The Ground Up Podcast

Joe Goodacre grew up in North Boulder and started climbing at just 4 years old through Robyn Erbesfield-Raboutou’s Team ABC—one of the strongest youth programs in the country. In this episode, Joe shares what it was like to come up through competitive climbing, from early top‑rope comps to winning youth nationals and becoming a National and Pan-American champion. We get into the hyper‑technical wo...

Here it is folks, the moment you've been waiting for! We're here live announcing the winners of the Misty Mountain Harness giveaway event that's been ongoing for the last couple of weeks. Big shoutout to Misty Mountain for providing the harnesses and supporting the show. We've got two winners from the Instagram contest as well as one winner from Patreon. We'll be in touch with the winners with all...

Steph Abegg has spent the better part of two decades exploring, climbing, and meticulously documenting some of the biggest and most adventurous routes across western North America. From her early days scrambling and mountaineering in the North Cascades to long days on remote multi-pitch routes, Steph has built a reputation not only for her ability to move quickly through big terrain, but for the i...

In this episode, the Ground Up crew flips the script by announcing it's first ever GEAR GIVEAWAY before Robert interviews Ari about his recent exploits in the Winds tackling the Cirque of the Towers Traverse with Mike Palmer, who you may remember from Episode 1 of the podcast. Located in Wyoming, the Wind River Range is roughly 100 miles long, boasts some of the highest Rocky Mountain peaks outsid...

What happens when two Horseshoe Hell veterans sit down with the podcast legends Ryan Devlin & Chris Kalous and try to explain what they've gotten themselves into? For this special rebroadcast, we joined Ryan on the Struggle Climbing Show and his Hell partner Chris (host of The Enormocast) for a crash course in all things 24 Hours of Horseshoe Hell—the legendary Arkansas climbing event where te...

Eric Zschiesche is one of the true pioneers of American bouldering. From establishing some of the Piedmont's most iconic boulder problems and traditional routes to developing classics at Devil's Lake, Eric's influence stretches far beyond the guidebooks. Long before crash pads and social media, he was climbing bold highballs, pushing into 5.13—often barefoot—and building a legacy that continues to...

Snake Dike has become one of the most talked-about routes in climbing after a controversial retro-bolting effort—and the equally controversial decision to chop those bolts. So we brought friend of the pod, Trevor Jones, on to debate one of the biggest questions in climbing today: should classic routes ever be changed? The three of us come at the topic from very different perspectives as we discuss...

John Alcorn has quietly become one of Colorado's strongest and speediest alpine climbers. Best known for his record-setting ascent of the Casual Route on Longs Peak's Diamond, John's journey wasn't built on chasing speed from the beginning—it started with a humbling 24-hour ascent that sparked an obsession with climbing more efficiently. In this episode, we follow that progression from growing up...

Vasya Vorotnikov is a seasoned veteran of the climbing world, with over 30 years of climbing experience and a deep background as a movement coach and route setter. Known for demolishing massive personal goals—like ticking off over ten 5.14s, over a hundred 5.13s, and 365 5.12s or harder in a single year—Vasya approaches climbing from a refreshing perspective: that technique, creative thinking, and...

David Sharratt is one of the East Coast's great underground crushers. From bold headpoints at Moon Rocks, pushing the boundaries of free climbing at Looking Glass, to the legendary Good, Bad, and Ugly at Ghost Town, David has spent decades establishing and repeating some of North Carolina and the Southeast's hardest and most serious routes. In this episode, we talk about the aesthetic pull of line...

Fresh off the world premiere of Queen Swing, return guest Laura Pineau is back on the podcast—this time stepping away from the Yosemite speed climbing stories to dive deeper into the experiences and climbing that shaped her. We talk about Laura’s unconventional introduction to climbing through deep water soloing along the sea cliffs of southern France, how those early days falling into the Mediter...

We're switching things up a bit this week with our first ever listener questions driven episode! Instead of our usual format interviewing guests, it’s just us this time—riffing on climbing films, hot topics, and however many listener submitted questions we can get through. We start by getting into some recent films we’ve been watching (and working on), swap thoughts on storytelling in climbing med...

Today’s guest is none other than mental‑training expert and longtime first‑ascensionist Arno Ilgner. While most climbers know Arno for The Rock Warrior’s Way—his influential book and program on focus, risk, and commitment—his 50‑year climbing career is just as compelling, and ultimately what led him into the world of mental training. In today's episode, we cover Arno's introduction to climbing in...

