50: Hannes Van Duysen, Slab King

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Every time we go to the slab, like, you know,

00:00:02.120 --> 00:00:04.500
there are always some guys who are like, yeah,

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yeah, the slab master. And it immediately gives

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like the stress, like, okay, fuck, now I have

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to do good, you know. You're just like full of

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this adrenaline and you don't know what to do

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with your body anymore. So just things happen

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like randomly. Okay, that's maybe bad to say

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when you want to help somebody. probably you're

00:00:27.469 --> 00:00:31.809
not gonna break your foot so welcome to another

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episode of the that's not real climbing podcast

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i'm your host Jinni and i'm excited to introduce

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my guest for today Hannes van duysen you may have

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heard of him as the slab master but hanes is

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a climber on team belgium who just recently got

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silver and boulder at arco rock masters and also

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won a bronze in innsbruck this past 2025 season

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In this episode, we'll go over his 2025 season,

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get his tips on slab climbing, and learn about

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how he tries to stay in the right mindset during

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stressful competitions. I hope you enjoy this

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interview with Hannes. Please pardon this brief

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intermission, but I'm excited to talk about Mad

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Now, back to the show. Yeah, I'm back at home.

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I mean, I traveled quite a bit. Some places,

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I went to a holiday also with my parents. And

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yeah, now I'm back at home in Brussels. Back

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at home for a while, back into like regular winter

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training. Yeah, I mean, I'm injured. Like I had

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the surgery on my elbow. What? Wait, when was

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that? So like, yeah, I had some kind of problem

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with my elbow already for some time. And so now

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we decided to do a surgery. I mean, surgery is

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already planned for quite some months, but I

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just had to wait until the season was finished

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so I could just like end the season. And yeah,

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so now it's just rehab. Like it's only six weeks

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of not climbing, hopefully, but yeah, then I

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have to go. very slowly so yeah i hope it'll

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all be okay for the next season wow okay well

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it's good that it was planned at least yeah yeah

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it was not like randomly surgery no it was what

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was the issue like what caused the elbow issues

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to begin with so if i understood it good it was

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um like a piece of a cartilage that um kind of

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broke off and i was just like being there in

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the And my elbow. And the problem was, first

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of all, it hurted for me, especially while warming

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up. And also it could give problems if it gets

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worse and worse, the injury. It could start blocking

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my elbow, my movement. I want to stretch it and

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at one moment it blocks. Actually, I already

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had that when I was young because it's already

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the second time I had this surgery. So just to

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avoid that, I... Yeah, I did the surgery. Did

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that like affect your season at all, you think?

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No, I don't think so. For me, it was especially

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during warming up that I felt it. So once I,

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I mean, for some times, especially when I trained

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hard or I did like multiple days in a row or

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I felt tired, it hurt it like even more. But

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for the rest, once I'm warmed up, actually, it's

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quite fine. So yeah, it's only during the warming

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up. So it never really bothered me during the

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climbing competitions or something. That's good.

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Well, hopefully you heal up okay and training

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isn't too difficult for you after. No, it'll

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be fine for sure. Okay, so then going back to,

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I guess, a bit of your more recent travels, how

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was Rockmasters? Congrats on getting silver and

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bouldering. That was cool to see. Yeah, thank

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you. um yeah it was super cool i mean uh i was

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pretty stressed because the format it's like

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like both formats only like uh also the lead

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um like both is only like one shot like in a

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dual and since i'm not really used to do like

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a dual in speed or like ko bouldering where you

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have only three tries for a boulder it's like

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it's like a bit stressful but in the end like

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when i look back on the comp like I think there

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was like no reason to be stressed. And during

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the comp, I actually had like so much fun. So

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no, it was like so cool to do like again. Also

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being in ARCO, it's so amazing. I was also there

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with Heloise, like one of our team. And yeah,

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with her, it was also super fun to be there.

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So yeah, it was a really nice experience. Yeah.

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Have you not done the format before? No, I did.

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Yeah, I did. I'm a pretty competitive person,

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so I always want to do good. So whatever competition

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I do, I always get kind of stressed. Except for

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World Cups, I kind of learn how to control the

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stress. But yeah, on comps, I take it a bit easier

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when I'm not going all -in for a win or preparing

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myself 100 % mentally to perform. Like if I don't

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do that, like I don't really get the stress under

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control and I feel a bit more stressed. So for

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this kind of comps, I felt a bit stressed. Weird.

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So you're saying that you feel less stressed

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for World Cups than it's like other... Yeah,

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you know, like, no, it makes a bit of, yeah,

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maybe it doesn't make sense. But for me, it's

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like you kind of like your routine, how you like

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prepare for the comp, like on the day itself,

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like also the preparation, like for the comp,

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like... I know exactly what to do and I make

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sure I do exactly everything in the right order

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that I want. And I make sure there are no mistakes

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allowed, like in my mental preparation. So for

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me, everything is quite calm at that moment because

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I know, I know the plan in my head, what's going

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to happen. And when I don't do that, like for

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example, at the rock masters, like I just let

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everything a bit more be like this, you know,

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like if. I'm not going to do my breathing exercises

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or make sure to check everything to be ready

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for it. So it's all more chill. So that means

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that I'm less in this competition mode. And then

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it makes me a bit more stressed for the competition

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itself because I don't try to keep it under control.

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Okay, that's good to know. I mean, we'll get

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into mindset a bit later too. So yeah, I think

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that'll be good. I'm glad that you have a whole

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routine worked out. That's really good to hear.

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I guess just in terms of competition format,

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how did you like the format compared to World

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Cup format? I prefer the World Cup format because

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I prefer to be limited in time than being limited

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in tries. Because limited in tries, for me, it

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adds more pressure. If you do it in time, I mean,

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in one minute, you can easily put like, especially

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for coordination, you can put five tries or something.

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So if you're limited in tries, then like every

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try, it feels like it counts more. So I think

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I still prefer the World Cup format, but still

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like I quite enjoyed it to do it like once because

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it's different. So we don't always have to do

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the same. It also pushes you a bit more to do

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maybe harder boulders since you can try them

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in advance. In Arco, we had like 50 minutes.

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I think it was 50 minutes to try the boulders

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in advance. Wow, really? I had no idea about

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that. Yeah, that was in the morning. So it's

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like kind of a workout, which 50 minutes is not

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a lot. Actually, it's less than 15 minutes a

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boulder. It feels like it goes really fast, these

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50 minutes, especially when the balls are hard.

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For me, it was like 50 minutes almost of non

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-stop climbing. It was pretty hard, but it's

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pretty fun to do because you kind of get a bit

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the same as on World Cups. You're a bit in time

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pressure, but it's different because you know

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you have a bit more. It's not like it's less.

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Less strategy. It's more like trying and trying

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and trying. And also you can watch each other.

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So it's like a session together. So it's pretty

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fun to do. Huh. Okay. I didn't know that people

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got to try the boulders beforehand. So does anyone

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like send the boulder beforehand and then like

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redo it after? Yeah, I think most of the people,

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I mean, I could do all the boulders during the,

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I mean, no, I didn't do all the boulders. No,

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but. Usually, it depends from boulder to boulder.

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Some you stand, some you're like, okay, I did

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this move, I did this move, so I'm just going

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to leave it like this and I'm going to try the

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other one because 50 minutes, it goes so fast.

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You really don't have time to try too much. But

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yeah, there are quite some people who do boulders,

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but also they change sometimes the boulders.

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afterwards for example like the slab nobody actually

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did the moves so they changed the boulder made

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it a bit easier so we will be able to get through

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it or like the first boulder we kind of They

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did it on a different way, I think. And also

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that they changed, like it depends from situation.

