October 27

49: Ben Hanna, USA Bouldering + Hold Shaper

Ben is a climber on Team USA and hold shaper for Pusher holds! In this episode we’ll get some insight into the grades of world cup boulders, how depression, anxiety, and ADHD shapes his relationship with climbing, how he balances working as a routesetter with training, and get his thoughts on hold shaping.


Show Notes

Guest links:

Ben’s Instagram

Reference links:

Seoul World Champs Boulder Semis

The Boss hold

https://darmstadt.studiobloc.de/events/sbm/

Timestamps

Timestamps of discussion topics

0:00 - Intro

1:10 - Mad Rock Shoutout!!

1:53 - World champs experience

11:51 - Difficulty of semis boulders at world cups

18:33 - Getting into climbing and competing

22:36 - Climbing as self-medication for ADHD

30:20 - Training routine…or lack thereof

38:44 - Actually a lead climber

45:21 - MORE power boulders!

51:55 - Competitiveness with Colin

55:11 - Becoming a hold shaper

59:00 - Good holds vs bad holds

1:09:54 - Thoughts on no tex

1:20:05 - 2026 goals

1:21:56 - AUDIENCE Q: Did you really start climbing at 2?

1:26:19 - AUDIENCE Q: What kept you motivated to keep trying after failures at nationals

1:30:53 - AUDIENCE Q: What local climbers helped you growing up?

1:33:51 - Shoutouts + where to find Ben

Full Transcript

Show transcript
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.419
the power boulders can be v14 or v15 and they'll

00:00:04.419 --> 00:00:07.780
get done time away from climbing and like not

00:00:07.780 --> 00:00:10.119
being able to exercise for long long bouts i

00:00:10.119 --> 00:00:13.240
like started to realize that i like have some

00:00:13.240 --> 00:00:16.260
kind of depression and anxiety and that i've

00:00:16.260 --> 00:00:18.260
just been like self -medicating for the last

00:00:18.260 --> 00:00:23.800
20 some years via climbing and exercise They're

00:00:23.800 --> 00:00:25.780
just like a waste of plastic. And every time

00:00:25.780 --> 00:00:28.000
I see them, I'm just like, I can't believe you're

00:00:28.000 --> 00:00:29.859
just anyone's allowed to make a climbing hold

00:00:29.859 --> 00:00:34.020
company. Welcome to another episode of the That's

00:00:34.020 --> 00:00:36.479
Not Real Climbing Podcast. I'm your host, Jinni,

00:00:36.659 --> 00:00:38.539
and I'm excited to introduce my guest for today,

00:00:38.780 --> 00:00:42.259
Ben Hanna. Ben is a climber on Team USA and

00:00:42.259 --> 00:00:45.679
hold shaper for Pusher Holds. In this episode,

00:00:45.780 --> 00:00:47.759
we'll get some insight into the grades of World

00:00:47.759 --> 00:00:50.840
Cup boulders, how depression, anxiety, and ADHD

00:00:50.840 --> 00:00:53.899
shapes his relationship with climbing, how he

00:00:53.899 --> 00:00:56.140
balances working as a route setter with training,

00:00:56.340 --> 00:00:58.560
and we'll get his thoughts on hold shipping.

00:00:59.310 --> 00:01:10.329
I hope you enjoy this interview with Ben. I'm

00:01:10.329 --> 00:01:12.510
excited to announce that my sponsor Mad Rock

00:01:12.510 --> 00:01:14.409
Climbing just came out with a brand new pair

00:01:14.409 --> 00:01:16.890
of shoes, the Remora Pro. I was so excited to

00:01:16.890 --> 00:01:19.049
try them on that even though I broke a toe on

00:01:19.049 --> 00:01:21.370
my right foot, I had to at least try on the left

00:01:21.370 --> 00:01:23.909
shoe. So I can definitely say that the Remora

00:01:23.909 --> 00:01:27.219
Pro is better than a rental shoe. But really,

00:01:27.299 --> 00:01:29.219
these are their softest shoe ever, which means

00:01:29.219 --> 00:01:31.239
you no longer need to worry about standing on

00:01:31.239 --> 00:01:34.939
sketchy volumes and comps. They also have a crazy

00:01:34.939 --> 00:01:37.579
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00:01:37.579 --> 00:01:40.299
when heel hooking, and inserts that lock your

00:01:40.299 --> 00:01:42.340
heel into the shoe no matter how hard you're

00:01:42.340 --> 00:01:45.120
pulling. Feel free to message me if you have

00:01:45.120 --> 00:01:47.599
any questions about the shoes or sizing, and

00:01:47.599 --> 00:01:49.939
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00:01:49.939 --> 00:01:52.700
for 10 % off your entire Mad Rock order. Back

00:01:52.700 --> 00:01:55.060
to the show! Yeah, I don't know how people do

00:01:55.060 --> 00:01:57.680
it. I hate climbing in the morning. Yeah, it's

00:01:57.680 --> 00:02:00.719
I honestly I've been recently really like like

00:02:00.719 --> 00:02:02.500
the last two years has been recently like been

00:02:02.500 --> 00:02:07.560
really enjoying early morning sessions. It's

00:02:07.560 --> 00:02:09.800
the afternoon sessions that I feel like I like

00:02:09.800 --> 00:02:14.199
perform not as well in. But don't you feel like

00:02:14.199 --> 00:02:17.939
more stiff in the morning like at the end of

00:02:17.939 --> 00:02:21.080
the day is when you're like the most loose and

00:02:21.080 --> 00:02:23.919
stretched out and everything? Honestly, I just

00:02:23.919 --> 00:02:26.439
feel really tired by the end of the day. Like

00:02:26.439 --> 00:02:28.539
2 p .m. session comes around and I'm just like,

00:02:28.620 --> 00:02:32.259
man, I've been up for like six hours. I have

00:02:32.259 --> 00:02:36.639
to plan two meals before the comp instead of

00:02:36.639 --> 00:02:39.479
just cramming whatever I can in my face before

00:02:39.479 --> 00:02:42.979
I go. I'm also like, for me, the morning sessions

00:02:42.979 --> 00:02:45.539
are nice because I'll wake up and it's early,

00:02:45.699 --> 00:02:47.939
but I'll just wake up and I'm like, okay, it's

00:02:47.939 --> 00:02:50.060
go time. I don't have to think about this all

00:02:50.060 --> 00:02:55.379
day. I think it's a lot about that too. You just

00:02:55.379 --> 00:02:57.300
like less to think about and like less stress

00:02:57.300 --> 00:02:59.300
because you just like wake up and it sucks because

00:02:59.300 --> 00:03:01.199
it's early and you go and then it's time to climb.

00:03:02.699 --> 00:03:06.039
It's like over with a lot faster. Yeah, I guess

00:03:06.039 --> 00:03:08.580
that's true. I mean, do you tend to feel like

00:03:08.580 --> 00:03:10.419
you're someone who gets super nervous before

00:03:10.419 --> 00:03:12.960
comms like it's on your mind all day? I wouldn't

00:03:12.960 --> 00:03:15.039
say that I'm like a nervous wreck. I have some

00:03:15.039 --> 00:03:17.259
friends that are like nervous wrecks, but I definitely

00:03:17.259 --> 00:03:20.319
do get nervous and like have anxiety around it.

00:03:22.280 --> 00:03:26.620
In Korea, it was like really weird to deal with

00:03:26.620 --> 00:03:29.020
that because it was like, it wasn't eight days.

00:03:29.120 --> 00:03:30.780
It felt like it was eight days. It was only four

00:03:30.780 --> 00:03:33.620
days, but like four proper rest days. And then

00:03:33.620 --> 00:03:36.319
I climbed on the fifth day. So I had like five

00:03:36.319 --> 00:03:39.599
days to think about the next round. And like

00:03:39.599 --> 00:03:43.300
I went through the whole range of emotions of

00:03:43.300 --> 00:03:45.580
like super stressed. I wasn't going to make the

00:03:45.580 --> 00:03:50.319
round. Super psyched I made the round. excited

00:03:50.319 --> 00:03:54.020
for the round, nervous for the round, kind of

00:03:54.020 --> 00:03:55.819
ready for the round to be over because I'd been

00:03:55.819 --> 00:03:58.759
in Korea for so long and I didn't really get

00:03:58.759 --> 00:04:00.979
to do anything because I was just resting the

00:04:00.979 --> 00:04:03.340
whole time. I was like, I'm ready to get out

00:04:03.340 --> 00:04:06.139
of here. This bed sucks. I haven't done anything

00:04:06.139 --> 00:04:08.439
all week. I just want to do this thing and get

00:04:08.439 --> 00:04:11.599
over with it. Ready to go home. Well, I mean,

00:04:11.620 --> 00:04:14.659
first of all, congrats on making it into semis

00:04:14.659 --> 00:04:16.360
for Korea at the World Champs. That was cool

00:04:16.360 --> 00:04:19.949
to see. Thank you. And so, yeah, like, in that

00:04:19.949 --> 00:04:22.350
in -between time, you didn't really get to do

00:04:22.350 --> 00:04:24.230
any, like, fun things or traveling. You were

00:04:24.230 --> 00:04:27.910
just kind of resting. Yeah, I was pretty locked

00:04:27.910 --> 00:04:31.610
in. We had, like, two days where we, like, bopped

00:04:31.610 --> 00:04:35.829
around a little bit. But I didn't do a bunch

00:04:35.829 --> 00:04:39.209
of sightseeing, and I, like, tried to minimize

00:04:39.209 --> 00:04:42.350
my, like, going out and doing stuff. I also,

00:04:42.410 --> 00:04:45.670
like, went and watched every round, and so that

00:04:45.670 --> 00:04:49.060
ended up taking a bunch of time, too. Usually,

00:04:49.139 --> 00:04:53.199
I won't go to all the rounds to chill out before

00:04:53.199 --> 00:04:55.759
the comp, but I was like, I've got so many days,

00:04:55.980 --> 00:05:00.819
and I was also psyched to watch climbing. I just

00:05:00.819 --> 00:05:03.040
went and watched, I think, every single round

00:05:03.040 --> 00:05:07.339
but one, which happened to be the women's final,

00:05:07.439 --> 00:05:10.079
which sucked because it was the best round of

00:05:10.079 --> 00:05:13.420
the whole competition. I was so bummed because

00:05:13.420 --> 00:05:16.100
I wanted to watch Melina climb so badly, but

00:05:16.100 --> 00:05:20.310
also I was like, It's like 8 or 9. I think it

00:05:20.310 --> 00:05:23.310
started at like 8 the night before semis. I was

00:05:23.310 --> 00:05:26.410
like, do I have to go get ready for bed? And

00:05:26.410 --> 00:05:29.069
it was like a long walk from the venue too. I

00:05:29.069 --> 00:05:30.550
was like, I just can't be dealing with this.

00:05:30.550 --> 00:05:33.069
I'm going to bed. How did your rounds go, you

00:05:33.069 --> 00:05:35.129
felt like? How did the climbing feel? They were

00:05:35.129 --> 00:05:41.110
okay. Weirdly enough, both China qualifiers and

00:05:41.110 --> 00:05:46.470
Korea semifinals, I felt like I had a mediocre

00:05:46.470 --> 00:05:49.860
round. neither neither round I was like oh I'm

00:05:49.860 --> 00:05:53.759
on fire it was like oh I'm like just barely doing

00:05:53.759 --> 00:05:58.779
enough and then honestly in Korea I I got to

00:05:58.779 --> 00:06:03.959
the last boulder and I tried it once and at that

00:06:03.959 --> 00:06:06.300
point I had like topped one boulder and I'd zoned

00:06:06.300 --> 00:06:12.579
everything really quickly and I Was almost positive

00:06:12.579 --> 00:06:15.279
that if I topped this boulder, I would be in

00:06:15.279 --> 00:06:17.500
semis. I was like, this feels like it would be

00:06:17.500 --> 00:06:21.240
enough to be into semis. And then I tried it

00:06:21.240 --> 00:06:25.660
and I fell going to the finish. Now my first

00:06:25.660 --> 00:06:27.819
attempt and was like, okay, for sure this boulder

00:06:27.819 --> 00:06:31.199
is doable. And that means that like, I probably

00:06:31.199 --> 00:06:33.339
need to do it to make the round. And I had like,

00:06:33.540 --> 00:06:38.550
I could have, I would have like. bet good money

00:06:38.550 --> 00:06:41.009
i was like i'm almost 100 sure that if i do this

00:06:41.009 --> 00:06:43.269
boulder i make the semi if i don't do this boulder

00:06:43.269 --> 00:06:48.250
i don't make the semi um and then i watched the

00:06:48.250 --> 00:06:51.329
dude next to me in group b do the boulder and

00:06:51.329 --> 00:06:53.750
i was like okay there's like confirmation bias

00:06:53.750 --> 00:06:56.009
that this boulder goes and it's like probably

00:06:56.009 --> 00:07:01.029
necessary uh and then i proceeded to just like

00:07:01.029 --> 00:07:04.129
totally fold under the pressure and not do the

00:07:04.129 --> 00:07:09.639
boulder and i was like heartbroken i know i knew

00:07:09.639 --> 00:07:12.420
i could do it i was sure that i needed to do

00:07:12.420 --> 00:07:14.360
it and was like this is my moment like i can

00:07:14.360 --> 00:07:17.279
i can achieve my goals if i just do this boulder

00:07:17.279 --> 00:07:21.879
which i like will anyone anytime i talk about

00:07:21.879 --> 00:07:23.720
it that's like the number one thing not to do

00:07:23.720 --> 00:07:26.199
is think about the goal and the end result and

00:07:26.199 --> 00:07:28.139
just focus in on how to do the boulder but i

00:07:28.139 --> 00:07:30.240
like fully folded under the pressure got wrapped

00:07:30.240 --> 00:07:35.279
up and all of the like you know if i do it results

00:07:35.279 --> 00:07:39.579
shenanigans And I was so mad at myself. I was

00:07:39.579 --> 00:07:44.579
so mad at myself. The season was over and I like

00:07:44.579 --> 00:07:47.199
was really bummed. And then I got out of ISO

00:07:47.199 --> 00:07:48.920
and everyone was like, dude, you did it. You're

00:07:48.920 --> 00:07:52.339
in. You're in. And I was like, I don't believe

00:07:52.339 --> 00:07:56.420
you. And then I was in 21st at that moment. And

00:07:56.420 --> 00:07:59.160
so I was like, oh, yeah, like there's no way

00:07:59.160 --> 00:08:02.180
that the next 20 something dude, someone doesn't

00:08:02.180 --> 00:08:05.879
knock me out. And somehow I like held on for.

00:08:06.379 --> 00:08:08.740
the rest of the round and ended up getting like

00:08:08.740 --> 00:08:12.279
the last spot in but it was like i was really

00:08:12.279 --> 00:08:14.360
really upset with myself because i felt like

00:08:14.360 --> 00:08:18.560
i really didn't do my best i like didn't have

00:08:18.560 --> 00:08:22.100
my best day and i it wasn't just like a physically

00:08:22.100 --> 00:08:24.819
like a physical thing it was a mental thing where

00:08:24.819 --> 00:08:29.439
like i i should have done that boulder i know

00:08:29.439 --> 00:08:32.019
i could have done that boulder and i like folded

00:08:32.019 --> 00:08:37.090
under the pressure and it was like more frustrating

00:08:37.090 --> 00:08:39.529
and upsetting that it ended up being like happy

00:08:39.529 --> 00:08:41.629
about making the semi because i was mostly just

00:08:41.629 --> 00:08:44.710
focused on how like i folded under the pressure

00:08:44.710 --> 00:08:46.549
and didn't do the thing that i knew i needed

00:08:46.549 --> 00:08:53.210
to do and then the round in semi -finals i i

00:08:53.210 --> 00:08:56.990
honestly was much happier with the result kind

00:08:56.990 --> 00:08:59.429
of sucked i'm like really not happy with that

00:08:59.429 --> 00:09:03.029
result the first boulder is like was one of the

00:09:03.029 --> 00:09:05.580
boulders i like had a shot of topping and felt

00:09:05.580 --> 00:09:08.179
like that one was doable but it was really just

00:09:08.179 --> 00:09:10.340
like about finding the right body position to

00:09:10.340 --> 00:09:14.039
like jump and I didn't find it and I was like

00:09:14.039 --> 00:09:17.139
okay with that I was like it would have been

00:09:17.139 --> 00:09:19.019
nice to have done that boulder and I probably

00:09:19.019 --> 00:09:21.179
could have done that boulder and like in a different

00:09:21.179 --> 00:09:23.059
day maybe did do that boulder but it felt like

00:09:23.059 --> 00:09:26.279
it was just kind of a it's a skill issue but

00:09:26.279 --> 00:09:29.299
it also felt like kind of a luck issue like sometimes

00:09:30.029 --> 00:09:32.549
there's you find the right position and sometimes

00:09:32.549 --> 00:09:34.769
you just don't and under four minutes you get

00:09:34.769 --> 00:09:37.129
like you know a couple of tries it's like that

00:09:37.129 --> 00:09:40.769
that day i didn't find it and that's okay and

00:09:40.769 --> 00:09:44.070
then the second boulder was a lot more straightforward

00:09:44.070 --> 00:09:46.490
and i really should have done that boulder it

00:09:46.490 --> 00:09:49.590
felt really hard the last move and then i proceeded

00:09:49.590 --> 00:09:52.809
to watch everyone else just own the move and

00:09:52.809 --> 00:09:55.269
then colin even told me that that boulder was

00:09:55.269 --> 00:09:58.570
like he was like that's like a white epi p literally

00:10:01.529 --> 00:10:03.210
Everyone should do that boulder. That boulder

00:10:03.210 --> 00:10:06.330
is so easy. It's too easy for a round. After

00:10:06.330 --> 00:10:09.710
knowing that you didn't do it? Yeah. We were

00:10:09.710 --> 00:10:12.250
at dinner after the round and he was like, sorry,

00:10:12.289 --> 00:10:15.690
man. That boulder was so easy. Literally, you

00:10:15.690 --> 00:10:17.769
couldn't not do that boulder. I was like, yeah,

00:10:17.830 --> 00:10:19.990
fair enough. Also, how'd that zone go on number

00:10:19.990 --> 00:10:26.809
five? Probably should have done that one. That

00:10:26.809 --> 00:10:29.529
was the one I wish I had done. But it wasn't

00:10:29.529 --> 00:10:31.710
like I dropped the top or like mentally fumbled.

