The Nugget Climbing Podcast

This is a mashup episode from the 2020 Climb Strong Training Camp. We talked about hangboard training, strength as a skill, climbing performance, takeaways from the training camp, and lessons learned…

Steve Bechtel is a strength coach and the founder of Climb Strong. We talked about the gift of changing your mind, lessons from studying sprinting and how to apply them to climbing, developing aerobi…

Roger Volkmann is a retired Orthopedic Surgeon and a lifelong climber. Roger suffered a severe stroke in 2010 at age 55 and was not expected to walk again. Through sheer grit and determination, he ma…

Mike Kerzhner is a software engineer, an accomplished Yosemite climber, and an impressive all-rounder. We talked about growing up climbing and competing in Russia, moving to the States and climbing a…

Natasha Barnes is a former professional climber, a national powerlifting champion, and a licensed chiropractor who specializes in strength training and rehabilitation for rock climbers. We talked abo…

Maya Madere is a 21-year-old comp kid from Austin, TX. We talked about attending school at Stanford and studying computer science, the endurance training program that helped her transition from bould…

Connor Herson is the kid who free climbed ‘The Nose’ at fifteen years old. What most people don’t know is that he is also an incredible sport climber. We talked about his sport climbing goal at age f…

Tyson Schoene has been the head coach of the Vertical World Climbing Team in Seattle, WA for nearly 20 years, and has shaped some of the best climbers in the world including Drew Ruana, Sean Bailey, …

Blake Cason is a mindfulness and work/life balance coach, and the founder of Pivot Wellness. We talked about bringing awareness to our relationship with climbing, practicing radical honesty, ways of …

Audrey Sniezek is a software engineer for Microsoft and a former professional climber. We talked about her beginnings in both computer science and climbing, becoming a morning person, her 4 a.m. warm…

Ben Herrington is a professional route setter and likely Washington’s most prolific boulderer. We talked about why Ben performs best as a “weekend warrior”, his three go-to training sessions, mistake…

Nathan Hadley is a professional route setter and an all-around rock climber. We talked about completing the Canadian Alpine Trilogy, the benefits of training using bouldering circuits, how to practic…

Paige Claassen is a professional rock climber and the founder of the Southern Africa Education Fund. We talked about pre-send rituals, breathing techniques, how she changed her diet to improve recove…

Jasna Hodžić is part writer, part scientific researcher, and part badass rock climber. We talked about sending her first 5.14a, ‘To Bolt Or Not To Be’ at Smith Rock, about practicing her anti-style t…

Justin Brown is the founder of Rhino Skin Solutions, a company that provides high-performance skincare products for rock climbers. We talked about best practices for skincare, tips for dialing skin f…

Ethan Pringle is one of the best all-around rock climbers in the world. We talked about practice vs. training, lessons learned from 50 days projecting ‘The Nest’, taking care of his dad and his exper…

Chad Andrews is the maker of the Clipping Chains blog—a resource to help climbers navigate personal finance and move towards financial independence. We talked about reaching retirement at age 35, sim…

This is part 2 of my conversation with Mikey Schaefer. We talked about climbing as a finite resource, footwear for big walls, rope tricks, Mikey’s “fix and follow” system for team-free ascents, climb…

Mikey Schaefer is a photographer, filmmaker, and an all-around climber whose accomplishments range from dangerous first ascents in the mountains to 5.13+ big walls, 5.14 sport climbs, and V10 boulder…

Drew Ruana is a 20-year-old boulderer, sport climber, and competition climber who is quickly becoming one of the best rock climbers in the world. We talked about climbing ‘Sleepwalker’ (his first V16…