Fallon Rowe: Escaping an Abusive Climbing Relationship, Finding Freedom, and Rekindling the Stoke

2025-09-24

Join The Struggle’s Patreon community to get 100+ hours of Bonus Episodes, Pro Clinics, Uncut Videos, and Submit Questions for Future Guests. FREE TRIAL available! https://www.patreon.com/thestruggleclimbingshow - In this episode Fallon Rowe, climber and author of Pay No Mind, explores: How she fell into a charismatic climbing relationship that turned very dark, controlling, and abusive The manipulative tricks her partner used to keep her under his control

Join The Struggle’s Patreon community to get 100+ hours of Bonus Episodes, Pro Clinics, Uncut Videos, and Submit Questions for Future Guests. FREE TRIAL available!

https://www.patreon.com/thestruggleclimbingshow

In this episode Fallon Rowe, climber and author of Pay No Mind, explores:

How she fell into a charismatic climbing relationship that turned very dark, controlling, and abusive
The manipulative tricks her partner used to keep her under his control
Power imbalances that can occur in some climbing relationships
Her harrowing escape
The evidence based therapy (EMDR) that she used to process and recover from the trauma
Stoic philosophy
Why she feels more deeply connected to climbing and mastery everyday
Struggling with chronic health conditions and how she manages them
Being psyched on sport multi-pitch and FAs
How to identify red flags in your relationship or belaytionship
Being mentored by John Long

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Here are some AI generated show notes (hopefully the robots got it right)

00:00 Introduction and Welcome

00:37 Introducing Fallon Rowe and Her Story

01:19 Fallon's Book: Pay No Mind

01:45 A Different Kind of Episode

04:00 Starting the Conversation with Fallon

05:12 Fallon's Journey and Writing Process

07:53 The Abusive Relationship Unfolds

11:12 Climbing and Control

33:32 The Final Escape

37:47 Healing and Moving Forward

49:23 The Downward Spiral of a Friend

50:12 Rediscovering the Joy of Climbing

52:03 Living with Chronic Illness

55:28 Navigating Climbing with Health Conditions

01:01:32 Addressing Abuse in Climbing Relationships

01:08:44 The Impact of Sharing Personal Stories

01:11:39 Fallon's Future and Stoic Philosophy

01:22:06 Final Thoughts and Acknowledgements

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This show is produced and hosted by Ryan Devlin, and edited by Glen Walker. The Struggle is a proud member of the Plug Tone Audio Collective, a diverse group of the best, most impactful podcasts in the outdoor industry.

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And now here are some buzzwords to help the almighty algorithm get this show in front of people who love to climb: rock climbing, rock climber, climbing, climber, bouldering, sport climbing, gym climbing, how to rock climb, donuts are amazing. Okay, whew, that’s done. But hey, if you’re a human that’s actually reading this, and if you love this show (and love to climb) would you think about sharing this episode with a climber friend of yours? And shout it out on your socials? I’ll send you a sticker for doing it. Just shoot me a message on IG – thanks so much!

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