The Nugget Climbing Podcast

Hans Florine has held the speed record on ‘The Nose’ on El Capitan 8 separate times. He has climbed the route 112 times, with 100+ people. He loves ‘The Nose’ so much, he wrote a book about it . We talked about winning the first International Speed Climbing Championships in 1991, his earliest ascents of El Cap, top 3 big wall efficiency tips, and the value of doing hard things. Check out PhysiVant...

Brent Barghahn has rope soloed ‘The Nose’ in a day, freed multiple routes on El Cap, and is a former engineer at Black Diamond. We talked about how Brent combined van life and “house hacking” to effectively retire at 28-years-old, about motocross and extreme unicycling, cutting his teeth on hard trad routes in LCC, and his setup for redpoint rope soloing. Check out Athletic Greens! athleticgreens....

Amity Warme is one of the most badass trad climbers you’ve never heard of. She also has a master's in nutrition. We talked about her incredible season in Yosemite including ground-up free ascents of ‘Freerider’ and ‘Golden Gate’, the importance of logistics in big wall free climbing, what she learned growing up in gymnastics, training plans, and eating more to do more. Check out Crimpd! crimpd.com...

This full episode is available for Patrons right now! This is a teaser of a follow-up call with Tyler Nelson. We talked about a recent study Tyler did with 23 different climbers to measure their finger tendon and bone lengths, and their ability to generate force on different edge sizes. We covered Tyler’s latest recommendations for max strength finger training, how to get stronger on small holds,...

Mina Leslie-Wujastyk is a professional climber from the UK. She is also a writer, speaker, and co-host of the Curious Climber Podcast along with Hazel Findlay . We talked about her early life, impermanence, flow state, learning to try really hard, how she made the switch from hard boulders to hard sport routes, what sets high-level climbers apart, and the decision to become a mom. Check out Athlet...

Matty Hong is a professional rock climber, photographer, and filmmaker. We talked about what it was like to grow up in a climbing family, about making the first repeat of ‘Flex Luthor’ 5.15b as well as a history of the route and his thoughts on the grade, training for sport climbing projects on his home wall, climbing waterfalls in Japan, and balancing photography and filmmaking with climbing. Che...

Nina Caprez is a professional rock climber from Switzerland, who is known for her many impressive ascents of hard multi-pitch climbs. We talked about her current trip to Greece and her newest passion project , trying to free climb ‘The Nose’ with Lynn Hill, why failing on the route was a gift, and about softening and leaning into womanness.  *Nina also shared some exciting news in this episode! Ch...

This full episode is available for Patrons right now! This is a teaser of my second Follow-Up with Steve Maisch. We talked about my training plan for Hueco in 2022, how to structure my weeks and days, how to continue progressing my V12 and V13 pyramids, how to use bouldering intervals to maintain aerobic capacity for sport climbing, and Steve laid out a hangboard plan to prime my crimp strength fo...

Ben Moon is a famous rock climber from the UK. He was the first person to climb 5.14c (8c+) with his route ‘Hubble’. He is also the inventor of the MoonBoard . We talked about his early climbing experiences as a kid, his first road trip to Buoux in France in 1984, how training and sport climbing have changed, how Ben uses the MoonBoard, and much more. Check out PhysiVantage: physivantage.com (link...

This full episode is available for Patrons right now! This is a teaser of a follow-up call with Paige Claassen . We talked about her send of ‘Kryptonite’ shortly after our first interview, how she warms up for a 5.14+ project at a remote cliff, what she learned from trying ‘Empath’ 5.15a, how she trained for and projected ‘Dreamcatcher’, getting gratification from the process, learning to celebrat...

In Q&A 4, I tackle patron questions about Hueco round 2 and other goals for 2022, my plans for V12 and 5.14, how my trip to Leavenworth went and plans to return, my favorite features in the van, dating on the road, my remote working setup, what I’ve learned from nearly 100 episodes of the podcast, and making sense of conflicting advice.  *Treat this episode like a buffet! Listen straight through o...

This full episode is available for Patrons right now! This is a teaser of a follow-up call with Tyson Schoene . We talked about the recent USA Climbing 2021 National Championships, some of the differences and similarities between his top athletes like Quinn , Melina , Drew , and Sean , keeping training simple, how newer adult climbs can mimic training like a team kid, and finding the important que...

