Episode 17: Tyler Williams — Building A Culture

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This is a special episode over here at Thundercling HQ. About a year ago we hatched the idea to cobble together some sort of climbing podcast, heavy on character and story, light on what grades you climb and how sick your crew is. We hadn’t the slightest notion of how to conduct a podcast, let alone launch one. Although we’d cultivated some connections, we had no idea with whom to launch the inaugural episode. We needed a guinea pig to test it out on. We needed a Patient Zero.

Enter Tyler Williams.

Tyler, a talented and charismatic climbing coach and routesetter, walked into the madness and made us rookies feel right at home; comfortable and confident. His inspirational and relentlessly positive attitude towards climbing left no mystery as to how he’s vaulted from summer camp counselor to youth coach to head coach, from California to Minnesota.

Tyler has left podium finishers, a new generation of climbing stewards, and a swath of motivated youth in his wake. After a youth coach internship — of sorts — at Movement Climbing and Fitness in Denver, Tyler headed back home to Minnesota, where he assumed head coaching duties at the gorgeous and expansive Minneapolis Bouldering Project. They should feel grateful to have landed such a committed, insightful, and passionate advocate for youth climbing and how they will carry our sport into an uncertain future.

Thanks for listening, gang, over the last year. Thanks for giving us an opportunity and platform to share some amazing stories from climbers who inspire, make us shoot snot from laughter, and educate us all on the issues that drive our weird little tribe. And thanks to Tyler for walking into a bizarro podcast laboratory, especially since we were all naked…

Cheers, as always, to Ryne Doughty for the bad-ass tunes.

Have a question, concern, pitch, or criticism? Drop us a line at thunderclingpodcast@gmail.com. Toss us a DM on Instagram @thethundercling. We read and respond to every note we receive.