and is working his way up the ranks on the world cup circuit! In this episode, we talk about what makes training and climbing in Brazil difficult, how he feels like a “weaker” climber due to starting out as a chubbier kid, and mindset tips he uses while competing.

Niki and Jake are routesetters from "Another Setting Podcast" but you may already be familiar with them because Niki was my FIRST ever podcast guest and you are probably familiar with Jake from the Bouldering Bobats. In this episode, we absolutely TRASH US gym hold selection and setting, they give their opinions on worldwide setting styles, comp formats, and moves to LEAVE BEHIND in 2024, and we discuss freelance vs world cup routesetter pay.

Andy is a climbing PT from Process Physiotherapy. He has been climbing for over 30 years, has coached in the past, and over time has noticed climbing injuries change as the style of climbing has evolved in the competition scene. In this episode, we'll debunk some training and PT myths, talk about the differences between male and female climbers and the types of injuries they face, and we’ll hear about why he thinks fingers are strong enough.

"She goes by Oce" is a boulder and lead climber from Australia! She's had an amazing 2024 season with her first world cup boulder medal in Prague, and also recently competed in her 2nd Olympics. In this episode, we'll learn about how she battled THREE health issues while competing in the Paris olympics, how Paris compared to Tokyo, her training with team Switzerland and making lead climbing gains, and her (thankfully far in the future) plans for retirement.

Tom is team GB’s ex-head coach! He personally coached Shauna Coxsey into getting her Tokyo Olympic ticket and has worked with the rest of team GB up until he left the national team earlier this year in April. In this episode, we'll learn about why he’s banned from the USA, the strategy for getting Shauna to qualify for the Olympics, and the politics and public backlash he faced working in the circuit that led to his eventual resignation.

Sofya is a boulderer on team Switzerland and she’s part of the wave of OG climbing Youtubers! In this episode, she gives us a debrief on her last comp of the 2024 season in Prague, we get some insight into team Switzerland and their potential upcoming funding issues, and she opens up about her past struggles with disordered eating and how she overcame it.

Another double-guest episode! Stanley is an IFSC event delegate and judge chair, while Zul is officially a newly minted IFSC judge. In this episode, we’ll talk about how to become an IFSC judge, hear about their relationships and interactions with athletes and coaches, and we’ll hear some crazy stories about their judging experiences under pressure and cancelling events due to rain like in Keqiao.

Jesse is a boulder + lead climber (mostly lead climber) from the USA who is fresh from the Olympics! In this episode, he walks us through his entire Olympics experience, from training through his first ever finger injury, to balancing training with his engineering job, to meeting other athletes in the Olympic village.

Olga is an official IFSC routesetter, and she recently came back from Paris, where she helped set the Olympic boulder rounds. In this episode, we'll learn about what it takes to become an IFSC setter, what it was like setting at the Olympics and trying to make the rounds fair, and how she balances setting, training, and traveling all while being a single mother.

I know Allen from our climbing training class in San Diego, but he is also a boulderer for a brand new IFSC federation, Team Guam. In this episode, we'll learn about what it’s like competing on the world cup circuit as an “average” climber who only started climbing at 23 years old and works a full time engineering job. We’ll also hear about what it’s like as a NEW competitor competing in Innsbruck including the afterparties, and all about the Guam climbing scene.