Austin Geiman recently made waves when he sent the iconic testpiece, Defying Gravity, V15, after 11 years and 100+ sessions. Austin started trying this boulder while it was still a project and he was there when Daniel Woods and Jimmy Webb snagged the FA in 2013 in the film Huntsmen. He continued trying it through the years and then he also was there when the younger generation claimed the long awaited repeats. He finally added his name to the list and has even been supporting the next gen on the sit. 

Austin is deeply connected with all aspects of this iconic boulder and he shares with us the background on Defying Gravity, what makes it special, his epic send, and what he thinks about the next level sit.

Austin is also an extremely accomplished life long climber in many other aspects with loads of hard sends and FA’s under his belt, as well as being a World Cup Semi-finalist and Nationals Finalist. He’s also coached, route set, and owns a climbing gym in Colorado Springs (Springs Climbing Center).

SHOW NOTES:

• Austin’s Instagram
• Huntsmen
• Austin Sending Defying Gravity, V15
• Austin’s Gym in Colorado Springs

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Anne-Worley Moelter is one of the most important people in climbing today because she is the CEO of Movement Climbing, the largest network of climbing gyms in the US with a portfolio of 30 gyms and another 3 coming soon. These gyms set the tone and craft the climbing experience for millions of climbers.

Anne-Worley is a lifer who has done SO MUCH for our sport. She started her journey in the industry over 20 years ago working as an assistant manager at a gym. She went on to hold many different roles in the industry such as being a founding member of ABS, running USAC, and of course, opening the original Movement in Boulder, CO in 2009 with her husband Mike Moelter.

Movement has gone through a lot of changes since that first gym, but now Anne-Worley is back to run the much larger organization.

Tune in to hear Anne-Worley share insights on how our industry has evolved and where it's heading. You can't miss these insights from someone who is in a unique position in climbing and has worn almost every hat you can wear in the industry!

SHOW NOTES:

• Movement Climbing Website
• Movement Climbing Instagram

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Timothy Kang, aka “Tim, My Dude” is back on the pod to talk about the latest climbing news, an update in his life going from a pro-climber to a weekend warrior, and hear about Josh’s recent trip to Mallorca.

If you are new to the podcast you may not recognize why he is “Tim, My Dude” and that is because of the many many podcasts Josh and Tim recorded previously and how each podcast started. If you like Josh and Tim’s vibe on this one, be sure to visit the previous dozens of episodes where Josh and Tim cover all things high level climbing.

SHOW NOTES:

• Shaolin, V17
• Noise (Sean Bailey Clothing Co)
• Wheel Rock Defying Gravity Sit
• Kai Whaley Trying Shaolin
• Charles Barefoot V17
  • Pete Whittaker Trying It
• Terranova V16 or V17?
• Spots of Time
• Darth Grader
• FOCUS (Tim climbing highballs in Bishop)
• Tim Climbing at Moe’s

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Natalia Grossman is one of the top female competitors of all time. She has won an astounding 11 World Cups and 4 World Cup seasons in a row! She also competed in the 2024 Paris Olympics for Team USA.

Even though Natalia won the WC season in 2024, it was a tough year for her. She suffered a serious injury during the semi finals in the first World Cup competition of the year. Somehow she pushed through it to win the competition, but afterwards it was clear that the injury was a major one. The worst part? This was just a few months before the Olympic Games.

Hear from Natalia about what it was like dealing with her injury through the Olympics as well as the entire season where she ultimately still pulled off multiple World Cup wins and won the all around title. Natalia also goes into the ups and downs of the pressures she has felt over her career. Both when she was the underdog and then the top dog. 

Natalia also shares how she knows when she’s ready for a competition. And here’s a hint — it’s not when she sends a no-handed slab boulder!

SHOW NOTES:

• Natalias Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/natalia_grossman/
• Natalias Board Climbing Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/natalia_boardclimbs/
• Natalia and Brook Climbing in RMNP: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-mvzn_QjAQ
• Kilter Climbs Natalia Mentioned:
  • Miami Vice Grips: https://www.instagram.com/p/ChYAAl1FlLI/ 
  • Death Touch: https://www.instagram.com/p/CaLdEd6JtMr/

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This is a follow-up episode to the last Melina Costanza podcast, #119. That episode was one of the fan favorites, josh favorites, and even favorites of other professional climbers. Go listen to that one first, because it was amazing and will set the stage for this follow-up episode.

It’s only been a month since Melina last came on, but in that month she won US Nationals, both in Lead and Bouldering, and did so for the second year in a row. Yes, in 2023 she won Lead and Bouldering and in 2024 she AGAIN won Lead and Bouldering! On top of that she won multiple high level local comps this month and found the time to go outside and do a slew of double digit boulders. One of which was a near flash of a V13 (she still sent 2nd go)!

Melina is incredibly articulate and insightful on the intricacies of performing at the highest level of competition. In the last episode she detailed her training leading into Nationals, and since she had such a stellar performance we wanted to sit down and explore exactly how that training turned into perfect execution.