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Like sometimes it changes because they want you

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to force it to do it the way or sometimes they

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make it easier. Sometimes a bit harder. So it

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depends. Oh, wow. I had no idea. It's also a

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bit stressful, you know, because you try the

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boulder for 50 minutes. You're like, okay, this

00:10:23.590 --> 00:10:25.970
boulder I can do. And then they put it a bit

00:10:25.970 --> 00:10:28.250
further or they add a hold or they put away a

00:10:28.250 --> 00:10:29.929
hold. And you're like, oh, fuck. Now I have to

00:10:29.929 --> 00:10:32.360
do like. something else or something or it's

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a bit different so it's also kind of stressful

00:10:34.480 --> 00:10:37.559
yeah no i totally get that and i guess it also

00:10:37.559 --> 00:10:40.519
makes more sense now because yeah people were

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doing like coordination moves a lot faster than

00:10:43.440 --> 00:10:46.600
i expected yeah exactly flashes and i was like

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wow i can't believe everyone flashed that that's

00:10:48.840 --> 00:10:52.460
crazy yeah we tried before Okay, good to know.

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Maybe if I had listened to like an intro, I would

00:10:54.759 --> 00:10:57.120
have known that. But that was good to learn right

00:10:57.120 --> 00:11:00.840
now. Okay, cool. So then getting into your background,

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how did you start climbing and competing in general?

00:11:04.320 --> 00:11:09.720
Yeah, so I'm not from a climbing family. I got

00:11:09.720 --> 00:11:13.139
a bit into climbing with a bit of luck. Like

00:11:13.139 --> 00:11:17.460
my parents, before my seventh birthday, I did

00:11:17.460 --> 00:11:20.220
like a lot of other sports. classic like football

00:11:20.220 --> 00:11:24.259
uh soccer since you're from america yeah oh thanks

00:11:24.259 --> 00:11:27.639
thank you yeah so i did soccer i was like swimming

00:11:27.639 --> 00:11:30.480
i was doing some other things tennis i think

00:11:30.480 --> 00:11:34.740
too um and then for my seventh birthday oh yeah

00:11:34.740 --> 00:11:37.460
maybe most important was gymnastics because i

00:11:37.460 --> 00:11:41.440
did this like um until my seventh and i actually

00:11:41.440 --> 00:11:44.240
got kicked out when i was seven because yeah

00:11:44.240 --> 00:11:47.000
it's Pretty young to kick somebody out from a

00:11:47.000 --> 00:11:51.960
gymnastic team. But apparently it was quite professional

00:11:51.960 --> 00:11:53.899
already or something. I don't know. I never really

00:11:53.899 --> 00:11:57.860
took time to understand it all. But my shoulder

00:11:57.860 --> 00:12:01.539
mobility was not good enough. So they said, I

00:12:01.539 --> 00:12:04.259
think it was the reason that maybe I could get

00:12:04.259 --> 00:12:08.419
injured too fast if I will do gymnastics. So,

00:12:08.419 --> 00:12:12.200
I mean, on high level then, I guess. So, yeah,

00:12:12.240 --> 00:12:15.879
they said. Yeah, you don't have to come back

00:12:15.879 --> 00:12:20.340
anymore. So yeah, then I had to search for another

00:12:20.340 --> 00:12:24.759
sport. Yeah, I started climbing at the age of

00:12:24.759 --> 00:12:27.100
seven because then my parents, they took me to

00:12:27.100 --> 00:12:30.259
the climbing gym like for my birthday. And yeah,

00:12:30.259 --> 00:12:33.019
that's how I started. Like I started in like

00:12:33.019 --> 00:12:38.210
a really old school, like still until... Today,

00:12:38.230 --> 00:12:40.669
it's the most old school gym I've ever seen.

00:12:40.850 --> 00:12:44.830
I mean, now it's already gone. Like they broke

00:12:44.830 --> 00:12:47.330
it up and they built a whole new gym. But it

00:12:47.330 --> 00:12:49.889
was like this copy rock, like really good balls.

00:12:50.110 --> 00:12:53.009
And it was really cool. And you always had to

00:12:53.009 --> 00:12:55.610
climb out. It was like a bit like Fontainebleau,

00:12:55.669 --> 00:12:57.470
like the structures was really cool actually.

00:12:57.750 --> 00:13:00.529
And then after that, how did you, when did you

00:13:00.529 --> 00:13:04.639
get into competitions? So yeah, this... this

00:13:04.639 --> 00:13:08.120
gym it um yeah stopped already after the first

00:13:08.120 --> 00:13:10.960
two years i climbed so i mean it stopped it built

00:13:10.960 --> 00:13:13.879
a new gym which there was also leads so then

00:13:13.879 --> 00:13:18.960
i kind of got more into lead climbing um and

00:13:18.960 --> 00:13:21.980
that's how i just started it like what i was

00:13:21.980 --> 00:13:25.379
just in this like this team uh where we're just

00:13:25.379 --> 00:13:27.139
climbing for fun and then they were like yep

00:13:27.139 --> 00:13:30.429
there was like a competition like there Like

00:13:30.429 --> 00:13:32.710
you want to go, it was like me climbing, I mean,

00:13:32.750 --> 00:13:34.429
top rope at that moment because I was too young

00:13:34.429 --> 00:13:39.730
to do it. And yeah, I went there and yeah, I

00:13:39.730 --> 00:13:44.549
won. And then my parents, they looked on internet,

00:13:44.629 --> 00:13:46.710
like what kind of combat it was. And it appeared

00:13:46.710 --> 00:13:50.149
to be like a, like a Belgium cup. And then they

00:13:50.149 --> 00:13:52.429
were, I mean, I think, no, it was not my parents.

00:13:52.470 --> 00:13:54.429
I think it was my granddad. Like my granddad

00:13:54.429 --> 00:13:58.110
is really into, into like my career. So it's

00:13:58.110 --> 00:14:01.190
quite funny. He like looked it up and he was

00:14:01.190 --> 00:14:03.389
like, okay, there is still like another one there

00:14:03.389 --> 00:14:05.830
and there and there. And yeah, that's here. I

00:14:05.830 --> 00:14:09.269
just went all over Belgium. It's not that big,

00:14:09.370 --> 00:14:12.750
but I just went all to all the Belgian clubs

00:14:12.750 --> 00:14:15.610
and I just, I think I almost won them all. So

00:14:15.610 --> 00:14:18.509
yeah, that's how we got into, yeah, into the

00:14:18.509 --> 00:14:22.710
competitions. And then you just learn automatically

00:14:22.710 --> 00:14:25.909
like, okay, there is also a Belgium team. So

00:14:25.909 --> 00:14:29.019
in like, I think back then it wasn't like. four

00:14:29.019 --> 00:14:31.240
years i can select for that and then i can go

00:14:31.240 --> 00:14:34.419
to the international comps and yeah that's how

00:14:34.419 --> 00:14:38.200
i that's how i started it all wow it seems like

00:14:38.200 --> 00:14:40.259
it almost kind of came naturally to you i feel

00:14:40.259 --> 00:14:42.620
like a lot of people i hear like their first

00:14:42.620 --> 00:14:45.240
competition ever they get like last place or

00:14:45.240 --> 00:14:48.139
something yeah yeah no yeah it was yeah i mean

00:14:48.139 --> 00:14:51.220
belgium it's it's also for sure back then it

00:14:51.220 --> 00:14:53.720
was even less like climbing is not the biggest

00:14:53.720 --> 00:14:58.379
sport in our country um so yeah it was not a

00:14:58.379 --> 00:15:00.759
lot of people did it but uh but yeah still was

00:15:00.759 --> 00:15:04.940
was pretty cool to do like it to like start with

00:15:04.940 --> 00:15:06.940
i mean pretty cool like yeah i started winning

00:15:06.940 --> 00:15:09.960
right from the beginning but yeah then you eventually

00:15:09.960 --> 00:15:13.580
you learn that yeah the belgium cups are not

00:15:13.580 --> 00:15:15.740
like the biggest thing there is because then

00:15:15.740 --> 00:15:18.539
once you go to the first like european competition

00:15:18.539 --> 00:15:21.259
like you immediately get like shut down and now

00:15:21.259 --> 00:15:24.549
so i ended up like last place somewhere so Yeah,

00:15:24.590 --> 00:15:27.029
everyone starts from somewhere. Yeah, exactly.

