In this episode, Allison and Kyra dive into the tricky world of climbing etiquette and ethics—both indoors and outdoors. From navigating social situations, like approaching someone with headphones in at the gym or downgrading someones "first of the grade", to managing the vibe at the crag when loud music takes over; they break down common dilemmas. Tune in as they explore how to balance personal preferences with respect for the climbing community, offering insights and practical tips for climber...
Sep 30, 2024•35 min•Ep. 36
In this episode Kyra and Allison dive into the exciting world of paraclimbing and its growth into becoming a Paralympic sport. Special guest Mo Beck, a 2X World Champion Paraclimber and 10 time AU2 Paraclimbing National Champion, shares her experiences and insights on the growth of adaptive climbing, the challenges and triumphs of competing at the highest level, and her professional climbing career. Mo discusses her journey, the incredible athletes in the sport, and how the paraclimbing communit...
Sep 09, 2024•54 min•Ep. 35
In this episode, Kyra is joined once again by her good friend and fellow pro climber, now an Olympian, Campbell Harrison. Together, they dive into Campbell's unforgettable experience at the Paris 2024 Olympics. They discuss everything from what Australia did best in the Olympic Village to Campbell's reflections on his performance on the world’s biggest stage. Looking ahead, they explore what the future holds and how training might evolve as the countdown to the 2028 Games begins.
Aug 26, 2024•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 34
Allison and Kyra give their unfiltered thoughts and feelings about the Men's and Women's Combined Finals at the Olympics in Paris. From whether their predictions were corrects, to heartbreaking moments and dealing with performance pressure, hear their recap and insights into what the athletes might have been feeling on the biggest sports stage in the world!
Aug 11, 2024•59 min•Ep. 33
Allison and Kyra give their thoughts on the first 4 days of the Paris 2024 Olympic Sport Climbing events. From heartbreaks to broken world records, there was so much excitement in the first 4 days that everyone is excited to see what the next two days has in store. From their own predictions of who will be on the podium to Kyra's insights on the emotional toll of the olympics; here are their unfiltered thoughts!
Aug 08, 2024•44 min•Ep. 32
In this first episode of “Beta & Banter” Kyra and Allison answer questions from the listeners! This will likely become a regular segment or work in as stand alone episodes of the podcast. From how to avoid burnout as a youth climber to how to deal with being the “worst” climber of your group of friends, we try our best to answer your climbing queries with practical and personal advice.
Jul 08, 2024•42 min•Ep. 31
This week’s episode is Kyra and Allison’s first attempt at recording with each other online instead of in person, so sorry for any audio quality differences! Allison and Kyra start by chatting about the impact route setting has on injuries we see at competitions and the challenging job of route setters, specifically in relation to recent World Cups and Olympic Qualifying Series. They talk about dangerous moves, resent fails and wins, and who clinched their Olympic berth in Budapest! Let us know ...
Jul 03, 2024•43 min•Ep. 30
In this week's episode, Kyra and her mom, Cathy, talk about Cathy's career as an electrical engineer in the biomedical space. Cathy shares some personal stories from when she was in school, the challenges of raising two kids while getting her Master's Degree from the University of Minnesota, and some words of wisdom from her years in a male-dominated industry (much like the climbing world is, or has been). Kyra speaks on some of her experiences and ways she tries to fight the patriarchy with "mi...
Jun 14, 2024•35 min•Ep. 29
Welcome to our first episode of Hot Takes! Wondering about socks in your climbing shoes? If climbing a harder grade makes you immune to being a "gumby"? Or have you ever wondered if climbing v15 or getting a sub 5 second time on the speed wall is more impressive? Kyra and Allison share all their personal opinions on lister requested topics!
Jun 03, 2024•34 min•Ep. 28
In this episode Campbell Harrison, future Olympian and World Cup climber from Australia, takes Allison's place alongside Kyra. They talk about competition stresses, imposter syndrome, mental health, training far from home, the trials and tribulations of addressing RED-s in climbing, and their time spent together on the IFSC Athlete commission. They banter about ways they hope to make change as well as their want to be a role model for the future generation. *TW*: mental health and eating disorde...
May 27, 2024•44 min•Ep. 27
Allison and Kyra tackle the subject of mental and physical plateaus in this week's episode. From how to turn mentally "weak" days into successful sessions and tricks to switch up your training (or when to back off) when you're in a rut.
May 13, 2024•29 min•Ep. 26
In this episode Allison takes on an interviewer role and talks to Kyra about her "back story". They cover how Kyra originally found out she had scoliosis, the surgery, the Olympics, and learning to cope with having a form of a disability. Should be interesting for those with and without scoliosis!
May 08, 2024•33 min•Ep. 25
Allison and Kyra recap the recent start to the world cup season both with Kyra's attendance at the events and general thoughts about how competitions are run and what could be done better/different in the future. They talk about weather-related delays, the new trends in route-setting, Kyra's attitude at the first competitions of the season, and more!
Apr 29, 2024•28 min•Ep. 24
Kyra and Allison catch up about what they've been doing during their podcasting break. They give insight into some of their life updates and how they use body cues to know when they should back off training or increase training load. They also talk about the pros and cons of using a training journal, what they do instead currently, and the attitude in climbing/sport of glorifying "the grind". They finish up with a fun Q&A with both climbing related and non-climbing related topics.
