The Curious Climber Podcast: Chatting with Hazel and Mina

Latest Episodes:

Paul Pritchard - On Acceptance Oct 18, 2020

Show notes

Paul was a pro climber in the 80’s putting up or repeating many serious routes on sea cliffs, big mountains and scrappy little quarries in Lancashire. In 1997 he won the Boardman Tasker award for his book Deep Play. With the money he went on a trip that took him to the Totem Pole, a sea stack in Tasmania. It was here that he almost lost his life after a rock hit him in the head. The accident left Paul partially paralysed and yet Paul describes this event as the best thing that ever happened to him. We talk about what he means by that, the lessons in acceptance that inevitably come with trauma like this, his experiences with meditation, the adventures he’s had post-accident and his new book! Paul is an amazing human with a lot of wisdom and little ego. Enjoy! This episode was recorded on the 3rd July.

Mina talks to Hazel about the mind and mental training. Oct 07, 2020

Show notes

How much of what we do in life and climbing, is controlled by the mind? When you fall on a route do you blame your physical strength/endurance or do you look to your mindset and thoughts? How much does your mind affect your experience and enjoyment? This episode is a chat between Mina and Hazel about Hazel's work as a mental training coach. Hazel has a vast amount of personal experience in climbing and she is a deep thinking person who’s mind is always ready to explore and ask questions, even the difficult ones. Hazel has coupled this experience with studying; a degree in philosophy, a diploma in transformational coaching and a level 3 coach with The Flow Centre.

Lynn Hill - Legend Sep 07, 2020

Show notes

Lynn and Hazel talk about Lynn's climbing career and what she has learnt along the way. They hit these topics among others: how she started, nature and nurture question when it comes to talent and passion, is there an ‘adventure gene’, climbing as a male dominated sport - especially when she started, taking responsibility for our climbing experiences, trad ethics, cultural differences between USA and EU, mental training, gender issues and women empowerment.

Natalie Brown: Periods. A bloody nuisance or bloody brilliant? Aug 17, 2020

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Periods. A bloody nuisance or bloody brilliant??

This episode is a conversation with academic Natalie Brown about her research and work in the field of the female athlete and the menstrual cycle with a focus on education and communication around these issues.

I (Mina) first met Natalie when I participated in some athlete interviews she conducted about a year ago. As we discuss in the podcast, she was trying to get a sense of the lived experience that women and girls have in sport relating to their periods in order to guide her research to where it was most needed.

Natalie's Twitter

Natalie's Instagram

Natalie's email : natalie.brown@swansea.ac.uk

Arno Ilgner - The ‘Godfather’ of Mental Training in Climbing Aug 05, 2020

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In this episode Hazel and Arno Ilgner geek out about Mental Training. They talk about lots of things including: fear of failure, fear of falling, awareness, mindfulness, following your passion is, process versus outcome, trusting the process, goal seeking, attention, connection, positive psychology, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, motivation, beliefs, imposter syndrome, politics, achievement versus learning, mental training beyond climbing - even beyond the individual, trauma. Enjoy!

Tom Herbert: Being Useful Jul 16, 2020

Show notes

Tom Herbert aka @usefulcoach is a performance coach and nutritionist who specialises in working with climbers.

Tom is quite the character; a creative, enthusiastic and knowledgeable person who has really set his mind to helping and supporting the people he works with however he can. He’s also passionate about doing it the right way, creating and nurturing sustainable athletes in a sport where there is all too often a focus on restriction and lightness as the only way forward.

In this podcast episode we talk about his background in nutrition and coaching, his experiences working with climbers and the nutritional needs in our sport, his thoughts on the low carbohydrate craze, body image in the climbing community, strength to weight ratios, veganism....and his other hobby....pole dancing!

Thanks as always to Alex Dempsey for the edit.