00:15:27.830 --> 00:15:30.450
I guess along those lines, how was transitioning

00:15:30.450 --> 00:15:34.090
out of youth competitions into real World Cups?

00:15:34.450 --> 00:15:40.210
Yeah, my first Adults' Cup, it was, I think,

00:15:40.210 --> 00:15:45.950
in 2021. I think I started in the European Cups.

00:15:47.350 --> 00:15:50.409
And the week after, I did my first World Cup

00:15:50.409 --> 00:15:56.809
in Marion, Didn't go very good. I think I almost,

00:15:56.889 --> 00:16:00.870
I ended up almost lost. I think like I was, yeah,

00:16:01.029 --> 00:16:04.029
it was, I spent six hours in isolation because

00:16:04.029 --> 00:16:06.370
I was very lost. And I think it was one of the

00:16:06.370 --> 00:16:09.490
World Cups that I think until now, like one of

00:16:09.490 --> 00:16:11.870
the most participants that there ever been, like

00:16:11.870 --> 00:16:16.090
I think like 120 or something in total. And I

00:16:16.090 --> 00:16:19.409
was the last one to climb. So yeah, I spent so

00:16:19.409 --> 00:16:23.830
much time in isolation. just to do like two zones

00:16:23.830 --> 00:16:25.850
and that's it like for the rest like falling

00:16:25.850 --> 00:16:29.129
off first moves every time and yeah I got like

00:16:29.129 --> 00:16:32.029
80 first plays or something actually I have it

00:16:32.029 --> 00:16:34.710
pulled up you got 79th so if that's out of

00:16:34.710 --> 00:16:38.190
that's not bad no okay yeah I think it was much

00:16:38.190 --> 00:16:41.509
much worse but but yeah so that was my first

00:16:41.509 --> 00:16:44.009
world cup like I got shut down like quite bad

00:16:44.009 --> 00:16:49.509
and I remember also the coach he also said like

00:16:49.509 --> 00:16:52.919
yeah I don't think you're ready yet for the world

00:16:52.919 --> 00:16:56.139
cup level but that's okay like and yeah i was

00:16:56.139 --> 00:16:58.639
like okay yeah i understand it's it's true like

00:16:58.639 --> 00:17:04.259
if i see my results um also that year i um i

00:17:04.259 --> 00:17:06.400
started doing lead two and it was kind of the

00:17:06.400 --> 00:17:08.960
same story like it never really went good in

00:17:08.960 --> 00:17:12.500
the beginning and so yeah but in the end i just

00:17:12.500 --> 00:17:15.220
kept trying and trying and and it worked out

00:17:15.220 --> 00:17:18.299
so yeah it's it's good to see the growth at least

00:17:18.299 --> 00:17:22.069
yeah Yeah, let's go into, I guess, like the World

00:17:22.069 --> 00:17:26.069
Cup season that you had this year. I think, yeah,

00:17:26.130 --> 00:17:28.529
I mean, congrats on a great 2025 season. I think

00:17:28.529 --> 00:17:31.430
your results this year were better than any other

00:17:31.430 --> 00:17:34.329
year before. Yeah, it was. Yeah, for sure. Awesome.

00:17:34.349 --> 00:17:36.569
Yeah. So what do you think changed in your training

00:17:36.569 --> 00:17:38.970
that helped you perform better this year? What

00:17:38.970 --> 00:17:41.569
changed in my training? I don't know. It's hard

00:17:41.569 --> 00:17:44.069
to say what really changed in my training. I

00:17:44.069 --> 00:17:45.990
stick with the same coach. Like I know it's the

00:17:45.990 --> 00:17:50.009
same team. I also didn't do a lot of seasons

00:17:50.009 --> 00:17:52.970
yet because with the Olympic year, like I didn't

00:17:52.970 --> 00:17:57.009
do, I only did one or two World Cups last year.

00:17:57.089 --> 00:17:58.829
And then the year before was kind of my first

00:17:58.829 --> 00:18:03.750
year I was like competing for finals. But yeah,

00:18:03.809 --> 00:18:08.109
I think it's kind of natural to like, when you

00:18:08.109 --> 00:18:11.630
grow up to see your mistakes and it's a bit easier

00:18:11.630 --> 00:18:14.250
to adapt because you have like more knowledge

00:18:14.250 --> 00:18:18.309
and you start to see. what are your weaknesses

00:18:18.309 --> 00:18:22.170
like for me i feel like it's still like coordination

00:18:22.170 --> 00:18:26.490
and also a bit of like the strategy in in the

00:18:26.490 --> 00:18:30.390
five minutes so i kind of also now i'm still

00:18:30.390 --> 00:18:33.730
i'm already thinking to how can i improve in

00:18:33.730 --> 00:18:36.430
coordinations like what are the what are really

00:18:36.430 --> 00:18:38.950
my mistakes in coordinations and what are also

00:18:38.950 --> 00:18:42.769
my mistakes for inside five minutes so i kind

00:18:42.769 --> 00:18:46.630
of feel like right now I've got, like, a good

00:18:46.630 --> 00:18:50.109
level in, like, most of the styles in the World

00:18:50.109 --> 00:18:52.769
Cup, but it's more now, like, putting it into

00:18:52.769 --> 00:18:57.930
the five minutes. So I think, like, it's very

00:18:57.930 --> 00:19:01.650
important for the first years to, like, focus

00:19:01.650 --> 00:19:05.410
on, like, having the level to do the boulders.

00:19:05.450 --> 00:19:08.970
And then once I think you have the level, I think

00:19:08.970 --> 00:19:12.490
the... I mean, it's my opinion. It's more important

00:19:12.490 --> 00:19:17.490
to start focusing on how to top the boulders

00:19:17.490 --> 00:19:19.769
in five minutes because I feel like it's something

00:19:19.769 --> 00:19:24.630
else to train. I hope you're getting what I tried

00:19:24.630 --> 00:19:27.930
to say because it's more like strategy -wise,

00:19:28.029 --> 00:19:31.049
you kind of have to know what decisions to make.

00:19:31.230 --> 00:19:33.789
So you kind of feel like now you have your strength

00:19:33.789 --> 00:19:37.269
base down and it's more focusing on the techniques

00:19:37.269 --> 00:19:41.880
or strategies. Yeah, it's a bit like this. Now

00:19:41.880 --> 00:19:45.220
that I have the level to do them, now I kind

00:19:45.220 --> 00:19:49.700
of have to focus more on knowing how to handle

00:19:49.700 --> 00:19:54.759
situations in the five minutes, especially for

00:19:54.759 --> 00:19:59.019
coordinations or decision -making on slabs. It's

00:19:59.019 --> 00:20:04.640
a very hard game. I feel like topping boulders

00:20:04.640 --> 00:20:08.730
almost on your limits in five minutes. You don't

00:20:08.730 --> 00:20:11.410
necessarily need the highest level of topping

00:20:11.410 --> 00:20:14.690
boulders. You just need a very high level of

00:20:14.690 --> 00:20:17.670
like being able to do them in five minutes. It's

00:20:17.670 --> 00:20:19.369
kind of something else. It's hard to explain.

