Second episode of 2026! 🔥

This week on Rock and Rice, we sit down with Manila-based power couple Dane & Magnet — self-dubbed serial projectors who’ve been quietly stacking some of the biggest sends of 2025.

From Magnet’s epic last-go send of Ben & Be (7c+/5.13a) in Igbaras… to Power & Pinesse, White Flower, and the mental chess match of projecting at your limit — this one is all about the highs, the almosts, and why “di araw araw pasko” (not every day is Christmas).

We talk:

• The psychology of projecting
• Booking climbing trips just to stay motivated
• Why only ONE person is allowed to be crazy at a crag
• Igbaras vs. Cantabaco
• And what it really means to take small wins

If you’ve ever left a trip without a send… this episode is for you.

@magnetnavales — Magnet’s Instagram

@danepolicarpio — Dane’s Instagram

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Let’s gooooo.

Kumusta, mga ka-akyat 🧗🏽‍♀️🇵🇭

Welcome to the first Rock and Rice episode of 2026 — and we’re starting strong with longtime climber, community builder, and all-around legend, Mecia Serafino (@small_wonder). 

Tim and Mecia first met during their SPI course in Mammoth (yes, they’re still preparing for the exam 😅), but this episode goes way deeper than anchors and knots. Mecia shares her journey from growing up Filipino in Bernal Heights to becoming deeply involved in Yosemite climbing, outreach, and stewardship.

We talk about:

🧗🏽‍♀️ Getting into climbing later in life — and getting absolutely sandbagged by your future husband, Lucho Rivera

🏕️ Eastern Sierra classics, Tuolumne epics, and why Cathedral & Tenaya still hit different

📸 Being the photographer of the friend group (and why none of the climbing photos are of her)

🧭 Old-school mentorship, climbing with Yosemite legends, and learning on stiff Friends and hexes

🚨 The real reason most climbing accidents happen on rappel — and how Friends of YOSAR teaches people to “Stay Alive”

🧹 Yosemite Facelift, high-angle trash cleanups, and 20+ years of climbers giving back to the park

🏛️ The Yosemite Climbing Museum in Mariposa and the wild history preserved inside

🌲 Restore Hetch Hetchy and the complicated balance between access and preservation

🌁 Bay Area Climbers Coalition, a local chapter of the Access Fund

Mecia talks candidly about health struggles, finding healing in the outdoors, and why education and outreach matter just as much as sending hard routes. It’s a conversation about climbing, yes — but also about showing up for your community, protecting the places we love, and making sure more people get to experience them safely.

This one’s for the climbers who love long approaches, old gear stories, and doing the work even when no one’s watching.

Salamat, Mecia, for everything you do — and for reminding us that climbing is better when we take care of each other. 🤎

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Maligayang Pasko, mga ka-akyat 🧗🏽‍♂️🇵🇭

In this end-of-year kwentuhan, Tim records from his parents’ house in Temecula (yes, still climbing, still dodging rain, still watching Severance late) to reflect on a very Rock and Rice year:

• Rainy seasons in California and the Philippines
• A trip back home (Manila ➝ Igbaras ➝ rice terraces ➝ thunderstorms)
• A sketchy habal-habal ride you never forget
• A fiancé reveal 💍 (surprise!)
• And the official historical record that Andre 100% sent Alon ✅ (no questions pls) 

Tim looks back on the pod’s year. Six episodes, 21 climbers interviewed, most born and raised in the Philippines. He talks honestly about juggling work, climbing, creativity, and not burning out in an endless content economy. There’s gratitude for the community, love for Filipino climbers back home, big pride for Pilipinas Climbing, and a few dangerous ideas about Rock and Rice someday becoming a balíkbayan service for climbing gear. 🪢🔩

Also:
✨ Big shoutouts to the guests this year: Nikki Cuna, Ina & Miel Pahati, Shaun Marquez, Mika Hooker, Tristin Rubia, Onassis Rabanes, Christine Joy, Vince Padios
✨ Goal next year: one episode a month
✨ Special salamat to Onassis & Christine for joining the pod team

🎮 Join our Discord: https://discord.gg/aMe7ktS2

👏🏽 Become a Patron: http://patreon.com/rockandrice

This episode is less polished interview, more tropa catching up over pancit. Thanks for listening, thanks for climbing, and thanks for believing Filipino climbers belong everywhere.