Don’t miss this one… These two pods together are not just a 2x, it’s squared. (Ya, that's a lame joke, but it's true.)

SHOW NOTES:

• Melina Costanza’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melinacostanza/
• Melina’s previous Testpiece Podcast, #119
• 2024 Double Gold Champ
• V13 Second Go

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This episode is brought to you by Mad Rock! Mad Rock is run by REAL climbers, and that’s why they supported Ross Fulkerson and Testpiece to go on an awesome trip to Mallorca where they recorded this podcast.

Ross is back on the pod after a multi year hiatus. Ross was actually the very first guest back on episode #3 and #4! 

Since then Ross has won tons of comps, competed in tons of world cups, climbed hard boulders, hard sport, even hard trad! In the last few months Ross has been on tear doing all of those disciplines at a high level. 

Josh went out to Mallorca to join Ross and they sat down for a chat about the thread that connects all of these disciplines together and how Ross manages to perform at such a high level in each of them.

Ross also shares what it’s like to test new and updated shoes by Mad Rock. How does he make sure they can handle all the things he throws at them? How does he figure out what to suggest to make them even better? How does Mad Rock actually take that feedback and turn it into a better product? This is a cool behind the scenes look at how pro’s actually interact with their shoe companies to make the shoes the best they can be.

SHOW NOTES:

• Ross Fulkerson’s Instagram
• Ross Fulkerson’s YouTube
• Al Rangel Testpiece Podcast
• Ross’ Previous Testpiece Episodes:
  • Podcast #3
  • Podcast #4
• Mind to Motion Clinics: https://www.mind-to-motion.com/
• Flair Manual Espresso Maker
• Mad Rock

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Adam Shahar is the name that keeps coming up when I ask who is an up and coming star. At 18 he had a breakout year where he won bouldering nationals, climbed V15 in a few sessions while he was on the road doing WC’s, and then became IFSC’s Athlete of the Week when he narrowly missed finals with a 7th place finish at the Prague WC. He also had perhaps the most incredible board climbing session of all time where he did 5 V13’s on the Tension TB2, flashing 1 of them and doing 2 of them second try… 

Adam is known to be one of the physically strongest climbers in the world, and in this episode he shares his ‘hot take’ on how to train for World Cups.

Adam also dives into how he’s leveled up his mental game recently which he credits a lot of his recent success to. 

This is an awesome episode with someone you need to keep an eye on!

SHOW NOTES:

• Adam's Instagram
• Adam climbing The Understanding (V15)
• Adam’s epic Tension TB2 Session
• IFSC Athlete of the Week
• Transience (V14)

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If you watched the Paris Olympics then you remember Hamish McArthur’s stand out performance to secure an incredible 5th place finish.

Hamish had already stood atop World Cup podiums and won Youth Worlds, but his Olympic showing was a clear level up.

In this episode Hamish shares what changed for him in the year leading up to the Olympics and how it ultimately led him to having one of the best competitions in his life.

Don’t miss this incredibly inspiring and thought provoking chat with the inimitable, Hamish McArthur!

SHOW NOTES:

• Hamish’s Instagram
• Life Is Limbo
• Michael Gardner Arcteryx Post

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You’ve heard of Matt Fultz, but you may not realize just how amazing Matt is. He’s climbed eight V16’s. 8. Eight! 

By the way, two of them are rarely repeated and recognized as some of the hardest in the world (Hypnotized Minds and Big Z). He’s FA’d 7 climbs V15 and up, including 2 V15’s in one day!! We’re pretty sure that’s a world’s first, but who’s counting…

Matt has also been coaching for well over a decade and founded Off The Ground coaching (“OTG”), which is one of the most highly respected remote coaching services. Matt is just as passionate about being a coach as he is a climber.

In this episode Matt shares some of his tactics for climbing harder right NOW, how to manage long term projects, how he uses video analysis, what the hardest board climbs in the world are and much much more.

SHOW NOTES:

• Matt Fultz Instagram
• Off The Ground Coaching with Matt
• Wheeler Brothers Testpiece Podcast

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Alvaro Rangel, Al, is back on the podcast after 2+ years! Al was one of the first guests and one of the best. The last podcast we did was incredible, but somehow Al managed to top it with today’s episode.

He is the founder and head coach of Team Class 5 in San Diego, CA. Al is also part of the Team USA coaching staff and supports the team at World Cups as well as at the recent Paris Olympics.

Al’s insight into what makes climbers the best in the world is rare. He shares his thoughts on what mastery in climbing looks like, the most important skill for a competitor to develop, and even his case studies on the top climbers in our sport.

SHOW NOTES:

• Team Class 5
• Al’s Instagram
• Testpiece Podcast #7 with Al
• The Art of Learning
• Testpiece Podcast with Garrett Gregor
• Mevo Camera

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