Wilson Cutbirth is an expedition climber at heart—driven by ground-up style, remote objectives, and first ascents on some of the wildest big walls out there. With a deep background in rigging and rope systems, his approach blends technical precision with a willingness to embrace uncertainty in truly committing terrain. In this episode, we trace Wilson’s unconventional path into climbing—from shari...

In this episode, we sit down with West Virginia climber and prolific developer Andrew Leich to trace a climbing journey shaped by obsession, grit, and an almost unthinkable comeback. From his early days at the New River Gorge to developing out of necessity in the Cheat Canyon, Andrew built his reputation on bold ascents—including an onsight* of Moonlight Buttress. Along the way, he also shares the...

For decades, Ghost Town stood as one of North Carolina’s most legendary—and inaccessible—cliffs. First climbed in the 1970s and closed for nearly 20 years, its towering crack systems and dramatic position above Hickory Nut Gorge became the stuff of local lore. In this episode, we sit down with the Carolina Climbers Coalition Executive Director, Mike Reardon, to unpack the long journey to bring Gho...

In this episode, we sit down with Kathy Karlo to trace an unconventional climbing trajectory—one that started on ice in Ouray and the steep quartzite horizontals of the Gunks, but has led to a life filled with endless single-pitch perfection on the Sandstone of the Southeast. Kathy reflects on how traveling to places like Indian Creek, the Black Canyon, and Vedauwoo pushed her into uncomfortable s...

In this episode, we sit down with Tal Wanish to talk about what it really means to build a climbing area from the ground up. Tal walks us through his evolution from a college climbing class at Clemson to becoming one of the most active route developers in Colorado’s South Platte, and eventually discovering what is now known as Wonderland—a massive, wild granite zone west of Denver that has grown i...

We’re back! After a short hiatus, we're kicking things off with a State of the Union for The Ground Up Podcast. In this episode, we catch up on what’s been happening behind the scenes—from moves and life changes to why it felt like the right time to pause, reset, and level up the show. We also lay out what’s coming next: a return to a consistent bi-weekly release schedule, a stacked lineup of upco...

Fresh off a record-breaking run at 24 Hours of Horseshoe Hell, Nadya and Sean sit down with Ari and Rob to share how they approached the legendary 24-hour climbing marathon. From Sean’s disastrous first year of Oreos, Gatorade, and brand-new shoes to the meticulous (and sometimes improvised) strategy that helped Nadya smash the women’s points record, we dig into what works, what doesn’t, and why t...

Most would call climbing for 24 hours straight crazy — doing it 20 years in a row is downright ludicrous. In the nearly two-decade history of 24 Hours of Horseshoe Hell, only one team has competed every single year: Dick and Natalie Dower, better known as Leather and Lace. Over time, they’ve become true legends of the 24-hour climbing scene at Horseshoe Canyon Ranch. In part one of this year’s Hor...

What happens when an arborist and a dog walker swipe right and end up traveling the world on a shoestring budget? In this episode, Nettie and Dave, better known as the Climbing Backpackers, share their incredible journey climbing and dirtbagging across the globe. Hear how a ruptured Achilles and a spur-of-the-moment decision sparked two years of non-stop adventure, what it’s like living on £10 a d...

Making history in Yosemite Valley is no easy feat these days, especially if you can count the number of years you've been climbing on one hand. But on May 15th, at just 20 years old, Ethan Morf became the youngest person to free climb El Capitan in a day with an 18 hour ascent of Freerider. In this episode, Ethan recounts his rapid rise from Squamish gumby to Yosemite crusher — a journey fueled by...

In this episode, we sit down with Southeast legend Eddie Begoon—lifelong climber, route developer, and storyteller with deep roots in the Shenandoah Valley and the golden age of Southeast climbing. From barnyard bouldering on a Virginia dairy farm to bold first ascents at Seneca Rocks, Looking Glass, and the New River Gorge, Eddie shares the story of a climbing life shaped by humble beginnings, a...

Few endurance challenges rival the infamous Yosemite Triple Crown — a mega link-up of three iconic big walls in Yosemite National Park: the Nose on El Capitan, the Regular Northwest Face of Half Dome, and the South Face of Mount Watkins. Since its first completion in 2001, no women had managed to complete the feat... That is, until Kate Kelleghan and Laura Pineau showed up. With impressive climbin...