The Curious Climber Podcast: Chatting with Hazel and Mina

This conversation is with New York based climber Anyssa Lucena (@genuineclimbing). Anyssa re-found climbing later in life and incorporated it into her already busy life - a single mum of three kids. Not only did she find space for it, it saved her in a difficult period in her life. She felt such a passion for climbing, and it had such a deep personal affect on her, that she underwent a complete career change and created a business around climbing. Anyssa is a guide in the Gunks but she does more than just the standard teaching people to go climbing. She works, predominately with women, by using climbing to challenge self limiting beliefs, find bravery and develop resilience. It was a pleasure to talk to her and to hear both her story and her experiences coaching.

Andrew is a successful writer and social commentator in the world of climbing. He is the founder of evening sends a website that hosts in-depth writing and articles from himself and other writers. He’s also co-founder of the runout podcast with Chris Kalous. He’s maybe best known for unapologetically saying what he thinks. Something of a rarity online in 2022.

We talk about his experiences as a writer in a polarised political climate and how the culture wars and the way we tend to converse on social media have affected discourse, writing and activism in climbing. 

Steven Dimmitt chats to Mina on his podcast 'The Nugget Climbing Podcast' about her early life and living in India, learning about impermanence from her dad, chasing flow state, memorable high ball boulders, learning to try hard, becoming a mama and much more...

Hazel chats to Alex H-bomb Honnold about his current life as a father to be, his environmental foundation the Honnold Foundation, affective altruism and also a bit about climbing! 

This episode is an eye opening chat with Andy Cave. Andy is a rock climber and a mountaineer who has a lifetime of stories to tell about his adventures. Climbing aside, he grew up in a mining community in the north of England and his first job was down the pits. Andy has a special way of being able to describe and paint a picture of his experiences with words - he has authored two books about his life so far - and he does just this in our conversation. From the coal mines to the Himalayan mountains we are taken on a fascinating tour of Andy’s unique life story.

You can follow Andy at:

Steven Dimmitt chats to Hazel on his podcast 'The Nugget Climbing Podcast' about mental training, the ego, fear of falling, fear of failure, her experiences with Magic Line and much more... 

Rosie is a runner and climate activist. This episode is all about climate change and how the outdoor community can be more sustainable. We talk about: how the pandemic could be a good opportunity for a fresh start, individual versus big change, hypocrisy within our community, what we find aspirational, community effort and taking the emphasis away from individual action, flight shaming and why it doesn’t work, offsetting, green washing, brands and events, consumerism, social shaming versus community support and what athletes and influencers should be talking about. This is an honest conversation about the complexities of the human response to the climate crisis. I hope you enjoy and thanks for listening.

This is a conversation between Mina and Dhillan Chandramowli, who’s psyche and drive is infectious. And it’s not just about climbing. Dhillan puts his passion into everything, he is one of those people who lives to find and realise potential in its many forms. Whether it’s developing new bouldering areas in remote Himalayan villages, organising marches to support women in sexual politics, advocating diversity by creating platforms for important conversation or using pen to paper to write, story-tell and open channels on things he cares about, he is emphatic in all his endeavours. This conversation was really interesting, enjoyable and educational.

Massive thanks as always to Alex Dempsey for the edit. And does anyone notice our new jingle?? Thanks to Morgan Jones for offering his sound technology expertise to create us our very own intro music.

Periods. A bloody nuisance or bloody brilliant??

This episode is a conversation with academic Natalie Brown about her research and work in the field of the female athlete and the menstrual cycle with a focus on education and communication around these issues. 

I (Mina) first met Natalie when I participated in some athlete interviews she conducted about a year ago. As we discuss in the podcast, she was trying to get a sense of the lived experience that women and girls have in sport relating to their periods in order to guide her research to where it was most needed.

Tom Herbert aka @usefulcoach is a performance coach and nutritionist who specialises in working with climbers.

Tom is quite the character; a creative, enthusiastic and knowledgeable person who has really set his mind to helping and supporting the people he works with however he can. He’s also passionate about doing it the right way, creating and nurturing sustainable athletes in a sport where there is all too often a focus on restriction and lightness as the only way forward. 

In this podcast episode we talk about his background in nutrition and coaching, his experiences working with climbers and the nutritional needs in our sport, his thoughts on the low carbohydrate craze, body image in the climbing community, strength to weight ratios, veganism....and his other hobby....pole dancing!

Thanks as always to Alex Dempsey for the edit.

