Two of the legendary routes from the 90s are now at odds with each other (sort of). One of them was likely the first 9a in the world, but which was it? Hubble or Action Directe?
In this bonus episode from Written In Stone, we examine the circumstances, discuss where the debate began, and hear from the only two people in the world who have climbed both routes – Alex Megos and Buster Martin – to try and decide once and for all...
...which route was really the world’s first 9a?
Cameos by Adam Ondra, Steve McClure, Ben Cossey, and Ben Moon himself.
 
This is an episode of Written In Stone: Climbing's Most Important Ascents, the latest podcast from Power Company Climbing & Plug Tone Audio.
Find more episodes everywhere you get pods or learn more at: www.plugtoneaudio.com/written-in-stone
 
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 help us keep episodes ad-free by becoming a Patron for as little as $3 a month!
Find full episode transcripts and more at our website.

Hubble vs. Action Directe | The World’s First 14d (9a), Featuring Alex Megos and Buster Martin

A Climber’s Podcast | In-depth conversations with climbers, coaches, and experts about how to become better climbers.

Society & Culture

Personal Journals

History

Philosophy

Places & Travel

Education

Training

Language Courses

Higher Education

K-12

Educational Technology

Sports

Wilderness

Self-Improvement

Short climbers are good at getting scrunchy, and tall climbers are good at climbing extended, right?
Ummm, no. Not always.Actually, not even most of the time.
Believing that, particularly if you’re one of those short or tall climbers, is a trap. I’m going to tell you why, and I’m going to tell you exactly how to make sure you don’t fall into this trap. Or if you’re in it already, how to get out, so that we can all extend our useful range...
Read the rest on the blog!
Watch the video on YouTube!
_________________________


TAPED TIPS | How To Climb Taller AND Smaller

Today we rewind to an episode of Breaking Beta where Kris and Paul dig into a paper that presents and then tests a method for measuring movement skills in climbing:
Climbing performance analysis: A novel tool for the assessment of rock climber's movement performanceAuthored by Nicola Taylor, Dave Giles, Michaela Panáčková, James Mitchell, Joel B. Chidley, and Nick Draper; published in the International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance in January, 2020.
They’ll attempt to determine whether or not movement skills in climbing can even be measured reliably, and if the proposed system translates to anything useful for everyday climbers and coaches trying to assess movement.
 
This episode originally aired on July 27, 2022.
____________________


REWIND | Can We Accurately Measure the Movement Skills of Sport Climbers?

Ben Mayforth is a decorated climber well known for dialing in his training regimen. He's a Paraclimbing World Cup multi-medalist. Since 2019, he hasn't missed a silver medal at the Paraclimbing World Championships. Ben has a reputation of being extremely disciplined, but he’s recently loosened some of his self-imposed rules, and we discuss the impacts from that “letting go” in this episode.
Every Body Climbs (EBC) is a collaborative podcast, presented across Plug Tone Audio platforms, bringing you interviews with para and adaptive climbers. These profiles can be heard on The Power Company Podcast and Sends and Suffers. Content about festivals, engagement projects and other modes of community building air on Sends and Suffers, while training and nutrition focused interviews can be heard on The Power Company Podcast. Host, Emily Chen-Newton is a freelance adaptive sports reporter working in both print and broadcast. Living with a chronic medical condition herself, her journalism centers athletes, not their disabilities. When she’s not reporting, she’s rock climbing with her husband and their two cats.
 
Follow Emily and EBC on:
Instagram
SoundCloud
Theme music sample attribution: Creeper_Ciller78
_________________________


EVERY BODY CLIMBS | Ben Mayforth on Discipline, Paraclimbing World Championships, and Letting Go

Today's episode comes from The Struggle Climbing Show and features our very own coach Nate Drolet in consultation with the show's host Ryan Devlin, who has been working hard towards a goal to climb 13a.  They'll talk movement analysis, technique improvement, and more.  This is the first of two episodes with Nate on the topic, so be sure to head over to The Struggle to hear the second part!
 
Check out more episodes of The Struggle Climbing Show.
Follow The Struggle Climbing Show on Instagram.
Get more content on The Struggle's Patreon.
_________________________


Nate Drolet | A Consultation with The Struggle Climbing Show

Udo Neumann is a climber, performance coach, and motor-learning explorer. He’s the author of several books, including the cult classic Performance Rock Climbing.  He was the German National Team coach from 2009 to 2017, working with several European and World Champion athletes during that time, including Jan Hojer and Jule Wurm. Today he advises federations and works with athletes and coaches all over the world.
In this episode, we discuss his ideas around motor learning and coaching movement, whether a coach needs to be as good as the athlete, how he assesses climbers, what makes Janja Garnbret and Tomoa Narasaki special, and what makes the Japanese team so good.
Find Udo online at udini.com and on YouTube.
_________________________


Hubble vs. Action Directe | The World’s First 14d (9a), Featuring Alex Megos and Buster Martin

Download our free app to listen on your phone