As climbing grows in popularity, the number of new climbers is outpacing the number of experienced climbers, and it can be harder for newer climbers to find a personal mentor in the sport. With the growing popularity, how people are learning is changing too, but for most of climbing’s history, mentors were so important to that process. How and through whom people come to climbing has a great effect on their experience, good or bad and in between. 

This project puts climbers in conversation who are in a mentor/mentee relationship to shed light on what makes a good relationship, why having a mentor helps in climbing and outdoor sports in general, and to dig into the way people support one another. Each episode is hosted by Kyra and I in conversation with a pair of people in the climbing community who are in that mentor/mentee relationship with each other. The goal is to gather wisdom from some of climbing’s most inspiring athletes, to hear what they’ve learned from each other, and to provide a taste of that mentorship to our listeners.