In an ideal world, grades would be objective and we’d have some universal formula for how they’re decided. But we don't live in an ideal world. In this bonus Board Meeting episode, Part 1 of 2 on grades and what affects them, Kris and Nate talk about some things that should be considered when deciding on a grade, but rarely are. They break down these things into two main headings: physical factors (external, environmental, etc.) and user factors (internal, how we as climbers engage with grades) and consider why we seem to ignore some of these factors when determining grades.   This is a bonus episode, so if you want to hear Part 2: Things That Shouldn't Affect Grades But Do, and more episodes like this one, become a Patron or Apple subscriber today! Head over to www.patreon.com/powercompanypodcast or subscribe to Power Company + in your Apple Podcasts app!

In this, the second of two episodes with seasoned big wall climber Josie McKee, she and Kris sit down to discuss how her recent trip to Yosemite turned out – what went well, what didn’t, what she might do differently to prepare for future trips, and so forth. But the conversation goes far beyond training and tick lists as they consider some hurdles every climber faces at one point or another, hurdles that can hold us back from a fulfilling and sustainable relationship with climbing. If you haven’t listened to the first episode with Josie yet, do so HERE! Also be sure to check out Josie’s recent blog post HERE!   Learn more about Josie's mindset coaching at Mind Athlete. Follow Josie on Instagram.   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 sponsor-free by becoming a Patron for as little as $3 a month. Find full episode transcripts and more at our website.

Josie McKee has been climbing for more than 20 years, racking up speed records, FA’s, and a huge wealth of experience and knowledge in that time. She’s been up El Cap more than 20 times, even working on the YOSAR team for 3 years. Now based in Lander, she found herself with limestone sport climbing as her primary means to train for a recent Yosemite trip. This is the first of 2 episodes where Kris and Josie discuss how this trip and prepping for it forced Josie to really consider her relationship with climbing – especially in Yosemite – and her identity as a climber.   Learn more about Josie's mindset coaching at Mind Athlete. Follow Josie on Instagram.   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 sponsor-free by becoming a Patron for as little as $3 a month. Find full episode transcripts and more at our website.

13 years ago this month, British climbing legend Stevie Haston climbed 14d, for the second time that year, at the youthful age of 52. Even more impressive is the fact that Haston did this after recovering from a snowboarding accident in his 40’s that left him questioning if he'd ever climb hard again. So what are the complex intricacies of his training that led to such success? Plain and simple common sense.   This episode originally aired on December 6, 2016.   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.

It's all the rage. Watching Will Bosi and Aiden Roberts work on the Burden of Dreams replica is fun, but is it valuable for the rest of us? This episode is the first half of the full episode our Patrons and Subscribers get today. To get bonus conversations like this every month (over 100 in the archive currently!) you can become a Patron or you can subscribe to Power Company + in the Apple Podcast App by clicking on the full version of this episode.   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.

Most of us have never given 100% to an attempt on a rock climb. Most of us just don’t know how. It’s one of the hardest to cultivate components of high performance: effort. So, the big question: How can we all learn to give more effort? In this REMIX episode, we'll hear from climbers Bill Ramsey, Jonathan Siegrist, Jason Kehl, Hazel Findlay, Troy Fauteux, and more, as well as author Alex Hutchinson and Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Lewis about how we – the average athlete – can refocus our effort. Find videos, citations, a full transcript, and more at the blog post for this episode. REVISIT THE ORIGINAL EPISODES FEATURED IN THIS REMIX: A Philosophy of Sending with Bill Ramsey If It Ain't Broke, Fix It Anyway with Jonathan Siegrist Aggressive Creativity with Jason Kehl Flow and Mental Mastery with Hazel Findlay Troy Fauteux | Try Harder   Music for this episode comes from Blue Dot Sessions. Audio clips of Alex Hutchinson come from Press 1 for Nick and Modern Wisdom.   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.

McKenzie Long started climbing like many of us did, indoors, in a midwestern climbing gym, far from the vast landscapes and towering rock formations of the American West. But her love of climbing – and dream of becoming a writer – led her to those places soon enough, and also led her to consider our relationships with those places. Her book, This Contested Land: The Storied Past and Uncertain Future of America’s National Monuments, explores those relationships and their impact.   Buy McKenzie's book. Check out this Q&A with McKenzie about her book. Follow McKenzie on Instagram. Hear McKenzie talk more about her book and read selected passages over on the Plug Tone Outdoors channel.   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.

With the seemingly endless amount of information available online these days, and the newest training trends popping up in reel after reel on our feeds, it can be pretty tough to know what to keep and what to toss when it comes to our own training, and really tempting to overcomplicate things. In this Board Meeting, Kris chats with our very own coach Nadya Suntay to remind us why it’s better to keep it simple.   Interested in working with Nadya?  She's always available to coach you through one of our Proven Plans!  Or check out her Custom Training availability! Follow Nadya on Instagram!   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.

Looking for a sport climbing destination where you can climb comfortably from mid-Spring through mid-Fall? Look no further than Wild Iris, with its high elevation, low humidity, and perfectly-pocketed limestone walls. Wyoming local Leif Gasch has been climbing at Wild Iris for more than 25 years. While his life and travels have taken him all over, he and his wife Lindsay are happy to once again call Lander home.   Head over to this episode's blog post to see Kris and Leif's picks for Must-Do Routes, Overlooked Classics, guidebook recommendations, and more. Also be sure to check out our Trip Prep Plans for Wild Iris!   Support WyoClimbers – Central Wyoming Climbers Alliance. Find Leif and Substr8 Climbing Performance online and on Instagram.   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.

Nearly 15 years ago, with the FA of her route Meltdown, Beth Rodden gave us one of the hardest crack lines in Yosemite – if not the world – helping to solidify the role women have played in the development of hard rock climbing. Since then, she’s also solidified herself as one of the leading voices in support of body positivity and healthier ideas surrounding body image in climbing. Today we REWIND to this conversation about parenting, identity, and climbing with the great Beth Rodden.   Watch “Above the Fray” – a short film about Beth. Follow Beth on Instagram.   Articles: Beth Rodden's Thoughts On Mentorship And Vulnerability In Today's Climbing World Climbing's Send-At-All-Costs Culture Almost Ruined Me Climbing, Motherhood, and Body Image   This episode originally aired on February 17, 2018.   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.