The Power Company Climbing Podcast

McKenzie Long started climbing like many of us did, indoors, in a midwestern climbing gym, far from the vast landscapes and towering rock formations of the American West. But her love of climbing – and dream of becoming a writer – led her to those places soon enough, and also led her to consider our relationships with those places. Her book, This Contested Land: The Storied Past and Uncertain Futu...

With the seemingly endless amount of information available online these days, and the newest training trends popping up in reel after reel on our feeds, it can be pretty tough to know what to keep and what to toss when it comes to our own training, and really tempting to overcomplicate things. In this Board Meeting, Kris chats with our very own coach Nadya Suntay to remind us why it’s better to ke...

Looking for a sport climbing destination where you can climb comfortably from mid-Spring through mid-Fall? Look no further than Wild Iris, with its high elevation, low humidity, and perfectly-pocketed limestone walls. Wyoming local Leif Gasch has been climbing at Wild Iris for more than 25 years. While his life and travels have taken him all over, he and his wife Lindsay are happy to once again ca...

Nearly 15 years ago, with the FA of her route Meltdown, Beth Rodden gave us one of the hardest crack lines in Yosemite – if not the world – helping to solidify the role women have played in the development of hard rock climbing. Since then, she’s also solidified herself as one of the leading voices in support of body positivity and healthier ideas surrounding body image in climbing. Today we REWIN...

If you already spend 4 or 5 days a week climbing for your job as a setter, is it a good idea – or even just a feasible one – to take on a training program? How do you find the additional time, energy, and motivation? Plus, aren’t you just asking for an injury? In today’s Board Meeting episode, our very own coach Jess West answers these questions and more, providing valuable insight as to how sette...

Don’t be fooled by Patty Law’s small frame and soft-spoken demeanor – she’s a fierce climber, mother, entrepreneur, and community cultivator. She’s been welcoming climbers through the doors of her gyms and into a thriving Cincinnati climbing community for more than 20 years now. Kris sits down with his long-time friend to talk about about her journey from a climbing-obsessed college student to a s...

In January 2015, 7 years ago this week, I, along with countless others including many non-climbers, was glued to a saga happening on the side of El Cap. Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson were battling it out on what would become the world's hardest big wall free route, the Dawn Wall, and it was being streamed live. We watched as they topped out on January 14th after a tension-filled week in which...

“It's all about the process.” Sure, the journey is important, but so is the destination. It's not all about the journey. It’s about mapping out the journey that gets you to the intended destination. So is there a way to care about the outcome without making it the focus? In this REMIX episode, we'll hear from athletes Sam Elias and Alex Megos, learning expert Trevor Regan, and mental training coac...

Nominate the most inspiring ascents of 2022 at https://www.powercompanyclimbing.com/ascent Support the podcast and get bonus episodes at www.patreon.com/powercompanypodcast    

Kris and Nate sit down to discuss some of the perks and pitfalls of climbing in today’s modern mega gyms, and give some tips on how to deal with them. They’ll talk about how to handle things when the new sets are crowded, the gym is overrun with team kids, the bouldering wall is full of “weird” comp style setting, and you’re afraid attempting a boulder’s top out might cost you an ankle.   The Powe...

Today we're listening to the first episode of Built Outdoors, a new show Kris is hosting, with Amy Skinner and Joan Chase from the iconic gear shop, Wild Iris Mountain Sports. They talk history of the store and how it's inextricably linked to the rise of climbing in Lander, community, and business in a small mountain town.  Check out Episode 2 of Built Outdoors with Jay Halford from Backcountry Co...

Certified Nutrition Specialist and co-host of The Average Climber Podcast, Caitlin Holmes, sits down with Kris to discuss body composition, which is often conflated with weight loss and can thus be a very polarizing topic.   Learn more about Caitlin and how you can work with her. Follow Caitlin on Instagram .   CHECK OUT CAITLIN’S NEW COURSE: BODY COMP PRO Body Comp Pro is a 4-week self-guided cou...

Back in September, at the 8th annual Joe’s Valley Festival, Kris sat down to talk to local legend and longtime crusher Steven Jeffery, about how climbing has evolved since he first came onto the scene. They reflect on how today’s online resources like digital guidebooks and social media have impacted climbing.   Check out Steven's new guidebook on KAYA Pro !  Use code JV2WEEKS to get 2 weeks FREE!...

