This episode is a conversation with Katy Whittaker aka The Grit Kid. Katy is a life long climber. She started young in a family of climbers and outdoor enthusiasts living in the picturesque village of Edale in the Peak District, UK.

Katy became known on the UK scene for a number of things; her stand out achievements on hard, scary gritstone trad routes make an impressive CV alone but she has also bouldered hard outside, competed for the British team and excelled in sport climbing.

But what makes this conversation interesting isn’t her list of achievements. It’s Katy’s honesty, reflection and her insights into her climbing that are the gold. We talk about risk, motivation to try dangerous routes, her relationship with “hard climbing” and her identity as someone who since so young has been entrenched in climbing culture.