00:20:19.609 --> 00:20:21.970
Yeah, I mean, thinking back on the season, do

00:20:21.970 --> 00:20:24.470
you remember or like did any boulders stand out

00:20:24.470 --> 00:20:26.609
to you? Either ones where you maybe surprised

00:20:26.609 --> 00:20:30.309
yourself on how you performed or ones that you

00:20:30.309 --> 00:20:33.210
just really enjoyed? Yeah, I definitely have

00:20:33.210 --> 00:20:38.640
boulders where I surprised myself. I feel like

00:20:38.640 --> 00:20:41.440
physically I got a lot stronger. Like I started

00:20:41.440 --> 00:20:43.960
topping more like the hard physical boulders

00:20:43.960 --> 00:20:47.779
or not topping, but like getting like good tries

00:20:47.779 --> 00:20:52.359
on that. So I'm very happy with that. And it's

00:20:52.359 --> 00:20:55.880
very nice to see that, yeah, that I'm getting

00:20:55.880 --> 00:20:59.960
physically stronger because I think it's my favorite

00:20:59.960 --> 00:21:02.480
style. I think a lot of people like just the

00:21:02.480 --> 00:21:06.299
physical boulder. So it's very nice to... to

00:21:06.299 --> 00:21:09.019
see that I'm also getting like one of the stronger

00:21:09.019 --> 00:21:14.859
competitors, like physically. I think for sure

00:21:14.859 --> 00:21:17.839
the boulder that surprised me the most was probably

00:21:17.839 --> 00:21:20.819
like there was like this coordination semifinal

00:21:20.819 --> 00:21:25.160
in Bern, like the first boulder, which started

00:21:25.160 --> 00:21:28.079
off with like, it was full coordination. And

00:21:28.079 --> 00:21:31.720
in my head, I was like, okay, I'm not the best.

00:21:32.059 --> 00:21:34.720
and coordination so coordination is always going

00:21:34.720 --> 00:21:37.980
always being a bit hard I think the first move

00:21:37.980 --> 00:21:40.819
was kind of the easier move and then the last

00:21:40.819 --> 00:21:43.339
coordination was kind of the harder coordination

00:21:43.339 --> 00:21:46.839
and I struggled a bit on the first move but once

00:21:46.839 --> 00:21:49.440
I passed it like I flashed the last coordination

00:21:49.440 --> 00:21:53.519
and it also made me go into finals and like you

00:21:53.519 --> 00:21:57.200
can really see it on my face like I was so surprised

00:21:57.200 --> 00:21:59.789
to flash the bowler because it felt like And

00:21:59.789 --> 00:22:05.329
to pledge this second coordination, it felt like

00:22:05.329 --> 00:22:09.309
also natural. And yeah, it's kind of satisfying

00:22:09.309 --> 00:22:13.690
to just try it, just go with the flow and then

00:22:13.690 --> 00:22:16.289
stick it from the first time. It's a pretty cool

00:22:16.289 --> 00:22:19.930
feeling. So I hope I will have it again next

00:22:19.930 --> 00:22:23.650
season. Yeah, I'm surprised you went into it

00:22:23.650 --> 00:22:26.690
already thinking that you aren't good at coordination

00:22:26.690 --> 00:22:29.150
and then you still manage to make it work. Yeah,

00:22:29.250 --> 00:22:31.910
it's kind of also a mindset I have to change

00:22:31.910 --> 00:22:34.289
and have to get under control because sometimes

00:22:34.289 --> 00:22:37.849
it's a bit of a problem to put myself one of

00:22:37.849 --> 00:22:41.150
the worst in coordination. So yeah, it's kind

00:22:41.150 --> 00:22:43.390
of something I have to work on, definitely. I

00:22:43.390 --> 00:22:45.569
heard in another interview you mentioned that

00:22:45.569 --> 00:22:47.289
you feel like climbing is going a little bit

00:22:47.289 --> 00:22:51.009
back to an old school style. so do you feel like

00:22:51.009 --> 00:22:52.789
that would fit you better like would you look

00:22:52.789 --> 00:22:56.609
forward more to that yeah I will look forward

00:22:56.609 --> 00:23:01.369
like a lot to it because I really I really like

00:23:01.369 --> 00:23:05.369
this kind of old school style where I just have

00:23:05.369 --> 00:23:08.650
to go for a hold hold the hold and that's it

00:23:08.650 --> 00:23:11.930
like just going for bad holds and not just not

00:23:11.930 --> 00:23:16.369
just doing like Not just going for big holes,

00:23:16.549 --> 00:23:20.269
but also just small holes, like small crimps

00:23:20.269 --> 00:23:23.269
or whatever. I don't feel like we have those

00:23:23.269 --> 00:23:26.849
a lot anymore. I mean, it's coming back slowly.

00:23:28.150 --> 00:23:31.329
Sometimes we see some more crimps, especially

00:23:31.329 --> 00:23:34.710
I had a feeling at South Lake. Almost the whole

00:23:34.710 --> 00:23:37.230
qualification boulder, I don't have the feeling

00:23:37.230 --> 00:23:39.829
there was a coordination. Also at semi -final,

00:23:39.970 --> 00:23:44.220
there were also almost no coordination. I mean,

00:23:44.240 --> 00:23:46.559
it's nice to have like those rounds because,

00:23:46.680 --> 00:23:50.240
yeah, because right now for me, there is quite

00:23:50.240 --> 00:23:53.720
a lot of coordination, but it could be, yeah,

00:23:53.839 --> 00:23:56.640
a bit less. Like I've done already some rounds

00:23:56.640 --> 00:23:59.319
where I'm like, okay, like here I have the feeling

00:23:59.319 --> 00:24:02.180
I almost have no chance to pass or to have like

00:24:02.180 --> 00:24:05.660
a good result because it's just like all pushed

00:24:05.660 --> 00:24:10.480
in this one style. Like, for example, in Prague,

00:24:10.759 --> 00:24:15.250
in the final, like... All four boulders were

00:24:15.250 --> 00:24:19.450
almost all like this modern style, either coordinations,

00:24:19.450 --> 00:24:23.670
either like, yeah, just modern boulders. I'll

00:24:23.670 --> 00:24:26.670
have to look back at that one. Maybe because

00:24:26.670 --> 00:24:30.109
I do the competitions. It's all like very good

00:24:30.109 --> 00:24:34.130
in my mind. like it's kind of started like the

00:24:34.130 --> 00:24:36.269
competition it started like with this kind of

00:24:36.269 --> 00:24:39.529
slab but it ended in like a slightly overhang

00:24:39.529 --> 00:24:41.309
with a coordination as well because the slab

00:24:41.309 --> 00:24:44.049
part was like really easy and the second boulder

00:24:44.049 --> 00:24:46.869
was like full coordination boulder the third

00:24:46.869 --> 00:24:49.589
boulder it was like starting to like push like

00:24:49.589 --> 00:24:53.150
push thing and then jump to a jerk and then in

00:24:53.150 --> 00:24:55.529
the end like a bit physical so the end was nice

00:24:56.140 --> 00:24:58.099
And then this last boulder also started with

00:24:58.099 --> 00:25:00.779
the coordination and then also like a push boulder

00:25:00.779 --> 00:25:04.460
again. So yeah, it's all like either pushing,

00:25:04.740 --> 00:25:08.019
either you do coordination. So there I really

00:25:08.019 --> 00:25:11.259
had the feeling like, because I was pretty happy

00:25:11.259 --> 00:25:13.039
with my round because it was like, okay, I climbed

00:25:13.039 --> 00:25:16.759
good, just in this style, like there was no way

00:25:16.759 --> 00:25:21.180
I can beat like Mejdi or Sotato or like, you

00:25:21.180 --> 00:25:25.319
know, it's almost. or I need like the best day

00:25:25.319 --> 00:25:30.220
of my life. Yeah, I feel like this year, I guess

00:25:30.220 --> 00:25:32.240
like every year it kind of seems like maybe there's

00:25:32.240 --> 00:25:34.720
a move or a theme that they follow a bit. And

00:25:34.720 --> 00:25:36.440
I felt like this year there was a lot of like

00:25:36.440 --> 00:25:40.599
monos and pockets. Monos and pockets. Did it

00:25:40.599 --> 00:25:43.400
feel like that for you? I don't know. Did I take

00:25:43.400 --> 00:25:46.240
mono? I mean, at Leap I took one mono this year.

