One of the most interesting things for me is digging deeper into people’s psyche, to better understand their motivations and humanity. Doing that seems to reveal that at our core we’re all the same: we seek meaningful life experiences and struggle to find such experiences. Thus, interviews that dig deep give us a window of opportunity to see ourselves in the lives of others.

Hazel Findlay recently started a podcast—The Curious Climber Podcast—that does just this. The first episode is an interview with Beth Rodden, one of the most accomplished climbers of our time.

Beth climbed hard trad like Meltdown (5.14c) in Yosemite, the youngest woman to climb 5.14a (To Bolt or Not To Be at Smith Rock), and did free ascents on big walls such as the second free ascent of the Nose on El Capitan in Yosemite.

Despite all these achievements, when Hazel asked Beth how she’d like to be remembered, Beth simply said: that I did my best. Really? Well… yes. There’s more to that answer than you might imagine.

Hazel digs deep with Beth, exploring body image, motivation, and how elite climbers can be torn between achievement and enjoying climbing.

Enjoy the podcast.