Apr 29, 2024•37 min•Ep. 23
Kyra and Allison break down everything you need, and didn't need, to know about what has happened thus far on the Road to Paris 2024. Starting with a recap of the excitement and World Championships, they go into a play by play of what happened and who qualified at every Olympic Qualifying Event so far for Sport Climbing.
Nov 20, 2023•40 min•Ep. 22
Kyra and Allison use this episode to talk about the importance of rest days, not only making them ACTUALLY restful, but learning to be ok with taking rest days and knowing that a good rest day is part of a good training plan. They use some of their own experiences with the feelings of overtraining to explain what it feels like and what to look out for. They also talk about how to approach pro climbers at the gym and share some fun anecdotes about the first time they met pro climbers.
Oct 31, 2023•28 min•Ep. 21
Kyra and Allison do a deep dive in this episode into their own emotions and experiences. They both reflect on what has helped them the most during a negative spiral, whatever it was caused by. Many of us tend to be very emotionally invested in our sports performances, so whether it's yourself or your climbing partner, let's figure out how to deal with those intense emotions.
Oct 16, 2023•28 min•Ep. 20
Kyra and Allison use this episode to first answer some fun, non-climbing questions about "who is more likely to"--hopefully giving the listeners a chance to get to know the two of them better. Then, at 10:40, they start answering some of the burning climbing-related questions they've received since the beginning of this podcast.
Oct 09, 2023•38 min•Ep. 19
In this episode, Kyra and Allison talk lightly about a serious topic: the macho culture of climbing, both indoor and out. They share their experiences growing up in male dominated training spaces and how that shaped them to be the climbers and people they are.
Oct 02, 2023•30 min•Ep. 18
Kyra and Allison are both back from their climbing-packed summers and are excited to share with everyone what they've been up to during their recent podcasting hiatus. First they talk about how they make their livings from being a pro climber and then they recap about their respective trips. Allison spent 5 weeks climbing outside in South Africa and Kyra went to the last World Cups and watched the first few athletes punch their tickets to Paris 2024 at World Champs!
Sep 25, 2023•31 min•Ep. 17
In this episode, Kyra and Allison tackle the tricky and taboo topic of eating disorders in climbing and sports in general. They talk from their personal experiences from being in the sport and from each of their unique experiences of struggling or not struggling with their relationship with food. **Trigger Warning: Eating Disorders**
May 23, 2023•32 min•Ep. 16
In this episode, Allison and Kyra share their own thoughts and struggles with fear, both mentally and physically. Starting with the fear of failure in competition then into how to overcome (or not) fear while outdoor bouldering and lead climbing. Hopefully this conversation helps show that fear is a major factor of even a professional climber's struggle with any climb.
Apr 10, 2023•40 min•Ep. 15
Kyra and Allison recap the recent big competition for US competitors: National Team Trials. Allison was a commentator for the livestream of this event while Kyra competed to clinch a spot on the World Cup team this year. After a trying couple years after the Olympics, Kyra was able to implement some big mindset changes and found that curiosity was key for her success at this competition.
Mar 20, 2023•31 min•Ep. 14
Kyra and Allison use this episode to talk about a topic that comes up every month... every month. Periods. As something that 50% of the population deals with on a monthly basis, they try to have an open dialogue about their own trials and troubles that go along with being a professional athlete and the menstrual cycle. Some bonus embarrassing stories are shared by both. Even if you don't get a period yourself--this is a great listen to try and educate yourself on something your loved one/friends...
Mar 06, 2023•28 min•Ep. 13
Allison and Kyra talk about their personal experiences with comparing themselves to others in the gym and in competition. Most of the time unavoidable, comparison can lead you down a spiraling mental pathway, but there are techniques you can use to turn those negative emotions into at least neutral learning experiences, if not positive motivation.
Feb 27, 2023•31 min•Ep. 12
In this episode Kyra and Allison do their best to explain how the olympic qualification pathways work for Paris 2024! They also go on many tangents including some thoughts about the future of routesetting and the pros and cons of the new Boulder + Lead format.
Feb 20, 2023•33 min•Ep. 11
Allison and Kyra talk the delicate balance of school and climbing and what they did to strike the right balance. This also relates to work, social life, and any other major life activities that you're trying to juggle all at once. Take a listen to hear about their past, present, and future balancing acts and hopefully get some good advice on how to find whats right for you.
Feb 07, 2023•30 min•Ep. 10
Kyra brings in two very special guests for this episode while Allison is away on vacation--her parents! This episode is a little different, but full of interesting insights into Kyra's childhood, lessons learned from her parents that she's taken into adulthood, and what it was like being a parent of an elite athlete.
Jan 30, 2023•28 min•Ep. 9
In this episode, Kyra and Allison talk about drug testing and what it's like being an athlete that's in the testing pool of USADA/WADA. They work to clear up some common misconceptions they've heard about drug testing and how the process works. In the second half of the episode, listen to them share some never-before-heard stories about their climbing related tattoos.
Jan 23, 2023•31 min•Ep. 8
Kyra and Allison talk about their new years resolutions and how to set reasonable goals for yourself to stay motivated. They also share some stories about diet culture and their views on what healthy food goals should be. Then they go into how to make the most of any gym, whether its a "good gym" or not.
Jan 16, 2023•30 min•Ep. 7