00:10:31.769 --> 00:10:34.090
It was just like a move felt hard and I didn't

00:10:34.090 --> 00:10:37.669
do it and that's okay. And then four or three

00:10:37.669 --> 00:10:40.389
like felt hard and I didn't do it and that was

00:10:40.389 --> 00:10:43.070
okay. I think I got two tops or three tops. Like

00:10:43.070 --> 00:10:47.169
for me, I'm not that motivated or distressed

00:10:47.169 --> 00:10:49.230
when I don't do the power block that only two

00:10:49.230 --> 00:10:52.450
dudes do. That's like feels fine to me. I'm not

00:10:52.450 --> 00:10:58.360
upset about that. And then five, I was... A little

00:10:58.360 --> 00:11:01.379
bummed about because that was also a boulder

00:11:01.379 --> 00:11:03.340
that I probably should have done. Like arguably

00:11:03.340 --> 00:11:05.519
in a different day. Wait, you mean number four?

00:11:06.080 --> 00:11:09.919
Number four, yeah. The slab. In like a different

00:11:09.919 --> 00:11:13.320
day, I flashed that boulder, I think. And it

00:11:13.320 --> 00:11:16.379
ended up taking me like all four minutes to find

00:11:16.379 --> 00:11:20.019
or five minutes to find just the zone. And then

00:11:20.019 --> 00:11:22.539
when I found the zone, I was like, oh, that was

00:11:22.539 --> 00:11:24.960
like really easy. It was super chill to get there

00:11:24.960 --> 00:11:29.100
once I figured out the way. and that felt like

00:11:29.100 --> 00:11:31.419
I was getting flustered and, like, just bad decision

00:11:31.419 --> 00:11:34.039
-making. And so that was, like, kind of a bummer,

00:11:34.039 --> 00:11:36.419
and two was kind of a bummer, and then the result

00:11:36.419 --> 00:11:40.460
overall was kind of a bummer. I was, like, kind

00:11:40.460 --> 00:11:42.259
of thought that maybe four zones was going to

00:11:42.259 --> 00:11:46.000
be better than second to last place. Oh, yeah.

00:11:46.279 --> 00:11:48.580
Yeah, I guess it was a high -scoring round. Yeah,

00:11:48.700 --> 00:11:50.580
it was a super high -scoring round. It was, like,

00:11:50.600 --> 00:11:53.720
weird because two of the boulders, like, didn't

00:11:53.720 --> 00:11:58.860
go for a lot of people. But then a lot of people

00:11:58.860 --> 00:12:02.000
like last second squeaked out some of the boulders.

00:12:02.039 --> 00:12:07.639
Like Colin said, number two was piss easy. And

00:12:07.639 --> 00:12:11.200
so everyone did it. I wouldn't say a white at

00:12:11.200 --> 00:12:14.220
BP is necessarily easy. And for reference, white

00:12:14.220 --> 00:12:17.320
at BP is V8 to V10. It's funny too, because I

00:12:17.320 --> 00:12:19.299
was like, there's no way it's a white. Like I

00:12:19.299 --> 00:12:22.039
set a white set BP and like we have probably

00:12:22.039 --> 00:12:27.029
the stiffest BP in the country. Greg would never

00:12:27.029 --> 00:12:29.070
let me get away with calling that a white boulder.

00:12:30.409 --> 00:12:32.169
Never let me get away with calling that a white

00:12:32.169 --> 00:12:36.830
boulder. Maybe bottom mint, but still. But then

00:12:36.830 --> 00:12:39.490
on that caliber, bottom mint's supposed to be

00:12:39.490 --> 00:12:44.110
V11, and V11 as a power boulder in World Cup

00:12:44.110 --> 00:12:48.190
is crazy. I think we talked about this last time.

00:12:51.210 --> 00:12:54.929
Logistically, the power boulders can be... v

00:12:54.929 --> 00:12:58.610
or v15 and they'll get done in a world cup format

00:12:58.610 --> 00:13:01.370
in a world cup format yeah like in a semi -final

00:13:01.370 --> 00:13:06.250
they'll they'll get tops um there was one in

00:13:06.250 --> 00:13:09.629
china that was colin said was like impossible

00:13:09.629 --> 00:13:13.350
and then it got two tops he was like it was 8b

00:13:13.350 --> 00:13:16.110
from the zone to the top but you don't feel like

00:13:16.110 --> 00:13:19.529
you're a power boulder no i mean i'm like i i

00:13:20.330 --> 00:13:23.129
have done hard things and can do hard things,

00:13:23.250 --> 00:13:25.450
but I definitely would not consider myself, like,

00:13:25.509 --> 00:13:28.149
in the strong end of the field. Would you say,

00:13:28.210 --> 00:13:32.570
like, that the power boulders in World Cups are

00:13:32.570 --> 00:13:35.889
maybe, like, harder in difficulty compared to,

00:13:35.970 --> 00:13:39.690
like, cordo moves or slab? Oh, for sure, yeah.

00:13:39.990 --> 00:13:43.389
Just, like, because of the, like, what they're

00:13:43.389 --> 00:13:49.889
asking. Like, if you make the... 13 or v14 quarter

00:13:49.889 --> 00:13:55.090
move and it's asking like risk and it's also

00:13:55.090 --> 00:13:58.190
asking like body position like the boulder one

00:13:58.190 --> 00:14:02.590
and semis which was the quarter boulder was risky

00:14:02.590 --> 00:14:06.690
but really what it was asking was like finding

00:14:06.690 --> 00:14:10.669
the right trajectory of that and so like find

00:14:10.669 --> 00:14:14.629
that was diff like difficult enough on its own

00:14:14.629 --> 00:14:18.100
that the like physicality of the boulder Didn't

00:14:18.100 --> 00:14:20.159
have to be that hard. And if it was that hard,

00:14:20.259 --> 00:14:23.980
then you would have significantly lower tops

00:14:23.980 --> 00:14:29.179
if no tops on that move. There's definitely less

00:14:29.179 --> 00:14:32.320
cordo in qualifiers, so I can speak less to how

00:14:32.320 --> 00:14:36.440
difficult they actually are. But just as someone

00:14:36.440 --> 00:14:41.639
who sets and has set comps and has my hand in

00:14:41.639 --> 00:14:44.820
that kind of field, you really don't have to

00:14:44.820 --> 00:14:50.200
make... As any other attributes that make a boulder

00:14:50.200 --> 00:14:52.620
difficult go up, then you can lower the intensity

00:14:52.620 --> 00:14:55.980
of the boulder. Versus a straightforward power

00:14:55.980 --> 00:15:00.539
boulder, you can make it V15. If there's an easily

00:15:00.539 --> 00:15:06.059
readable sequence and down -pulling holds, then

00:15:06.059 --> 00:15:09.980
the majority of those dudes are so strong. They

00:15:09.980 --> 00:15:14.100
will go out climbing once a year and just like...

00:15:14.350 --> 00:15:18.350
dookie on every double digit boulder in an area

00:15:18.350 --> 00:15:23.610
like adam shahar went to uh switzerland after

00:15:23.610 --> 00:15:28.350
prague last year or so i think it was prague

00:15:28.350 --> 00:15:32.330
and he he had like a hundred digit day or

00:15:32.330 --> 00:15:37.330
v point day where he climbed like 2v14s 3v13s

00:15:37.330 --> 00:15:41.070
and like 4v12s all in a day which is crazy to

00:15:41.070 --> 00:15:43.389
me because like if I climb AV14, I'm psyched.

00:15:43.570 --> 00:15:47.470
Right, yeah. Like I climbed AV13 yesterday and

00:15:47.470 --> 00:15:50.289
I was like geeked out of my mind. Congrats. It

00:15:50.289 --> 00:15:53.850
took me 20 sessions. Oh, geez. Well, congrats

00:15:53.850 --> 00:15:56.330
on finally getting it. So I guess like logistically,

00:15:56.450 --> 00:15:59.309
if there is such a hard power boulder in like

00:15:59.309 --> 00:16:02.070
a World Cup semis or finals and you only have

00:16:02.070 --> 00:16:05.850
four minutes, that's not a lot of time if you

00:16:05.850 --> 00:16:09.879
like mess up the first time. rest enough and

00:16:09.879 --> 00:16:12.740
do it again does that kind of do you feel like

00:16:12.740 --> 00:16:15.139
that kind of makes it an issue in terms of like

00:16:15.139 --> 00:16:17.980
watchability interest because like you can't

00:16:17.980 --> 00:16:20.440
i don't know it only like your tries only get

00:16:20.440 --> 00:16:22.279
worse from there right if you only have four

00:16:22.279 --> 00:16:26.620
minutes totally um i personally don't think so

00:16:26.620 --> 00:16:29.519
i i like really enjoy watching the straightforward

00:16:29.519 --> 00:16:33.200
power boulders like at this point for me watching

00:16:33.200 --> 00:16:39.299
climate competitions i enjoy like when they give

00:16:39.299 --> 00:16:42.639
us like straightforward straightforward ish but

00:16:42.639 --> 00:16:45.940
like what people would call traditional rock

00:16:45.940 --> 00:16:50.759
climbing power blocks um like men's four and

00:16:50.759 --> 00:16:53.659
the final was a good example of that it wasn't

00:16:53.659 --> 00:16:56.960
my favorite boulder but and there was like a

00:16:56.960 --> 00:17:01.059
little bit of complexity and risk um but like

00:17:01.059 --> 00:17:05.170
it boiled down to really bad crimp and a really

00:17:05.170 --> 00:17:07.910
bad sloper and I think everyone climbed it wrong

00:17:07.910 --> 00:17:10.390
I think you're supposed to do like some flip

00:17:10.390 --> 00:17:15.390
but like that was pretty close to a rock climb

00:17:15.390 --> 00:17:18.750
and it was by far the most fun boulder to watch

00:17:18.750 --> 00:17:22.130
for me obviously part of it's like it's the fourth

00:17:22.130 --> 00:17:24.349
boulder so everything comes down to it and it's

00:17:24.349 --> 00:17:29.160
like all boils down to the last boulder but that

00:17:29.160 --> 00:17:30.880
was like the most out of all of all the climbs

00:17:30.880 --> 00:17:32.920
that was the most enjoyable one and that was

00:17:32.920 --> 00:17:34.819
honestly the one that i like stopped talking

00:17:34.819 --> 00:17:36.539
to my friends and was like oh i'm psyched to

00:17:36.539 --> 00:17:40.859
watch this this is sick um the other thing too

00:17:40.859 --> 00:17:43.619
is like i mean maybe people spend less time on

00:17:43.619 --> 00:17:46.079
more time on the pads when there's like a hard

00:17:46.079 --> 00:17:49.460
boulder but in a four minute round for a final

00:17:49.460 --> 00:17:52.539
like you'll give it a go and you'll either do

00:17:52.539 --> 00:17:54.940
it or you won't and then you'll rest for like

00:17:54.940 --> 00:17:58.160
the minute And then you'll give it a go again

00:17:58.160 --> 00:18:01.519
and that will be the end of the round. And so

00:18:01.519 --> 00:18:04.099
maybe it ends up having slower rounds. But I

00:18:04.099 --> 00:18:08.220
think for anyone that enjoys rock climbing and

00:18:08.220 --> 00:18:10.519
enjoys watching comps, I think it might be just

00:18:10.519 --> 00:18:12.099
as exciting. I don't know. I would advocate for

00:18:12.099 --> 00:18:14.700
it to be just as exciting. Yeah, I think it depends.

00:18:14.980 --> 00:18:17.539
I think for me, sometimes it's sad to watch if

00:18:17.539 --> 00:18:21.079
they just get shut down and then that's all you

00:18:21.079 --> 00:18:25.119
see. That's also kind of sad to see. It depends.

00:18:25.380 --> 00:18:27.319
But then it is nice to like see later rounds

00:18:27.319 --> 00:18:29.480
where people like actually show that it's doable

00:18:29.480 --> 00:18:32.700
and it looks like totally older. But yeah, I

00:18:32.700 --> 00:18:35.440
could see an argument for both ways. Okay. So

00:18:35.440 --> 00:18:39.299
kind of a long intro, I guess. But for those

00:18:39.299 --> 00:18:42.480
who don't know your background, let's get into

00:18:42.480 --> 00:18:45.859
back to the beginning where how you got into

00:18:45.859 --> 00:18:49.559
climbing and competing. Okay. Yeah. So I started

00:18:49.559 --> 00:18:53.180
climbing with my dad when I was like two or three.

00:18:54.509 --> 00:18:56.569
He would just bring me outside climbing with

00:18:56.569 --> 00:18:58.069
him on the weekends. That was like our thing.

00:18:58.490 --> 00:19:03.089
It was like either skiing or climbing. And then

00:19:03.089 --> 00:19:07.069
when I was 10, I really enjoyed skiing. I didn't

00:19:07.069 --> 00:19:08.930
really like climbing that much. And then when

00:19:08.930 --> 00:19:13.450
I was 10, I switched schools and we had a climbing

00:19:13.450 --> 00:19:16.390
wall at the school. And I was like telling everyone

00:19:16.390 --> 00:19:19.210
how awesome I was at climbing. And one of the

00:19:19.210 --> 00:19:21.769
kids was like, oh, you're not that good. There's

00:19:21.769 --> 00:19:24.519
this kid, Quincy. And he got second at nationals

00:19:24.519 --> 00:19:26.859
last year. And at that point, I didn't know there

00:19:26.859 --> 00:19:29.079
was like climbing comms or nationals or any of

00:19:29.079 --> 00:19:32.140
this, anything about, I really didn't know anything.

00:19:32.720 --> 00:19:35.839
And I was like, whoa, okay. And I just like my

00:19:35.839 --> 00:19:38.740
competitive spirit was like, I need to do that

00:19:38.740 --> 00:19:40.619
then because obviously this kid's better than

00:19:40.619 --> 00:19:43.740
me and I need to be better than him. So I like

00:19:43.740 --> 00:19:45.859
joined the climbing team with Quincy and we quickly

00:19:45.859 --> 00:19:50.579
became best friends. And then. I started doing

00:19:50.579 --> 00:19:54.500
comps and fell in love with doing comps. And

00:19:54.500 --> 00:19:57.359
then within a couple of weeks of joining the

00:19:57.359 --> 00:19:58.900
climbing team, I was like, Dad, I'm going to

00:19:58.900 --> 00:20:03.039
be a professional rock climber. And my parents,

00:20:03.099 --> 00:20:05.339
super supportive, were like, okay, cool. If you

00:20:05.339 --> 00:20:07.420
change your mind, let us know. But we'll support

00:20:07.420 --> 00:20:10.720
you as long as you want to do that. And I'm 26,

00:20:11.039 --> 00:20:14.160
almost 27, and I'm still doing it. You had a

00:20:14.160 --> 00:20:20.109
rock climbing wall in your school? Yeah. Well,

00:20:20.109 --> 00:20:22.029
that's like pretty rare to find. I actually,

00:20:22.130 --> 00:20:24.289
in my middle school, we also had a rock climbing

00:20:24.289 --> 00:20:26.450
wall, which was super strange thinking back on

00:20:26.450 --> 00:20:28.269
it because like nobody has a rock climbing wall

00:20:28.269 --> 00:20:32.450
in school. No, totally. I think my dad actually

00:20:32.450 --> 00:20:38.849
built it. And he's like, he's a super, super

00:20:38.849 --> 00:20:43.450
talented. I'm trying to think of the right word.

00:20:43.630 --> 00:20:45.690
He's really good at building things and doing

00:20:45.690 --> 00:20:50.089
things. And this is kind of a tangent, but, and

00:20:50.089 --> 00:20:52.990
maybe a great, yeah, it's kind of a tangent,

00:20:53.049 --> 00:20:55.450
but he was always building stuff for me and my

00:20:55.450 --> 00:21:00.349
sister and like the school and stuff. And I'm

00:21:00.349 --> 00:21:03.970
always building crazy like gates and stuff. Okay.

00:21:04.549 --> 00:21:08.309
And decks and all kind of everything, all the

00:21:08.309 --> 00:21:10.269
things. Yeah. It was like a super alternative

00:21:10.269 --> 00:21:14.650
school. This kind of ties back into it. I was.

00:21:17.079 --> 00:21:21.859
super ADHD as a kid, still am. And so my parents

00:21:21.859 --> 00:21:24.819
quickly realized that like also super dyslexic.

00:21:25.160 --> 00:21:28.680
So like the first school, basically my parents

00:21:28.680 --> 00:21:30.599
were like, we're putting him in private school.

00:21:31.140 --> 00:21:34.480
And so like he doesn't just get left behind because

00:21:34.480 --> 00:21:37.440
if he goes to public school, like he will never

00:21:37.440 --> 00:21:40.579
learn to read and he'll like never get anywhere

00:21:40.579 --> 00:21:42.799
in life because I was just always bouncing off

00:21:42.799 --> 00:21:46.640
the walls and like. Couldn't read and so like

00:21:46.640 --> 00:21:49.579
they put me in this super alternative school

00:21:49.579 --> 00:21:53.140
called Little Earth and it was like this massive

00:21:53.140 --> 00:21:58.920
they had this huge playground and the School

00:21:58.920 --> 00:22:01.380
was like structured around a lot of like outdoor

00:22:01.380 --> 00:22:07.240
playtime And then even in that sits like situation

00:22:07.240 --> 00:22:12.160
I had to be like have special needs like the

00:22:12.160 --> 00:22:14.460
teachers would pull me aside and be like, okay,

00:22:14.519 --> 00:22:16.819
go run three laps around the playground because

00:22:16.819 --> 00:22:18.859
you're distracting all the kids and you obviously

00:22:18.859 --> 00:22:25.539
need to move for a bit. But yeah, it was pretty

00:22:25.539 --> 00:22:27.400
funny. But yeah, my dad ended up building a climbing

00:22:27.400 --> 00:22:31.059
wall for it. And I think that was like, they

00:22:31.059 --> 00:22:34.900
built a climbing wall and then I immediately

00:22:34.900 --> 00:22:38.269
was like, okay, I'm really going to climb. Okay.

00:22:38.369 --> 00:22:41.049
And since you went into it a little bit, you

00:22:41.049 --> 00:22:43.869
mentioned before you kind of recently felt like

00:22:43.869 --> 00:22:46.690
you used climbing as like self -medication for

00:22:46.690 --> 00:22:49.069
ADHD. What does that kind of look like for you?

