Climbing Business Journal Podcasts

Sam Van Boxtel, a marketing specialist with experience in the climbing gym industry, shares valuable insights on using Instagram for marketing. He discusses strategies for engaging with members, the impact of non-targeted followers, the importance of user-generated content, and the differences between YouTube and Instagram. The podcast also emphasizes the importance of professionalism and offers free advice to listeners.

Jackson Scott told his parents that he wanted to open a climbing gym, and although there was a lot of hard work along the way, the end result was Crux Climbing, which is operated and co-owned by Scott and his parents. It was a family dream that became a family reality. Scott talks about that process of starting a family-owned gym in this episode. He also reflects on some of the lessons learned within the gym’s first year of operations, offering advice to anyone else who might be dreaming of opening a “mom-and-pop”-style climbing facility. Our host is John Burgman with music by Devin Dabney, and sponsors Vertical Solutions and TRUBLUE.

A couple weeks ago, Dr. Eugen Burtscher and Dr. Volker Schöffl (@volkerschoeffl) made headlines when they resigned from their volunteer positions on the IFSC’s Medical Commission. Dr. Burtscher served as the Chair of the Commission, and Dr. Schöffl was a Commission member for more than a decade. Following their resignations, a lengthy post on Dr. Schöffl’s Instagram page cited repeated “non-action” on the part of the IFSC to “detect, evaluate and help” athletes with disordered eating. “The current politics with regards to RED-S cannot be accepted,” the Instagram post stated, specifically referencing the broad condition of Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S). In this episode of the CBJ Podcast, Dr. Schöffl provides further background on his resignation, explains more about RED-S and its potential dire consequences, and offers some ideas and directions for possible solutions to the complex topic of disordered eating in climbing. Our host is John Burgman with music by Devin Dabney.

Siege Climbing is a competition series set for and by women, non-binary and gender minorities in the community. With us today is Hannah Barker (pronouns she/her), founder of Siege Climbing. Hannah is deep in the competition setting scene, and she works to mentor and uplift other underrepresented people in the industry. We also have Jiarra Chiang here (pronouns she/he/they), head routesetter and maintenance man at Vertical Ventures. Jiarra has set throughout the Southeast and is currently finishing up internships toward her L3 this USA climbing season. Last but not least, Hayley Moran (pronouns she/her). Hayley is an L3 routesetter and advocator of the professionalization of the routesetting industry. The trio finished up their first season of Siege Climbing comps last year and are now in the middle of the second one. Our host is Holly Yu Tung Chen with music by Devin Dabney, and sponsors Trango and Vertical Solutions.

Wade Desai is the Director of Climbing at ASCEND in the Pittsburgh area. As you'll hear, he certainly loves climbing, but he's also passionate about slacklining and accomplished at it too. Since starting at ASCEND in 2017, he's seen slacklining take off as a programming offering and has been helping lead the charge. Could more climbing gyms offer slacklining? And if so, what are some of the steps that a gym should take to get a slacklining program started? Those questions guide today’s conversation, and we’ll also hear more about Desai's fascinating transition from a doctor in the medical field to a director in the climbing gym industry. Our host is John Burgman with music by Devin Dabney, and sponsors Strati and EP Climbing.

Jackie Pettitt has been coaching for the past 12 years and specializes in climbing movement, technique, and mental toughness training. Over the years, she has helped athletes reach Nationals, Youth Worlds and other championship events. She also mentors head coaches, helping them become great leaders and establish well-rounded programs. In this episode, Pettitt brought her knowledge of the industry to the table, covering her career as a climbing coach, her thoughts on coaching education, tips on hiring a coaching team, and much more.  Our host is Zoe Leibovitch with music by Devin Dabney and sponsors Vertical Solutions and Butora.

Today’s episode features a conversation with attorney Jason Pill. Jason is a longtime climber, and he currently works with the Phelps Dunbar law firm in Tampa, Florida. His main areas of focus tend to be labor and employment law, but he's written articles for CBJ on a wide range of legal topics, including an entire Ask a Lawyer series. In this episode, Jason shares some insights about waivers and how protective they really are against lawsuits, some landmark cases and rulings that gym owners should know about, and legal challenges that gym owners might be facing in the years to come. Our host is John Burgman with music by Devin Dabney, and sponsors Kilter and Strati.

Today's guest is Louie Anderson, a setter who needs no introduction, but we're going to introduce him anyway for the listeners who may be new to routesetting. Louie has been heavily involved in the U.S. setting industry since its beginning. Setting since 1987, Louie is also a route developer, a hold shaper, and he owns the Ten Sleep Rock Ranch in Wyoming. Nowadays, Louie is known for hosting advanced setting clinics all over the country, new gym and competition setting consultations, and manages the popular Setter Showdown routesetting competition. Our host is Holly Yu Tung Chen with music by Devin Dabney, and sponsors TRUBLUE and Butora.

Dave Hudson has been involved in climbing business for a long time, specifically on the youth coaching and organizational and competition judging sides of things, and his involvement in all that actually predates much of the youth comp climbing scene we know today. Hudson’s currently the youth manager at First Ascent; he's also the head coach there. In our conversation together, we dove into his journey in the industry and the youth programming at First Ascent, the impact of the Olympics on youth program participation rates, how youth programs have changed in the past 5-10 years, as well as the rise of data-driven, research-based training. Our host is John Burgman with music by Devin Dabney, and sponsors Essential Climbing and TRUBLUE.

In this episode we sit down with routesetter and wildlife biologist Sierra McMurry. They experience obstacles every routesetter experiences, such as navigating fair pay and equitable workloads, but they also navigate obstacles that others might not, like how they take up space as a queer setter and communicate about sensitive topics with colleagues. We discussed the sustainability of routesetting careers, what the industry is doing right, as well as where we might go in the future. We also talked about how notable mentors can teach us lessons that we carry with us as the industry evolves. That idea begs the question: What wisdom will you hold onto and keep applying to your setting leadership style as times change, and what will you let go of to make way for something new? Our host is Holly Yu Tung Chen with sound editing by Devin Daney, and sponsors Essential Climbing and Strati.