I chat with Canadian setter Kaleb Thomas.

Kaleb has worked at multiple gyms across Canada, spanning an almost two decade career as a route setter. In his current role as 'Director of Setting' at Blocshop in Montreal he talks about the challenges and satisfaction that come with training new setters and managing teams across multiple venues.

Kaleb is undoubtedly one of the hardest working and most passionate setters I've spoken to and I have a renewed appreciation for my comparatively easy and undeniably privaliged introduction to setting many years ago.

A follow up chat with @yossiclimbs about the launch of his hold brand OLIO with friend and business partner Cory Cook (@coryupsidedown). We also talked international travel & setting, comps, money and ideas for the future!

I chatted with the UK's Jake Mason! Maybe most well known for his regular features in the popular youtube channel Bouldering Bobat, Jake is also a staple of the London setting scene.

In the last couple of years, he's taken on a role as head setter at Hang, one of London's newest bouldering walls where he's taken on the challenge of 'making climbing fun again'. Hear about that and much much more!

Peter is a veteran routesetter with a unique background compared to many of our previous guests. Listen in to hear his thoughts on safety, the professionisation of our industry, whether AI will ever take over our jobs and much more!

The second half of my interview with Japanse setter Mei Nagasako. We chat about aesthetics in setting, IFSC commentary, Japanese setting culture, the climbing scene in Tokyo and branding your climbing business!

I chat with US route setting veteran Louie Anderson about his life in the climbing industry! We cover the history of US route setting, hold shaping, gym ownership, Louie's involvement in the setter showcase and much much more!

Mei and I chat about Japanse climbing and setting culture, the comp scene, setting internationally and much much more. Looking forward to the second part of our chat already!

I chat to Emma Twyford, the first British woman to climb 9a, who also happens to be a route setter!

I picked her brain about finding the balance between pursuing optimal athletic permformance and a career as a setter, what it's like being a female in a male dominated industry, past and future travels & lots more!

The big bang

Urban Climbs 'head of climbing' Dan Gordon and I discuss his vision for the future of our industry and how he's going about doing his bit through the work he's doing at Urban.

We chatted about creating a desireable work place through providing real career opportunities and creating culture, about international recruitment and much much more.

Dan Gordon, the director of climbing at Urban Climb has been involved in the Australian gym scene since before the boulder gym boom of the last decade.

Listening to his account of the transformation and the state of the national and global gym scene was really interesting and insightful.

We covered a huge range of topics and am excited for part 2 of this conversation coming soon!