00:22:49.490 --> 00:22:54.150
Growing up, I guess the best way to tell the

00:22:54.150 --> 00:22:57.509
story is like, as far as that goes is last year,

00:22:57.630 --> 00:23:00.569
I like went back home and my dad and me went

00:23:00.569 --> 00:23:03.170
climbing and like on the road trip or drive to

00:23:03.170 --> 00:23:05.069
the crag, he was like, hey, we have this hard

00:23:05.069 --> 00:23:07.910
conversation. Oh, God. Okay. He was like, recently

00:23:07.910 --> 00:23:10.170
me and my mom found out that we probably have

00:23:10.170 --> 00:23:14.589
ADHD. Yeah, I know. We also kind of think that

00:23:14.589 --> 00:23:16.490
you possibly have it. And I was like, dad, we

00:23:16.490 --> 00:23:19.750
know. That's why I went to all those special

00:23:19.750 --> 00:23:21.730
schools as a kid is because I couldn't sit still

00:23:21.730 --> 00:23:25.549
all day. They had to pay someone a bunch of money

00:23:25.549 --> 00:23:31.109
to make sure I would learn anything. I always

00:23:31.109 --> 00:23:33.789
knew I had ADHD and it's always been a part of

00:23:33.789 --> 00:23:37.200
my life and we just kind of decided not to. medicaid

00:23:37.200 --> 00:23:39.619
for it i kind of and that was like the funny

00:23:39.619 --> 00:23:41.440
part of that conversation was they were like

00:23:41.440 --> 00:23:45.859
we think you have adhd we knew this i thought

00:23:45.859 --> 00:23:47.700
we just decided as a family we weren't going

00:23:47.700 --> 00:23:50.039
to put me on medication he was like no which

00:23:50.039 --> 00:23:52.619
i thought was hilarious because i've always known

00:23:52.619 --> 00:23:55.220
um and i was just like my parents won't put me

00:23:55.220 --> 00:23:57.799
on medication but it does sound nice because

00:23:57.799 --> 00:23:59.960
i would love to be able to do what you guys do

00:23:59.960 --> 00:24:05.960
which is sit down and write um but then The other,

00:24:06.000 --> 00:24:09.720
like, I think more applicable to, like, what

00:24:09.720 --> 00:24:14.180
I've learned about my climbing is I also have

00:24:14.180 --> 00:24:16.599
other family members that, like, have struggled

00:24:16.599 --> 00:24:20.079
with, like, depression, anxiety. And I always

00:24:20.079 --> 00:24:21.680
thought that was kind of, like, their thing and

00:24:21.680 --> 00:24:26.759
I was fine. And then after, like, taking time

00:24:26.759 --> 00:24:28.640
away from climbing and, like, not being able

00:24:28.640 --> 00:24:31.619
to exercise for long bouts, I, like, started

00:24:31.619 --> 00:24:37.140
to realize that I, like, probably also have some

00:24:37.140 --> 00:24:42.500
kind of you know depression and anxiety and that

00:24:42.500 --> 00:24:44.420
i've just been like self -medicating for the

00:24:44.420 --> 00:24:48.339
last 20 some years via climbing and exercise

00:24:48.339 --> 00:24:52.380
using the dopamine from exercising to like i

00:24:52.380 --> 00:24:55.720
see counterbalance the lack of dopamine that

00:24:55.720 --> 00:24:59.339
my brain produces yeah makes sense which like

00:24:59.339 --> 00:25:02.519
i think has structured and created a lot of the

00:25:03.069 --> 00:25:06.210
routines that i've created around climbing um

00:25:06.210 --> 00:25:10.309
which would include like going to the gym at

00:25:10.309 --> 00:25:12.930
nine o 'clock at night after a long day of work

00:25:12.930 --> 00:25:17.369
um and like just absurd amounts of like just

00:25:17.369 --> 00:25:20.490
absurd things that i like also recently realized

00:25:20.490 --> 00:25:23.269
because me and my girlfriend moved in together

00:25:23.269 --> 00:25:27.289
and so we're like planning and scheduling around

00:25:27.289 --> 00:25:29.849
each other she's like you're crazy like why are

00:25:29.849 --> 00:25:31.849
you doing this and i was like i don't know it's

00:25:31.849 --> 00:25:34.160
just how i live my life And it's like because

00:25:34.160 --> 00:25:36.740
I need to get outside every day and do something

00:25:36.740 --> 00:25:40.380
like multiple times a day to like get that dopamine.

00:25:41.000 --> 00:25:44.299
I guess does it kind of feel like you're like

00:25:44.299 --> 00:25:47.920
one reliable source of joy in life? For sure.

00:25:48.019 --> 00:25:51.559
I wouldn't say it's my like only source of joy

00:25:51.559 --> 00:25:55.180
in life, but I will like find myself sinking

00:25:55.180 --> 00:25:58.420
into like, you know, bits of like anxiety or

00:25:58.420 --> 00:26:01.160
depression and then be like and realize that

00:26:01.160 --> 00:26:03.650
like I just need to go. do something outside

00:26:03.650 --> 00:26:05.950
or like go to the gym and exercise and then i

00:26:05.950 --> 00:26:08.869
feel significantly better why that is i don't

00:26:08.869 --> 00:26:11.349
know i haven't like been tested or gone like

00:26:11.349 --> 00:26:14.769
i just have been kind of making correlations

00:26:14.769 --> 00:26:18.450
between how i feel and how i what i do i'm like

00:26:18.450 --> 00:26:23.609
okay like uh i do have weird gym routines and

00:26:23.609 --> 00:26:26.750
i also feel really bad when i don't do things

00:26:26.750 --> 00:26:28.970
outside or exercise and i'm sure everyone is

00:26:28.970 --> 00:26:30.890
like yeah i feel bad when i don't do things like

00:26:30.890 --> 00:26:34.170
go outside But it's, like, I think to another

00:26:34.170 --> 00:26:38.190
level of, like, I'll, like, really start to hate

00:26:38.190 --> 00:26:39.750
my life. I'm like, oh, it's because I didn't

00:26:39.750 --> 00:26:42.170
go out. I didn't exercise. I need to go to the

00:26:42.170 --> 00:26:45.869
gym. Yeah, that makes sense. Okay. Which could

00:26:45.869 --> 00:26:48.509
be a bad thing, but also I feel like it's partially

00:26:48.509 --> 00:26:51.289
part of my success in climbing is the fact that,

00:26:51.329 --> 00:26:55.369
like, I'm just constantly going to the gym. Sometimes

00:26:55.369 --> 00:26:57.950
it's really useless time in the gym. It's, like,

00:26:57.970 --> 00:27:02.160
not beneficial. time in the gym like non -effective

00:27:02.160 --> 00:27:06.700
really yeah like there's definitely an effective

00:27:06.700 --> 00:27:10.380
way to get everything done and be an athlete

00:27:10.380 --> 00:27:12.880
you know be an athlete and then there's like

00:27:12.880 --> 00:27:15.140
I have to go to the gym three days a week or

00:27:15.140 --> 00:27:17.539
not three days a week three times a day and I'm

00:27:17.539 --> 00:27:19.680
mill around for a long time and I'm just like

00:27:19.680 --> 00:27:22.440
doing random things that like are not that but

00:27:22.440 --> 00:27:24.680
it's just like I need to go to do something to

00:27:24.680 --> 00:27:27.079
feel good well yeah thank you for sharing that

00:27:27.079 --> 00:27:29.180
first of all I think that There's probably a

00:27:29.180 --> 00:27:32.279
lot of people who can relate to that and experience

00:27:32.279 --> 00:27:35.839
something similar. Do you like have plans to

00:27:35.839 --> 00:27:38.059
get medicated, you think? Or does this work out

00:27:38.059 --> 00:27:40.220
all right for you? I don't have any plans on

00:27:40.220 --> 00:27:43.319
getting medicated. I think about it often. I

00:27:43.319 --> 00:27:46.720
don't have really any interest in medicating

00:27:46.720 --> 00:27:53.319
for like depression or anxiety. Although like

00:27:53.319 --> 00:27:56.529
sometimes I'm like, this sucks. It's pretty manageable

00:27:56.529 --> 00:27:58.769
and I've been self -medicating for so long and

00:27:58.769 --> 00:28:01.970
at no point I'm ever like the super depressive

00:28:01.970 --> 00:28:05.069
dude who walks around. It's never gotten so bad

00:28:05.069 --> 00:28:06.950
that I'm like, oh, I need to get medicated because

00:28:06.950 --> 00:28:10.250
it's super bad. It's mostly just like I hadn't

00:28:10.250 --> 00:28:12.289
started to notice it and was like, oh, that probably

00:28:12.289 --> 00:28:15.869
explains my behaviors. I've thought about ADHD

00:28:15.869 --> 00:28:22.690
on and off and it could be really nice to get

00:28:22.690 --> 00:28:25.650
medicated for that. it just sounds like a lot

00:28:25.650 --> 00:28:30.230
of work and also i'm not like really sure if

00:28:30.230 --> 00:28:37.009
i'm like the benefits outweigh the cons and maybe

00:28:37.009 --> 00:28:39.730
there are no cons i don't know it's just been

00:28:39.730 --> 00:28:42.190
something i've been like programmed to not like

00:28:42.190 --> 00:28:45.549
i'm like kind of scared of medicating for that

00:28:45.549 --> 00:28:48.930
and i'm like well i'm doing fine so far so like

00:28:48.930 --> 00:28:51.390
do i really need to like mess with it or yeah

00:28:51.390 --> 00:28:56.930
so i just like I've kind of structured my life

00:28:56.930 --> 00:29:00.069
around not needing to do the things that I struggle

00:29:00.069 --> 00:29:04.369
with. And like, I think we talked about this

00:29:04.369 --> 00:29:07.309
last time was like a couple times a year. It

00:29:07.309 --> 00:29:09.869
really sucks because I like, you know, can't

00:29:09.869 --> 00:29:12.869
sit down and write. So like taxes, those suck.

00:29:12.990 --> 00:29:15.210
Those are like the bane of my existence because

00:29:15.210 --> 00:29:17.150
like the act of like sitting down and typing

00:29:17.150 --> 00:29:20.490
is like really difficult for me. And like focusing

00:29:20.490 --> 00:29:23.640
long enough to like. do something i'm not interested

00:29:23.640 --> 00:29:28.740
in doing taxes really hard so like currently

00:29:28.740 --> 00:29:31.640
i still haven't filed last year's taxes i filed

00:29:31.640 --> 00:29:34.619
like an extension but like yeah like it's it's

00:29:34.619 --> 00:29:37.640
bad but it's like one time a year i need to just

00:29:37.640 --> 00:29:40.119
like do the thing that sucks really bad but then

00:29:40.119 --> 00:29:42.339
the rest of my life like i don't really need

00:29:42.339 --> 00:29:45.079
i've like gone out of my way to structure my

00:29:45.079 --> 00:29:47.000
life or in such a way that i like don't need

00:29:47.000 --> 00:29:50.140
to do things i have a hard time doing yeah i

00:29:50.140 --> 00:29:53.289
mean i think there might be some con i mean i

00:29:53.289 --> 00:29:56.250
don't really know what the cons are i mean now

00:29:56.250 --> 00:29:57.769
i'm just speculating because i'm not a doctor

00:29:57.769 --> 00:30:00.750
but you should probably ask a doctor i you probably

00:30:00.750 --> 00:30:02.609
should it's one of the things i'm really bad

00:30:02.609 --> 00:30:05.049
at is like scheduling doctor's appointments so

00:30:05.049 --> 00:30:06.450
that's probably why i haven't done it yet and

00:30:06.450 --> 00:30:09.769
also i guess just want to put a disclaimer that

00:30:09.769 --> 00:30:11.549
by self -medicating you just mean like through

00:30:11.549 --> 00:30:14.650
climbing and not just like taking random medications

00:30:14.650 --> 00:30:20.069
no yeah i yeah no just just climbing just excessive

00:30:20.069 --> 00:30:23.789
amounts of exercise yeah so i guess with your

00:30:23.789 --> 00:30:27.809
self -medicating for adhd and climbing what does

00:30:27.809 --> 00:30:30.049
your training schedule end up looking like or

00:30:30.049 --> 00:30:32.509
is it really just like you kind of go with the

00:30:32.509 --> 00:30:35.029
flow If you're interested in ad -free episodes

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and would like to unlock over four hours of deleted

00:30:37.769 --> 00:30:40.309
scenes, including one where Ben gives his thoughts

00:30:40.309 --> 00:30:43.890
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00:31:02.480 --> 00:31:04.880
help out non -monetarily. Liking, commenting,

00:31:04.980 --> 00:31:07.720
and sharing helps a great deal as well. Back

00:31:07.720 --> 00:31:11.000
to the show. This is probably also a byproduct

00:31:11.000 --> 00:31:13.700
of the ADHD is I just really go by the flow.

00:31:14.160 --> 00:31:17.920
So it could be more structured. I've had structured

00:31:17.920 --> 00:31:21.339
plans. Right now, I don't have a coach that writes

00:31:21.339 --> 00:31:25.119
me a training plan. So I don't have a structured

00:31:25.119 --> 00:31:27.400
plan. The other thing that's changed recently

00:31:27.400 --> 00:31:31.259
is last January, I started working full time.

00:31:31.799 --> 00:31:34.400
As a route setter and as like front desk of the

00:31:34.400 --> 00:31:39.519
gym. And it is like very time consuming. And

00:31:39.519 --> 00:31:43.500
so I've had to cut back probably like 60 to

00:31:43.500 --> 00:31:47.500
% of my training. Oh, geez. Which, yeah, is a

00:31:47.500 --> 00:31:49.799
lot. I like have been in this constant state

00:31:49.799 --> 00:31:54.359
of like I'm getting good results, but I'm also

00:31:54.359 --> 00:31:57.099
in like constant anxiety that I'm not training

00:31:57.099 --> 00:31:59.220
enough for the last year, which is kind of a

00:31:59.220 --> 00:32:04.700
bummer. because I'm just like yeah in a constant

00:32:04.700 --> 00:32:06.680
state of like I really should have trained today

00:32:06.680 --> 00:32:08.319
and I should have trained yesterday and I'm always

00:32:08.319 --> 00:32:10.819
tired and this sucks and like I'm not doing enough

00:32:10.819 --> 00:32:15.839
and I'm like yeah I'm not doing enough but also

00:32:15.839 --> 00:32:20.039
I'm in the best shape of my life and I'm getting

00:32:20.039 --> 00:32:24.740
good results so part of me still like fires right

00:32:24.740 --> 00:32:27.240
back with like well how good could it be if you

00:32:27.240 --> 00:32:31.920
were were training enough so I don't know, but

00:32:31.920 --> 00:32:38.539
right now it's not a lot. Um, it's, I set two

00:32:38.539 --> 00:32:40.900
days a week. So those are like two of my climbing

00:32:40.900 --> 00:32:47.420
days. And then I climb when I can, um, between

00:32:47.420 --> 00:32:51.339
like most of it's like schedule, most of it's

00:32:51.339 --> 00:32:53.940
schedule and another part of it's just like dealing

00:32:53.940 --> 00:32:58.259
with being tired. Like I, I can't climb after

00:32:58.259 --> 00:33:01.299
I work. I just like don't have enough energy

00:33:01.299 --> 00:33:04.099
after. So the sessions are just like worthless.

00:33:04.240 --> 00:33:06.759
So I might as well just rest and then wait for

00:33:06.759 --> 00:33:11.279
a day that I have energy to climb. So that's

00:33:11.279 --> 00:33:13.000
mostly what I mean by like I climb when I can

00:33:13.000 --> 00:33:15.799
because it's like the days that I have energy

00:33:15.799 --> 00:33:18.420
to climb, I climb, I train. And then the days

00:33:18.420 --> 00:33:21.339
that I don't, I just rest. So like how many climbing

00:33:21.339 --> 00:33:27.019
days would you say a week? So last week I did

00:33:27.019 --> 00:33:33.680
the comp. Saturday, Sunday. No. All day Saturday.

00:33:34.059 --> 00:33:37.960
And then I rested Sunday. And then I sat Monday,

00:33:38.119 --> 00:33:42.319
Tuesday, Thursday. And then I tried to climb

00:33:42.319 --> 00:33:46.200
Thursday night and it was bad. Yeah. And then

00:33:46.200 --> 00:33:50.079
I rested Friday, Saturday. And then I climbed

00:33:50.079 --> 00:33:53.400
yesterday. And then I tried to do a session today

00:33:53.400 --> 00:33:56.099
and I was wrecked. So it was like... pretty bad

00:33:56.099 --> 00:33:58.220
I went in and like warmed up essentially and

00:33:58.220 --> 00:34:00.859
I was like it's just not worth my time and went

00:34:00.859 --> 00:34:04.799
home and then I'll set tomorrow and Thursday

00:34:04.799 --> 00:34:10.380
and then compete Friday Saturday I mean so you

00:34:10.380 --> 00:34:12.900
count like setting days as climbing days because

00:34:12.900 --> 00:34:15.679
like setting is a totally different exhaustion

00:34:15.679 --> 00:34:19.380
to like training yeah exactly I I've started

00:34:19.380 --> 00:34:21.219
to count them as climbing days only because if

00:34:21.219 --> 00:34:24.820
I don't my climbing days look really bad so it's

00:34:24.820 --> 00:34:28.489
like And also I'm still in good shape and like

00:34:28.489 --> 00:34:33.230
still getting stronger. So I assume that part

00:34:33.230 --> 00:34:36.809
of it's from setting. It's not optimized, but

00:34:36.809 --> 00:34:41.789
like I am still, they do still count as climbing

00:34:41.789 --> 00:34:44.050
days to me. Unless they're like, if we do like

00:34:44.050 --> 00:34:48.050
a slab day where we're like super low level stuff.

00:34:48.309 --> 00:34:52.510
But even then I'm still like, it's, it's. I might

00:34:52.510 --> 00:34:55.010
as well just go to the TC and like do, it'd be

00:34:55.010 --> 00:34:56.510
the same as going to the TC and doing like a

00:34:56.510 --> 00:35:00.150
no hands day. You also implemented a mint circuit.

