All Things Climbing
From its early days on the counter-cultural fringe, climbing has absolutely exploded, and is currently undergoing profound and sweeping changes. This is a fascinating evolution that demands a closer look. We’ll also be talking to designers and manufacturers about the gear we depend on, and we’ll hear from the climbers and organizations that give the community its flavor.
Climbers’ Environmental Impact with Author J.B. MacKinnon (Ep. 21)
What’s the biggest environmental impact we have as climbers? It’s easy to be distracted by the obvious stuff: chalk marks, cat holes, bolts. But, as journa…
Making Homemade Cams: Erick Davidson of Merlin Rock Gear (Ep.20)
Erick Davidson makes the best cams that you’ve never heard of — they aren’t sold in stores or online, and Davidson’s company, Merlin Rock Gear, doesn’t eve…
Phil Powers and Alex Honnold on a Permit System for The Nose? (Ep.19)
Are we headed for a future where The Nose (or other well-traveled walls) are headed for a permit system? We started debating this “what if” scenario almost…
What’s it like to climb The Nose? (Ep.18)
A couple weeks ago, the host of All Things Climbing, Dave Alie, and his wife Katie set off to Yosemite with the goal of climbing The Nose, often called The…
Rhino Skin Solutions founder, Justin Brown (Ep.17)
Justin Brown is a Bend, Oregon local who spends much of his free time climbing around the country and volunteering as a board member of the Smith Rock Grou…
Matt Pincus of TrainingBeta (Ep.16)
Matt Pincus is a climber’s climber, deeply committed to the sport and the community. He’s also the content manager and head coach / trainer at TrainingBeta…
Alex Honnold & Maury Birdwell on the Honnold Foundation and filming Free Solo (Ep.15)
Alex Honnold “The Climber” needs absolutely no introduction. He is one of the most talented climbers of his generation, and he is without question the grea…
Bolt Restrictions, Hardware Committees, and Threatened Access (Ep.14)
As the number of people that are climbing outside continues to explode, there is increasing pressure on land managers and advocacy groups. This often leads…
Nik Berry (Ep.13)
Nik Berry has propelled himself onto the national climbing scene with a seemingly unending series of hard sends on long routes all over the country. With a …
John “Verm” Sherman (Ep.12)
Prior to John Sherman’s arrival on the climbing scene back in the time of the Stonemasters, bouldering wasn’t really taken seriously — there was no meaning…
American Alpine Club CEO, Phil Powers (Ep.11)
The American Alpine Club is one of the oldest climbing institutions in the US. Yet despite its deep past, the AAC takes a forward-looking approach to improv…
Tension Climbing’s Will Anglin & Ben Spannuth, Part 2 (Ep.10)
Will Anglin and Ben Spannuth, founders of Tension Climbing, are two of climbing’s most dedicated technicians. Not only have they spent years studying the p…
Tension Climbing’s Will Anglin & Ben Spannuth, Part 1 (Ep.9)
Will Anglin and Ben Spannuth have spent a lot of time thinking about how climbing works — why this foot and not that one? What precisely makes this move har…
Reviewing Portraits of Climbing Legends in “The Climbers” (Ep. 8)
Photographer Jim Herrington’s new photo book The Climbers is an undeniably compelling portrait collection of many of the most influential climbe…
A Close Look at “Dirtbag: The Legend of Fred Beckey” (Ep.7)
If you’ve climbed in the mountains of North America, there’s a good chance you’ve climbed one of Fred Beckey’s routes. Beckey, known for his tremendous num…
Fixing Dangerous Bolts: Greg Barnes and the ASCA (Ep.6)
How safe are the bolts we encounter in the wild? Can we really trust them? Who maintains them? And what makes a bolt fail, anyway? Greg Barnes, the Directo…
Jonathan Siegrist, Part 2 (Ep.5)
This week we’re picking up where we left off with Jonathan Siegrist, who’s been at the top of American rock climbing for over a decade. Over that time, he h…
Jonathan Siegrist, Part 1 (Ep.4)
Jonathan Siegrist is a professional rocker climber — and one of America’s most psyched climbers. After years climbing full time, he has an impressive…
Major Trends in Climbing Shoes (Ep.3)
Dave and Luke Alie headed to Outdoor Retailer’s first trade show in Denver to get the details on the biggest news and updates to rock shoes for 2018.…