Climbing Business Journal Podcasts

Getting Slacklining Going at Your Gym - Wade Desai

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.

Mentoring Coaches, Developing Strong Youth Programs - Jackie Pettitt

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.

Legal Challenges Come With Growth - Jason Pill

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.

Revitalizing Routesetting for the Next Generation - Louie Anderson

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.

Coaching Youth Through the Ages - Dave Hudson

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.

Routesetting on Common and Uncommon Ground - Sierra McMurry

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.

Coaching and Routesetting for Future Olympians - Garrett Gregor

It's almost hard to label Garrett because he has done so much. He's been a coach at Team ABC. He's been a routesetter for gyms and for international competitions. He was one of the setters at the Tokyo Olympics, and so he's become this wealth of experience and wisdom as it pertains to, not only the evolution of routesetting, but also just the evolution of the climbing industry. We get into all of that in this episode. We talk about the increase in professionalization that Garrett has noticed and some strides that maybe still need to be made in the industry. Our host is John Burgman with sound editing by Devin Dabney, and sponsors EP Climbing and Kilter.