Onassis, Christine, Vince, and Tim do a fun podcast episode from The Red River Gorge: America's favorite sport climbing area. Yes, it's in Kentucky. Yes, we were the only Filipinos in Kentucky. 

Christine invited the guys to her annual Red River Gorge trip. We climbed, made bisteak, and tambayed. Listen to our silly episode where we talk about our trip, what helps us "lock in" as climbers, and how we hope to grow. 

"Growth without increasing grades is giving back to your community."

• @cjoy_climb
• @vinceclimbs
• @onassisclimbs
• @timcasasola

Maraming salamat Onassis Rabanes for editing this episode!

He'll be helping with editing future episodes. Aside from being a V10 boulderer and budding sport climber, Onassis is a filmmaker, giving a voice to underrepresented climbers. You can check out Onassis' work here at @onassisfilms on Instagram.

• Onassis Films

And maraming salamat to Christine for editing our socials for this episode. Christine is our three-time veteran on the podcast. 

Pasensya, the audio is pangit. That's because Tim did the audio production. He didn't do that great of an audio production here. It'll be better in the future. Promise, ha.

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If you boulder in SoCal and look up to double digit boulderers, chances are you follow Tristin on IG. Tristin is a Madrock Athlete, based in Fullerton, CA. He started climbing in 2018 and now climbs double digits consistently. From Meadowlark Lemon Stand V13-, to MRSA V11 in Tramway, to Bloodline V10 in Temecula. 

We recorded this episode in May, when he was working Allegory in the Cave V12 in Black Mountain. 

He also talks about what inspired him to support FilipinUp SoCal: a Filipinx climbing community. Check out FilipinUp here. They have the best stickers and meetups around SoCal. 

Links

• @tristin.outside — Tristin's Instagram
• Tristin on TikTok
• You can get 15% off MadRock using his promo code: SOFT (I don't get anything from promoting this, this is purely his promo code!)

Love the show? Become a Patron!

patreon.com/rockandrice

All proceeds will go towards funding gear balikbayan for the climbing communities in the Philippines. 

It's tough to get gear out there. There ain't no REIs there and shipping is mahal (expensive). Your subscription will help us donate and ship gear to climbing communities in the Philippines!

Mika Alfaro is a Filipina climber based in Perth, Australia. We met in Danao when she was having the climbing trip of her life. Her nemesis? Bibinka. She ended up going to Danao again because she loved the crag—much like me. 

I was intrigued by her story. Mika was born in the Philippines, moved to Kuwait when she was six, then moved to Perth when she was ten. 

Listen to her talk about why she loves climbing, her experience climbing in the Philippines twice now, and the scene in Australia. 

Mika's Instagram

Love the show? Become a Patron!

It’s not easy to gear good gear in the Philippines. Shipping takes a while, it’s expensive, and you often have to have hookups.

Support the show by becoming a Patron at patreon.com/rockandrice.

60% of your donation goes toward gear balikbayan to the Philippines. 40% goes back to the show.

Shaun Marquez is a climber, bolter, and route setter based in Ilo Ilo. He is president of Ilo Ilo Climbing Community and climbs often at Igbaras — Ilo Ilo's premiere sport climbing crag. We talk about his send of Igbarock, a 7B/5.12b in Igbaras, how he balances all of his roles, being an introverted leader, and why he loves climbing. 