00:35:00.250 --> 00:35:04.050
And so quite frequently I'll like set a mint

00:35:04.050 --> 00:35:06.969
boulder, which is like between V11 and B15 and

00:35:06.969 --> 00:35:09.449
then like four on it all day. So that's like

00:35:09.449 --> 00:35:13.849
counts as to me as max bouldering. Wow. Well,

00:35:13.989 --> 00:35:17.590
it's kind of crazy to hear that you really don't

00:35:17.590 --> 00:35:21.409
get like that many. training specific days. I

00:35:21.409 --> 00:35:24.130
feel like maybe back in the day, it sounded like

00:35:24.130 --> 00:35:27.469
people were more lax about their climbing competitions

00:35:27.469 --> 00:35:31.309
and training for it. But nowadays, I hear a lot

00:35:31.309 --> 00:35:33.849
of more athletes saying that they're doing like

00:35:33.849 --> 00:35:36.650
five days a week, like all day in the gym with

00:35:36.650 --> 00:35:39.110
like specific boulder set for them, things like

00:35:39.110 --> 00:35:41.309
that. So it's kind of crazy to hear that you

00:35:41.309 --> 00:35:44.130
kind of have this wild schedule and still manage

00:35:44.130 --> 00:35:48.420
to even make it into like semis. Kind of crazy

00:35:48.420 --> 00:35:51.780
to hear. Yeah, I don't know why it's working

00:35:51.780 --> 00:35:56.579
for me. And to throw another curveball at you,

00:35:56.679 --> 00:36:04.079
my climbing up until team trials was, I did six

00:36:04.079 --> 00:36:07.880
weeks at Jumbo Love, climbing only on that route

00:36:07.880 --> 00:36:13.400
every other day. And then I did, I took five

00:36:13.400 --> 00:36:19.849
days off, and then I went to, Spain and climbed

00:36:19.849 --> 00:36:22.650
like two days on, one day off, or one day on,

00:36:22.710 --> 00:36:27.030
one day off for a month just in Spain on a rope.

00:36:27.550 --> 00:36:34.309
And then I took eight days off. And then the

00:36:34.309 --> 00:36:37.150
month leading up to team trials, I only set during

00:36:37.150 --> 00:36:40.690
the week, Monday, Tuesday. And then I would drive

00:36:40.690 --> 00:36:44.489
out to the hurricane and climb Friday, Saturday,

00:36:44.489 --> 00:36:47.800
or Saturday, Sunday. both days and then come

00:36:47.800 --> 00:36:50.679
home and do just setting and that was like the

00:36:50.679 --> 00:36:53.820
only training I did leading up to team trials

00:36:53.820 --> 00:36:56.619
and then the last two weeks before team trials

00:36:56.619 --> 00:37:00.400
I took a break on my lunch break from setting

00:37:00.400 --> 00:37:03.059
and ran across the street and like I would like

00:37:03.059 --> 00:37:05.239
I finished setting at 11 ran across the street

00:37:05.239 --> 00:37:08.059
pulled on the hangboard and then did my like

00:37:08.059 --> 00:37:10.000
did a mock round and then would run straight

00:37:10.000 --> 00:37:12.619
back and finish setting because I had like an

00:37:12.619 --> 00:37:14.780
hour -long break and that was like the only TC

00:37:14.780 --> 00:37:19.289
sessions And climbing training that I did leading

00:37:19.289 --> 00:37:23.289
up to team trials. And that was it. That was

00:37:23.289 --> 00:37:31.130
all I did. So I have no idea why. Yeah, I have

00:37:31.130 --> 00:37:32.929
all of my ideas about training have gone out

00:37:32.929 --> 00:37:36.650
the window. Because before that, I did four years

00:37:36.650 --> 00:37:41.769
of pretty much no work, just TC. And that was

00:37:41.769 --> 00:37:46.769
all I did. I just trained at the TC. three to

00:37:46.769 --> 00:37:52.809
four or five days a week for like years and was

00:37:52.809 --> 00:37:55.610
getting mediocre results. And then I stopped

00:37:55.610 --> 00:37:58.230
doing that and started climbing outside and setting.

00:37:58.530 --> 00:38:01.650
Well, I mean, I'm sure that those years still

00:38:01.650 --> 00:38:05.530
like paid off in a way. For sure. Yeah. It still

00:38:05.530 --> 00:38:09.769
helps you have that like baseline for sure. But

00:38:09.769 --> 00:38:12.769
yeah. Wow. That is crazy to hear. And it does

00:38:12.769 --> 00:38:16.230
still make me wonder like. How much better you

00:38:16.230 --> 00:38:18.590
would be if you had the same crazy training routine

00:38:18.590 --> 00:38:22.750
as a lot of people do. Yeah. I try not to think

00:38:22.750 --> 00:38:25.389
about that because currently I really need my

00:38:25.389 --> 00:38:28.849
job. Yeah. Unfortunately, money is an important

00:38:28.849 --> 00:38:32.309
part. Unless someone listening has another solution.

00:38:34.429 --> 00:38:39.550
Yeah. I need a job. Yeah. Unfortunately, life

00:38:39.550 --> 00:38:42.789
moves on and we all need a job to live as well.

00:38:43.050 --> 00:38:48.820
Yeah. Well, yeah. So going into a bit more about

00:38:48.820 --> 00:38:53.219
like World Cups and USA climbing as well. I heard

00:38:53.219 --> 00:38:55.599
in another interview that you actually prefer

00:38:55.599 --> 00:38:58.699
lead climbing, but you have only been doing bouldering.

00:38:58.820 --> 00:39:02.320
So what's what happened there? Yeah, that's a

00:39:02.320 --> 00:39:09.880
funny one. So for a couple of years, I trained

00:39:09.880 --> 00:39:13.380
almost exclusively lead. I would still boulder,

00:39:13.500 --> 00:39:19.230
but. I focused most of my effort on competition

00:39:19.230 --> 00:39:24.769
lead climbing. Year after year, I would show

00:39:24.769 --> 00:39:27.750
up to nationals and team trials in the best shape

00:39:27.750 --> 00:39:32.610
of my life and then not make the team and then

00:39:32.610 --> 00:39:34.909
make the team in bouldering. I'd be like, I guess

00:39:34.909 --> 00:39:36.869
we're doing another year of bouldering and then

00:39:36.869 --> 00:39:41.409
train all year for a lead and then show up and

00:39:41.409 --> 00:39:46.599
bomb. lead nationals and team trials and make

00:39:46.599 --> 00:39:49.219
the lead team like even this year like i said

00:39:49.219 --> 00:39:53.599
all of my training up till team trials was uh

00:39:53.599 --> 00:39:58.079
climbing outside on a rope like i i climbed outside

00:39:58.079 --> 00:40:03.139
on a rope for three or four months that was like

00:40:03.139 --> 00:40:05.860
all i did and i was in really good shape i think

00:40:05.860 --> 00:40:10.199
i was on like fourth or third place on a day

00:40:10.199 --> 00:40:14.429
in america As far as like the like ranking, I

00:40:14.429 --> 00:40:16.690
was like in really good shape. I had climbed

00:40:16.690 --> 00:40:21.170
a bunch of hard routes. I was super fit and super

00:40:21.170 --> 00:40:25.530
ready for lead team trials. And I got like 24th.

00:40:27.230 --> 00:40:29.510
And I was like, cool, that was team trials. And

00:40:29.510 --> 00:40:32.710
then I won that bouldering, which happened to

00:40:32.710 --> 00:40:36.210
be the only result that would have put me on

00:40:36.210 --> 00:40:38.269
the team. And so then I did bouldering World

00:40:38.269 --> 00:40:41.239
Cups again. Yeah, what do you think it was that

00:40:41.239 --> 00:40:45.500
makes you, I don't know, like, what's the word?

00:40:45.800 --> 00:40:52.739
Not, I can't think of a nice way to say it. I

00:40:52.739 --> 00:40:55.079
see there's not a nice way to say it. How to

00:40:55.079 --> 00:40:58.639
stop choking on League Clubs. Yeah, I don't know.

00:40:58.719 --> 00:41:02.260
I would love to figure that out because I think

00:41:02.260 --> 00:41:04.059
I could be quite good at League World Cups if

00:41:04.059 --> 00:41:07.500
I could figure it out. Yeah, I mean, that's exactly

00:41:07.500 --> 00:41:10.079
what it is. It's just like straight choking in

00:41:10.079 --> 00:41:16.579
the round. I think the thing that... I don't

00:41:16.579 --> 00:41:20.400
know how to mentally change it, but the two things

00:41:20.400 --> 00:41:25.679
that I think play into it are as far as bouldering

00:41:25.679 --> 00:41:29.199
goes, even in a World Cup, I don't feel like

00:41:29.199 --> 00:41:34.190
I have to do the really hard power boulder. You

00:41:34.190 --> 00:41:38.690
didn't have to do boulders. You never have to

00:41:38.690 --> 00:41:41.690
do the power boulder unless you want to win world

00:41:41.690 --> 00:41:45.710
championships. That was the only comp I can think

00:41:45.710 --> 00:41:50.710
of this year. Someone will correct me if I'm

00:41:50.710 --> 00:41:52.909
wrong. You had to do the power boulder if you

00:41:52.909 --> 00:41:58.949
needed to win. But as far as my goals go, I don't

00:41:58.949 --> 00:42:05.429
need to do the B14. And my strong suit is figuring

00:42:05.429 --> 00:42:13.429
out things fast and being good at easier boulders.

00:42:13.829 --> 00:42:17.829
So as far as World Cups go or competition rounds

00:42:17.829 --> 00:42:21.409
go, the boulders, unless you're in the power

00:42:21.409 --> 00:42:24.210
boulder, aren't that difficult. They're in my

00:42:24.210 --> 00:42:27.389
physical capability of doing them within four

00:42:27.389 --> 00:42:30.809
minutes. And so I think I excel at doing what

00:42:30.809 --> 00:42:34.030
I can do fast. and that's why i like do well

00:42:34.030 --> 00:42:38.929
in bouldering rounds um in lead climbing i think

00:42:38.929 --> 00:42:43.829
i do not excel at like flash attempts like i

00:42:43.829 --> 00:42:46.130
don't think that's my i'm really good at like

00:42:46.130 --> 00:42:49.510
projecting and much i like really enjoy climbing

00:42:49.510 --> 00:42:52.789
really hard things and like trying hard things

00:42:52.789 --> 00:42:54.730
for a long time and figuring out and being really

00:42:54.730 --> 00:42:56.769
fit and dealing with yeah really hard things

00:42:56.769 --> 00:43:01.500
but in like lead competitions it's like uh only

00:43:01.500 --> 00:43:04.639
one try and so it's like all just about flashing

00:43:04.639 --> 00:43:08.340
um and then the other thing that i think plays

00:43:08.340 --> 00:43:13.420
into it is the style of um lead climbing which

00:43:13.420 --> 00:43:17.800
is funny enough i think you have to be like really

00:43:17.800 --> 00:43:22.079
strong to be a lead climber because it's just

00:43:22.079 --> 00:43:25.860
more straightforward and so like for lead climbing

00:43:25.860 --> 00:43:30.719
it's like in competition They're like power enduro

00:43:30.719 --> 00:43:33.139
routes. They're short power enduro routes. And

00:43:33.139 --> 00:43:37.000
so you just have to be able to climb like 8C

00:43:37.000 --> 00:43:42.239
plus or 9A power routes first try. Which just

00:43:42.239 --> 00:43:45.539
means it's like Yannick excels in lead climbing

00:43:45.539 --> 00:43:48.280
because he's just one of the strongest dudes.

00:43:49.340 --> 00:43:52.699
Period. And so all he needs is a little bit of

00:43:52.699 --> 00:43:56.280
fitness and he can just power through these lead

00:43:56.280 --> 00:43:58.929
routes. And he'll argue about that for sure.

00:43:59.010 --> 00:44:01.530
I'm sure that he's like, no, I'm in lead shape.

00:44:01.610 --> 00:44:03.369
I've been lead climbing. But I'm like, no, dude.

00:44:04.050 --> 00:44:08.150
You're just stupidly strong. And so the moves

00:44:08.150 --> 00:44:11.449
are just easier for you. Where for me, I don't

00:44:11.449 --> 00:44:14.090
know. I just like short power indoor routes are

00:44:14.090 --> 00:44:18.309
not my go -to route. So I think it has a stack

00:44:18.309 --> 00:44:21.610
of things. It's like, A, short power indoor routes,

00:44:21.750 --> 00:44:25.210
not my thing. B, first try, also not my thing.

00:44:25.510 --> 00:44:29.860
C. I get stressed and choke. Yeah. So I guess

00:44:29.860 --> 00:44:32.219
it's interesting that I guess you don't really

00:44:32.219 --> 00:44:34.179
like consider yourself like a strong climber.

00:44:34.300 --> 00:44:37.119
I mean, I, I, it depends on who I'm comparing

00:44:37.119 --> 00:44:42.579
myself against because like there's some groups

00:44:42.579 --> 00:44:46.079
that I'm super, I feel super strong in, but like

00:44:46.079 --> 00:44:50.400
as far as like the overall world where we're

00:44:50.400 --> 00:44:52.559
comparing myself to like the best of the best,

00:44:52.599 --> 00:44:55.570
I don't think that I'm like. you know like i'm

00:44:55.570 --> 00:44:59.309
not climbing v17 right now i don't know maybe

00:44:59.309 --> 00:45:01.929
i'm strong but like and honestly this year too

00:45:01.929 --> 00:45:04.550
i feel a lot stronger than i have in the past

00:45:04.550 --> 00:45:07.829
like now i'm like oh i can do like the harder

00:45:07.829 --> 00:45:10.989
moves on the circuit given the right circumstance

00:45:10.989 --> 00:45:14.030
but so i guess i mean like you don't consider

00:45:14.030 --> 00:45:17.610
like you consider yourself um better at do or

00:45:17.610 --> 00:45:20.190
like learning movement compared to just like

00:45:20.190 --> 00:45:24.250
brute force strength kind of yeah yeah So I guess

00:45:24.250 --> 00:45:29.869
I find that maybe not like surprising, but I'm

00:45:29.869 --> 00:45:32.550
kind of wondering like how that plays into you

00:45:32.550 --> 00:45:36.090
also thinking that you prefer seeing more old

00:45:36.090 --> 00:45:38.829
school power boulders in terms of like setting.

00:45:39.269 --> 00:45:46.769
Yeah, it's a funny conundrum because it's not

00:45:46.769 --> 00:45:49.409
what I like will excel at, but I just really

00:45:49.409 --> 00:45:53.260
enjoy watching it. Okay. I just like really enjoy

00:45:53.260 --> 00:45:56.300
watching it. Climbing on it generally is a little

00:45:56.300 --> 00:45:59.059
bit less fun for me because like the straightforward

00:45:59.059 --> 00:46:01.760
climbing boulders we've had this year, I haven't

00:46:01.760 --> 00:46:04.940
been able to start. Like we had one in Innsbruck

00:46:04.940 --> 00:46:08.260
and I like couldn't start the boulder. But it

00:46:08.260 --> 00:46:10.340
was sick. I was like geeking on the mat. Like

00:46:10.340 --> 00:46:12.579
this is so sick, dude. It's like a drive -by

00:46:12.579 --> 00:46:15.380
to a 20 mil crib. This is so tight. But yeah,

00:46:15.400 --> 00:46:16.920
I know. I just like, I mean, I don't know. I've

00:46:16.920 --> 00:46:20.179
watched a lot of World Cups. I've been to a lot

00:46:20.179 --> 00:46:23.860
of comps. I've seen the sport like change and

00:46:23.860 --> 00:46:26.659
grow and go through all these different iterations.

00:46:27.940 --> 00:46:32.440
And so like it's not in my best interest, but

00:46:32.440 --> 00:46:36.619
I like just think that it's way cooler. And I'm

00:46:36.619 --> 00:46:39.860
not saying I don't like where the sport is now.

00:46:39.980 --> 00:46:42.780
I think that there's like some really cool movement

00:46:42.780 --> 00:46:45.860
going on and some really cool, like a lot of

00:46:45.860 --> 00:46:49.179
it's technology, like dual techs. thermal molded

00:46:49.179 --> 00:46:54.719
holds um like different forms of fiberglass really

00:46:54.719 --> 00:47:00.159
cool stuff but i think that it's like overwhelmingly

00:47:00.159 --> 00:47:04.760
in one direction and i would love to see some

00:47:04.760 --> 00:47:07.719
diversity in the climbing comp because like what

00:47:07.719 --> 00:47:11.900
made those jumps so sick is how different it

00:47:11.900 --> 00:47:14.510
was from like what we were used to seeing And

00:47:14.510 --> 00:47:17.630
it like, I mean, I watched the sport change over

00:47:17.630 --> 00:47:20.550
the last 20 years. Like I remember like when

00:47:20.550 --> 00:47:22.849
run jumps were like the thing and it was like

00:47:22.849 --> 00:47:25.789
so sick and like, dude, you can grab a jug and

00:47:25.789 --> 00:47:27.710
you can run across a bunch of volumes and this

00:47:27.710 --> 00:47:32.690
is so sick. And then like, then they were like,

00:47:32.730 --> 00:47:35.309
well, what if instead of going from a jug and

00:47:35.309 --> 00:47:37.230
then running across a bunch of volumes and grabbing

00:47:37.230 --> 00:47:40.269
a jug, the hold was directional. So you had to

00:47:40.269 --> 00:47:42.780
like run. cross a bunch of volumes and then grab

00:47:42.780 --> 00:47:45.500
a directional hold and then do some like weird

00:47:45.500 --> 00:47:47.860
thing with your hand where you had to grab like

00:47:47.860 --> 00:47:50.960
three holds or it was like two holds and then

00:47:50.960 --> 00:47:53.340
it was like what if we go four holds and then

00:47:53.340 --> 00:47:56.519
five holds and then what if we go like three

00:47:56.519 --> 00:47:59.119
holds this way but you can't stop so you have

00:47:59.119 --> 00:48:02.760
to go back to the right and like it was sick

00:48:02.760 --> 00:48:04.800
i like watched it happen and it's been really

00:48:04.800 --> 00:48:07.800
cool to watch and i love climbing on it but i

00:48:07.800 --> 00:48:12.070
feel like we're doing so much of that that there's

00:48:12.070 --> 00:48:16.889
like the other stuff has gotten left out. Like

00:48:16.889 --> 00:48:20.150
the example I gave was like just jumping to a

00:48:20.150 --> 00:48:22.590
pinch, just like square climbing on pinches.