00:25:46.990 --> 00:25:49.369
Maybe it's just because, yeah, when I'm watching,

00:25:49.470 --> 00:25:53.349
I always feel surprised when I see a mono. It

00:25:53.349 --> 00:25:55.589
just grosses me out. So I think it stands out

00:25:55.589 --> 00:25:58.890
in my mind. Whereas to you, the finals boulders

00:25:58.890 --> 00:26:01.309
all being coordination stands out to you. Yeah.

00:26:01.390 --> 00:26:05.470
But it's true that often there is an idea of

00:26:05.470 --> 00:26:08.549
the feeling going around and then they try to

00:26:08.549 --> 00:26:12.589
create. Even on Instagram, I feel like Instagram

00:26:12.589 --> 00:26:16.930
is influencing. often a lot of competitions like

00:26:16.930 --> 00:26:20.130
you see like one move on instagram and then you

00:26:20.130 --> 00:26:22.150
see it somewhere else and somewhere else and

00:26:22.150 --> 00:26:25.970
it almost always ends up on the competition so

00:26:25.970 --> 00:26:29.150
i have a feeling instagram is like doing quite

00:26:29.150 --> 00:26:32.690
a lot of what did you see on instagram that showed

00:26:32.690 --> 00:26:35.470
up in a world cup what did i see uh for example

00:26:35.470 --> 00:26:39.009
we had like this this one push and then you had

00:26:39.009 --> 00:26:41.390
to like take a hold and then go again like still

00:26:41.390 --> 00:26:44.769
with the push either it's it's hard to always

00:26:44.769 --> 00:26:47.470
to explain it kind of goes like you push you

00:26:47.470 --> 00:26:50.390
take a hold and then you go again to hold like

00:26:50.390 --> 00:26:53.349
for me it like started like on instagram i think

00:26:53.349 --> 00:26:57.549
was now probably meshdi uh who did it and then

00:26:57.549 --> 00:27:01.450
yeah it ended up on the world cups um also like

00:27:01.450 --> 00:27:05.170
with 360 move uh like the 360 spin on the slab

00:27:05.170 --> 00:27:09.470
um or 180 it's one more like 180 spin It also

00:27:09.470 --> 00:27:14.710
like, yes, kind of started on Instagram. And

00:27:14.710 --> 00:27:17.390
then it ended up, I think it was in Innsbruck

00:27:17.390 --> 00:27:21.670
in 2023 in the final. Yeah, because I think like,

00:27:21.769 --> 00:27:25.109
I mean, that's my point of view. Like if you

00:27:25.109 --> 00:27:27.609
don't show or if the athletes don't know about

00:27:27.609 --> 00:27:31.029
it, there's like a risk that nobody will actually

00:27:31.029 --> 00:27:33.430
try the right method and like the ball will be

00:27:33.430 --> 00:27:37.200
untucked or like. I think a good example was

00:27:37.200 --> 00:27:40.859
like in Hadjoji when there was like this, like

00:27:40.859 --> 00:27:43.200
the first time we had to like jump and like jump

00:27:43.200 --> 00:27:46.079
into a press. Like, I mean, nobody did the move

00:27:46.079 --> 00:27:49.839
and nobody really knew what to do. And then once

00:27:49.839 --> 00:27:54.579
you explain it, like Mejdi, he did the move because

00:27:54.579 --> 00:27:56.920
they wanted to do route setters and I asked what

00:27:56.920 --> 00:27:59.839
was the method and Mejdi, he did it after the

00:27:59.839 --> 00:28:02.900
calm and he put the video online. And then in

00:28:02.900 --> 00:28:06.539
the end. yeah they they did it on the world championship

00:28:06.539 --> 00:28:08.519
again and the boulder was stoned because they

00:28:08.519 --> 00:28:11.279
yeah they knew what to do so it's kind of like

00:28:11.279 --> 00:28:14.519
a feeling with complicated moves you have to

00:28:14.519 --> 00:28:18.180
like show the show them what to do before they

00:28:18.180 --> 00:28:21.019
or or like you need somebody who actually like

00:28:21.019 --> 00:28:23.900
figures it out yeah there's always courage that

00:28:23.900 --> 00:28:27.099
that don't doesn't work So you need to spend

00:28:27.099 --> 00:28:29.480
more time on Instagram to know what to expect

00:28:29.480 --> 00:28:32.180
for next year. Maybe, yeah. You really have to

00:28:32.180 --> 00:28:34.480
follow Instagram very good to know what kind

00:28:34.480 --> 00:28:37.180
of ball you're going to get next year. Okay,

00:28:37.240 --> 00:28:41.059
keep scrolling then. So I think I've also heard

00:28:41.059 --> 00:28:43.220
a lot of athletes mention that it's hard to keep

00:28:43.220 --> 00:28:46.039
up in good shape throughout a long competition

00:28:46.039 --> 00:28:51.049
season. It seems like 2025 was pretty long. But

00:28:51.049 --> 00:28:52.849
I just feel like if everyone is going through

00:28:52.849 --> 00:28:55.549
that same struggle where, you know, it's like

00:28:55.549 --> 00:28:57.609
starts out stronger and then it's a long season,

00:28:57.670 --> 00:29:00.609
then there shouldn't really be like an issue,

00:29:00.710 --> 00:29:04.789
right? Yeah, exactly. Yeah. I mean, yeah, I agree.

00:29:05.450 --> 00:29:09.390
I feel like if everybody does the same, it's

00:29:09.390 --> 00:29:12.009
the same for everybody. Do you feel like it's

00:29:12.009 --> 00:29:13.849
hard for you to stay in good shape throughout

00:29:13.849 --> 00:29:16.390
the season or like last season? Yeah, it was

00:29:16.390 --> 00:29:20.740
not super easy. especially when you do like multiple

00:29:20.740 --> 00:29:22.539
weeks in a row because the climate competition

00:29:22.539 --> 00:29:26.440
takes quite some energy. And of course, yeah,

00:29:26.519 --> 00:29:28.420
when you do competition, you're not really training.

00:29:28.539 --> 00:29:31.700
So if you do like two or three comps in a row,

00:29:31.900 --> 00:29:35.180
it's more like always like three weeks of trying

00:29:35.180 --> 00:29:39.519
to recover from the comp and not really training.

00:29:40.220 --> 00:29:42.619
But yeah, like you said, if everybody does the

00:29:42.619 --> 00:29:45.720
same, then yeah, then everybody will be like,

00:29:45.819 --> 00:29:48.440
everybody's shape will go down a bit. But yeah,

00:29:48.519 --> 00:29:54.140
I also am a big fan of comms. So yeah, I would

00:29:54.140 --> 00:29:57.539
love to have more comms anyway. Like I really

00:29:57.539 --> 00:30:00.220
like comms. So the more the better for me. That's

00:30:00.220 --> 00:30:03.500
also like I'm still combining both disciplines.

