The Crux, Olympic Reflections and Competition Boulders Are Really Hard

Welcome to Behind The Wall, a weekly newsletter published every Saturday.

Each week, I highlight the favourite things I’ve watched, read and listened to from the world of indoor and competition climbing. I also keep track of what climbing competitions are coming up and where you can buy tickets.

The final two episodes of The Crux were released this week. We heard about their Olympic experiences from Campbell Harrison on the Circle Up podcast and Erin McNeice on her YouTube channel. Josh Rundle and Jonathan Sin show us how hard competition boulders are. Finally, Niki and Jake talk about their favourite holds on the 10th episode of Another Setting Podcast.

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Watch

National Geographic has released episodes 3 and 4 of The Crux. Episode 3 looks at Miho Nonaka’s struggles with competing against her teammates and friends at the Asian Olympic Qualifier and Campbell Harrison at the Oceania Qualifier. Episode 4 focuses on Toby Roberts, Mejdi Schalck, Oriane Bertone, Jenya Kazbekova and Stasa Gejo at the European Qualifier in Laval.
How Hard are Olympic Boulders? | Josh Rundle. Josh Rundle tries some of the GB Team training blocs at Parthian London to see how hard competition boulders actually are.
The Olympic Debrief | Erin McNeice. Erin McNeice breaks down her performance at the Olympic games on each of the boulders and routes.
5 Lessons I learned training with Olympic-level Climbers - Toby Roberts, Jakob Schubert | Jonathan Sin Climbing. Jonathan Sin shares what he learned from taking part in an international climbing training camp with some Olympians on the EP Titan wall at Parthian London.
Is this Janja Garnbret’s biggest weakness? | ROAP Coaching. Robin O’Leary breaks down Janja’s performance on the semi-final slab boulder and how the smallest changes can be the difference between making progress and not.
The Rise of Climbing | FT Scoreboard. The Financial Times explores the rise of indoor and competition climbing since the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
World’s Hardest V5? | Crispy Crimps. Crispy Crimps shares his experience working several V5s in B-Pump Tokyo (where he currently works). He goes into the complexity of the climbs and why experimenting with different beta and techniques is so important.

Read

Where the Heck Does Janja Garnbret Go From Here? | Climbing Magazine. John Burgman interviews Janja Garnbret after the Paris Olympics for Climbing Magazine about her experience competing in Paris.
Alannah Yip Didn’t Have a Picture-Perfect Career Ending. And That’s OK. | Climbing Magazine. Anthony Walsh talks with Alannah Yip about her experiences competing in her last competitions, how she felt about not qualifying for Paris, coping with Alopecia and what she is looking forward to next.

Listen

Post Paris Perspectives with Olympian Campbell Harrison | Circle Up Podcast. Campbell Harrison shares his experience at the Paris Olympics with Kyra Condie and his ambitions for the future.
Our favourite holds & the inevitable Oasis comeback | Another Setting Podcast. Niki and Jake talk about their favourite climbing holds, from macros to pockets to jibs.

International Climbing Competition Tickets

The Olympics may be over, but there are plenty of climbing competitions left this year to follow. Here is a rundown of climbing competitions to watch out for the rest of the year.