00:48:22.610 --> 00:48:27.210
Like there was a boulder at ABS Nationals

00:48:27.210 --> 00:48:32.289
or 16 that Daniel went on, and it was like the

00:48:32.289 --> 00:48:34.829
orange Technic pinches. I think they're like

00:48:34.829 --> 00:48:38.780
the fatty, tall, long pinches. and I was like

00:48:38.780 --> 00:48:40.940
I would just give anything to see another one

00:48:40.940 --> 00:48:43.400
of those boulders on the wall just once just

00:48:43.400 --> 00:48:46.099
like you know one boulder in the season where

00:48:46.099 --> 00:48:49.179
it was just like grab pinch jump to pinch drive

00:48:49.179 --> 00:48:53.099
by to pinch or like more crimping I think that

00:48:53.099 --> 00:48:56.579
would be really cool like to like I mean show

00:48:56.579 --> 00:49:01.639
how far we will like count how many crimps we

00:49:01.639 --> 00:49:05.599
climb on in the season like oh yeah this world

00:49:05.599 --> 00:49:08.360
cup we grabbed a crimp And I feel like that's

00:49:08.360 --> 00:49:10.179
kind of a bummer where you're like, you can count

00:49:10.179 --> 00:49:12.039
on one hand, the amount of crimps you grabbed

00:49:12.039 --> 00:49:16.440
the whole competition. Like that feels like it's

00:49:16.440 --> 00:49:19.000
missing something. There's like a missing a little

00:49:19.000 --> 00:49:22.780
bit of diversity. And I like doing quarter moves

00:49:22.780 --> 00:49:26.019
and I like doing run across jumps and I like

00:49:26.019 --> 00:49:29.460
dual, I love dual techs, but I would also like

00:49:29.460 --> 00:49:32.559
to be challenged and like get the chance to see

00:49:32.559 --> 00:49:34.980
people climb on or get the opportunity to climb

00:49:34.980 --> 00:49:37.989
on. like frontal crimp climbing well do you feel

00:49:37.989 --> 00:49:39.789
like this year they've been setting a little

00:49:39.789 --> 00:49:42.230
bit more like old school boulders maybe or like

00:49:42.230 --> 00:49:44.869
power it's been getting better it's been getting

00:49:44.869 --> 00:49:48.409
better um i think the last podcast i went on

00:49:48.409 --> 00:49:50.650
was with gnarly right before the season started

00:49:50.650 --> 00:49:53.550
and i was like my predictions are we see some

00:49:53.550 --> 00:49:56.050
more rock climbing okay because i think i was

00:49:56.050 --> 00:49:58.630
hoping the sport would turn back that way and

00:49:58.630 --> 00:50:01.010
i didn't get to see as many as i wanted but i

00:50:01.010 --> 00:50:05.980
saw more which was really cool like um China,

00:50:05.980 --> 00:50:09.019
semi -final, blue boulder, just straight crimp

00:50:09.019 --> 00:50:12.280
rig. That was one of the sickest boulders all

00:50:12.280 --> 00:50:14.519
season for me to climb. I don't know. I was like

00:50:14.519 --> 00:50:17.400
really psyched. How was the separation on that

00:50:17.400 --> 00:50:19.500
one? I'm trying to remember. It was a long time

00:50:19.500 --> 00:50:27.079
ago. Kachow, semi -final, men, boulder, three.

00:50:27.480 --> 00:50:31.300
It had one, two flashes. Whoa, maybe not the

00:50:31.300 --> 00:50:34.360
best separation. Two flashes, which is crazy.

00:50:35.099 --> 00:50:38.639
So three tops, two flashes, one second attempt,

00:50:38.940 --> 00:50:41.519
and then a handful of zones, and then a bunch

00:50:41.519 --> 00:50:48.659
of no zones. And then boulder, two head. That's

00:50:48.659 --> 00:50:57.079
actually super sick. Me and Mejdi and Tomoa were

00:50:57.079 --> 00:50:58.840
the only people to flash the second boulder.

00:50:59.900 --> 00:51:03.369
That's wild. I thought that boulder was... I

00:51:03.369 --> 00:51:08.090
was like, this boulder is too easy. Okay. What

00:51:08.090 --> 00:51:11.070
kind of boulder was it? Do you remember? It was

00:51:11.070 --> 00:51:14.989
like a weird, it was like dual text press. And

00:51:14.989 --> 00:51:17.130
then you grabbed like a foot chip and jumped

00:51:17.130 --> 00:51:20.230
to, it was all squadra holds. And it was like

00:51:20.230 --> 00:51:25.050
dual text press. You grabbed like a no shadow,

00:51:25.309 --> 00:51:28.030
technically no shadow, and you like jumps to

00:51:28.030 --> 00:51:33.409
another squadra. It's a good set of these. Oh,

00:51:33.409 --> 00:51:39.449
okay. And then you did like a Lachey double clutch.

00:51:39.550 --> 00:51:43.789
It was like two words of those. You remember

00:51:43.789 --> 00:51:47.530
that one being easy? Yeah, I was like this. That

00:51:47.530 --> 00:51:50.769
was my chance to look at Colin and be like, dude,

00:51:50.789 --> 00:51:53.949
literally pink at BP. Like you couldn't not do

00:51:53.949 --> 00:51:56.510
that boulder. Yeah. It's impossible to fall in

00:51:56.510 --> 00:51:58.409
that boulder. He said that to me twice this year.

00:51:58.940 --> 00:52:02.840
Wow. Yeah. What's the dynamic there in terms

00:52:02.840 --> 00:52:09.280
of competitiveness? It's a great, great dynamic.

00:52:09.539 --> 00:52:15.019
I like that kid so much. I love that kid. I've

00:52:15.019 --> 00:52:18.440
been on the circuit with him for five years now,

00:52:18.579 --> 00:52:21.579
which has been really cool because I remember

00:52:21.579 --> 00:52:25.000
when he was 17 and just joined. It was his first

00:52:25.000 --> 00:52:28.019
year on the circuit. And at the point I was like

00:52:28.019 --> 00:52:31.500
21. I know it's like kind of it was like weird

00:52:31.500 --> 00:52:33.860
because he was like young and he was like 17.

00:52:33.920 --> 00:52:35.739
And so it's kind of awkward because I was like,

00:52:35.739 --> 00:52:39.199
this kid's literally a kid. I was like not even

00:52:39.199 --> 00:52:44.880
18 yet. And then like half in Seoul after the

00:52:44.880 --> 00:52:47.099
round was over and like the comp was done, we

00:52:47.099 --> 00:52:50.380
were like, we can like get a drink together.

00:52:50.420 --> 00:52:53.579
We're like both. over 21 and like adults and

00:52:53.579 --> 00:52:55.880
the comps over which was i was like oh this is

00:52:55.880 --> 00:52:57.639
like cool like i remember when you were a kid

00:52:57.639 --> 00:53:00.780
and now we're just like both adults and i just

00:53:00.780 --> 00:53:05.280
he's like such a sweet kid and like uh really

00:53:05.280 --> 00:53:07.380
thoughtful and i don't know yeah i really like

00:53:07.380 --> 00:53:11.360
and he like he meets me at the same level of

00:53:11.360 --> 00:53:15.539
like banter like i'm kind of i i can like kind

00:53:15.539 --> 00:53:17.320
of poke a little hard i'm like a little like

00:53:17.320 --> 00:53:20.750
i like to banter And he just like meets my banter

00:53:20.750 --> 00:53:24.190
at the same level and like will give me shit.

00:53:24.250 --> 00:53:26.309
And I like that because I don't know. I like

00:53:26.309 --> 00:53:29.369
people that give me shit. What do you feel like

00:53:29.369 --> 00:53:31.269
are the differences between your climbing styles?

00:53:32.269 --> 00:53:40.769
Well, he's just way better than me. Okay. He's

00:53:40.769 --> 00:53:45.349
really good at this like straight arm kind of

00:53:45.349 --> 00:53:49.719
climbing. He has probably the strongest three

00:53:49.719 --> 00:53:51.619
-finger drag that I've ever seen in my life.

00:53:52.920 --> 00:53:55.679
And he's also exceptionally good at coordination.

00:53:56.079 --> 00:53:59.219
I think I'm pretty good at coordination, and

00:53:59.219 --> 00:54:01.400
he's so much better at coordination than me.

00:54:02.360 --> 00:54:05.340
And he's also freakishly strong. I think Colin

00:54:05.340 --> 00:54:07.139
is one of the strongest dudes on the circuit.

00:54:08.480 --> 00:54:14.119
It doesn't always show, but he really is freakishly

00:54:14.119 --> 00:54:16.599
strong. And when he's able to, like, channel

00:54:16.599 --> 00:54:19.420
that, I think, like, he's one of the strongest

00:54:19.420 --> 00:54:21.179
dudes on the circuit. And, like, Bull, there's,

00:54:21.219 --> 00:54:23.699
like, that one in Cachao, like, he didn't do.

00:54:24.559 --> 00:54:26.699
And he was like, it's too hard. It doesn't go.

00:54:26.960 --> 00:54:29.340
But I think he, like, he was just, like, he was

00:54:29.340 --> 00:54:31.360
grabbing the hold wrong. Like, I watched him,

00:54:31.400 --> 00:54:33.239
like, take the hold as, like, a side pull instead

00:54:33.239 --> 00:54:36.000
of a down pull. Or a down pull instead of a side

00:54:36.000 --> 00:54:37.719
pull. And then the two dudes that did it, like,

00:54:37.800 --> 00:54:42.670
grabbed it the right way. And it's, like. small

00:54:42.670 --> 00:54:44.969
things like that. But I think he is like, he's,

00:54:44.969 --> 00:54:48.150
he's really, really strong. He's really good

00:54:48.150 --> 00:54:51.409
at coordination. And then the only difference,

00:54:51.429 --> 00:54:53.730
like not difference between us, but like one

00:54:53.730 --> 00:54:56.030
of the, I think the other differences is that

00:54:56.030 --> 00:55:01.030
I excel on slab, maybe less this year, but I

00:55:01.030 --> 00:55:04.369
do feel like I'm good slab climber. And I think

00:55:04.369 --> 00:55:07.269
that's maybe his weakness. And so that was like

00:55:07.269 --> 00:55:10.030
the one thing I maybe have on him is like a little

00:55:10.030 --> 00:55:13.010
bit better slab climbing. Okay. Moving on for

00:55:13.010 --> 00:55:15.849
now, I know throughout this interview, you've

00:55:15.849 --> 00:55:17.750
talked about like different holds that people

00:55:17.750 --> 00:55:21.710
use in the competitions and World Cups and local

00:55:21.710 --> 00:55:25.170
competitions as well. I think that makes sense

00:55:25.170 --> 00:55:26.829
because you do a lot of hold shaping yourself.

00:55:27.590 --> 00:55:31.130
How did you get into that? So Quincy, the kid

00:55:31.130 --> 00:55:35.210
I talked about from my school, him and his dad

00:55:35.210 --> 00:55:37.130
used to make climbing holds. And that's just

00:55:37.130 --> 00:55:39.010
kind of a fun thing. They had a home wall. And

00:55:39.010 --> 00:55:40.829
so they'd make climbing holds for their home

00:55:40.829 --> 00:55:43.849
wall. And we had a play date because we were

00:55:43.849 --> 00:55:46.010
10 and that's what you do when you're 10. Cute.

00:55:46.309 --> 00:55:49.510
I miss play dates so bad. Well, you can still

00:55:49.510 --> 00:55:52.150
do them. Yeah, right? I feel like we should start

00:55:52.150 --> 00:55:54.809
adult play dates. But yeah, I went over to his

00:55:54.809 --> 00:55:56.389
house and we made climbing holds and I was like,

00:55:56.449 --> 00:56:00.809
this is the sickest thing ever. And as I do,

00:56:00.949 --> 00:56:02.690
immediately fell in love with it and was like,

00:56:02.809 --> 00:56:09.050
I want to do this all the time. So that was how

00:56:09.050 --> 00:56:16.059
I got into it. I pretty much just annoyed everyone

00:56:16.059 --> 00:56:19.659
that would tolerate me to teach me how to make

00:56:19.659 --> 00:56:23.860
climbing holds. We started a hold company that

00:56:23.860 --> 00:56:25.940
never went anywhere. And then I started another

00:56:25.940 --> 00:56:29.579
hold company with another buddy, which went a

00:56:29.579 --> 00:56:33.519
little farther. We sold holds to some friends

00:56:33.519 --> 00:56:35.559
for their home wall and then some to the climbing

00:56:35.559 --> 00:56:41.659
gym. And then I met Ty Foos at... bouldering

00:56:41.659 --> 00:56:45.139
nationals and just bugged him and we ended up

00:56:45.139 --> 00:56:47.400
becoming really good friends and he like taught

00:56:47.400 --> 00:56:50.579
me a bunch of stuff and then I bugged Ian from

00:56:50.579 --> 00:56:54.539
Kilter for like I would just message him online

00:56:54.539 --> 00:56:58.380
all of the time just asking all these stupid

00:56:58.380 --> 00:57:02.179
questions and like he let me come over and he

00:57:02.179 --> 00:57:05.039
let me shape and then when I moved to Salt Lake

00:57:05.039 --> 00:57:11.539
City I met Jared at Pusher and just like I wouldn't

00:57:11.539 --> 00:57:17.079
leave him alone. It's like constantly bugging

00:57:17.079 --> 00:57:19.440
him. And it was like, I think I went over there

00:57:19.440 --> 00:57:22.579
to climb with Nathaniel and I just spent the

00:57:22.579 --> 00:57:24.820
whole time Nathaniel was climbing, just talking

00:57:24.820 --> 00:57:27.579
to Jared about shapes. I like always had had

00:57:27.579 --> 00:57:31.760
a fascination with pusher. So I was just like

00:57:31.760 --> 00:57:34.019
geeked to be there and like meet Jared. I was

00:57:34.019 --> 00:57:36.960
like, it was like way cooler than meeting any

00:57:36.960 --> 00:57:41.219
of my climbing idols. I was so psyched. I was

00:57:41.219 --> 00:57:45.519
geeked out of my mind and spent four hours talking

00:57:45.519 --> 00:57:46.940
to him about climbing holds. He was like, you

00:57:46.940 --> 00:57:48.380
can come over whenever you want. I was like,

00:57:48.400 --> 00:57:51.639
cool. The next day, I was like, hey, can I come

00:57:51.639 --> 00:57:58.320
over? He let me shape some holds for him, which

00:57:58.320 --> 00:58:03.179
we ended up making. I just kept coming over and

00:58:03.179 --> 00:58:05.360
shaping and bugging him and climbing and shaping

00:58:05.360 --> 00:58:08.429
and bugging him. We became good friends. And

00:58:08.429 --> 00:58:10.610
so eventually he gave me a key because he was

00:58:10.610 --> 00:58:14.210
like, this doesn't make sense for me to be here

00:58:14.210 --> 00:58:17.210
all the time when you're here. He'd keep texting

00:58:17.210 --> 00:58:19.510
me at 10 o 'clock at night if he could come shape.

00:58:19.590 --> 00:58:24.130
So here's a key. And so I would just go over

00:58:24.130 --> 00:58:29.570
there all the time at crazy hours of the night

00:58:29.570 --> 00:58:33.630
and shape away. And we just became really good

00:58:33.630 --> 00:58:37.500
friends, me and Jared and Kevin. are like super

00:58:37.500 --> 00:58:39.539
tight now consider them both like some of my

00:58:39.539 --> 00:58:44.800
best friends um and yeah they're like really

00:58:44.800 --> 00:58:47.460
good dudes well so like what makes a good hold

00:58:47.460 --> 00:58:52.940
for you that's a good question um i remember

00:58:52.940 --> 00:58:55.880
you asked me this last time and i didn't have

00:58:55.880 --> 00:58:58.980
a good answer and i still don't have a good answer

00:58:58.980 --> 00:59:02.900
i i have a much better answer of what makes a

00:59:02.900 --> 00:59:06.559
bad hold Okay, go for that. Yeah, love to hear

00:59:06.559 --> 00:59:12.599
that too. There are bad holds because they're

00:59:12.599 --> 00:59:16.780
in attention to detail and done sloppily. And

00:59:16.780 --> 00:59:19.840
then there are really good holds that also have

00:59:19.840 --> 00:59:22.119
very little attention to detail and done really

00:59:22.119 --> 00:59:25.679
sloppily. But maybe it's the attention to detail.

00:59:26.300 --> 00:59:29.280
And I'm going to try not to call anyone out by

00:59:29.280 --> 00:59:34.840
name. But there's some... Really, really good

00:59:34.840 --> 00:59:39.599
hold companies would make fantastic, revolutionizing

00:59:39.599 --> 00:59:46.800
shapes, revolutionary shapes that are done in

00:59:46.800 --> 00:59:50.139
the lowest quality ever. Not the lowest quality,

00:59:50.280 --> 00:59:57.159
but it's really funny to see the attention to

00:59:57.159 --> 01:00:00.500
detail that just isn't there on the small things.

01:00:02.030 --> 01:00:05.550
But the hold itself is absolutely amazing. And

01:00:05.550 --> 01:00:08.489
is one of my favorite holds. And there's a lot

01:00:08.489 --> 01:00:13.570
of them. But a good example is dual techs. You

01:00:13.570 --> 01:00:16.409
can tell how much time someone spent and the

01:00:16.409 --> 01:00:19.269
level of craftsmanship because of dual techs.

01:00:21.369 --> 01:00:24.349
I don't know if I have any dual techs holds in

01:00:24.349 --> 01:00:26.969
my room right now. I don't have any good examples

01:00:26.969 --> 01:00:30.110
of this. But there's different ways to do a dual

01:00:30.110 --> 01:00:32.500
techs. And you can kind of tell on the whole

01:00:32.500 --> 01:00:36.940
how they did the dual techs. You can either do

01:00:36.940 --> 01:00:41.119
it on the foam before you mold it or after you

01:00:41.119 --> 01:00:45.659
mold it and then you can remold it again. And

01:00:45.659 --> 01:00:50.019
you can either do it by taking material away

01:00:50.019 --> 01:00:53.760
or adding material. And you can tell what material,

01:00:54.039 --> 01:00:58.119
like at least I can tell how they did it. And

01:00:58.119 --> 01:01:05.900
like Jared. is one of the most meticulous craftsmen

01:01:05.900 --> 01:01:10.039
I've ever seen. His attention to detail was insane

01:01:10.039 --> 01:01:17.500
and spectacular, which I think makes him a really,

01:01:17.619 --> 01:01:21.480
really good hold shaper. And you can tell from

01:01:21.480 --> 01:01:25.019
looking at his holds the level of craftsmanship.

01:01:25.980 --> 01:01:27.880
I'll shape a hold and I'll be done with it. And

01:01:27.880 --> 01:01:29.199
I'll be like, look at this hold that's ready

01:01:29.199 --> 01:01:31.960
to be molded. And he's like, it needs two more

01:01:31.960 --> 01:01:34.139
hours because you didn't do this and this and

01:01:34.139 --> 01:01:37.860
there's a bump here. He's like, I'll think a

01:01:37.860 --> 01:01:39.639
hold's done and I'm ready to mold it. And he's

01:01:39.639 --> 01:01:41.679
just like, it's not even close to done. Small

01:01:41.679 --> 01:01:48.579
things. Once he's drilled the holes where the

01:01:48.579 --> 01:01:50.139
bolt is going to go and the screw's going to

01:01:50.139 --> 01:01:53.320
go, he'll go back in and round off the edges.