00:30:03.759 --> 00:30:08.519
So part of the reason is because I just like

00:30:08.519 --> 00:30:10.680
competition. And if I do lead, I can do like

00:30:10.680 --> 00:30:14.339
more competitions. So maybe the only thing that

00:30:14.339 --> 00:30:17.660
I... maybe would be a bit better is that they

00:30:17.660 --> 00:30:22.839
they don't extend the season like too much like

00:30:22.839 --> 00:30:26.960
I think this year was okay like the world championship

00:30:26.960 --> 00:30:30.480
came quite late especially for boulders when

00:30:30.480 --> 00:30:33.380
you finish in Innsbruck there's like three months

00:30:33.380 --> 00:30:36.000
I think or maybe four I don't know I think three

00:30:36.000 --> 00:30:39.059
three months in between the last comp and then

00:30:39.059 --> 00:30:41.240
the world championships so maybe that they could

00:30:41.240 --> 00:30:44.980
just try to avoid I also see now that like just

00:30:44.980 --> 00:30:49.220
the calendar came out for 2026 yeah and I've

00:30:49.220 --> 00:30:53.299
seen that that they put like Celtic City like

00:30:53.299 --> 00:30:56.900
beginning of October and I guess the last World

00:30:56.900 --> 00:31:01.059
Cup is in Innsbruck again so I mean I didn't

00:31:01.059 --> 00:31:03.599
check it 100 % but I guess there will still again

00:31:03.599 --> 00:31:07.759
there will again be like a gap of like two or

00:31:07.759 --> 00:31:11.259
three months which for me it's like It kind of

00:31:11.259 --> 00:31:14.460
sucks because a lot of people just want to also

00:31:14.460 --> 00:31:16.819
go rock climbing. And if you do that, it's kind

00:31:16.819 --> 00:31:19.400
of like, I mean, rock climbing, it doesn't, it's

00:31:19.400 --> 00:31:22.119
a good thing to do, but it's not the best preparation

00:31:22.119 --> 00:31:28.019
either for competitions. So yes, some, because

00:31:28.019 --> 00:31:30.420
for me, I really want to do rock climbing. Just,

00:31:30.420 --> 00:31:33.519
yeah, I'm just a bit scared if I do too much

00:31:33.519 --> 00:31:36.019
for the comp. People like, especially for me,

00:31:36.019 --> 00:31:38.690
when you're not. feeling the most confident in

00:31:38.690 --> 00:31:40.430
coordination she kind of wants to bring coordination

00:31:40.430 --> 00:31:42.970
and yeah rock climbing is not all coordination

00:31:42.970 --> 00:31:46.869
so yeah it will be a bit nicer if they just like

00:31:46.869 --> 00:31:49.569
okay the season stops here and not like a gap

00:31:49.569 --> 00:31:51.750
of three months where you're just like okay now

00:31:51.750 --> 00:31:55.130
I have to stay inside or I can't go like or I

00:31:55.130 --> 00:31:57.829
can't fully commit on a outer project because

00:31:57.829 --> 00:32:01.130
if I do that yeah for sure you will lose a bit

00:32:01.130 --> 00:32:03.970
of form you know that's the only thing that will

00:32:03.970 --> 00:32:06.960
be nice right Yeah, like especially going from

00:32:06.960 --> 00:32:09.440
lead back into like a boulder mindset again.

00:32:09.740 --> 00:32:13.099
Yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah, it's yeah. Yeah. And

00:32:13.099 --> 00:32:17.140
I mean, it looks like you are more of a boulder,

00:32:17.200 --> 00:32:19.599
but also improving in your lead climbing as well.

00:32:19.960 --> 00:32:22.079
Do you feel like you're going to be more focused

00:32:22.079 --> 00:32:24.880
on lead climbing training or is that still more

00:32:24.880 --> 00:32:27.500
like secondary for you? No, I mean, I've always

00:32:27.500 --> 00:32:30.779
been like very good in lead until the point I

00:32:30.779 --> 00:32:33.279
got like good in bouldering, which is kind of

00:32:33.279 --> 00:32:36.339
funny. I mean, I have like, I mean, when I was

00:32:36.339 --> 00:32:38.579
talking earlier about my injury on my elbow,

00:32:38.700 --> 00:32:42.140
when I said I already had it before, like I had

00:32:42.140 --> 00:32:45.700
to stop climbing for one year because I had like

00:32:45.700 --> 00:32:49.099
a big injury on my elbow, which is like back

00:32:49.099 --> 00:32:52.880
in 2019, I think. So quite some time ago, like

00:32:52.880 --> 00:32:54.859
when I was still in the youth, I think was my

00:32:54.859 --> 00:32:58.119
second year in the youth. So luckily it was not

00:32:58.119 --> 00:33:01.099
like in an important year where like it was important

00:33:01.099 --> 00:33:07.349
to like push on trainings. But everything before

00:33:07.349 --> 00:33:13.450
that, I was always into lead climbing. My boulder

00:33:13.450 --> 00:33:17.450
results were very bad. I was not really winning.

00:33:17.730 --> 00:33:21.589
I mean, the Belgium Cups sometimes and the Youth

00:33:21.589 --> 00:33:24.329
Cups and the European level, I was really nowhere.

00:33:24.609 --> 00:33:27.210
I was getting lost or something in the middle.

00:33:27.430 --> 00:33:31.069
It was not super good. and then I came out of

00:33:31.069 --> 00:33:34.390
this injury and yeah I don't know I think like

00:33:34.390 --> 00:33:36.769
I grew a bit because when I was young I was also

00:33:36.769 --> 00:33:39.650
very very small like really one of the smallest

00:33:39.650 --> 00:33:42.710
I was in the category and I think it was also

00:33:42.710 --> 00:33:45.029
kind of linked with that but since I was small

00:33:45.029 --> 00:33:47.529
I was also like very very light and I had like

00:33:47.529 --> 00:33:50.930
like a lot a lot of endurance so I think it's

00:33:50.930 --> 00:33:53.430
also a bit linked with each other like being

00:33:53.430 --> 00:33:57.289
very small and um but yeah when I came back out

00:33:57.289 --> 00:34:01.789
of injury like my bouldering level it like increased

00:34:01.789 --> 00:34:06.250
like quite a lot so yeah since then yeah the

00:34:06.250 --> 00:34:08.190
bouldering went better and better and actually

00:34:08.190 --> 00:34:10.849
the lead climbing went a bit worse until like

00:34:10.849 --> 00:34:14.670
last year when I started training for lead like

00:34:14.670 --> 00:34:17.309
a lot a lot trying to expect for the Olympics

00:34:17.309 --> 00:34:22.630
and yeah since then I started doing lead also

00:34:22.630 --> 00:34:24.829
better and better and until now I'm still like

00:34:24.829 --> 00:34:27.530
improving and yeah I really like it so I would

00:34:27.530 --> 00:34:30.630
like to keep combining it actually do you have

00:34:30.630 --> 00:34:33.329
a preference I mean especially since you don't

00:34:33.329 --> 00:34:35.969
really prefer doing crazy coordinations in boulder

00:34:35.969 --> 00:34:38.710
it seems like lead has slightly less of that

00:34:38.710 --> 00:34:41.929
no yeah I still prefer bouldering actually because

00:34:41.929 --> 00:34:45.750
it's not that I dislike coordinations is for

00:34:45.750 --> 00:34:48.469
sure it's not the most fun to train but yeah

00:34:48.469 --> 00:34:52.150
it's still okay but No, I think I still prefer

00:34:52.150 --> 00:34:54.329
bouldering because for me there is still more

00:34:54.329 --> 00:34:57.570
variation into it. Also, the competitions are

00:34:57.570 --> 00:35:00.809
a bit longer, which I kind of prefer because

00:35:00.809 --> 00:35:03.210
there is a bit more the mental aspect. Also,

00:35:03.289 --> 00:35:08.289
the strategy within bouldering I like. But when

00:35:08.289 --> 00:35:11.730
you look like outdoor, I prefer to go leaf climbing

00:35:11.730 --> 00:35:14.880
outdoor because... Yeah, it's a different game

00:35:14.880 --> 00:35:17.900
and it's more climbing. And yeah, I prefer to

00:35:17.900 --> 00:35:21.179
do like rock climbing, lead outdoor, but on competitions,

00:35:21.260 --> 00:35:24.679
I prefer bouldering. That's also kind of a reason

00:35:24.679 --> 00:35:27.679
I keep on combining both because I'm scared when

00:35:27.679 --> 00:35:31.280
I will say to myself, okay, from now I quit bouldering

00:35:31.280 --> 00:35:35.679
and I go, I quit this, I quit lead and I go all

00:35:35.679 --> 00:35:39.119
in bouldering. Like I will probably use my formal

00:35:39.119 --> 00:35:41.829
lead climbing and I... will not be able to send

00:35:41.829 --> 00:35:45.429
the lead projects that i want to send so yeah

00:35:45.429 --> 00:35:48.610
um so then moving on to what your training looks

00:35:48.610 --> 00:35:50.869
like um what does your training schedule look

00:35:50.869 --> 00:35:53.139
like usually If you're interested in ad -free

00:35:53.139 --> 00:35:55.679
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00:35:55.679 --> 00:35:57.980
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00:35:57.980 --> 00:36:00.460
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00:36:21.639 --> 00:36:24.659
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00:36:24.659 --> 00:36:28.019
deal as well. Back to the show. So I'm more like

00:36:28.019 --> 00:36:31.980
the guy who do like quite some double sessions.

