The Testpiece Podcast

By TestpieceSports

The Testpiece Podcast episodes

August 19, 2024#112 Paris 2024 Olympics — Professional Climber and Coach Tim Kang on The Results, The Routesetting, The Grades, and The Future of Competitions
Professional climber, coach, routesetter, and frequent Testpiece podcast guest, Tim Kang, is on the pod this week to share his thoughts about the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Tim may be best known for his highball ascents that culminated in the film Focus, but Tim is also a seasoned competition climber with multiple World Cups under his belt. Tim loves competition climbing and studies in deeply. Hear his thoughts on the most important climbing competition ever.
In this episode, Tim and Josh dive into how fair the results were, what the routesetters tested, the grades of those routes, and what we might see in LA 2028 Olympic Games.
SHOW NOTES:
Nathaniel Coleman Testpiece Episode
Jesse Grupper Testpiece Episode
Sean Bailey Testpiece Episode

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2 hr 7 min
August 12, 2024#111 Tom O’Halloran — How To Do Hard Moves, Using Boards To Climb Better Outside, Toes Knees Hips, Taping Correctly, and What The Olympics Are Like
Tom O’Halloran is arguably the best climber in Australia. He’s an Olympian, he’s climbed 15a and v14, and done FA’s nearly up to those grades as well.
But the reason we wanted to have him on the podcast is because of the amazing YouTube content he puts out. He dives into the nuances of hard climbing in a way that actually helps people climb hard. Tom shares his knowledge in an open and honest way that doesn’t sugar coat the process or make it seem simple or “black and white”.
In this podcast Tom goes deep on the important things, like how to do hard moves, what mental progression actually looks like day-to-day, and how to apply your board climbing to sending equally hard outdoors.
SHOW NOTES:
Board climbing is KILLING your outdoor climbing
How to do hard moves. Olympians simple technique
Tape fingers the RIGHT way

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2 hr 24 min
August 05, 2024#110 Ethan Salvo — Lessons From Climbing The Hardest Climb in Squamish [TWICE?!], Internal Vs External Motivations, and Transcending Grades
Ethan Salvo is back on the podcast! Ethan's first episode (linked here) was a fan favorite so when Josh visited Squamish for a few days they met up do an impromptu live/in-person recording.

Since the last recording, Ethan has climbed arguably the hardest climb in Squamish, The Singularity. The experience he had on it was fascinating and made him question everything he knew about hard climbing and grades.

This has changed Ethan's approach to climbing and helped him find more joy and learn the lessons he needed the most.

SHOW NOTES:
Ethan on Kodama (V11)
Ethan on The Singularity (V15)

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1 hr 49 min
July 29, 2024#109 Noah & Benn Wheeler — The World’s Hardest Campus Move, Most Difficult Board Climbs, FA’ing V12 On 1st Day Outdoors, and How This Generation Sees The Future
Noah Wheeler and Benn Wheeler represent the next generation of climbers. At 21 and 19, they are some of the strongest board climbers in the world and their styles reflect that. They also are bring a unique point of view to the world of climbing content with their YouTube channel, Wheel Rock.
These brothers have climbed up to V16 outdoors, FA’d up V14 (in the first 3 months of climbing outdoors!), and FA’d or climbed the hardest board climbs the world has ever known.
In their short time in the climbing world they have climbed with the best, and cemented themselves as some of youth to keep your eye. In this podcast they share their take on hard climbing, how we too can go from good to great, and whats it store for the future.
SHOW NOTES:
Wheel Rock YouTube Channel
Top Board Climbs named:
Jellyfish (Kilterboard)
Kitten Paws (TB1)
Franconian Sky (Kilterboard)
Black Beauty (Moonboard, 2016)
Project 2 (Moonboard, 2016)
Hardest Board Climbs:
Drunks Unlimited (Benn, Kilterboard)
Extend Clip (Benn, TB2)
Hardest Board Move:
Blockland 1st Move
Jellyfish 2nd Move
Siamang 1

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2 hr 12 min
July 22, 2024 #108 AJ [Alex Johnson] — 20 Years At The Top, The Evolution Of Climbing, Coaching Top Athletes, Climbing Drills, and Returning From A Major Injury
AJ has been competing at the highest level for decades. She has won multiple Bouldering World Cups and she climbs just as hard outdoors with her iconic send of The Swarm (v13/14) in Bishop which was recently featured in Reel Rock.

AJ also coaches some of the top up and coming Youth Athletes (one of her athletes recently won Nationals), through her business Delphi Climbing.

In this podcast AJ gives tons of tips on how to perform your best and the drills she runs her athletes through. She also shares her struggles of returning to competing after a major injury and how she got over the hurdle of competing again.