01:01:54.539 --> 01:01:58.320
and clean it up so that when you like put your

01:01:58.320 --> 01:02:02.460
thumb in the hold it's not a sharp or hard edge

01:02:02.460 --> 01:02:06.000
it's like a rounded like smooth edge and we'll

01:02:06.000 --> 01:02:10.420
blend the dual tex into the bolt hole so that

01:02:10.420 --> 01:02:12.519
like when you put your thumb in the bolt hole

01:02:12.519 --> 01:02:14.960
you don't slip out you like or you do slip out

01:02:14.960 --> 01:02:18.440
whereas like some people will like dual tex the

01:02:18.440 --> 01:02:21.079
hole drill the hole shift it off and mail it

01:02:21.079 --> 01:02:23.139
and then it comes back and it's this dual text

01:02:23.139 --> 01:02:25.900
hold that has this sharp in -cut edge where your

01:02:25.900 --> 01:02:31.300
thumb goes um small things like that flat hold

01:02:31.300 --> 01:02:35.960
also um like i have so much infinite respect

01:02:35.960 --> 01:02:39.239
for them as well because their attention to detail

01:02:39.239 --> 01:02:42.880
and craftsmanship is like also on that same level

01:02:42.880 --> 01:02:47.000
um and like they're what when they release something

01:02:47.000 --> 01:02:52.099
it's done really well and with a lot of thought

01:02:52.099 --> 01:02:58.239
and uh intention and so like they make really

01:02:58.239 --> 01:03:02.320
good holds made really well and i think that's

01:03:02.320 --> 01:03:04.099
like an idea versus like some other companies

01:03:04.099 --> 01:03:06.059
make really cool holds that are like really good

01:03:06.059 --> 01:03:08.659
shapes but done really fast and they're like

01:03:08.659 --> 01:03:11.420
oh just like uh put a thing of dual text there

01:03:11.420 --> 01:03:14.500
so you can't step on it wow so like with the

01:03:14.940 --> 01:03:18.119
The bolt hold dual -tex thing, is that done individually

01:03:18.119 --> 01:03:21.519
per hold that comes out? No, no, no. That's all

01:03:21.519 --> 01:03:24.519
on the master. Oh, okay. Gotcha. And so you can

01:03:24.519 --> 01:03:31.960
do it on the plastic, and then basically you'd

01:03:31.960 --> 01:03:37.780
mold the hold, you'd dual -tex it, and then you'd

01:03:37.780 --> 01:03:41.639
mold it again. Or you can do it on the foam and

01:03:41.639 --> 01:03:44.519
then mold that. And they have different pros

01:03:44.519 --> 01:03:47.559
and cons. They look different. And you can tell

01:03:47.559 --> 01:03:49.659
when you, like, look at a hold closely whether

01:03:49.659 --> 01:03:54.119
it was, like, if the Dualtex, like, blends into

01:03:54.119 --> 01:03:57.000
the plastic, you can tell it was done on, like,

01:03:57.460 --> 01:04:00.179
a plastic hold. Versus, like, if there's a hard

01:04:00.179 --> 01:04:02.739
edge, you can tell that, like, that means that

01:04:02.739 --> 01:04:05.639
the Dualtex was, like, done on the foam and then

01:04:05.639 --> 01:04:08.760
molded. And then there's, like, a whole category

01:04:08.760 --> 01:04:12.670
of holds. which I would consider bad holds. These

01:04:12.670 --> 01:04:14.389
are all good holds. These are all the things,

01:04:14.469 --> 01:04:16.670
like the differences in like hold companies that

01:04:16.670 --> 01:04:19.349
make really good holds. And then there's the

01:04:19.349 --> 01:04:24.010
companies that make bad holds that I like don't

01:04:24.010 --> 01:04:25.869
even know how to explain, but they're just like

01:04:25.869 --> 01:04:28.010
a waste of plastic. And every time I see them,

01:04:28.010 --> 01:04:30.389
I'm just like, I can't believe you're just, anyone's

01:04:30.389 --> 01:04:32.889
allowed to make a climbing hold company. Yeah.

01:04:33.409 --> 01:04:35.630
Like that's one of the questions I ask myself

01:04:35.630 --> 01:04:38.389
frequently. I'm like, I can't believe that someone

01:04:38.389 --> 01:04:41.460
decided. that it was worth their money to mold

01:04:41.460 --> 01:04:45.159
this. And then someone spent their money to buy

01:04:45.159 --> 01:04:48.860
it, which is crazy. Is it like ergonomics or

01:04:48.860 --> 01:04:52.360
just like a shave that's already been done or

01:04:52.360 --> 01:04:55.019
like what is it? So that's really annoying. When

01:04:55.019 --> 01:04:56.699
someone does a hold that's already been done

01:04:56.699 --> 01:04:59.340
and doesn't do their own thing to it, that's

01:04:59.340 --> 01:05:01.980
annoying, especially when they don't do a good

01:05:01.980 --> 01:05:06.719
job. But most of it is like ergonomics or...

01:05:08.269 --> 01:05:10.329
Something I see a lot of which I really don't

01:05:10.329 --> 01:05:12.789
like is really poorly done rock texture holds.

01:05:13.309 --> 01:05:16.190
So like there's a lot of companies that make

01:05:16.190 --> 01:05:20.150
rock textured holds that don't actually look

01:05:20.150 --> 01:05:22.210
like rock texture and are kind of uncomfortable

01:05:22.210 --> 01:05:25.789
to grab because they have this like natural look

01:05:25.789 --> 01:05:29.510
to them. And like they're A, not artistic to

01:05:29.510 --> 01:05:32.929
look at. And B, they're like really unfun to

01:05:32.929 --> 01:05:35.510
grab. They're kind of like kind of uncomfortable.

01:05:36.090 --> 01:05:39.280
And I'm sure like... If you go to the gym and

01:05:39.280 --> 01:05:41.920
look at some holds, you can tell the difference

01:05:41.920 --> 01:05:46.079
between... When you look at Jared's sandstone,

01:05:46.199 --> 01:05:50.500
it looks like a piece of Joe's is on the wall.

01:05:51.639 --> 01:05:54.059
And then if you look at some other companies,

01:05:54.280 --> 01:06:00.980
like Rock Texture, it's like... I don't know

01:06:00.980 --> 01:06:04.800
what that is, but I don't want to grab it. And

01:06:04.800 --> 01:06:10.860
like... the like both kilter and uh pusher I

01:06:10.860 --> 01:06:14.079
think do a really good job of making like fun

01:06:14.079 --> 01:06:16.340
like ergonomic and they do it differently like

01:06:16.340 --> 01:06:20.019
Ian has his own style but like he does a really

01:06:20.019 --> 01:06:23.280
good job with the sandstone and the granite texture

01:06:23.280 --> 01:06:27.099
um and like he has his style and Jared has his

01:06:27.099 --> 01:06:29.780
style and they're both like do a really good

01:06:29.780 --> 01:06:32.340
job with it Ian is also very meticulous and like

01:06:32.340 --> 01:06:38.699
very um uh, just like Jared, it's not, it's not

01:06:38.699 --> 01:06:42.239
OCD, but it is OCD about like every detail has

01:06:42.239 --> 01:06:45.800
to be perfect. And I think that's important because

01:06:45.800 --> 01:06:47.980
when you can blow the hold and put it on your

01:06:47.980 --> 01:06:50.239
website and sell it and like give it to hundreds

01:06:50.239 --> 01:06:53.099
of thousands of people and like it potentially

01:06:53.099 --> 01:06:55.480
is going to be something that people will climb

01:06:55.480 --> 01:06:57.519
on for the next like a hundred years and will

01:06:57.519 --> 01:06:59.739
like, like the, the boss is like was made in

01:06:59.739 --> 01:07:03.730
the eighties and It's still a hold that is on

01:07:03.730 --> 01:07:06.690
people's wall. Can you describe which one that

01:07:06.690 --> 01:07:10.190
is real quick? The boss looks like a brain. It's

01:07:10.190 --> 01:07:13.690
the old, it's like the big sloper that's this

01:07:13.690 --> 01:07:17.010
big. And it's got the font bubbles on the top.

01:07:17.289 --> 01:07:19.550
And then like the brain divot in the middle.

01:07:20.289 --> 01:07:23.190
And that was like the first big sloper feature.

01:07:24.250 --> 01:07:26.510
And Pusher was like the first. They were the

01:07:26.510 --> 01:07:30.969
first of a lot of things. It was like they really

01:07:30.969 --> 01:07:35.510
did. do a lot of firsts um but the boss is like

01:07:35.510 --> 01:07:38.269
maybe one of the most recognizable famous holds

01:07:38.269 --> 01:07:43.130
um not holds gonna be famous for you know it's

01:07:43.130 --> 01:07:46.550
like timeless hold anytime you make a hold like

01:07:46.550 --> 01:07:49.710
everything you all the little divots or like

01:07:49.710 --> 01:07:52.170
little birthmarks and like all these little things

01:07:52.170 --> 01:07:54.829
that you don't take care of will be there forever

01:07:54.829 --> 01:07:58.570
um the bubble wraps another like iconic hold

01:07:58.570 --> 01:08:02.420
that will like always be around. There will always

01:08:02.420 --> 01:08:04.639
be bubble wrap holds and they'll always be sick.

01:08:04.820 --> 01:08:07.679
I set a boulder with the bubble wrap holds Thursday

01:08:07.679 --> 01:08:11.019
and they're still sick. The bubble wrap looks

01:08:11.019 --> 01:08:14.440
like a pie. It's like a half moon and it's got

01:08:14.440 --> 01:08:18.079
little tiny bubbles on the top of it. Honestly,

01:08:18.079 --> 01:08:21.500
I hate these holds. Really? I love the bubble

01:08:21.500 --> 01:08:24.880
wrap. It's a texture thing for me and the fact

01:08:24.880 --> 01:08:30.739
that I'm bad at climbing basically. Actually,

01:08:30.819 --> 01:08:35.340
so Ty shaped the bubble wrap. And it doesn't

01:08:35.340 --> 01:08:37.319
exist anymore, but he showed me one of the times

01:08:37.319 --> 01:08:41.300
I went to Waco the first bubble wrap hold that

01:08:41.300 --> 01:08:43.819
he ever shaped. And it's cool because it has

01:08:43.819 --> 01:08:46.239
a little rock texture in it, like when he first

01:08:46.239 --> 01:08:52.859
made it. He added some cracks into it. But essentially,

01:08:52.979 --> 01:08:56.340
I think the story goes like he was setting a

01:08:56.340 --> 01:08:59.119
bunch of comms at the time, and Chris Sharma...

01:08:59.449 --> 01:09:03.109
and somebody else were competing and they were

01:09:03.109 --> 01:09:05.489
always tying. They would always either fall or

01:09:05.489 --> 01:09:07.970
they would send the roo. And he was sick of them

01:09:07.970 --> 01:09:10.289
tying. So he's like, I need to come up with something

01:09:10.289 --> 01:09:12.890
that will separate them. And so he shaped the

01:09:12.890 --> 01:09:16.569
bubble wrap, which was probably the first hold

01:09:16.569 --> 01:09:21.029
to really make you fumble around to get the right

01:09:21.029 --> 01:09:22.989
spot. When you grab a bubble wrap, you can't

01:09:22.989 --> 01:09:28.109
just slap to it. You need to take it right. And

01:09:28.109 --> 01:09:30.130
so he shaped the bubble wrap so that you had

01:09:30.130 --> 01:09:32.949
to take it in the right position and grab it.

01:09:33.189 --> 01:09:35.149
Just like when you're climbing outside, you will

01:09:35.149 --> 01:09:37.189
grab a hold and fiddle around to get the right

01:09:37.189 --> 01:09:41.829
bubbles. And sure enough, Chris jumped to the

01:09:41.829 --> 01:09:43.850
hold and was like, and then jumped to the next

01:09:43.850 --> 01:09:45.590
hold and did the route and won. And then the

01:09:45.590 --> 01:09:48.130
next guy came out and jumped to the hold and

01:09:48.130 --> 01:09:51.729
grabbed it and tried to keep grabbing it and

01:09:51.729 --> 01:09:53.729
was bumping around on it and then didn't do the

01:09:53.729 --> 01:09:56.770
next move. So it ended up separating them. I

01:09:56.770 --> 01:09:58.310
could keep talking about cotton poults forever.

01:09:58.789 --> 01:10:01.970
Well, okay. I guess big one that a lot of people

01:10:01.970 --> 01:10:04.590
have been talking about more recently. How do

01:10:04.590 --> 01:10:07.510
you feel about no -tax holds? Oh, I love no -tax

01:10:07.510 --> 01:10:14.050
holds. Nice. I have a huge issue with the rules

01:10:14.050 --> 01:10:22.109
around no -tax holds. I actually have a big frustration.

01:10:24.390 --> 01:10:28.289
They released the no -text volts. Climbers adapted,

01:10:28.590 --> 01:10:31.409
which included spitting and licking on your hands

01:10:31.409 --> 01:10:34.229
because when you have moist hands, you stick

01:10:34.229 --> 01:10:37.409
to the no -text better. Then the next season

01:10:37.409 --> 01:10:42.489
rolled around and they started setting these

01:10:42.489 --> 01:10:44.869
boulders because it's a new technology. So it's

01:10:44.869 --> 01:10:48.210
like, what can we do? So they started to introduce

01:10:48.210 --> 01:10:55.229
changes of like... state right so it's like you

01:10:55.229 --> 01:10:58.670
start on fiberglass and then you move to clear

01:10:58.670 --> 01:11:01.369
holds or you start on clear holds and then you

01:11:01.369 --> 01:11:04.689
move to fiberglass which are completely different

01:11:04.689 --> 01:11:07.510
states like for fiberglass you need really dry

01:11:07.510 --> 01:11:12.050
skin and for plastic uh it's dual text you need

01:11:12.050 --> 01:11:15.909
really like uh tacky moist skin so essentially

01:11:15.909 --> 01:11:19.029
like if you like missed your hands and then let

01:11:19.029 --> 01:11:21.590
them dry for a second that's like really the

01:11:21.590 --> 01:11:24.510
tacky feeling you want or like if you lick your

01:11:24.510 --> 01:11:28.270
fingers and then let them dry for a minute but

01:11:28.270 --> 01:11:30.989
then competitors were like licking their fingers

01:11:30.989 --> 01:11:33.789
and like bringing out bottles of spray and like

01:11:33.789 --> 01:11:36.470
you know essentially adapting to this new thing

01:11:36.470 --> 01:11:40.649
and so the ifsc introduced rules now where like

01:11:40.649 --> 01:11:42.590
you're not allowed to lick your hands or spit

01:11:42.590 --> 01:11:47.170
on your hands which like i get it's kind of a

01:11:47.170 --> 01:11:52.350
biohazard ish and i know that some people are

01:11:52.350 --> 01:11:57.210
like ew that's gross germs illness whatever but

01:11:57.210 --> 01:12:01.989
like on the other hand all of those germs and

01:12:01.989 --> 01:12:05.289
stuff still exist on the wall anyways like you

01:12:05.289 --> 01:12:08.109
sneezing and like wash you know going to like

01:12:08.109 --> 01:12:10.989
all of like these germs are all still just right

01:12:10.989 --> 01:12:14.670
there and you're still like climbing like if

01:12:14.670 --> 01:12:17.710
like i don't know if i were to climb on a boulder

01:12:18.189 --> 01:12:20.130
the last thing I want to do is lick my hands

01:12:20.130 --> 01:12:23.029
after I like like I've already gotten all the

01:12:23.029 --> 01:12:26.369
germs and so like if I were someone else with

01:12:26.369 --> 01:12:28.369
a spit on their hands and then climbing a boulder

01:12:28.369 --> 01:12:31.489
before me I don't think there's any more germs

01:12:31.489 --> 01:12:35.409
than there already was like with like people

01:12:35.409 --> 01:12:37.409
stepping and whatever in their climbing shoe

01:12:37.409 --> 01:12:38.930
and then putting their climbing shoe on those

01:12:38.930 --> 01:12:41.489
holds like I don't know what's on your like I'm

01:12:41.489 --> 01:12:43.810
more concerned what's on your feet than what's

01:12:43.810 --> 01:12:48.600
on the like wall yeah I have another tangent

01:12:48.600 --> 01:12:51.880
that I'm probably will get into, but essentially

01:12:51.880 --> 01:12:55.239
it's been really frustrating with me because

01:12:55.239 --> 01:12:58.859
I like me. I don't know. I feel like I want all

01:12:58.859 --> 01:13:00.579
of the advantage I can have. And it was really

01:13:00.579 --> 01:13:04.600
frustrating for me to like, then now dual tech

01:13:04.600 --> 01:13:07.439
slash fiberglass or kind of like, it's like,

01:13:07.520 --> 01:13:11.920
how, what is your skin? Like, what are your genetics?

01:13:12.460 --> 01:13:15.659
Well, I mean, you can still bring a spray. You're

01:13:15.659 --> 01:13:18.359
not allowed to spray your hands before anymore.

01:13:18.640 --> 01:13:20.920
Oh, really? Your hands have to be dry before

01:13:20.920 --> 01:13:23.520
you get on the boulder. Oh, really? Okay. Yeah.

01:13:24.159 --> 01:13:26.239
I didn't know that. And so, like, it's still

01:13:26.239 --> 01:13:28.600
a fair playing field technically, but it just

01:13:28.600 --> 01:13:30.779
was, like, really frustrating all season for

01:13:30.779 --> 01:13:33.159
me because they introduced it in, like, the first

01:13:33.159 --> 01:13:36.960
comp. And then sure enough, I, like, turn around

01:13:36.960 --> 01:13:41.079
and it's, like, fiberglass start and then palm

01:13:41.079 --> 01:13:45.020
pressing on, like, no techs. And they're like,

01:13:45.079 --> 01:13:47.300
you can't spit on your hand. I'm like, I really

01:13:47.300 --> 01:13:51.260
want to like do the palm press mantle and then

01:13:51.260 --> 01:13:54.060
spit on my hands and get them wet and then be

01:13:54.060 --> 01:13:58.500
able to stick to these clear holds. It just was

01:13:58.500 --> 01:14:00.579
like kind of, I don't know. I have beef with

01:14:00.579 --> 01:14:03.300
it. But the holds themselves. No, the holds themselves

01:14:03.300 --> 01:14:06.399
are cool. They're a little overused. Less so

01:14:06.399 --> 01:14:11.199
now, but it's just like I'm a little tired of

01:14:11.199 --> 01:14:13.680
being asked if I can hold on to a slippery jug.