Kyra Condie is a 25-year-old professional climber based out of Salt Lake City, UT, and was one of four climbers to represent the US at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. We talked about whistling, dream broadway roles, training with a fused spine, pursuing the Olympic dream, separating self-worth from results, new tattoos, her cats, cleaning quirks, and thriving in organized chaos. Check out Chalk Cartel: c...

Austin Hoyt is an 18-year-old kid from New York whose tick list rivals some professional climbers. We talked about balancing school with climbing, what he learned from his first coach, his FA of ‘Flashing Lights’ V14, his love of The Gunks, making old-school climbing films, the support from his dad, and his ongoing goal to develop the bouldering scene in the Northeast. Check out Rhino Skin Solutio...

Joe Kinder is one of the hardest-working route developers in North America. We talked about his recent ascent of ‘Kinder Cakes’ 5.15a in Rifle, CO,  putting up routes in mediocre rock, leaving a legacy through route development, his love of projecting, current training approach, fashion influences, creating LOV , and his experience with cancellation and rebuilding a new life. Check out Chalk Carte...

Tyler Algeo is a Canadian who moved to Africa and started a climbing gym, with the goal of creating a socio-economically inclusive climbing community in Malawi. We talked about learning to climb in Ireland, living in Africa, founding Climb Malawi , adopting and raising his two black sons, Tyler’s work with The Climbing Initiative , and creating a better world through climbing. Donate To: safeclimb...

This full episode is available for Patrons right now! This is a teaser of my second Follow-Up with Steve Bechtel. We talked about when to stick with a training program vs. when to pivot, lessons from studying the NBA, how much LeBron James deadlifts, Steve’s climbing background, and how he climbed his first 5.14 at age 47, and his advice for me to improve power endurance. Become a Patron to get ac...

Nathaniel Coleman is the men’s silver medalist of the Tokyo Olympics. We talked about his preparation for the games, training in a climbing sauna, the Olympic experience and winning silver, favorite root beer, Kendama as focus training, chess, why Nathaniel still practices the basics of climbing, doing the FA of ‘The Grand Illusion’ V16, and sport climbing plans. Support the Podcast: thenuggetclim...

This is part 2 of my conversation with Tom Herbert . Tom shared some clarifications about part 1 , we talked about the nervous system and the mind-body connection, how to relax before a session to improve your performance and power, how to turn off in the evenings to optimize recovery, and Tom shared about his childhood and ongoing struggle with anxiety from a chronic bladder issue. Support the Po...

This full episode is available for Patrons right now! This is a teaser of my second Follow-Up with Natasha Barnes. We talked about how each of us has changed as climbers from gaining muscle mass, how Natasha balances training for climbing with powerlifting, how powerlifting has made her a more patient athlete, encouraging vs. forcing adaptation, separating performing and training, and each of our...

Tom Herbert is known as the usefulcoach , and is a leader in climbing sports nutrition. We talked about common themes in clients he works with, his philosophy of getting climbers to eat more calories to support a higher training volume, muscle protein synthesis, carbohydrate recommendations and timing, food quality, leucine supplementation, and much more.  Support the Podcast: thenuggetclimbing.co...

Craig DeMartino is a rock climber, motivational speaker, and teacher. His life changed in 2002 when he took a 100-foot ground fall. We talked about Craig’s accident and recovery , the decision to amputate his leg, climbing harder than ever after the accident, doing El Cap in a day, dealing with chronic pain, teaching adaptive climbing, and embracing a new normal. Support the Podcast: thenuggetclim...

Josh Wharton is one of the most badass climbers you’ve never heard of. He does it all at an elite level. We talked about tips for hard flashing and onsighting, how alpine climbing relates to rock climbing, training to flash El Cap, the value of taking risks in life, being a climbing parent, climbing in Pakistan, how to find an adventure without flying overseas, and the benefits of stiff shoes. Sup...

In Q&A 3, I tackle patron questions about my two most successful winters of training on my home wall back in Bend, how my training has evolved and what it looks like now, how to maintain strength while living on the road and climbing full-time, advice for nomadic living, life mottos, try-hard mindset, hair dye, M&Ms, singalong jams, and much more. Become a Patron:   patreon.com/thenuggetclimbing ...

This full episode is available for Patrons right now! This is a teaser of a follow-up call with Allison Vest . We talked about her sends of ‘Throwin’ the Houlihan’ and ‘Rodeo Free Europe’ (both 5.14a) at the Wild Iris, how she trained her fingers for the savage monos, stories and laughs from her road trip with Alex Johnson , rapping, reciting the Periodic Table of Elements in under 45 seconds, mus...