Shauna Coxsey is one of the most decorated climbers of her generation, but this conversation goes far beyond competition results. We explore her journey through high-performance sport, injury, identity, mental health, and motherhood. Shauna shares her experiences with anxiety, disordered eating, and the often unseen challenges of life as a professional athlete, including supporting her husband through depression, being dropped by her main sponsor and coming back postpartum. It’s an honest and thoughtful conversation about values, positivity, life-philosophy, vulnerability, and what it means to stay true to yourself, on and off the wall.

Check out our free mindset workbook and guided reflection here.

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Timestamps:

00:02:22 - Hazel’s take on some of the themes in the conversation

00:04:27 - Shauna’s climbing beginnings

00:08:27 - Choosing the path of a professional athlete

00:14:14 - Are you naturally competitive?

00:15:39 - Balancing personal motivation in competition

00:20:18 - When winning isn’t enough

00:26:40 - Shauna's doubts about competition climbing

00:28:16 - Injuries and the body’s messages

00:32:07 - The Olympic mindset

00:38:10 - The tension between performance and well-being

00:40:56 - Speaking out about mental health on social media

00:51:06 - Shauna and Ned’s story and relationship

00:58:24 - Struggles with depression and anxiety and sharing these topics publicly

01:05:07 - Managing anxiety today

01:11:04 - Mental health perspectives and real life

01:20:19 - Eating disorders in climbing

01:36:36 - Motherhood

01:45:32 - Adidas dropping Shauna

In this episode, I sit down with Barbara Zangler ( Babsi) and Jacopo Larcher to learn more about their ascent of Freerider on El Capitan in Yosemite Valley. They both shared the same goal of flashing the route, however, only Babsi managed to achieve this, making her the first person to have ever flashed El Capitain. Hearing the story from both sides was interesting and unique. We discuss their motivations for climbing this route, what the road to get there looked like and what they both learned from the experience.

There is a movie about their ascents on the Black Diamond website, you can follow this link to check it out! Link to video

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We also have a free performance psychology webinair you can sign up for today, just follow this link.

- Timestamps -

00:00:00 - Intro and updates.

00:06:24 - When did you both decide to commit your lives 100% to climbing?

00:14:53 - Partnership and their climbing journey.

00:21:27 - Strategic approach to climbing throughout the year.

00:24:10 - Struggles of the first time climbing in Yosemite.

00:34:04 - When did flashing freerider become a goal for you?

00:41:25 - Did this goal have more meaning to you compared to others?

00:48:46- How did you manage the pressure?

00:54:15 - Jacopo’s fall on the boulder problem.

00:57:25 - Babsi’s flow experience on the boulder problem.

01:01:10 - Jacopo on supporting Babsi and managing his emotions after he failed.

01:06:34 - Jacopo’s inner critic vs. practising self-kindness.

01:09:50 - Babsi’s reflections after the climb.

01:14:46 - Is happiness tied to achievement?

01:19:27 - What lessons have you both learned from this journey?