Welcome to the 50th and final episode of the Ω Powerband Podcast - a podcast dedicated to rock climbing in Aotearoa New Zealand. In this episode, I speak with the man who (unwittingly) inspired this entire podcast project, Chris Kalous.  Chris who? Well, Chris is an American climber based in Carbondale, Colorado and is perhaps best known as the host of the world's best climbing podcast: The Enormocast. Or maybe the aid rant. So what does that have to do with New Zealand climbing? Not a lot. Chris did spend a formative ~9 months living and climbing in New Zealand and, as such, has some gre ..read more

Welcome to Episode 49 of the Ω Powerband Podcast - a podcast dedicated to rock climbing in Aotearoa New Zealand. In this episode, I speak with mathlete, engineer, runner, boulderer, tradster and alpinist Rose Pearson. Rose hails from Dunedin. A few forays to the local climbing wall sparked an early interest in climbing but all climbing opportunities ceased when her family moved to Springfield, Illinois, USA when she was 11. Returning to New Zealand after completing secondary school, Rose attended Canterbury University and completed an engineering degree (majoring in electrical engineering). Wh ..read more

Welcome to Episode 48 of the Ω Powerband Podcast - a podcast dedicated to rock climbing in Aotearoa New Zealand. In this episode, I speak with the first woman to climb Mt Everest without supplemental oxygen, Lydia Bradey ONZM. Lydia grew up in Christchurch and started her adventuring as a young teenager when she joined one of the local tramping clubs. She quickly developed a taste for tramps off the beaten track and above the bushline. Tramping gave way to mountaineering (same same but different, she would say) and before you could blink she was climbing big aid lines in Yosemite and tackling ..read more

Welcome to Episode 47 of the Ω Powerband Podcast - a podcast dedicated to rock climbing in Aotearoa New Zealand. In this episode, I speak with mountaineer, paraglider, caver, board gamer, mountain runner and rock climber, Mike McManaway. Mike grew up (mostly) in Canterbury. As full time boarder at a very traditional boys school, he signed on for mountaineering mostly as a means of escape. But those early experiences planted the seed of adventure and, in one way or another, Mike has been chasing it ever since.   After the death of a climbing partner on Aspiring and then a brush with death ..read more

Welcome to Episode 45 of the Ω Powerband Podcast - a podcast dedicated to rock climbing in Aotearoa New Zealand. In this episode, I speak with Manawatū's best rock climber, Scott Mooney. Scott was born in Palmerston North but grew up (mostly) on the north shore of Auckland. Like many before him, Scott's first exposure to climbing was on a school trip to the short side at the Quarry. Where would New Zealand climbing (and, in Scott's case, Swedish climbing also) be without the Quarry? That's a rhetorical question but the answer is nowhere! In the 1990s, Scott quickly became the best of Auckland ..read more

Welcome to Episode 44 of the Ω Powerband Podcast - a podcast dedicated to rock climbing in Aotearoa New Zealand. In this episode, I speak with rock climber, big waller, ice climber, whitewater canoeist and orienteerer, Rick McGregor. Rick was born in Auckland in the 1950s and, as a young Auckland Grammar student, happened upon the opportunity to climb at the short side of the Quarry (now known as the crag that Auckland Grammar School closed because of ridiculous ideas about ridiculous health and safety laws). He quickly fell in love with climbing and fell in with the leading (only?) Auckland r ..read more

Welcome to Episode 43 of the Ω Powerband Podcast - a podcast dedicated to rock climbing in Aotearoa New Zealand. In this episode, I speak with father, businessman, alpinist, ice climber, rock climber and big waller, Daniel Joll. Daniel is one of New Zealand's best all-round climbers. From the Hawke's Bay to the Himalaya via Whanganui Bay, the Blueys, Patagonia, Yosemite and the Darrans, he has climbed more hard pitches and rapped off more V threads than you've had hot dinners. Perhaps best known for his role in establishing the New Zealand Alpine Team or for being part of a team of 3 that clai ..read more

Welcome to Episode 41 of the Ω Powerband Podcast - a podcast dedicated to rock climbing in Aotearoa New Zealand. In this episode, I speak with the most internationally famous Kiwi rock climber of all time, Mayan Smith-Gobat. Mayan needs no introduction. In her prime, Mayan was one of world's leading female adventure and big wall climbers. And her sport climbing game wasn't half bad either. From freeing the Salathe on El Capitan, to the first female ascent of Punks In The Gym at Arapiles, to nearly the first full free ascent of Riders On The Storm on Torre Central, to a speed record on The Nose ..read more

Welcome to Episode 40 of the Ω Powerband Podcast - a podcast dedicated to rock climbing in Aotearoa New Zealand. In this episode, I speak with climber, mother, designer and one half of castlehillbasin.co.nz, Erin Stewart. Erin is a born-and-bred Christchurchian but her path to climbing was not the usual one. By her own admission, Erin was not sporty or adventurous as a young person, preferring to read books and listen to music. She says her friends would have voted her as the least likely amongst them to become a rock climber. But that all changed after leaving school. As a young 'party girl ..read more

Welcome to Episode 39 of the Ω Powerband Podcast - a podcast dedicated to rock climbing in Aotearoa New Zealand. In this episode, I speak with coach and competition climber Cirrus Tan. You may know or recognise Cirrus as 'chicksnchalk' - the name on her Instagram profile. She is one of New Zealand's leading climbing coaches and competition climbers. Growing up in Christchurch, a renowned 'climbing city', Cirrus actually forged her own path into the climbing life, starting out on the little climbing wall at her secondary school. As a teen, she joined a climbing team at her local climbing wall a ..read more