Sam Prior & Aidan Roberts

The Careless Talk Climbing Podcast

Sports EN ↓ 205 episodes

Aidan Roberts and Sam Prior host this climbing-themed podcast that kind of goes where it goes. Lots of tangents and rambles as well as hopefully thought provoking questions. Sometimes it's very focussed on climbing, sometimes climbing barely comes up. The guests tend to be elite level climbers, but we often willingly get lost in the weeds and end up wildly off-topic. If you're enjoying our podcast and would like to support it: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=70353823

Author

Sam Prior & Aidan Roberts

Category

Sports

Podcast website

www.buzzsprout.com

Latest episode

Jul 8, 2026

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Episodes

E156: Brooke Raboutou - Growing up in a climbing family and climbing the highest grades whilst maintaining balance 09.07.2025

It was very exciting to have Brooke join us on the pod this week! We had a wide ranging chat talking about growing up in a climbing family, the Olympics, social media, maintaining a healthy balance away from climbing, Excaliber, the future of comp climbing, what it's like to compete against Janja Garnbret and much more! Big thanks to Brooke for joining us on the podcast and giving us a snapsh...

E155: Natasha Barnes - Should we all be strength training? 02.07.2025

We had a lovely chat with Natasha for this week's episode. She's been an outspoken advocate of strength training for years now and so there's nobody better to talk to about the dark arts of the gym gym than Natasha. She knows a thing or two about both worlds, we speak about her experience as a professional climber 20 years ago, and how an injury and a lack of good information led he...

E154: Austin Hoyt - The King of the North-East, Comp moves on rock and Lucid Dreaming 25.06.2025

Austin Hoyt joins us on the pod this week! A name that's fun to say and he's a lovely chap who was really fun to talk to. We chat a lot about the lesser trodden North-East of the USA, heading to Finland to check out Burden of Dreams, using coordination moves to avoid having to pull too hard and the incredible crop of Wads that have popped up in his local area all of a sudden.  If you&apo...

E153: Using danger for clicks, Aidan's hardest climb of the season and Sam forgets his shoes 18.06.2025

Hey all!  You've had it too good with guests for the last couple of week so it's time to bring you back down to earth with a home team episode. We've got a few quintessentially CTCP rambles for your delight and delectation. Hope you enjoy :) If you like the pod and would like to support us to keep doing it whilst keeping it advertisement free for all, then please consider checking o...

E152: Daniel Woods - ROTSW, Alphane, shower gloves and the state of the game 11.06.2025

A little over a year ago I got a message from Aidan just saying 'Daniel is in!'. You know you're a bit of an icon when surnames aren't required! It took a little over a year to actually get a date but much like a hard project, sometimes it just takes consistency!  You know who he is, and we had a great chat about his hard projects, what the climbing scene is looking like from h...

E151: Kai Lightner -Comebacks, learning to work with the body you're in and climbing for change 04.06.2025

We loved having Kai join us on the pod this week. He's a candidate for the most articulate climber around. He's been through a lot and he's come back swinging. We talk about his rise, fall and resurgence, his time climbing with Joe Kinder and the controversies there, his non-profit, and his hopes for the future.  I poorly referenced this speech about how intelligence is linked to ki...

E150: Ben Norman and Cailean Harker - Route setting deep dive, grades in indoor climbing and the state of the industry 28.05.2025

Ben and Cailean are joining us for a four way pod this week! Ben and Cailean are the chaps behind Impact Route Setting. Which is a business that, amongst other things, runs route setting courses. They are both very well established route setters in the UK, as well as being strong rock climbers. We wanted to have a good chat about the inside scene, and listen to their takes about the state of the i...

E149: Aidan leaving Yosemite, new comp scoring and should sport climbers just bolt on resin holds 21.05.2025

Just Aidan and Sam this week! We're catching up with Aidan as he looks to leave Yosemite, what life might look like for him if he lived in America and how that might impact his decision to not fly.  At 52:45 we finally get to our first topic of conversation, the new IFSC scoring for boulder comps and at 1:21:45 we rattle a few cages and ask if sport climbers should bolt on resin holds if the...

E148: Eric Jerome - Searching for the best boulders, life lessons and working for KAYA 14.05.2025

This week we're joined by Eric Jerome, Eric is a really strong boulderer who has been on a mission to identify the best boulders in the US. An avid climbing nerd he's been a big contributor to the climbing history website and has a really analytical mind for adjudicating quality. We talk about his hunt for boulders, why he moved to a less popular area for climbers, his previous eating di...

E147: Katie Lamb, the first woman to climb V16...again. 07.05.2025

It's always really good fun to have Katie on the pod, and thankfully she's done a thing which gives us an excuse to have her back. She has climbed V16 again, we talk about her process (amongst other ramblings) and her motivations and feelings towards how her motivations will be perceived by the climbing community.  If you're enjoying the podcast and would like to support us please c...

E146: Charlie Schreiber - Hot takes, life lessons and internet drama with one of the best hype men in the game 30.04.2025

Joining us this week is coach of the stars (and other less successful (but no less valuable) rock climbers) Charlie Schreiber! We had a really good time chatting to Charlie, it was fun but also we got some good insights from a guy who has been through quite a lot of the ups and downs that climbing has to offer. I reckon this is a good'un! Check out www.paradigmclimbing.com or @paradigm_climbi...

E145: Will Anglin - Board climbing nerdery, Tension, what is training anyway? 23.04.2025

We were excited to be joined by Will this week. Will has been one of the most frequently requested guests on our discord. He's one of the brains behind Tension climbing, and so he knows a heck of a lot about one of our favourite topics, board climbing! He also used to be a coach and has clearly spent a lot of time thinking about training in general and has some great takes. Hope you enjoy! If...

