When does a passion for climbing become something less healthy?

In Episode 17 of A Climber’s Mind, Mat is joined by Ollie “Stamper” Stamper, a former addiction counsellor with a fascinating perspective on the relationship between addiction, recovery and climbing.

Climbing can provide purpose, structure, community, identity and an incredibly powerful source of reward. For many people, those things can have an enormously positive effect on their lives.

But what happens when that relationship becomes more complicated?

Mat and Stamper explore the difference between passion, obsession and addiction, and how some of the same traits that can drive high performance can also begin working against us.

They discuss addictive traits, reward cycles, perfectionism, emotional regulation, grades and performance, as  ...