Links

• Sterling Blog: Philippine Climbers Building Their Own Future
• Shaun's Instagram
• Ilo Ilo Climbing Community

Support the show by becoming a Patron at patreon.com/rockandrice.

60% of your donation goes towards gear balikbayan for the Philippines; 40% goes back to the show.

It's no secret that climbing in the Philippines is awesome. But isn't easy to learn about. The routes aren't on Mountain Project, getting to the crag takes a jeep, boat, or habal habal, and you need to know the Tita who runs the carinderia nearby. 

Climb Philippines is a website that Ina Pahati started in 2007 to help people learn more about outdoor climbing in the Philippines. In this episode, we chat with both Ina and Miel Pahati — long-time climbers based in Quezon City, Manila. They couldn't be more proud of the crags in the Philippines: they've bouldered near Bagio and sport climbed in Igbaras. They also met in college, when they both started climbing, and entered a lot of climbing competitions. 

They're now parents who still love climbing. For Ina and Miel, it's all about supporting the next generation. They want Climb Philippines to serve the next generation of Philippines-based climbers who are determined to get better.

My podcast software wasn't able to capture the Ina's mic after 47 minutes. So we'll release the 47 minutes of our 1 hour 15 minute interview. I'll see if they want to do a part 2. :)

Links

• Climb Philippines
• @glogrowglow — Ina Pahati's Instagram
• @slowhand_mp — Miel Pahati's Instagram

Editor Credits

Shoutouts to Chung Winchip for doing the bulk editing of this episode. Winchip also produced the music used on this podcast, Bruiser. His music is on Spotify.

Love the show? Become a Patron!

It’s not easy to gear good gear in the Philippines. Shipping takes a while, it’s expensive, and you often have to have hookups.

Support the show by becoming a Patron at patreon.com/rockandrice.

60% of your donation goes toward gear balikbayan to the Philippines. 40% goes back to the show.

Nikki Cuna just got her Single Pitch Instructor (SPI) certification, meaning she's the first Filipina from the Philippines to be a certified climbing guide. This is huge!

Nikki is a sport climber, budding trad climber, route developer, and certified climbing guide based in Cebu, Philippines. She's originally from Samar Island before moving to Cebu for school and work. 

Her skills in climbing are diverse, and it shows. She can:

• Send 7b+/5.12c on sport (Thor's Garden in Danao)
• Lead a 5.7 Yosemite layback pitch (Nutcracker, pitch 3),
• Create safe trad anchors
• And can even bolt sport routes (she's done this in Danao)

Listen to her talk about why she chose to become a guide and why she prefers to grow in more than just one way.

Love the show? Become a Patron!

It’s not easy to gear good gear in the Philippines. Shipping takes a while, it’s expensive, and you often have to have hookups.

Support the show by becoming a Patron at patreon.com/rockandrice.

60% of your donation goes toward gear balikbayan to the Philippines. 40% goes back to the show.

"Climbers are just big kids playing on compressed dirt. And we want to be better than others at playing on compressed dirt."

Sierra Rose Knott is a double digit boulderer and Organic Climbing athlete based in San Diego, CA. Her and her husband Richie are regulars at Black Mountain, a beautiful granite bouldering area in the San Jacinto Mountains surrounded by pine trees. 

She had just come back from Rocklands, a destination bouldering area in South Africa. She was able to climb at her limit, despite having three injuires leading up to the trip.

Sierra is a quarter Filipina! She shares her family history. And why she’s proud to be Filipina, while acknowleding that it’s just a part of her identity.

Sierra’s also a rock climbing coach, who helps boulderers level up. If you’d like to work with her, DM her on Instagram.

Sierra’s LinkTree.

Love the show? Become a Patron!

It’s not easy to gear good gear in the Philippines. Shipping takes a while, it’s expensive, and you often have to have hookups. 

Support the show by becoming a Patron at patreon.com/rockandrice. 

60% of your donation goes toward gear balikbayan to the Philippines. 40% goes back to the show.