00:36:32.179 --> 00:36:34.980
So I'm more into like double sessions instead

00:36:34.980 --> 00:36:38.920
of doing multiple days in a row. I mean, I do

00:36:38.920 --> 00:36:43.340
multiple days in a row. But yeah, almost every

00:36:43.340 --> 00:36:47.619
day I do is like a double session, except for...

00:36:47.960 --> 00:36:50.000
This year I kind of had to slow it down because

00:36:50.000 --> 00:36:51.900
of the elbow because it was hurting too much,

00:36:51.980 --> 00:36:54.460
especially the second session. No, most of the

00:36:54.460 --> 00:36:57.800
time it's like two days on and then one day like

00:36:57.800 --> 00:37:02.059
off. Then I come the day off, I either like sometimes

00:37:02.059 --> 00:37:05.579
I do the slab sessions or I do like cardio when

00:37:05.579 --> 00:37:08.719
I go running. I also have like a running program

00:37:08.719 --> 00:37:13.639
because my coach and also me believes that it

00:37:13.639 --> 00:37:16.980
can help like doing interval training for bouldering.

00:37:17.440 --> 00:37:20.320
In what way does running help? I mean, I never

00:37:20.320 --> 00:37:23.940
really asked, but when you look at polar comms,

00:37:23.960 --> 00:37:26.860
it's like you go like five minutes on the mat.

00:37:27.039 --> 00:37:31.159
When you do like, you put like tries and you

00:37:31.159 --> 00:37:33.480
know, when you finish in five minutes, you're

00:37:33.480 --> 00:37:37.500
quite exhausted. It's just quite hard. And then

00:37:37.500 --> 00:37:39.880
you have like five minutes rest. So it's kind

00:37:39.880 --> 00:37:42.519
of like an interval. if you can like kind of

00:37:42.519 --> 00:37:45.659
recreate it with running and you can like do

00:37:45.659 --> 00:37:47.659
like running intervals when you like tire your

00:37:47.659 --> 00:37:50.780
body out for a time and then you take like rest,

00:37:50.780 --> 00:37:53.679
you do like slower running and then like this,

00:37:53.719 --> 00:37:57.159
you can like just train to let your body like

00:37:57.159 --> 00:38:00.300
recover like during the five minutes. I guess

00:38:00.300 --> 00:38:02.940
it's something like this. I mean, I didn't do

00:38:02.940 --> 00:38:08.800
any studies for it, but I trust my coach. Also,

00:38:08.800 --> 00:38:12.519
I do fitness. I know not everybody is like a

00:38:12.519 --> 00:38:14.699
big fan of fitness in the climbing world because

00:38:14.699 --> 00:38:17.559
some are scared to take too much muscles. I mean,

00:38:17.579 --> 00:38:23.500
I did take some muscles, but I think the power

00:38:23.500 --> 00:38:27.559
you gain from the fitness is better than the

00:38:27.559 --> 00:38:31.679
weight gain you have. I mean, at least I hope

00:38:31.679 --> 00:38:36.719
so. Like my coach say it's like this. I put a

00:38:36.719 --> 00:38:39.860
lot of trust in her. So yeah, I do fitness. It's

00:38:39.860 --> 00:38:45.000
about, depends on the time of the year. But in

00:38:45.000 --> 00:38:48.019
winter training, it's about three times a week.

00:38:48.219 --> 00:38:52.139
Then you go to two times a week. Is that like,

00:38:52.139 --> 00:38:53.960
that's like strength training, weightlifting,

00:38:54.079 --> 00:38:55.840
stuff like that? Yeah, especially weightlifting.

00:38:55.960 --> 00:38:57.760
Yeah, mainly focus on weightlifting. Yeah, I

00:38:57.760 --> 00:38:59.820
mean, when I say strength training, I should

00:38:59.820 --> 00:39:03.860
have more specified to like actually weightlifting.

00:39:03.880 --> 00:39:06.260
Yeah. I don't know if you necessarily know, but

00:39:06.260 --> 00:39:09.179
is it true that I guess a lot of like the Japanese

00:39:09.179 --> 00:39:11.519
climbers like only do climbing and they're like

00:39:11.519 --> 00:39:14.019
the ones who don't do any strength training or

00:39:14.019 --> 00:39:16.679
like weightlifting? Yeah, that could be. And

00:39:16.679 --> 00:39:20.460
I also ask myself the question if fitness training

00:39:20.460 --> 00:39:24.900
is actually the way to go. But I mean, maybe

00:39:24.900 --> 00:39:27.699
if the Japanese did weightlifting, they will

00:39:27.699 --> 00:39:32.519
have been even more stronger. So I guess we will

00:39:32.519 --> 00:39:37.800
never know that. Yeah, I heard it too, but yeah,

00:39:37.880 --> 00:39:41.320
I don't know exactly how they are all training.

00:39:42.519 --> 00:39:45.219
I mean, for sure, I saw the videos of Tomoa.

00:39:45.300 --> 00:39:48.000
He said that he doesn't really do the weightlifting

00:39:48.000 --> 00:39:51.159
except like a bit in warming up, but it's definitely

00:39:51.159 --> 00:39:55.219
not how most of the people see weightlift training.

00:39:56.219 --> 00:40:00.079
But yeah, I've already discussed it with my coach

00:40:00.079 --> 00:40:03.039
too, and I think at once... point we're gonna

00:40:03.039 --> 00:40:06.840
switch to doing maybe more spray well sessions

00:40:06.840 --> 00:40:09.719
instead of weightlifting just because yeah at

00:40:09.719 --> 00:40:13.500
one point you will be you you will have and not

00:40:13.500 --> 00:40:16.579
done enough like weightlifting and it just like

00:40:16.579 --> 00:40:20.500
it's not really a matter to gain more strength

00:40:20.500 --> 00:40:23.519
but more like um try to keep the strength at

00:40:23.519 --> 00:40:26.099
a certain level so you have to do like less weight

00:40:26.099 --> 00:40:29.980
training so but that's in the future so But for

00:40:29.980 --> 00:40:32.800
the moment, still a lot of weight training, unfortunately,

00:40:33.059 --> 00:40:37.000
because it's not my most preferred. I don't like

00:40:37.000 --> 00:40:39.760
it. Yeah, it's kind of lonely, you know, like

00:40:39.760 --> 00:40:43.139
I do it in like a fitness, which is not in the

00:40:43.139 --> 00:40:46.699
climbing gym. So yeah, it's just like with your

00:40:46.699 --> 00:40:49.860
headset on and yeah, being a bit alone. So I

00:40:49.860 --> 00:40:52.179
don't really like the trainings alone, but yeah,

00:40:52.239 --> 00:40:55.159
so. Yeah, is there any one thing you feel like

00:40:55.159 --> 00:40:56.940
you've done in training that has helped you the

00:40:56.940 --> 00:40:58.900
most? Like you did it and then after you're like,

00:40:59.019 --> 00:41:01.260
whoa, that really worked for me. For me, it's

00:41:01.260 --> 00:41:03.500
always been hard to say like this helps or that

00:41:03.500 --> 00:41:07.280
helps because I can expect myself to become better

00:41:07.280 --> 00:41:11.699
like so. But I would say like something very

00:41:11.699 --> 00:41:17.840
important is when you really look at competition

00:41:17.840 --> 00:41:23.440
climbing. For bouldering, for me like... repetitions