Tom's Instagram

Tom's Facebook Page

Tom's Website

Black in ‘65 - Trevor Eugine Masiah Jul 01, 2020

Show notes

Hazel speaks with Trev about racism. She’s known Trev all her life but they’ve never really spoken like this about racism. It is eye opening to sit down with Trev and hear all the personal stories one needs to hear to be convinced or reminded that racism is still a thing. Trev has climbed for 35 years all over the world and has taught climbing for almost his entire working life. They could have talked about anything, but being black in 65 and most likely the first British black climber gives Trev the kind of perspective few have. They talk about: what it’s like growing up in a racist white environment, what it’s like to literally be the only climber that looks like you, living with racism today, lack of racism in the climbing community, the concept of race as a convenient construct, why intentions matter, the ignorance of the white person to racism, the burden/responsibility being a member of a minority, the difference between racism and prejudice, compassion towards the racist, white washing of history/removal of black history, tribalism, class and racism, ‘we’ve had enough’, the current movement, yes there has been progress but it’s no where near good enough. This is a sobering and honest conversation that hopefully cuts through all the hashtags and small bites of info we're seeing scattered all over social media. This is only one black voice Trev is certainly one to listen to. He asked to share these resources along side the podcast: https://www.yesmagazine.org/opinion/2017/09/08/my-white-friend-asked-me-on-facebook-to-explain-white-privilege-i-decided-to-be-honest/?fbclid=IwAR171K6DEfA-nDVaH9Fs-5fydbd3U4k8fpoC5aK9v05xZ4rEw6nSiQTiKJM https://youtu.be/atfVUgyEIOI https://youtu.be/v4amCfVbA_c https://www.google.com/search?q=black+and+british+tv+series&oq=black+and+british&aqs=chrome.2.69i57j46j0l3.16529j1j8&client=tablet-android-samsung-nf-rev1&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8

Anoushé Husain - Not your average climber Jun 16, 2020

Show notes

Anoushé Husain is a civil servant and paraclimber in the UK and a champion for all those experiencing barriers and self-limiting beliefs. Born missing her right arm below the elbow, living with multiple health conditions, a cancer survivor, a Muslim and coming from an ethnic minority, Anoushé has never let what society or culture thinks she should do limit her or dictate the direction of her life. She spends her time sharing her journey to help others realise they shouldn’t be limited by how society or culture might see them. Anoushé is the 2017 Asian Women of Achievement Award winner for Sport and the 2017 recipient of the Helen Rollason Award for Inspiration at The Sunday Times Sportswomen of the Year Awards. She was also named on the 2018 Sunday Times Alternative Richlist, has received a Points of Light from the Prime Minister and is currently in the Top 100 most influential people with a disability Shaw Trust Powerlist. She is an Ambassador for Limbpower (leading amputee and limb different charity in the UK), Ehlers Danlos Support UK and a patron for the Grit&Rock foundation helping girls from deprived backgrounds reach their potential through Climbing.

She co-founded Paraclimbing London in 2018 to reduce the barriers to climbing for people with disabilities and long term health conditions.

In this podcast we take a deep dive into the following issues: what lock down is like for someone with health problems and a disability, the politics and language of disability, what needs to change in our culture around disability, the idea of inspiration porn in the disability world, the difference between vulnerability and victimhood, how para climbing works and what the scene is like, climbing as a BAME muslim and how welcoming climbing has been for her, body image and facial hair as a woman from an ethnic minority, the headscarf, how to make climbing more diverse and why it isn't very diverse already.

Jen Randall: A Director's Cut May 29, 2020

Show notes

What makes a good film or documentary? Is it seeing someone’s personal journey or their character depicted with authenticity; a sense of real-ness or honesty? Or is it the wild landscapes and the sense of adventure that you can vicariously indulge in through the film maker’s lens? Is it a simple story to follow, to learn a lesson from or find meaning in?

In this episode Mina talks to Jen Randall of Lightshed Pictures about her journey to becoming a film maker. We talk about the balance of needs in any film making venture - her creativity at the helm, the subject and their vulnerabilities and the role of sponsors. We discuss women in adventure films, both as subjects and behind the camera. Jen tells us stories from her experiences; where her films have taken her, the people she has had the pleasure to meet and work with along the way and the difficulties that arise when you are trying to capture a story or sense of a person/place.

If you are interested in this area professionally, then this is definitely a podcast for you - Jen talks openly about how she got where she is and what she would advise her younger self or anyone else who wants to enter this somewhat hard to access industry.

Light Shed Pictures - Jen's website where you can see all her work.

Light Shed Pictures Instagram

Light Shed Pictures Facebook

Emma Wood - The Mind in Climbing May 19, 2020

Show notes

Hazel talks to Emma Wood about the mind in climbing. Emma is a cognitive hypnotherapist based in Sheffield, UK. Find her website here.

They talk about a lot of things including: fear of falling, fear of failing, coaching, what is cognitive hypnotherapy, therapist/coach relationship, social validation, emotions, meditation.

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