Recently while in Nowra I had the privilege of sitting down with NSW South Coast Climber - Sabine Pratt Hunziker, to record this episode. Sabine came to climbing from a background in surfing, and we talk about the crags and the climbing community on the south coast before getting into the main focus of the podcast - that is, the story of her recovery from a climbing accident that she had while Climbing in New Zealand a few years ago. It’s the story of how Sabine suffers a total loss of control through injuries sustained from the accident. She shares her experience candidly and honestly, taking ..read more

It's Brisbane based climber Alex Mougenot up in Episode 12 - an all-round climber who started climbing in South-East Queensland in 2013. In the podcast we talk about how his climbing started and progressed, we go into his motivations and what gets him psyched - he's very psyched! We talk about his head game on mentally challenging terrain and training that has more recently included a crack climbing dungeon under the house. After that we get into adventure climbing, and in particular the first adventure climb he aspired to - The Governor on Mount Barney, and an epic he got into on the same mou ..read more

In Episode 11 I interview the team from theCrag - the global climbing information site that originated in Australia more than two decades ago. As many Australian climbers use theCrag I felt it was important to capture not just the story of theCrag, but also the insights that theCrag team could bring to us about Australian climbers and Australian climbing culture. Joining me for this podcast is Simon Dale - CEO and Co-founder of the Crag, Nicky Hochmuth - Chief Data Officer, and Ulf Fuchslueger - Head of Business Development. We go in depth on the history of theCrag from how it started in 1999 ..read more

In Episode 10 I interview Christopher Glastonbury, a Queensland climber and mechanical engineer, that describes himself as a trad climber that likes to boulder between rests. He lived, worked and climbed in Norway for 5 years, and has spent the past 2 years travelling around Australia and the US with his partner, a previous Lay Back guest - Ashlee Hendy. Chris spent his formative years in Townsville, climbing with his two close friends Steve Ioannou and Chris Beric. Together they form ‘The Three Monkeys’ and their combined psyche pushed climbing in Townsville through a burst of development ..read more

In episode 9 of the Lay Back Podcast we feature Simon ‘Arnie’ Weill, a Victorian based climber known for his contributions to the development of bouldering in the Grampians. I had originally pegged Simon as a Boulderer that dabbles in a bit of Sport climbing, but Simon’s origins in climbing go back to early days climbing bluestone walls in Melbourne, followed by much time spent trad climbing in Arapiles. He has seen climbing change and evolve over the past two decades, and we discuss his origins in climbing, and the development of the bouldering scene in the Grampians over time. In interview ..read more

In Episode 8 I sit down with Andy Pollitt, originally from Wales, Andy emigrated to Australia in the early 90s after numerous trips down here for long stints at Arapiles.  Andy grew up in North Wales and was the Rock Star of British climbing in the eighties, pushing standards with other climbers you may have heard of like Jerry Moffat and Martin ‘Basher’ Andersen. Andy’s climbing epitomised the bold British climbing ethic. It would be impossible to cover all of Andy’s exploits in one podcast and we focus on a few in depth stories of him soloing the Great Wall, and his experience on the Bells ..read more

In Episode 7 of the Lay Back Podcat, I sit down with David Reeve - Long time climber and president of the Australian Climbing Association of Queensland. Outside Dave’s long history of climbing and mountaineering, he’s amassed an array of experience as a botanist, an academic, an engineer, an entrepreneur and in his role at the ACAQ. I was eager to pick his brain on a range of topics, and we ended up recording for 3 hours - This will be an epic - I’ve trimmed it back a bit and split the episode into two parts. We start with Dave’s early climbing in the Queensland climbing scene in the 60s, and ..read more

In Episode 7 of the Lay Back Podcat, I sit down with David Reeve - Long time climber and president of the Australian Climbing Association of Queensland. Outside Dave’s long history of climbing and mountaineering, he’s amassed an array of experience as a botanist, an academic, an engineer, an entrepreneur and in his role at the ACAQ. I was eager to pick his brain on a range of topics, and we ended up recording for 3 hours - This will be an epic - I’ve trimmed it back a bit and split the episode into two parts. We start with Dave’s early climbing in the Queensland climbing scene in the 60s, and ..read more

In episode 6 I sit down in Natimuk with Olivia Page - freelance photographer, climber, bootstrapping adventurer, and Arc’Teryx ambassador. Olivia has been shooting adventure, travel and conservation for over a decade. We cover her stories from helicopter hunting in New Zealand, sailing around asia, dirtbagging in Arapiles, Federation peak in Tasmania, Yosemite, and an all-female expedition to attempt a first mountain peak traverse and first mountain ascent in the remote north of Fiordland in New Zealand. Olivia is passionate about getting more Women outside and into trad, and she’s pushing ..read more

In episode 5 I interview Dr Ashlee Hendy, a Melbourne based climber who has been climbing in the Victorian scene for almost 20 years. Ashlee has carved out an academic career in exercise science and neuroscience, and is currently on a career break and as I write this, climbing her way across North America with her partner Chris and dog Lulu. Ashlee stopped through Melbourne en route to the US after a stint climbing in Tasmania this past summer, and I took the opportunity to sit down with Ashlee to record this episode at her family home. We cover a lot of ground in this interview – Ashlee’s e ..read more