01:14:14.590 --> 01:14:19.869
Okay. Like, I've done, it's been asked a lot

01:14:19.869 --> 01:14:23.289
now. It's like, oh, like every company now makes,

01:14:23.390 --> 01:14:25.270
and I think I want to make some dual tech holds

01:14:25.270 --> 01:14:27.750
too. Like I have a different idea what I want

01:14:27.750 --> 01:14:31.250
to do with them. But like the slippery jug, I'm

01:14:31.250 --> 01:14:35.850
kind of tired of grabbing. It's like, can you

01:14:35.850 --> 01:14:39.270
hold on to a, can you make your hands wet before

01:14:39.270 --> 01:14:41.670
you grab this jug? Is the question. It's like,

01:14:41.750 --> 01:14:43.789
how much do you sweat? Yeah, I didn't know that

01:14:43.789 --> 01:14:46.989
you weren't allowed to use sprays either. I thought

01:14:46.989 --> 01:14:50.029
I saw people using those. You can spray your

01:14:50.029 --> 01:14:52.069
hands, but then they have to be dry before you

01:14:52.069 --> 01:14:53.529
get on the wall. And this was a change before

01:14:53.529 --> 01:14:57.470
Korea. So Brazil, they introduced you're not

01:14:57.470 --> 01:14:59.369
allowed to spit on your hands or lick your hands.

01:15:00.149 --> 01:15:03.409
Okay. Which I can see why if you're on live stream,

01:15:03.529 --> 01:15:05.729
it could potentially be like, I'm sure that like

01:15:05.729 --> 01:15:09.380
Jakob Schubert licking his hand. in the world

01:15:09.380 --> 01:15:11.979
jameson burn like went super viral and they're

01:15:11.979 --> 01:15:15.119
like this is a media disaster you can't do that

01:15:15.119 --> 01:15:20.060
anymore and then my so and honestly like i'm

01:15:20.060 --> 01:15:23.859
probably i don't know if they if like i'm the

01:15:23.859 --> 01:15:27.380
reason they they'd made this rule about the spray

01:15:27.380 --> 01:15:30.859
but i'm sure that i made the point that is probably

01:15:30.859 --> 01:15:35.289
made the rule is that like I was like, all right,

01:15:35.289 --> 01:15:37.229
well, I'm just going to soak my hands and then

01:15:37.229 --> 01:15:41.210
pull on a fiberglass hold. If I'm not doing a

01:15:41.210 --> 01:15:43.489
boulder, and I know I'm not doing the boulder,

01:15:43.550 --> 01:15:45.710
my last go, soak my hands, pull on the hole,

01:15:45.869 --> 01:15:49.470
make it so no one else can climb on it. Did you

01:15:49.470 --> 01:15:55.210
do that? No, but I talked about doing it openly

01:15:55.210 --> 01:15:58.170
in ISO. It wasn't like, ha, ha, ha, this is this

01:15:58.170 --> 01:16:00.510
trick I'm going to do. I was just like, well,

01:16:00.550 --> 01:16:01.590
I'm going to do that. And everyone was like,

01:16:01.670 --> 01:16:03.739
well, you can't do that. And I'm like. Tell me

01:16:03.739 --> 01:16:05.680
why I can't do that. And they're like, but it's

01:16:05.680 --> 01:16:07.659
cheating. And I'm like, then why are you allowed

01:16:07.659 --> 01:16:09.779
to spray your hands before you grab the dual

01:16:09.779 --> 01:16:14.420
text hold? You can't tell me that I can spray

01:16:14.420 --> 01:16:16.500
my hands for certain boulders, but I can't for

01:16:16.500 --> 01:16:19.699
other boulders. If I'm allowed to spray my hands,

01:16:19.899 --> 01:16:22.279
I'm allowed to spray them as much as I want,

01:16:22.439 --> 01:16:24.979
and I should be allowed to spray them on whatever

01:16:24.979 --> 01:16:27.359
boulder I want. And it's one of those cheeky

01:16:27.359 --> 01:16:30.619
things I say. We talked about this before the

01:16:30.619 --> 01:16:33.949
podcast. I'll say outlandish things just to kind

01:16:33.949 --> 01:16:36.989
of get a rise out of people. And I'm also like

01:16:36.989 --> 01:16:41.050
very anti, I don't like being told what I can

01:16:41.050 --> 01:16:44.109
and cannot do unless you can tell me a good reason

01:16:44.109 --> 01:16:47.270
why and like a logical reason why. I don't like

01:16:47.270 --> 01:16:50.510
rules or laws that don't have logic behind them.

01:16:50.930 --> 01:16:53.489
And if you can logistically tell me a reason

01:16:53.489 --> 01:16:55.470
why I shouldn't be doing something, then I'm

01:16:55.470 --> 01:16:58.130
happy to follow the rule. But if it's just based

01:16:58.130 --> 01:17:02.720
on feelings. Or if it's not a fair, like, legit,

01:17:02.800 --> 01:17:06.079
logical rule, I don't like it. And so that was

01:17:06.079 --> 01:17:09.140
like, I was like, okay, well, like, there's no

01:17:09.140 --> 01:17:11.439
reason I can't spray my hands right before I

01:17:11.439 --> 01:17:14.000
do, like, some kind of friction -dependent boulder,

01:17:14.119 --> 01:17:17.539
get it wet, and then the next person's bummed.

01:17:18.119 --> 01:17:20.220
And they're like, but it's unfair, it's treated.

01:17:20.300 --> 01:17:22.220
I'm like, I know, but it's just, right now, the

01:17:22.220 --> 01:17:25.000
rules allow it. And so that's why they probably

01:17:25.000 --> 01:17:27.159
changed the rules. That makes sense why that

01:17:27.159 --> 01:17:30.039
rule is that wet. It's a bummer because now they

01:17:30.039 --> 01:17:32.100
have introduced these like holds that are friction

01:17:32.100 --> 01:17:34.319
dependent or non -friction dependent. And then

01:17:34.319 --> 01:17:36.819
the setters will set boulders that are like paddle

01:17:36.819 --> 01:17:40.859
dyno to paddle. Like it's like, you know, friction

01:17:40.859 --> 01:17:43.960
dependent slope remove to dual text jug. And

01:17:43.960 --> 01:17:45.720
you're like, okay, I have to pick which one I

01:17:45.720 --> 01:17:49.319
want to be bad on. And that I don't like because

01:17:49.319 --> 01:17:51.579
I'm just frustrated that it's like you have to

01:17:51.579 --> 01:17:54.819
take a state. Yeah. I want to be able to change

01:17:54.819 --> 01:17:57.689
my state mid boulder. I mean, I guess the reason

01:17:57.689 --> 01:18:02.590
why they wouldn't want you to just ruin the climb

01:18:02.590 --> 01:18:05.430
for everyone else is just because it looks bad

01:18:05.430 --> 01:18:08.149
in terms of sportsmanship, I guess. No, exactly.

01:18:08.470 --> 01:18:13.189
I mean, I think that will make sense. And that's

01:18:13.189 --> 01:18:14.930
part of why I said it, too, is I was like, there's

01:18:14.930 --> 01:18:19.029
this gaping. And obviously, I think I'm contradicting

01:18:19.029 --> 01:18:21.229
myself because I started this argument off that

01:18:21.229 --> 01:18:23.050
I was frustrated that they made these new rules.

01:18:24.360 --> 01:18:26.880
And now I'm like, yes, I was probably part of

01:18:26.880 --> 01:18:29.180
the reason that they made these new rules because

01:18:29.180 --> 01:18:32.079
I like, and like I said, I don't know if anyone

01:18:32.079 --> 01:18:35.560
in the rules committee heard me say this or if

01:18:35.560 --> 01:18:38.439
one of the athletes told them, but I feel like

01:18:38.439 --> 01:18:40.819
I did bring up a really good point, which is

01:18:40.819 --> 01:18:43.699
why I would personally make this new rule. It's

01:18:43.699 --> 01:18:47.140
like someone at some point was going to do that

01:18:47.140 --> 01:18:49.859
because it was allowed. Like there was a hole

01:18:49.859 --> 01:18:54.460
in the rules and it needed to be filled. preferably

01:18:54.460 --> 01:18:58.340
before someone did that. Like I didn't do that,

01:18:58.380 --> 01:19:00.840
have no intention of doing that. But I thought

01:19:00.840 --> 01:19:02.699
of it as like, there's this giant loophole now

01:19:02.699 --> 01:19:04.420
where like, I'm allowed to spray my hands with

01:19:04.420 --> 01:19:07.699
water. Why would I not? Like, if I really wanted

01:19:07.699 --> 01:19:10.000
to do well, I'd just spray my hands with water

01:19:10.000 --> 01:19:13.560
right before I go. Part of it is like, I also

01:19:13.560 --> 01:19:15.279
just don't think it would help. Like, I think

01:19:15.279 --> 01:19:19.270
if I like, I don't know. if that was what I was

01:19:19.270 --> 01:19:21.630
focused on doing I don't think my round would

01:19:21.630 --> 01:19:23.470
I don't know I would probably just also not make

01:19:23.470 --> 01:19:25.369
the semi and then everyone would be like mad

01:19:25.369 --> 01:19:27.810
at me I don't think there are any climbers on

01:19:27.810 --> 01:19:29.550
this circuit right now who would do it I mean

01:19:29.550 --> 01:19:32.369
I remember like I don't remember if it was like

01:19:32.369 --> 01:19:34.250
last year the year before but there was like

01:19:34.250 --> 01:19:38.829
a slab start that like Yannick couldn't do. And

01:19:38.829 --> 01:19:40.869
so he kind of just like gave up and then brushed

01:19:40.869 --> 01:19:44.170
it for the next person. So I don't think anyone

01:19:44.170 --> 01:19:46.590
on the circuit would kind of go that route of

01:19:46.590 --> 01:19:48.550
like trying to sabotage other people's climbs.

01:19:49.050 --> 01:19:52.649
Yeah. No one's done it yet, but also the sport

01:19:52.649 --> 01:19:55.350
is growing and at some point someone was going

01:19:55.350 --> 01:19:58.090
to do it. Yeah. Someone should do it. I think

01:19:58.090 --> 01:20:01.350
a villain would be interesting to see. I would

01:20:01.350 --> 01:20:03.949
love a great, a good villain. Yeah. Someone who

01:20:03.949 --> 01:20:06.369
is just a terrible person and everyone can hate

01:20:06.369 --> 01:20:12.340
on. Couldn't be me. Okay. So thinking about the

01:20:12.340 --> 01:20:15.199
future going forward, while we are also kind

01:20:15.199 --> 01:20:17.680
of running low on time, what are your goals for

01:20:17.680 --> 01:20:21.100
2026 climbing and non -climbing related? I'm

01:20:21.100 --> 01:20:25.380
not quite sure yet. I'm kind of in a transition

01:20:25.380 --> 01:20:29.979
period. I want to make the team again in bouldering.

01:20:30.840 --> 01:20:32.979
I probably won't even compete in lead this year.

01:20:33.300 --> 01:20:35.619
Probably just focus on bouldering. And I have

01:20:35.619 --> 01:20:38.899
a bunch of outdoor. routes that I'd like to do.

01:20:40.180 --> 01:20:43.760
But time has gotten away from me and I'm kind

01:20:43.760 --> 01:20:46.180
of out of shape for lead climbing. So I think

01:20:46.180 --> 01:20:48.020
that those goals are going to be really hard

01:20:48.020 --> 01:20:51.680
to achieve before the season's over. I have some

01:20:51.680 --> 01:20:55.000
outdoor bouldering projects that I would also

01:20:55.000 --> 01:21:00.520
like to do. But Little Cottonwood is very tumultuous

01:21:00.520 --> 01:21:04.800
in the fall. And so I also don't know if I'll

01:21:04.800 --> 01:21:09.069
have time to do. those as well because potentially

01:21:09.069 --> 01:21:14.189
by next monday it'll be out of season for the

01:21:14.189 --> 01:21:19.050
fall wow okay like there's that there's like

01:21:19.050 --> 01:21:22.510
talk of it just getting snowed out and like and

01:21:22.510 --> 01:21:25.810
i we'll see everyone always says that and then

01:21:25.810 --> 01:21:28.289
the fall like we get a snowstorm in october and

01:21:28.289 --> 01:21:32.069
then nothing till like december like 15th or

01:21:32.069 --> 01:21:36.819
something but uh There is potential that the

01:21:36.819 --> 01:21:39.319
season's over pretty soon, and I just don't have

01:21:39.319 --> 01:21:42.020
time to climb those things either. I kind of

01:21:42.020 --> 01:21:44.420
accomplished my goal of two semis this year,

01:21:44.539 --> 01:21:48.199
so if I do make the team again, I think the next

01:21:48.199 --> 01:21:53.420
goal for me is a final, but it's hard. Yeah,

01:21:53.420 --> 01:21:56.159
oh, for sure. I know. Yeah, I know we're definitely

01:21:56.159 --> 01:21:57.899
running low on time, but I definitely want to

01:21:57.899 --> 01:22:00.420
get to some of the user -submitted questions.

01:22:00.819 --> 01:22:04.600
So first one I'll get into, this is from, like,

01:22:04.970 --> 01:22:07.250
Way back, I was going to go into it in the intro,

01:22:07.270 --> 01:22:09.590
but we veered a different direction. So we're

01:22:09.590 --> 01:22:12.149
going to ask this one now. Someone asked, did

01:22:12.149 --> 01:22:17.810
you really start climbing at two? Yes. I don't

01:22:17.810 --> 01:22:21.970
remember exactly. I don't remember, but it was

01:22:21.970 --> 01:22:24.970
like two or three. It was before I could walk.

01:22:26.109 --> 01:22:28.649
Jeez. Because my dad would like put me in a harness

01:22:28.649 --> 01:22:30.770
and they would just kind of like pull me up the

01:22:30.770 --> 01:22:32.829
wall and I would just like scramble up the wall.

01:22:33.640 --> 01:22:40.220
I also apparently at 18 months crawled. My mom

01:22:40.220 --> 01:22:44.619
like went to go put my sister down and I couldn't

01:22:44.619 --> 01:22:47.079
talk. I like didn't start talking until I was

01:22:47.079 --> 01:22:50.319
like really, I don't remember how old I was,

01:22:50.380 --> 01:22:53.520
but it was like very late in life. But I could

01:22:53.520 --> 01:22:57.220
crawl and I could walk. And my mom like let me

01:22:57.220 --> 01:23:00.060
go. I would like. basically communicated that

01:23:00.060 --> 01:23:02.000
I wanted to play outside. And she's like, yeah,

01:23:02.039 --> 01:23:03.539
I'm going to go put your sister down. And I could

01:23:03.539 --> 01:23:05.920
hear, I could like comprehend what she was saying.

01:23:05.960 --> 01:23:09.600
I just wasn't talking yet. And I like climbed

01:23:09.600 --> 01:23:13.840
over our five foot fence and walked to the park

01:23:13.840 --> 01:23:16.939
across the street. Oh my gosh. That's terrifying.

01:23:16.939 --> 01:23:19.420
And then my mom like heard some voices from outside

01:23:19.420 --> 01:23:21.720
the house and she opened the front door and there

01:23:21.720 --> 01:23:26.560
was a lady with a baby. Like, and was like, is

01:23:26.560 --> 01:23:29.630
this your baby? And so apparently I thought that

01:23:29.630 --> 01:23:33.930
the fire alarm caused fires. So I like went to

01:23:33.930 --> 01:23:35.989
where our fire spot was. My mom was like, if

01:23:35.989 --> 01:23:37.869
there's a fire, this is where you go. And I like

01:23:37.869 --> 01:23:40.270
went there. And then this lady like picked me

01:23:40.270 --> 01:23:43.090
up as I was like walking across the street at

01:23:43.090 --> 01:23:46.710
like 18 months in a diaper. And I like pointed

01:23:46.710 --> 01:23:49.130
my way home. So yes, I started very early. I

01:23:49.130 --> 01:23:53.430
was a very, very active kid. Like I hear my mom

01:23:53.430 --> 01:23:55.069
tells these stories and I'm like, damn, that

01:23:55.069 --> 01:23:58.229
sounds terrible. I really push you through it.

01:23:58.350 --> 01:24:01.289
You don't really remember doing that. No, I remember

01:24:01.289 --> 01:24:04.329
climbing into my mom's closet at a very young

01:24:04.329 --> 01:24:08.770
age. And then I don't think I ever fell out,

01:24:08.829 --> 01:24:10.750
but like very similar to the closet I have here.

01:24:10.810 --> 01:24:13.470
It's like a double door closet with the little

01:24:13.470 --> 01:24:15.989
shelf at the top. And I would like climb the

01:24:15.989 --> 01:24:18.930
door and then crawl into the little shelf. And

01:24:18.930 --> 01:24:20.970
now I'm looking at it and I'm like, wow, that's,

01:24:20.970 --> 01:24:24.149
I was really small if I could fit in there. I

01:24:24.149 --> 01:24:26.189
was, yeah, I just was like always on top of things.

01:24:27.650 --> 01:24:31.770
And I just have like infinite, I just have a

01:24:31.770 --> 01:24:34.470
bunch of memories of like my entire childhood

01:24:34.470 --> 01:24:37.189
getting yelled at by other parents for being

01:24:37.189 --> 01:24:40.149
on top of things. And it was really frustrating

01:24:40.149 --> 01:24:42.409
because I knew what I was doing and I was really

01:24:42.409 --> 01:24:45.369
good at it. And my mom was like, yeah, that's

01:24:45.369 --> 01:24:47.369
just what he does. And then someone else would

01:24:47.369 --> 01:24:49.090
come over and be like, you need to get down.

01:24:49.229 --> 01:24:51.609
And I'm like, you're not my mom. Leave me alone.