E144: Carlo Traversi - Motivation, Yosemite and developing the hardest V12s in the world 16.04.2025

We were psyched to have Carlo Traversi joining us on the pod this week! He's an incredibly accomplished climber. developer and now gym owner! We chat about the gym, his changing motivations as he gets older and became a father, development in Yosemite and how to keep an incredible bouldering area off the map (just kidding).  If you're enjoying the podcast and would like to support us, pl...

E143: Allison Vest - Outdoor projecting, dealing with pressure and titanium tendons 09.04.2025

Allison is a pretty great podcast guest! She's talented and accomplished but also honest and has a great sense of humour. We're fans of her and Kyra's podcast (CircleUp, check it out) and so it was a real treat to complete the set and have her on our rambly mess of a podcast to go along with Kyra's episode. We talk about the transition to outdoor climbing, the pressures of proj...

E142: Jonathan Sin - Trying to become a world cup climber after starting (relatively) late 02.04.2025

This week we're joined by the ever affable Jonathan Sin. Jonathan is a talented comp climber and Youtuber from Hong Kong. He's been on a publicised mission to try and get onto his national team and compete at a world cup. We talk about having audacious goals, his lifestyle as a climbing Youtuber and the mental and physical challenges that come with it as well as his insights from his tim...

E141: Martin Keller - Defying aging and injuries to keep climbing harder than ever 26.03.2025

Martin Keller, the Swiss climbing phenom joins us on the pod this week. Martin has achieved a huge amount in his long climbing career (we end up in the weeds talking about his football career for a while but we get there eventually) he's climbed some very big grades and taken down some very long term projects but he's perhaps best known for having done all of his hardest climbing in his...

E140: Moral conundrums and hot takes special featuring Katie Lamb 19.03.2025

A special episode this week as we huddle around a microphone in our snowed in apartment in the Yosemite. The audio quality is a little worse than usual but we have fan favourite guest Katie Lamb back to talk about a few hot takes and moral conundrums with the home team (away team this week). It's a good bit of fun. If you're enjoying the podcast and would like to support us please consid...

E139: The 9A tier list episode... and also shoes 12.03.2025

Aidan gets dragged by his ears into tiering and ranking all the hardest graded boulders in the world. It's worth noting that Mount Doom from Nicolai Uznik hadn't been done when we recorded it, and there hasn't yet been enough information to grade it anyway. We also ramble on about shoes for about half an hour before we get stuck in. I'll try and put the video version on the Pat...

E138: Jesse Dufton - Overcoming degenerative sight loss to climb harder than ever 05.03.2025

Joining us this week is the mind-blowing Jesse Dufton. Jesse is a blind climber who leads hard trad routes, sets all his own gear and has a passion for onsighting (or nosighting as he calls it). He has recently featured in two films for the Brit Rock Film Tour called Climbing Blind, and they both make for truly incredible viewing. It was a pleasure to sit down and have a chat with him to better un...

E137: Jim Pope - Adventures, Comps and Mushrooms 26.02.2025

The ever popular Jim Pope is back to join us this week. He was our fourth ever guest and that was now long enough ago that he's forgotten what an ordeal it was. He's back to catch us up on his last few years, his competition journey, his headspace, his adventures, his foraging and his sewing skills as well as his desert island boulders! Follow w00dwideweb for Jim's shroomin' ad...

E136: Nathan Phillips - Climbing 8C+, crazy ideas and roasting Sam's climbing 19.02.2025

Nathan is back this week to talk about finishing up his long term project in Brione. Nathan recently climbed Deep Fake, the sit start to the famous Fake Pamplemousse, and proposed a career high grade of 8C+. We chatted about that as well as his approach to route setting and training, his penchant for a mad beta idea and we all had a good laugh at Sam's questionable climbing technique. A good...

E135: Aidan's new hardest projects in Yosemite, and why he can't drag himself away 12.02.2025

Just the home team this week. Mainly getting an update from Aidan in regards to his trip so far. Seems like the big American adventure is becoming a big Yosemite adventure, and I was curious as to why! We also talk about a few other bits and pieces and I hit Aidan with a little moral conundrum. We've got merch! We've launched the pre-sale of our exclusive T-shirt for our Patroons! If you...

E134: Katie Lamb - A great set of rambles with one of the world's best scalers 05.02.2025

We were excited to have Katie Lamb joining us this week, as well as being one of the most accomplished climbers around we discovered she can ramble with the best of 'em. We chatted about all manner of things including but not limited to the drama around her ascent of Box Therapy, her views on what makes bouldering bouldering, and her feelings about holding down a conventional job alongside he...

E133: Matt Bird - Why does a climber need a manager? A little look into the shadowy world of athlete contracts. 29.01.2025

Matt Bird swoops in to join us this week, Matt is a rare beast, a manager to some elite climbers like Shauna Coxsey and Will Bosi, but why does a climber need a manager? What does it mean to be a professional climber and how can said climbers play capitalism and get companies to give up some cash to go climb rocks all day? Matt has a totally different perspective from our usual guests, and it was...

E132: Toby Roberts - Winning the Olympic gold, heavy training schedules and board climbing feats of strength 22.01.2025

Ooo it's a biggie! It's only the Olympic gold medal winner Toby Roberts! We've been trying to get Toby on for a while and eventually we surprised him with a last minute pod so he wouldn't have time to come up with an excuse! All jokes aside a lovely chat with Britain's new national treasure, it was a great opportunity to get the inside scoop on his Olympic journey and the...

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