PLAY PODCASTS
165. Kai Lightner, Pro Climber
Season 6 · Episode 165

165. Kai Lightner, Pro Climber

Hurdle with Emily Abbate

June 28, 202154m 0s

Audio is streamed directly from the publisher (podtrac.com) as published in their RSS feed. Play Podcasts does not host this file. Rights-holders can request removal through the copyright & takedown page.

Show Notes

Kai Lightner, is a professional climber — arguably one of the best in the world — from Fayetteville, North Carolina. Since first walking into the climbing gym at age 6, Kai has earned 12 national championship titles, but his story goes so much deeper than championships.

We talk about it all, from the why behind how he started in the sport, dealing with ADHD as a young kid, looking for an outlet to channel that energy, and how he feels being the only person of color in climbing. Kai talks about his relatively new nonprofit Climbing 4 Change, which aims to help with that by connecting underserved communities with individuals and organizations that seek to increase minority participation in rock climbing and the outdoor adventure industry.

He also gets super open and honest about a massive hurdle he spoke out about publicly last year, dealing with an eating disorder as a result of the pressure he felt to be the best, and how deciding to take time off of the sport to go to college helped him get in the right mindset.

WATCH
Kai’s Got Milk campaign film “The Wall” here!

RESOURCES
Contact the National Hotline for Eating Disorder Help by clicking here or calling (800) 931 2237 between 11 a.m. and 9 p.m. ET

SOCIAL
@kailightner
@emilyabbate
@hurdlepodcast

OFFERS
BaronFig
| Go to www.baronfig.com & use code HURDLE20 to receive 20 percent off at checkout
Athletic Greens | Head over to athleticgreens.com/hurdle for a year's supply of vitamin D PLUS 5 travel packs for free with your first purchase.

JOIN: THE *Secret* FACEBOOK GROUP

SIGN UP: Weekly Hurdle Newsletter

ASK ME A QUESTION: Leave me a voice message, ask me a question, and it could be featured in an upcoming episode!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.