What makes a good film or documentary? Is it seeing someone’s personal journey or their character depicted with authenticity; a sense of real-ness or honesty? Or is it the wild landscapes and the sense of adventure that you can vicariously indulge in through the film maker’s lens? Is it a simple story to follow, to learn a lesson from or find meaning in?

In this episode Mina talks to Jen Randall of Lightshed Pictures about her journey to becoming a film maker. We talk about the balance of needs in any film making venture - her creativity at the helm, the subject and their vulnerabilities and the role of sponsors. We discuss women in adventure films, both as subjects and behind the camera. Jen tells us stories from her experiences; where her films have taken her, the people she has had the pleasure to meet and work with along the way and the difficulties that arise when you are trying to capture a story or sense of a person/place.

If you are interested in this area professionally, then this is definitely a podcast for you - Jen talks openly about how she got where she is and what she would advise her younger self or anyone else who wants to enter this somewhat hard to access industry.

In this episode Mina talks to Charlotte Gibbs who is a runner and ultra endurance athlete. She was the winner and course record holder at the Beacons 50 mile race in 2018, and has taken part in Skyrunning races in the UK and Europe. After suffering with stress fractures and amenorrhea, she was diagnosed with Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport at the beginning of 2019 and has been working on recovery ever since. She hosts the RED-S recovery Podcast and has written articles on RED-S for Ultra Magazine and spoken about the topic on Real Health Radio and in various talks and seminars. 

There are a few links below to things we have mentioned during our conversation that might be of interest: 

Hazel speaks with Iranian climber Nasim Eshqi. If you’re a climber in the West you may have imagined that your experiences and opportunities might be different if you’d grown up, and become a climber, in Iran. Especially if you’re a woman. Or you may not have thought about it at all. Whatever your preconceptions about Iran, Iranian culture, gender politics under a theocratic government, being an independent woman in a male dominated country, you’re likely to learn a lot from Nasim.

Oh and Nasim is no ordinary climber. She’s opened close to 80 routes (sport and trad) in 6 different countries, (despite the fact it’s very difficult to travel as an Iranian). She was Iranian kickboxing champion 10 times in a row before she started climbing  She’s bolted and sent up to 8b. She works with women and youth groups in Iran with the aim of sharing her knowledge. She was awarded the King Albert memorial award for sustainable and exceptional services in connection to the mountains. Just all-round one of the most impressive people I’ve had the pleasure to speak with and therefore this definitely has to be one of my favourite podcasts.

In this episode Mina talks to Prerna Dangi, a Dehli based climber. Prerna mixes her climbing time between bouldering, trad climbing, ice climbing and alpinism - she has a taste for everything about the mountains. We talk about her experiences getting into climbing, how it is to be a female climber in India, doing a world cup event, body image in her cultural sphere, role models and the importance of representation that is specific to social/cultural/economic spaces. We also talk about a social enterprise (EcoFemme) she is involved in as well as discussing the recent changes in the town and bouldering area of Hampi.

Links:

This conversation is all about flow state. Also known as 'being in the zone'. This psychological state could be responsible for our best climbing performances but also our most enjoyable moments. Mild flow can feel like a heightened focus or presence and deep flow states are more immersive and unique in character. Cameron has a phD in flow and has coached world champion athletes, CEOs and climbers like myself with the aim of finding more flow in whatever their discipline. 

In this episode Mina talks to Madeleine Crane who is a Sports Psychologist and Systemic Coach based near Magic Wood in Switzerland. As a strong climber herself, Madeleine takes a special interest in working with rock climbers from all disciplines. In this podcast we talk about her background, confidence in performance, comparison in sport, body image, vulnerability, the role of a coach and emotional regulation. 

This episode is the first of a few that we plan to do together. Each one will have a focus and in this episode Hazel talks to Mina about health and performance, where they intersect and how in her experience they have also diverged. We talk about Mina's climbing history, her journey with Rainshadow (9a), the lead up to her RED-S diagnosis as well as what RED-S is and what the causes are. We talk about how it gets diagnosed, red flags to look out for, why climbers might be particularly susceptible and why aren't we talking about it more. We cover the feeling that menstruation is a taboo subject and how it's a crucial parameter of health that gets masked by contraceptives. We also discuss symptoms of RED-S in men, climbing's obsession with weight and how we ought to manipulate the other side of the equation (strength) finishing with a piece on how RED-S intersects with body image problems in climbing. 

*Correction Hazel makes a mistake in the intro - Mina has climbed 4 8cs not 2 - what a beast she is! 

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