Tom O'Halloran has now qualified to represent Australia in Sport Climbing at the Tokyo Olympics. The Oceania Climbing Championships were held at the end of 2020 giving one athlete for each gender from the region a chance to represent their country at the Olympics. Tom talks about his early climbing journey, (unknowingly) meeting Adam Ondra for the first time, competitions and transitioning from outdoor to indoor climbing. We also get into the decision making process to go for the Olympic spot, the dark headspace in the lead up to the comp and how it changed during the competition. Plus what it may take for Australia to get onto the podium on the world stage.

Oceana Mackenzie qualified for Australia in the female category.

We've all fluffed up a send. In this episode, Leah Dempsey and Matt Norgrove join Amanda and Tom to discuss why we haven't sent something. Each route has something to teach us and here's a few lessons we've learnt.

Duncan Brown is a climber, coach and great guy. We talk about his approach to coaching adventure athletes, accountability in training, the evolution of what inspires him, spending 4 summers on Ozymandias and developing new routes in China. There's a classic story at the end where he tells us about the time he helped Dani Andrada bolt one of the worlds hardest multi pitches.

He is also the man behind Athlete by Choice and has recently announced he'll be opening a dedicated mountain sport training facility in Canberra, Mountain Strong. Be on the lookout in early 2021.

Australia, how good is it! Past guests Lee Cossey and Jake Bresnehan join Tom O’Halloran to talk about where we think Australian climbing is heading. There’s probably no better time to dive deep into some Australia love, as the not so awesome super-bug grounds planes and forces us to buckle up for domestic road trips. We see a bright future ahead for Australian climbing.

Climbing pregnant and with kids. Amanda Watts, Andrea Hah, Helen Day and Carlie LeBreton talk about their experiences during pregnancy, birth, recovering from childbirth and pregnancy, climbing life with an extra member of the family and tips and tricks which might help you on your journey.

Madeleine Crane from Climbing Psychology is on the podcast today. In our chat we get into the dynamics of men and women in the climbing scene and why it can be hard for some people to step up and climb to their full potential. We discuss positive and negative self-talk and how we can reframe when things don’t go to plan. We also jump into visualisation, the positive outcomes of a bit of friendly competition and dealing with dips in motivation.

We speak to Yossi Sundakov-Krumins, owner and manager of Skywood Climbing. Yossi is the master mind and creator of one of the best woody’s I’ve ever seen so he’s the perfect person to give you a few tips and ideas to make the most out of your setup.

https://www.skywoodclimbing.com/home-2

No fuss training talk with minimal pandemic talk. We cover a lot of ground in our chat today. From weekly programming, how to check if the training is working and how to gain strength without having your finger hovering over the injury button. Steve also lays out the symptoms of overtraining and most importantly how to avoid it. He has created a fantastic and simple recovery checklist, link below, to keep your body, health and training in tip top form. Amanda and Steve also touch on the importance of a long-term view to your health and training, which has probably never been more apparent then now.

How do you get the most of out climbing training when you don't have access to it. Lee Cossey, Amanda Watts and Tom O'Halloran sit down and help you keep your psyche and training on track during this difficult time. Finger strength, general strength, mindset and technique improvement are all covered here with practical tips you can implement straight away.

John Sheridan is a professional coach, power lifter and has competed in strongman events. He runs Burley Strength in Canberra and has been climbing for a few years now. Here we chat strength and it’s role outside of the performance world as well as the importance of being a beginner. John is also co-host of Peak Speak podcast which talks all things strength and powerlifting training.