EP 279: Andy Raether — Bringing Routes to Life, How to Be Stronger at 40 than 20, & the Woods Board

Andy Raether is a prolific sport climber, boulderer, and developer based in Las Vegas, NV. He also owns a climbing hold company and created the Woods Board. We talked about his intro to climbing and making holds, bringing routes and crags to life, sending his hardest boulder (Midlife Crisis V14) at 40 years old, how he trains on The Woods Board, how to master terrible holds, and much more.

Rúngne (Chalk & Apparel)

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The GRINDS Program (Free Training PDF)

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The NUG (My Portable Hangboard)

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Show Notes:

thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/andy-raether

Nuggets:

(00:00:00) – Intro

(00:01:49) – Climbing Magazine ad

(00:03:52) – Andy’s origin story

(00:09:44) – Legendary holds

(00:13:49) – Making climbing holds

(00:16:49) – Early rock climbing & development

(00:23:54) – Menagerie

(00:25:49) – Meeting his wife

(00:28:33) – Moving to Vegas

(00:32:07) – Dad Raether

(00:39:00) – Vegas bolting potential

(00:45:06) – Bringing crags to life

(01:05:53) – Bouldering development

(01:08:34) – Midlife Crisis V14

(01:35:43) – Stronger at 40 than 20

(01:40:15) – Dad Bod

(01:45:04) – Grades

(01:51:50) – Mithril

(01:54:04) – James Litz

(01:58:51) – The Woods Board

(02:06:14) – The mentality of board climbing

(02:10:58) – Monos

(02:14:56) – How Andy trains on the Woods Board

(02:27:30) – Where to climb on the Woods Board

(02:29:08) – Iterating moves (“hangboard” boulder problems)

(02:37:24) – Mirroring each try

(02:41:57) – The Spot Battle

(02:44:00) – Andy’s garage

(02:46:02) – Gyms in Vegas

(02:54:10) – Routesetter Unions

(03:07:06) – Wrap up & EXTRA teaser