01:24:52.550 --> 01:24:55.130
Like we went to like the zoo and there was like

01:24:55.130 --> 01:24:57.890
a a playground that was like you would go inside

01:24:57.890 --> 01:24:59.569
of the playground and then climb in the side

01:24:59.569 --> 01:25:01.590
of it and of course like that was boring because

01:25:01.590 --> 01:25:04.289
it was made for kids so i would like climb the

01:25:04.289 --> 01:25:06.689
outside of it and like some mom came over and

01:25:06.689 --> 01:25:08.670
was like that's dangerous you need to get down

01:25:08.670 --> 01:25:14.310
and then at my first world youth world championships

01:25:14.310 --> 01:25:18.829
we like as a team went to the park to go get

01:25:18.829 --> 01:25:22.310
like you know it was like team activities or

01:25:22.310 --> 01:25:25.039
whatever and i like climbed a tree and then all

01:25:25.039 --> 01:25:27.039
the kids were like oh my god you're gonna get

01:25:27.039 --> 01:25:29.100
hurt you're gonna get down and I was like this

01:25:29.100 --> 01:25:31.220
is the only place I should feel safe and for

01:25:31.220 --> 01:25:33.420
some reason I don't feel safe right now I was

01:25:33.420 --> 01:25:36.119
like why am I getting called out by other US

01:25:36.119 --> 01:25:39.180
team athletes on the US rock climbing it was

01:25:39.180 --> 01:25:41.539
pretty funny I like really remember getting yelled

01:25:41.539 --> 01:25:43.279
at by all the kids and then like the coaches

01:25:43.279 --> 01:25:48.199
I think it was Meg Meg was like dude you're really

01:25:48.199 --> 01:25:50.680
upsetting all the other kids and I'm like I know

01:25:50.680 --> 01:25:54.069
you're good but like can You're making my job

01:25:54.069 --> 01:25:56.470
so much harder. Can you please come down? I'm

01:25:56.470 --> 01:25:58.390
like, I don't want to deal with all these teenagers

01:25:58.390 --> 01:26:00.810
that are freaking out because you're in this

01:26:00.810 --> 01:26:03.710
tree. I was like, that's fair. For you, I will

01:26:03.710 --> 01:26:05.890
get out of the tree. For these kids, I'm very

01:26:05.890 --> 01:26:08.750
upset that they don't also want to climb the

01:26:08.750 --> 01:26:10.289
tree with me. Well, you wouldn't want to get

01:26:10.289 --> 01:26:12.329
injured before. Yeah, they were like, you could

01:26:12.329 --> 01:26:14.149
get hurt before the comp. I was like, we're at

01:26:14.149 --> 01:26:17.010
a rock climbing competition. I'm sure I can climb

01:26:17.010 --> 01:26:21.550
this tree. yeah i feel fine um okay next one

01:26:21.550 --> 01:26:26.489
we'll go to um what kept you motivated to keep

01:26:26.489 --> 01:26:29.670
trying after all the failures at nationals to

01:26:29.670 --> 01:26:33.310
lead to your eventual success that's a good question

01:26:33.310 --> 01:26:42.510
um i mean one thing that like kept being a recycling

01:26:42.510 --> 01:26:47.369
like idea is that like i could never forgive

01:26:47.369 --> 01:26:53.310
myself if i like got you know it's it basically

01:26:53.310 --> 01:26:56.130
if at the end of my life i was like but what

01:26:56.130 --> 01:26:58.869
if like what if i kept trying and kept going

01:26:58.869 --> 01:27:01.470
like what could i have done if i had not quit

01:27:01.470 --> 01:27:06.529
um and i think that was like it was like you

01:27:06.529 --> 01:27:08.149
know like that was the that was the big one so

01:27:08.149 --> 01:27:12.590
i never forget myself i like could ask myself

01:27:12.590 --> 01:27:15.810
like what if I don't want to ever have that question

01:27:15.810 --> 01:27:17.489
of, like, what could have happened? Like, what

01:27:17.489 --> 01:27:20.470
could I have done? Like, I want to know, like,

01:27:20.510 --> 01:27:22.430
how far I've pushed myself and then be content

01:27:22.430 --> 01:27:24.750
with knowing that I've, like, done all that I

01:27:24.750 --> 01:27:28.010
can do to be the best that I could be. And then

01:27:28.010 --> 01:27:29.909
the other, you know, the other thing, too, is,

01:27:29.989 --> 01:27:33.229
like, I just really like climbing and I really

01:27:33.229 --> 01:27:36.770
love climbing and I'm really competitive. And

01:27:36.770 --> 01:27:41.229
so, like, and this may be a long tangent, but

01:27:41.229 --> 01:27:45.100
I'm just, like. keep wanting to be better and

01:27:45.100 --> 01:27:47.239
i don't feel like i've peaked i don't feel like

01:27:47.239 --> 01:27:49.359
i'm at the end and like i still just want to

01:27:49.359 --> 01:27:53.399
keep going and so like competitions i keep signing

01:27:53.399 --> 01:27:56.439
up because i just keep realizing that i want

01:27:56.439 --> 01:27:59.319
to compete and so and then as far as training

01:27:59.319 --> 01:28:04.100
goes like i'm still just fired up to be good

01:28:04.100 --> 01:28:06.760
and be i want to be one of the greats so bad

01:28:06.760 --> 01:28:11.939
yeah and so like i just it becomes really easy

01:28:11.939 --> 01:28:13.840
for me to motivate to go to the gym and to like

01:28:13.840 --> 01:28:15.939
keep training and so you were still having fun

01:28:15.939 --> 01:28:18.300
even after not making the team those times so

01:28:18.300 --> 01:28:20.319
you still wanted to keep doing it yeah there's

01:28:20.319 --> 01:28:22.359
definitely like a lot of times that i'm not having

01:28:22.359 --> 01:28:27.199
fun like being a professional athlete is definitely

01:28:27.199 --> 01:28:30.500
not fun all the time it's like a lot of crap

01:28:30.500 --> 01:28:34.539
and a lot of just suffering like but that's and

01:28:34.539 --> 01:28:36.359
i say professional athlete but that's just like

01:28:36.939 --> 01:28:39.439
being successful at anything and being really

01:28:39.439 --> 01:28:42.640
good at anything means like doing all of the

01:28:42.640 --> 01:28:46.239
crap and like you know i started this quote from

01:28:46.239 --> 01:28:49.180
another podcast that was like the crappy thing

01:28:49.180 --> 01:28:51.739
about all of these motivational movies is like

01:28:51.739 --> 01:28:54.600
the rocky the 30 second rocky scene or five second

01:28:54.600 --> 01:28:58.520
rocky scene lasts five seconds like all of these

01:28:58.520 --> 01:29:02.020
training montages last like five seconds like

01:29:02.020 --> 01:29:04.300
you don't realize that this stuff takes like

01:29:04.300 --> 01:29:10.439
five years like you know like that five second

01:29:10.439 --> 01:29:15.079
training montage is really like five years of

01:29:15.079 --> 01:29:18.260
your life yeah true like you got to do what they

01:29:18.260 --> 01:29:21.600
do in that montage for like five years straight

01:29:21.600 --> 01:29:24.880
and just eat crap for five years if you like

01:29:24.880 --> 01:29:29.819
really want to do the thing so like you know

01:29:29.819 --> 01:29:32.140
it's a lot of that but also I love competing

01:29:32.140 --> 01:29:34.100
and so like and I'm still having fun competing

01:29:34.750 --> 01:29:36.569
and so like before i signed up for nationals

01:29:36.569 --> 01:29:40.090
like i was like thought i was gonna maybe retire

01:29:40.090 --> 01:29:43.090
like thought i was gonna maybe not do it and

01:29:43.090 --> 01:29:45.109
then i thought about whether i wanted to go or

01:29:45.109 --> 01:29:48.729
not and i was like oh i actually like whether

01:29:48.729 --> 01:29:51.270
the result was good or not i was like i do want

01:29:51.270 --> 01:29:53.909
to go because i want to go compete and i just

01:29:53.909 --> 01:29:56.170
had continued to be training so i was like prepared

01:29:56.170 --> 01:29:59.369
and also less and mentally in a better position

01:29:59.369 --> 01:30:03.479
because i wanted to be there before like me And

01:30:03.479 --> 01:30:05.159
I think that's a good question too to ask is

01:30:05.159 --> 01:30:08.239
like if money wasn't an option or it wasn't like

01:30:08.239 --> 01:30:11.060
a thought, like if you weren't like, oh, like

01:30:11.060 --> 01:30:13.100
it's going to cost this much to go to team trials.

01:30:13.279 --> 01:30:16.319
And like, if I don't go to team trials, like

01:30:16.319 --> 01:30:18.699
my sponsors aren't going to pay me this much.

01:30:19.199 --> 01:30:22.100
And like, if I, you know, like if money's not

01:30:22.100 --> 01:30:24.199
a thing and you don't have to worry about getting

01:30:24.199 --> 01:30:27.119
paid by your sponsors or paying to go to an event

01:30:27.119 --> 01:30:30.100
or making money at a competition, like where

01:30:30.100 --> 01:30:32.260
do you go to that competition? Right. Like if

01:30:32.260 --> 01:30:34.380
it was just free to go and you didn't have to

01:30:34.380 --> 01:30:36.319
take off work or like whatever, like would you

01:30:36.319 --> 01:30:38.899
go? If the answer was yes, then you should like,

01:30:38.979 --> 01:30:41.279
you know, you should keep doing it. Yeah, that's

01:30:41.279 --> 01:30:43.260
a good way to think about it. Money does really

01:30:43.260 --> 01:30:46.119
complicate things though. It really complicates

01:30:46.119 --> 01:30:48.239
things. Not saying you shouldn't do things because

01:30:48.239 --> 01:30:49.939
of money and because like you can't afford it

01:30:49.939 --> 01:30:52.140
or whatever, but that's like an easy way to decide

01:30:52.140 --> 01:30:53.720
what you want to do with your life. It's like

01:30:53.720 --> 01:30:57.039
if money wasn't like involved in this, would

01:30:57.039 --> 01:31:00.229
I be doing that or not? Yeah. Okay. The next

01:31:00.229 --> 01:31:02.970
one, when you started climbing, what local climbers

01:31:02.970 --> 01:31:04.729
helped you or were people that you looked up

01:31:04.729 --> 01:31:08.770
to? Oh, that's a great question. I had a very

01:31:08.770 --> 01:31:12.710
lovely climbing community growing up. And you

01:31:12.710 --> 01:31:17.409
said New Mexico, right? Yeah, New Mexico. I had

01:31:17.409 --> 01:31:21.609
a great coach, Andre, who also owned the gym.

01:31:22.409 --> 01:31:25.229
And then he also hired another really amazing

01:31:25.229 --> 01:31:29.359
coach, Ed, who like... Took me under his wing

01:31:29.359 --> 01:31:34.859
and taught me a lot about rock climbing. And

01:31:34.859 --> 01:31:40.039
I picked up a lot of habits from him. He's an

01:31:40.039 --> 01:31:47.500
insomniac, doesn't sleep. I thought I was crazy

01:31:47.500 --> 01:31:50.640
back then, but now I will frequently wake up

01:31:50.640 --> 01:31:52.880
at 5 o 'clock in the morning and go climbing.

01:31:54.340 --> 01:31:57.420
which I'm sure is a byproduct. And, yeah, everyone's

01:31:57.420 --> 01:31:59.199
like, I would never be willing to do that. And

01:31:59.199 --> 01:32:01.279
I'm just like, no, it's just what you do. You

01:32:01.279 --> 01:32:03.079
just get up to five and go rock climbing. And

01:32:03.079 --> 01:32:05.960
that was, like, what he did. Dan was, like, a

01:32:05.960 --> 01:32:10.319
really great coach. Someone else I, like, really

01:32:10.319 --> 01:32:13.899
valued was Brendan, who was, like, a guy who

01:32:13.899 --> 01:32:15.579
was just climbing to the gym, was, like, part

01:32:15.579 --> 01:32:19.300
of the, like, adult homies. Like, he would climb

01:32:19.300 --> 01:32:23.329
with Ed. They would have, like, boys night. I

01:32:23.329 --> 01:32:26.069
remember when I was invited over for the first

01:32:26.069 --> 01:32:27.689
time, they were like, all right, I think you're

01:32:27.689 --> 01:32:29.449
finally old enough and mature enough to play

01:32:29.449 --> 01:32:33.369
comedy. But it's not. And then this dude, Mike,

01:32:33.489 --> 01:32:37.789
who was really amazing. But I had a really rad

01:32:37.789 --> 01:32:44.729
crew of adult men that all kind of put up with

01:32:44.729 --> 01:32:46.970
me because I was really not that fun to be around

01:32:46.970 --> 01:32:50.140
as a little teenager. What's one bit of climbing

01:32:50.140 --> 01:32:53.539
advice and life advice from that whole thing

01:32:53.539 --> 01:32:56.159
that you feel like resonates with you most to

01:32:56.159 --> 01:32:59.859
this day? Dude, one that I think about all the

01:32:59.859 --> 01:33:04.100
time, which is crazy, is I remember like when

01:33:04.100 --> 01:33:06.579
Brendan like sat me down and was like, dude,

01:33:06.720 --> 01:33:09.060
you cannot try the boulder problem from the ground

01:33:09.060 --> 01:33:11.720
every time. And I was like, that's what? Why

01:33:11.720 --> 01:33:13.300
not? And he was like, dude, that just makes no

01:33:13.300 --> 01:33:16.369
sense. He's like, you do all of the moves first

01:33:16.369 --> 01:33:20.029
and then you try it from the ground. And I like

01:33:20.029 --> 01:33:22.529
think about that all the time. And then still

01:33:22.529 --> 01:33:25.130
frequently have to tell people that like climb

01:33:25.130 --> 01:33:27.250
way too hard for me to be like, yo, why are you

01:33:27.250 --> 01:33:30.130
like trying it from the ground every time? Yeah.

01:33:30.170 --> 01:33:32.310
Like, what are you thinking? And they're like,

01:33:32.329 --> 01:33:34.109
well, I want to send it. I'm like, yeah. And

01:33:34.109 --> 01:33:36.050
you're not going to do that if you try it from

01:33:36.050 --> 01:33:38.829
the ground every time. Like figure out how to

01:33:38.829 --> 01:33:40.689
do the puzzle and then put the puzzle together.

01:33:41.640 --> 01:33:44.260
Okay. I do forget that one a lot, actually. Thanks

01:33:44.260 --> 01:33:48.079
for reminding me. Like I did it today. I tried

01:33:48.079 --> 01:33:49.859
this problem from the ground like four times

01:33:49.859 --> 01:33:51.680
in a row and I still had not done the second

01:33:51.680 --> 01:33:53.239
move, but I was just like, I'm going to do it

01:33:53.239 --> 01:33:56.439
from the ground. Never did the second move. Yeah,

01:33:56.500 --> 01:33:59.739
I get that. Then I think that is all the questions

01:33:59.739 --> 01:34:03.640
I had. Thanks for joining me again today. Yeah.

01:34:03.699 --> 01:34:06.260
Thanks for having me on again. I appreciate it.

01:34:06.439 --> 01:34:09.279
Are there any like... Other words of wisdom you

01:34:09.279 --> 01:34:11.579
came up with since that time that you want to

01:34:11.579 --> 01:34:13.960
get out there? Once again, I'm going to shout

01:34:13.960 --> 01:34:18.199
out Pusher and Osun. They're both just like really

01:34:18.199 --> 01:34:21.640
great sponsors and they're like making it possible

01:34:21.640 --> 01:34:26.079
that I can keep doing what I'm doing. I'm like,

01:34:26.239 --> 01:34:31.100
yeah, I'm really thankful for that. And where

01:34:31.100 --> 01:34:33.079
can people find you if they want to see more

01:34:33.079 --> 01:34:37.310
of your stuff? My Instagram is HannahSmash. I

01:34:37.310 --> 01:34:38.970
think that's it. I think Instagram is kind of

01:34:38.970 --> 01:34:42.189
the best place to find me. I'm at The Bouldering

01:34:42.189 --> 01:34:46.350
Project 30 hours a week, 30, 40 hours a week.

01:34:46.909 --> 01:34:49.430
Not 40. I never actually clocked 40. I actually

01:34:49.430 --> 01:34:51.050
had a conversation with Greg the other day where

01:34:51.050 --> 01:34:54.449
he was like, dude, you work full time. You've

01:34:54.449 --> 01:34:56.710
got to be in here more often. You haven't hit

01:34:56.710 --> 01:34:59.430
your minimum for full time in three weeks now.

01:35:01.170 --> 01:35:03.789
Part of it was because I was off doing comps.

01:35:04.109 --> 01:35:07.590
Yeah, understandable. I don't actually work a

01:35:07.590 --> 01:35:10.550
full time job. I work almost a full time job.

01:35:10.649 --> 01:35:13.109
I'm like the bare minimum to be full time. It

01:35:13.109 --> 01:35:15.090
just feels like a lot because I spent most of

01:35:15.090 --> 01:35:17.989
my life just goofing off and rock climbing. And

01:35:17.989 --> 01:35:21.390
so 30 hours of work feels a lot more than no

01:35:21.390 --> 01:35:24.329
hours of work. Yeah. I mean, in addition to training,

01:35:24.529 --> 01:35:27.310
it is a lot of time spent in the gym. I do work

01:35:27.310 --> 01:35:30.109
like two full time jobs. I work like 30 hours

01:35:30.109 --> 01:35:32.850
of the Bullroom Project and then I'm a professional

01:35:32.850 --> 01:35:37.500
athlete. And then I... like to take on other

01:35:37.500 --> 01:35:41.500
things so i'm got like three other things going

01:35:41.500 --> 01:35:44.579
on too they're taking a bunch of time it's a

01:35:44.579 --> 01:35:47.539
lot i don't know how you handle it but good luck

01:35:48.189 --> 01:35:51.069
Thank you. Okay, awesome. Well, thank you again

01:35:51.069 --> 01:35:53.189
for joining me. And it was another great talk.

01:35:53.449 --> 01:35:55.109
Yeah, thank you so much. Really appreciate it.

01:35:55.170 --> 01:35:57.649
Thank you so much for making it to the end of

01:35:57.649 --> 01:36:00.109
the podcast. Don't forget to like and subscribe

01:36:00.109 --> 01:36:03.149
if you enjoyed. Otherwise, you are a super big

01:36:03.149 --> 01:36:05.989
climber. If you're listening on a podcasting

01:36:05.989 --> 01:36:08.130
platform, I'd appreciate if you rate it five

01:36:08.130 --> 01:36:10.890
stars and you can continue the discussion on

01:36:10.890 --> 01:36:13.609
the free competition climbing discord linked

01:36:13.609 --> 01:36:16.069
in the description. Thanks again for listening.

01:36:17.520 --> 01:36:17.779
Thank you.