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2 hr
July 15, 2024#107 Drew Ruana — Thinking Long Term, Grading The Hardest Blocs, Working Weaknesses, 3 Common Plateaus and How to Get Through Them
Drew Ruana is one of the strongest boulders in the world. Period. He over a hundred V14+ sends, and lots of then are V16. While some other climbers may have that amount of blocs under their belt, no one has accumulated this many in such a short time.

Drew goes into his infamous “Send Colorado” journey, which is his goal to send all V14 and up boulders in CO (nearly 200!). He shares some of the ones that are left giving him trouble (e.g. Megatron, V17). And he goes into some finer points of grading, including the difference between V14 and V16.

Drew also loves to share the knowledge he’s gained, and he’s doing so by writing books and even replying to questions on Reddit!

Drew talks about the most common mistakes he sees in climbers, the common plateaus climbers face, and his biggest tip — Play the long game and work your weaknesses!

SHOW NOTES:
Drew’s YouTube Channel

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2 hr 11 min
July 08, 2024#106 Felipe Camargo — An Unlikely Path To The Top, Finding Mentors, Training Hard By Yourself, Establishing Next Level Routes in Brazil, and Giving Back
Felipe Camargo is one of the top climbers in our sport with sends up to 9b and V15. That’s impressive… But what’s more impressive is that he began climbing Brazil where there was no professional climbers, no routes past 8b+, and no modern training facilities.

Felipe managed to send the iconic 50m 9a+ Papichulo by mainly training on a 3x3m spray wall at 85+ degrees! And even more incredible, is that he didn’t have other climbers of his caliber there to push him. He was the trail blazer.

His story of going from unknown Brazilian kid to the first professional climber in South America is amazing and sounds almost like a fairy tale. But his hard work and passion is the real secret behind some of his “lucky” breaks.

Over his career Felipe has gone on to establish Brazil’s first 8c, 8c+, 9a, and 9a+! You can see some of these in his latest film, a breakout hit, Tropical Lines. He also won the Netflix series Ultimate Beastmaster. He has taken his earnings and time and poured in back in the Brazilian community to help the next generation of climbers. To give them opportunities that he didn’t have.

SHOW NOTES:
El Bon Combat Video
Tropical Lines Video

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1 hr 37 min
July 01, 2024#105 Tim Kang — Going All In, The Most Important Moments for Growth, Embracing What Others Won’t, and The Difference Between Good and Great
Tim Kang is a frequent guest on the podcast, but now you get to hear him do a more typical interview.

Tim is a professional climber and coach that has competed at the World Cup level, won a Psicobloc competition, climbed v14 and 5.14d, but he is best known for his daring sends of the wildest highballs in Bishop which culminated in the popular film Focus.

Tune in to hear Tim’s arc as a climber, from his early days when he struggled to keep up with everyone else, to his success in high pressure competitions and on death defying hard boulders.

SHOW NOTES:
Focus
Tim’s Best Day podcast
Tim’s Classroom
Testpiece Shirts

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2 hr 8 min
June 24, 2024#104 Greg Loh — Bouldering Pioneer, World’s Best Spotter, Belief Over Everything, Epic Midnight Lightning Story, Designing The 5.10 Dragons, and What Makes A Climber GREAT
Greg Loh was one of the strongest boulders in the world during the mid 90’s and early 00’s. He traveled all over the world putting up FA’s of V13+ and climbing with the best. He competed in WC’s, the X-Games, and even won Nationals twice for speed climbing.

He is known for being one of the first people who truly embraced bouldering as a discipline in itself. This is back when bouldering was extra dangerous due to the lack of pads and Greg has 9 broken ankles to prove it! This also lead him to be known as perhaps the world’s best spotter, a job he took extremely seriously and caused at least 1 of those ankle breaks!

Greg also brought an aggression and intensity into climbing that hadn’t been seen before. His background in football and weightlifting, as well as larger than normal size, came out as an intense try hard that is now synonymous with hard climbing. Greg was the bouldering buddy you always wanted — strong enough to catch you on a big fall, committed enough to do so, and his infectious aggression brought out the intensity you needed to send.

SHOW NOTES:
Greg on an easy lap of Midnight Lightning V8
Peak Performance book

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2 hr 21 min
June 17, 2024#103 T&J — The Opposite Of Flow, Woods and Wheelers, Keeping Your Feet On, and Respect Every Climb[er]
Entitlement is the opposite of flow and perhaps the most damaging frame to have over the long term in your climbing. This can come from training, previous sends, or comp placement.

Hear stories about Daniel Woods and other pro-climbers who have avoided this frame. And hear from Tim Kang and Josh Horsley about how they coach others and themselves to guard against it.

SHOW NOTES:
NEW!! Testpiece Pocket T-Shirt
SUAV Shoes
Rhino Skin Solutions

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1 hr 59 min