Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right, or so goes the pithy expression. But at least in Angelika Rainer’s case, it does seem to bear out.

During Angelika’s 20-year career, she helped set new world standards, becoming the first woman to send D15 ✅ and routinely finishing first or second on the Ice Climbing World Cup circuit 🥇. That’s a far cry from the kid whose favorite catchphrase was “I can’t do it”. What changed?

Well, you’ll have to listen to find out.

In this episode, we chat about:

• 🧊 Struggling with confidence and how climbing helped
• 🧊 Developing a love for the mountains thanks to her mom
• 🧊 Going all in on drytooling and how the sport evolved
• 🧊 The importance of an “off-season” for recuperation
• 🧊 Her mental battle with “Iron Man” (D14+)
• 🧊 The decision to retire from competitions
• 🧊 Sending her first 9a
• 🧊 The story behind a cappuccino-inspired route

Resources and links:

Angelika is spending a lot more time on rock these days, and to see what she’s working on, you can follow her on Instagram @angelika_rainer. She also regularly shares blog updates on her website: angelika-rainer.com

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📸 Cover photo courtesy of Jonathan White

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.

Patreon:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more, consider supporting us on Patreon. (And for less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

What are those funny folks in tights doing on the YouTubez, kicking into the whozimiwuchits and spitting off those metal thingamajigs?

If you, like me, have ever had questions about Ice Climbing World Cups, this is your episode of Ice Ice Beta… because today we chat with, Rob Adie, the man responsible for organizing the UIAA World Cup Tour.

He’s sort of a one-man band. To help paint the picture, last year, Rob managed 12 events across 3 continents featuring over 150 athletes from 28 countries. (And I want to note, that’s considered a down year). There’s a lot that goes into putting something like that together, obviously, and you can bet your bottom dollar we’ll cover it today.

In this episode, we chat about a range of topics, including:

• 🧊 Rob’s journey from climbing wall designer to competition organizer
• 🧊 The evolution of ice climbing comps
• 🧊 All the intricacies of managing the World Cup Tour, especially in light of climate change
• 🧊 Ice climbing's Olympic ambitions
• 🧊 The ebb and flow of the sport’s growth
• 🧊 And how the community spirit drives the success of ice climbing competitions

Resources and links:

The UIAA will be announcing their calendar for the upcoming World Cup Tour shortly. You can check in at iceclimbing.sport when it’s live.

The org is also launching a YouTube series, “On Thin Ice”, which follows competitors from last year’s World Cup circuit. It should start at the end of the month, and if the trailer is any indication, it’ll be a fun watch.

Lastly, if you’d like to follow along with all the World Cup going-ons, their IG is @uiaa_iceclimbing.

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📸 Cover photo courtesy of Rob Adie

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.

Patreon:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more, consider supporting us on Patreon. (And for less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

Kevin Lindlau is one of the rare birds in drytooling who excels at both comp *and* outdoor climbing. In January, Kevin completed the second ascent of “Aletheia”, rated D16 ✅, becoming only the second person in the world to climb the grade. (There’s some nuance here since other routes have been proposed at D16, but this is the first route that has been repeated and the grade corroborated). Anywho, on the comp side, Kevin was the first American to ever make World Cup Finals in Lead in 2019, and he has regularly made Finals since.

In this episode, we talk about:

• 🧊 How Kevin came to climbing after a gruesome accident that ended a promising bicycle racing career
• 🧊 Overcoming self-doubt along the way
• 🧊 The important role of mentorship in his development (shout out to Marcus Garcia)
• 🧊 How to train for high-end roof climbing and competitions in the same year
• 🧊 What most people get wrong about ARC training
• 🧊 The future of drytooling routes
• 🧊 And of course, latte art ☕️

Just a warning that Kevin gives a graphic description of his accident. If you’re squeamish, you might want to skip that part. If you’re a sadist, well, enjoy, I guess.

Resources and links:

If you’d like to follow along with Kevin’s latest latte creation, his ice axe juggling or climbing, you can follow him on Instagram @lindlaukevin.

Other notes:

We are also planning a training episode with Kevin and a few others, so if you have any questions from the episode, send me a DM and we’ll include it in that conversation.

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📸 Cover photo by Kara Vogler (@mtnghoststudio)

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.

Patreon:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more, consider supporting us on Patreon. (And for less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).