The Inside Climbing Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Natalie Berry, Tyler Norton and I chat about the Keqiao and Wujiang competitions before discussing athletes growing into competing, the Ukriaine response to the change in the neutral athlete policy. We finish we making our picks for he 2026 World Climbing Series winners.

Natalie is a freelance journalist with work published in The New York Times, The Guardian, National Geographic Traveller UK, WIRED UK, and New Lines Magazine. She was the editor of UKClimbing, a former GB competitor and the first Scottish woman to climb 8b on rock. She is also a founding editor of Desire Lines Collective.

Tyler Norton created Plastic Weekly, a YouTube Channel and podcast covering the indoor climbing and the World Cup circuit, including regular competition debriefs with John Burgman.

Links:
Natalie's website and Instagram
Neutral Athlete Policy
Toronto Triple Crown

Chapters:
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• (00:00) - Pre-show: Naming the podcast
• (03:32) - Keqiao Boulder Debrief
• (21:49) - Wujiang Lead Debrief
• (42:54) - Wujiang Speed Debrief
• (56:04) - Ben Moon's Speed Medal
• (59:52) - Athletes winning medals later than they used to
• (01:07:31) - The new Neutral Athlete Policy
• (01:17:04) - Overall Series Picks
• (01:31:41) - Outro
• (01:32:00) - After Show: The Toronto Triple Crown

I am joined by Natalie Berry and Tyler Norton to talk about our experiences watching the first Pro Climbing League event.

We talk about the format and the effect on the routesetting, the show and our experience both in person and remotely. We compare it to IFSC/World Climbing events and discuss what World Climbing could take from the PCL.

Natalie Berry is a freelance journalist whose work has appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, National Geographic Traveller UK, and New Lines Magazine. She was previously the editor at UK Climbing and a GB Climbing athlete. She won the British Lead National Championship in 2011.

Tyler Norton was the host of the Plastic Weekly podcast, a podcast with John Burgman focused on competition climbing before it stopped in March 2024.

Chapters:

• (00:00) - Intro
• (00:42) - Speed resetting
• (05:20) - Routesetting and the format
• (09:04) - Athlete interactions
• (16:20) - Racing/Execution format
• (23:11) - Changing the format
• (29:56) - Storytelling
• (35:46) - Experience at the venue
• (40:34) - What we liked about the event/format
• (46:24) - Prize money
• (50:57) - (Lack of) sponsored clothing
• (53:39) - Judging
• (57:04) - Athletes mics
• (58:57) - Michaela Kiersch's interviews
• (01:00:58) - What could the IFSC/World CLimbing take from the PCL event?
• (01:11:04) - Athlete numbers in World Cups and PCL
• (01:14:48) - Outro
• (01:15:08) - Aftershow

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Natalie Berry and Louise Flockhart join me to chat about the 2026 British Bouldering Championship, which Louise competed in.

Natalie is a freelance journalist with work published in The New York Times, The Guardian, National Geographic Traveller UK, WIRED UK, and New Lines Magazine. She was the editor of UKClimbing, a former GB competitor and the first Scottish woman to climb 8b on rock. She won bronze at the 2018 British Bouldering Championship.

Louise is a former GB Climbing athlete and content creator. She won bronze at the 2024 and 2023 British Boulder before deciding to take 2025 off competing.

Chapters:

• (00:00) - Intro
• (02:30) - Women
• (09:30) - Selection events
• (15:55) - Men’s Competition
• (19:32) - BBC Final format
• (20:50) - Broadcast woes
• (24:00) - PCL format
• (25:48) - Max Milne’s Final
• (27:47) - Routesetting
• (38:53) - Weird boulders
• (42:27) - What is next for Louise

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In this podcast, I talk with Charlie Boscoe and Danaan Markey about the Pro Climbing League.

We chat about how it all started, why they wanted to create it, and convince investors to invest in a climbing league. 

We also talk A LOT about their new format, which pits athletes head-to-head on identical boulders.

Chapters:

• (00:00) - Intro
• (00:52) - Origin of PCL
• (06:18) - Moment (of lack of) when they thought it would work
• (10:49) - Understanding the Finances
• (13:41) - Selling Climbing to investors
• (19:52) - Vision for the League
• (22:38) - First event in London
• (24:00) - Origins of the format
• (31:55) - Athlete vs Athlete instead of the wall
• (41:03) - Routesetting in PCL
• (47:37) - Most challenging aspect for routesetters
• (48:58) - Breaking ties
• (53:01) - Similarities with Lead climbing
• (59:08) - How they making both boulders identical
• (01:03:01) - Final words
• (01:04:41) - Outro

Links:
Pro Climbing League Website
Instagram
YouTube
Charlie's Instagram
Danaan's Instagram

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Para Climbing athletes Eva Mol, Sebastian Depke, and Anita Aggarwal l join me to talk about the 2025 Para Climbing World Championship in Seoul, South Korea.

For more coverage of the Para Climbing World Championship, follow Inside Climbing on Instagram.

Chapters

• (00:00) - Intros
• (01:24) - World Cup vs World Championship
• (06:42) - Para Classes
• (18:45) - Paralympic Classes for Para Climbing
• (22:26) - Seoul
• (00:40) - Who to watch out for
• (01:04:48) - Future of Para Climbing
• (01:15:11) - Final Words

Natalie Berry, Tyler Norton and I chat about the upcoming World Championship.

Natalie is a freelance journalist with work published in The New York Times, The Guardian, National Geographic Traveller UK, WIRED UK, and New Lines Magazine. She was the editor of UKClimbing, a former GB competitor and the first Scottish woman to climb 8b on rock.

Tyler Norton founded Plastic Weekly, a YouTube Channel and podcast covering the indoor climbing and the World Cup circuit, including regular debriefs with John Burgman.

For more coverage of the World Championship, follow Inside Climbing on Instagram.

Chapters

• (00:00) - Intro
• (01:11) - World Cups vs World Championships
• (10:03) - Lead
• (33:44) - Speed
• (51:15) - Boulder
• (01:14:29) - Eulogy for Combined