Kris and fellow Power Company coach, Taylor Fragomeni, sit down and discuss how you can make the transition from indoor to outdoor climbing easier on yourself. They’ll dive into the specifics with ways to: warm up well outdoors, even when a crag’s “warmups” aren’t great. prepare yourself for using “bad” feet outdoors. practice pacing yourself appropriately for changing difficulty throughout routes...

In today’s episode, Kris sits down with shaper and setter Roy Quanstrom, of Tension Climbing. They talk about Roy’s newest holds from Trango, the Khans and the Fuegos, and the climbing experiences that inspired their design. Check out the Khans and the Fuegos , from Trango Holds. Find Roy at Tension Climbing . Follow Roy on Instagram .   The Power Company Podcast is brought to you by Power Company...

In today’s episode, Kris sits down to catch up with fellow climbing coach, Eric Hörst. They chat about how some big life shifts – Eric’s retirement, the success of his nutrition brand, PhysiVantage, and becoming an empty nester – have impacted his climbing and training.   Learn more with training resources from Eric. Learn more about PhysiVantage Nutrition. Follow Eric on Instagram .   The Power C...

In this episode, from our other podcast, Breaking Beta, Kris and Paul discuss a paper that investigates how different energy systems contribute to climbing performance: Climbing-Specific Exercise Tests: Energy System Contributions and Relationships With Sport Performance Authored by Marcin Maciejczyk, Michail Lubomirov Michailov, Magdalena Więcek, Jadwiga Szymura, Robert Rokowski, Zbigniew Szygula...

I’m actually not a big fan of the term “drills”, but I don’t have a better word for it. I don’t like it for several reasons: One, because we aren’t “drilling” anything in. Despite the popular belief, that’s not actually how learning works. Performance, maybe, but not learning. And in my book, these “drills” are for learning.  Two, there are just too many coaches who assume that harder equals bette...

In this episode, Kris and Nate are joined by coach Lauren Abernathy and nutritionist Caitlin Holmes of The Average Climber Podcast . The four discuss some of the biggest ways they see climbers getting in their own way. They chat about the impact that shifting your perspective can have, how easy it can be to get caught up in comparing yourself to others, and why reading all the Mountain Project com...

You’re a coach, or a climbing partner, or simply a concerned friend. You’re watching your client, student, partner, or bestie struggle.  And you want to help.  But how? That’s actually a great question. Because the answer is situational. It entirely depends on the goal. Today, we’re going to learn why.   In our Coaching for Mastery course, we go DEEP into how coaches and climbers can create an eff...

You’ve heard of the SAID principle, right? S-A-I-D: Specific Adaptations to Imposed Demands. You’ve heard of it.  And you thought that it meant simply that to get better at climbing, you have to climb on boulders that look just like the climbs you do outside, right?  If that was you, you were in the majority.  But you were wrong.  Is climbing pulling straight down on edges? Not always. Is it compr...

Climbers are really good at creating a performance environment. Really, really good. No, I’m not saying that you’re good at performing – some of you suck at it and could use a lot of help –but you’re always TRYING to perform. But if you want to get better, that might be a big mistake. Today, we’re going to find out why.   In our Coaching for Mastery course, we go DEEP into how coaches and climbers...

We are happy to announce that due to the generous donations from two anonymous donors, we are able to offer two scholarships for our 10 Week Coaching for Mastery Mentorship Group, as well as three spots for the course itself.  Having worked with a lot of climbing coaches over the past decade, it’s been exciting to see the industry becoming more diverse. We want to do what we can to help that trend...

How to use data and measurements to inform training decisions had been a topic of debate amongst Kris and the other Power Company coaches for years. That is until today’s guest, Data Analyst, Dale Wilson, stepped in to settle the score once and for all. Dale and Kris chat about how and why Power Company Climbing collects certain measurements from their clients. They discuss the usefulness of these...

Do you have a default climbing mode? If so, do you value the other side?  In this episode, Kris and Nate discuss the two approaches to sending - tactics vs. going to battle - and how we can better learn both sides.  Check out the Coaching for Mastery course !   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 h...