E165: 'Barefoot' Charles Albert - Footprints down the paths least travelled

Joining us this week is one of the last (if not the last) board climbing specialist still on the world cup circuit! Adam is one of the strongest people around on a board and he's really started to show what he can do on rock, but he's fighting the siren call of the stone for a little longer because he's still competing internationally. We talk about his trip to Magic Wood, his four hour riverbed sesh with his parents, his slightly palm sweaty time climbing the Process in Bishop and many things competition as well. If you'd like to see a chapter list there is an AI generated and highly inaccurate one below (or at least there is on Spotify) I wouldn't trust it to be honest. If you're enjoying the podcast and would like to support us please consider checking out our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/c/u70353823Support the show

Charles definitely provides a different flavour for this week's episode. A man who truly goes his own way, he climbs without shoes, mostly without any gear and usually without crash pads. He climbs, he downclimbs, he jumps and sometimes lives a cave. On top of all these brilliant eccentricities he's also one of the strongest climbers in the world. Naturally we had a lot of questions for him and we really loved his completely novel take on the sport. Hope you enjoy!If you like that podcast and would like to help us keep it going for everyone advertisement free then please consider checking out our patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/c/u70353823Support the show

The other side of the coin from episode 150, it's another route setting deep dive pod, but this time with renowned setters Zoe and Ros, who were able to offer some different perspectives that four dudes can produce by themselves, who knew right? Just a bunch of chats about route setting, some of it is specific to women in route setting and some of it is just general route setting rambling. If you're enjoying the podcast and would like to support it please consider checking out our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=70353823Support the show

We had an absolute blast chatting to Benn this week. He's not just ebullient and funny he's also a heck of a climber. He makes YouTube content with his older brother and one of the best climbers in the world, Noah. It's a funny position to be in, to be one of the best climbers around but to have a brother who is even better so we did talk about that a bit but we talked about a range of stuff, most of which I forget now, but it was good I remember that! If you enjoyed this episode there will be some deleted scenes on the Patreon, and if you like the podcast why not consider checking it out! https://www.patreon.com/c/u70353823Support the show

This week we answered a bunch of questions from our Patroon community on discord as well as rambled about a few extra bits and pieces as they came to mind. Pub chat stuff really, objective grading scales, when does gear become cheating, flash ethics, Aidan getting abused by trad climbers you know all the classics. If you're enjoying the podcast and would like to support us please consider checking out our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/c/u70353823Support the show

We like chatting to Ethan, he's got some great perspectives and he thinks deeply about his climbing. The base of the chat was around two recent segments in Ethan's climbing, one trip to Bishop where Ethan didn't really climb anything and a few weeks back in Squamish where Ethan climbed some incredibly hard things. It was interesting to hear how the former experience seems to have left a more lasting and positive impact on Ethan despite the lack of hard sends. We also chat about a bunch of other deep and meaningful things like why Sam turned up to the chat wearing a vest. If you're enjoying the podcast and would like to support us please consider checking out our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/c/user?u=70353823Support the show

One of the biggest names in climbing and a strong contender for being the best climber of all time, Adam Ondra joins us this week! Have you heard of him? We chat about a whole bunch of things:-Rock manipulation, Onsighting vs Flashing, Lexicon E11, goal-setting, competitions, The Olympics, B.I.G etc etc.... If you're enjoying the podcast and would like to support us, please consider checking out our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=70353823Support the show

Back by popular demand, Katie Lamb joins us again this week for some round table discussions about pro climbing, legacy athletes and if we could be motivated to climb with no chance of any further progression. We also play a game at the end which is a fantasy climbing auction devised by Sam which turned out to be a pretty good laugh. If you're enjoying the podcast and don't want to see it wither and die like one of my houseplants then please consider checking out our Patreon page! https://www.patreon.com/user?u=70353823Support the show

We had another wad on the pod this week, Nicolai Uznik is a rare breed of climber who has somehow managed to climb the highest grades outdoors whilst also achieving some great results in the comps. We talk about that juggling act, what it's like to be a competitor in the current era of competitions, competition setting, Maltatal, and his experience with a candidate for the best looking 9As, Mount Doom. Surely Mount Doom would have scored very highly on our critically acclaimed (a couple of people said it was alright) 9A tier list if it hadn't been climbed minutes after we recorded it. If you're enjoying the podcast and would like to help us keep the lights on then please consider checking out our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/c/user?u=70353823Support the show

Yeah, it's one of those episodes this week. Nothing to learn and no great insights into the world of climbing, but we at least entertained ourselves trying to devise a new Modern Pentathlon after a chat about climbing films. Say what you want about the Careless Talk Climbing Podcast but at least they're making themselves laugh. We'll be back soon with more climbing specific content (probably) but until then, if you're enjoying the podcast please do consider checking out our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/c/user?u=70353823Support the show