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. (If you are new here, you can read old editions on the Behind the Wall homepage.)
We have a mass collection of videos in the week before Christmas. Mattea Pötzi reviews her breakthrough season, and Erin McNeice shares what a winter training session looks like. Louis Parkinson breaks down climbing using the RIC (Risk, Intensity, Complexity) scale and explains how you can use it to improve your climbing.
Hannah Morris and Alex Waterhouse examine how competition climbing prepared Alex for climbing the Nose on El Captain with Billy Ridal. They then recreate some of the key sections indoors. Zac Richardson reviews and discusses his performance at the 2024 Pan American Boulder Championship.
Mimi White discusses how to improve your confidence while climbing. Josh Rundle learns to speed climb from the fastest vertical man in the world, Sam Watson, and Jake Mason from the Bouldering Bobat crew discuss how he sets a boulder. Finally, Mike Boyd tries climbing on the Moonboard.
Next week, I will take a look back at my favourite indoor and competition climbing media from last year.
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Watch
- IFSC World Cups and Rock Climbing - Mattea Pötzi’s Breakthrough Season 2024 | Miro Enzenberger. Mattea Pötzi talks about her breakthrough 2024 season, including her first World Cup medal and first 8c+ redpoint outdoors.
- Winter Training Begins! | Erin McNeice. Erin shows us what a day of winter training is like for her.
- These 3 Things Could Transform Your Climbing | Catalyst Climbing. Louis Parkinson talks about characterising climbs using RIC: Risk, Intensity and Complexity (the idea originates from Tonde Katiyo and Jacky Godoffe) and how you can use them to assess your climbing.
- How Retired Competition Pro Alex Waterhouse Climbed The “Impossible” | Hannah Morris Bouldering. Hannah Morris and Alex Waterhouse show how indoor and competition climbing translate perfectly to climbing on the Nose on El Capitan.
- IFSC Boulder Pan American Championships 2024, Santiago (Chile) | Richardsons Climbing. Zac Richardson recaps his experience and thought process at the 2024 Pan American Championship in Santiago, Chile.
- Unlock Your Confidence in Climbing with these Psychology Tips, Tricks & Hacks | Mimi White Climbing Calm. Mimi White shares some tactics to feel more confident in your climbing, including building your comfort zone, changing your self-talk and cultivating a growth mindset.
- The Fastest Climber on the Planet | Josh Rundle. Josh Rundle learns how to speed climb from the world’s fastest man and Olympic bronze medalist, Sam Watson, and his coach, Albert Ok.
- How are boulders set? | Bouldering Bobat. Jake Mason explains his process of setting a boulder at Hang.
- Is the Moonboard really that hard? An experiment… | Mike Boyd Climbs. Mike Boyd finds out how hard the Moonboard really is and why people become obsessed with it.
2025 International Climbing Competition Tickets
The 2024 season is over, and tickets for the 2025 competitions are already on sale.
- Studio Bloc Masters 2025 (Germany) 15 – 16 March 2025. Registration opens in February.
- Prague (Czechia) World Cup 7 – 8 June 2025. You can purchase tickets for the whole weekend already. Single-day tickets will be sold later.
That’s a Wrap
I hope you enjoyed this edition of Behind the Wall. Let me know what you think at behindthewall@insideclimbing.com or D.M. me on Instagram.
See you next week!
P.S. Please share with anyone you think would enjoy reading Behind The Wall.