00:41:23.440 --> 00:41:25.940
of coordinations with like a lot a lot helps

00:41:25.940 --> 00:41:29.619
for sure um really do them like like just this

00:41:29.619 --> 00:41:31.639
one coordination like try to do it like five

00:41:31.639 --> 00:41:33.800
times in a row and then you come back like the

00:41:33.800 --> 00:41:37.099
next day like try to flash it again really try

00:41:37.099 --> 00:41:41.880
to put like a lot of uh repetitions in this one

00:41:41.880 --> 00:41:47.239
coordination um because like my opinion they're

00:41:47.239 --> 00:41:52.070
they're not endless of variations and coordinations

00:41:52.070 --> 00:41:56.630
you know like all coordinations kind of goes

00:41:56.630 --> 00:41:59.210
into the same movement as the coordination you've

00:41:59.210 --> 00:42:03.010
already done so I mean they're still inventing

00:42:03.010 --> 00:42:05.150
I don't know how but every time there's a new

00:42:05.150 --> 00:42:08.269
coordination but but yeah still you will always

00:42:08.269 --> 00:42:10.570
get especially like in qualification or or in

00:42:10.570 --> 00:42:13.050
semi -final you will kind of get like the same

00:42:13.050 --> 00:42:15.230
coordination you've already done so if you just

00:42:15.230 --> 00:42:17.750
repeat a lot of the coordinations you do at training

00:42:17.750 --> 00:42:20.519
eventually you will kind of get the same kind

00:42:20.519 --> 00:42:26.760
of coordination comes so that's very um yeah

00:42:26.760 --> 00:42:30.059
useful uh for lead i would say like one of the

00:42:30.059 --> 00:42:33.860
things i've done a lot um before the olympic

00:42:33.860 --> 00:42:37.039
qualifiers which like i felt like my level went

00:42:37.039 --> 00:42:41.400
like up like a lot in lead um it's like just

00:42:41.400 --> 00:42:43.900
on a spray well you do like one minute on one

00:42:43.900 --> 00:42:46.280
minute off and you like you don't go until like

00:42:46.280 --> 00:42:50.539
the full pump but you try to to go like to eight

00:42:50.539 --> 00:42:54.699
out of ten like being pumped so uh during like

00:42:54.699 --> 00:42:57.260
the whole exercise like this i have the feeling

00:42:57.260 --> 00:42:59.380
this like helped me the most because it's like

00:42:59.380 --> 00:43:03.239
kind of the exercises i did uh the most and yeah

00:43:03.239 --> 00:43:08.239
my level went up quite a lot in lead so i think

00:43:08.239 --> 00:43:11.239
that's yeah especially for me it's one of the

00:43:11.239 --> 00:43:15.360
most important exercise for me That's good to

00:43:15.360 --> 00:43:18.719
know. I think one thing that a lot of people,

00:43:18.820 --> 00:43:21.719
it came up a lot, a lot of audience members want

00:43:21.719 --> 00:43:24.000
to know this. How did you get so good at slab?

00:43:24.300 --> 00:43:29.840
Yeah. I wonder, like, because this thing with

00:43:29.840 --> 00:43:32.960
slabs, like, it's true that I've done, like,

00:43:33.079 --> 00:43:35.800
some slabs that are pretty hard and I got some,

00:43:35.900 --> 00:43:38.840
like. only a sense like on competitions of slabs

00:43:38.840 --> 00:43:41.679
also like yeah last rock masters again like i

00:43:41.679 --> 00:43:44.579
thought the slab that one was crazy um you know

00:43:44.579 --> 00:43:49.179
i've i've no idea honestly and and it's it seems

00:43:49.179 --> 00:43:52.239
like it's like um and the feeling is not always

00:43:52.239 --> 00:43:55.119
true that i'm so good at slabs like when you

00:43:55.119 --> 00:43:59.440
see which boulders i do on slabs like actually

00:43:59.440 --> 00:44:04.599
it's not that much like um there been a lot of

00:44:04.599 --> 00:44:07.039
slaps on comms that a lot of people did and I

00:44:07.039 --> 00:44:10.960
didn't do. But then once there was like a very,

00:44:11.000 --> 00:44:14.460
very hard slap, like for me, sometimes it just

00:44:14.460 --> 00:44:17.059
works out. And I don't know how, I mean, it's

00:44:17.059 --> 00:44:19.239
true. I worked a lot, a lot on slaps because

00:44:19.239 --> 00:44:21.739
when I was younger, I think slap was kind of

00:44:21.739 --> 00:44:26.800
my weaker point. Also with this elbow injury,

00:44:27.139 --> 00:44:31.659
I couldn't always climb with two hands. So I

00:44:31.659 --> 00:44:34.130
did like at one point I did a lot of slaps. So

00:44:34.130 --> 00:44:36.130
yeah, I mean, if you want to get good at slabs,

00:44:36.150 --> 00:44:38.409
yeah, there are not a lot of things you can do.

00:44:38.429 --> 00:44:42.389
You just like do a lot of slab climbing. So you

00:44:42.389 --> 00:44:44.929
don't really consider yourself like a super good

00:44:44.929 --> 00:44:46.750
slab climber. Like when you think about your

00:44:46.750 --> 00:44:49.170
own climbing, you're not like, I'm the slab person.

00:44:49.650 --> 00:44:53.570
Yeah, no, not really. Interesting. It gave me

00:44:53.570 --> 00:44:57.090
like a lot of pressure to hear like this thing

00:44:57.090 --> 00:45:02.420
because at one moment like... I did some slaps

00:45:02.420 --> 00:45:04.679
and I did some hard slaps and then I actually

00:45:04.679 --> 00:45:07.920
started to believe that I was good in slaps and

00:45:07.920 --> 00:45:09.880
I started to feel more confident in slaps. So

00:45:09.880 --> 00:45:15.739
this kind of helped until I also started to expect

00:45:15.739 --> 00:45:19.239
myself to every kind of the slaps. Exactly, yeah.

00:45:19.780 --> 00:45:21.980
Yeah, and how there's a slap, like, yeah, now

00:45:21.980 --> 00:45:24.539
you have to do it because you're supposed to

00:45:24.539 --> 00:45:28.489
be the best in slaps. it gives like kind of the

00:45:28.489 --> 00:45:30.530
pressure, you know, not only in comms, but also

00:45:30.530 --> 00:45:34.530
in trainings, like you do trainings with, with

00:45:34.530 --> 00:45:37.170
like, yeah, with other people, like from other

00:45:37.170 --> 00:45:39.489
teams or whatever. And every time we go to the

00:45:39.489 --> 00:45:41.409
slab, like, you know, there, there are always

00:45:41.409 --> 00:45:44.449
some guys were like, yeah, yeah, the slab master.

00:45:44.630 --> 00:45:47.130
And they always say something. I was like the

00:45:47.130 --> 00:45:49.809
small thing. And then it immediately gives like

00:45:49.809 --> 00:45:52.530
the stress, like, okay, fuck. Now I, I have to

00:45:52.530 --> 00:45:57.070
do good, you know? And yeah, it's, it's, It's

00:45:57.070 --> 00:45:59.909
not always been very easy when people say it,

00:45:59.929 --> 00:46:04.090
but it's kind of funny because I came from a

00:46:04.090 --> 00:46:07.170
style that was not really good in slaps and now

00:46:07.170 --> 00:46:09.849
people say that I'm one of the best at slaps.

00:46:10.449 --> 00:46:13.730
It's not completely not true, but it's also not

00:46:13.730 --> 00:46:16.469
completely true. It depends from slap to slap.

00:46:16.849 --> 00:46:19.269
I believe there are a lot of styles in slaps

00:46:19.269 --> 00:46:22.230
too. Yeah, I wonder where it came from then.

00:46:22.329 --> 00:46:25.360
I guess because... I think probably like Matt

00:46:25.360 --> 00:46:27.579
said it one time during live stream and then

00:46:27.579 --> 00:46:30.320
he says it every time. And then, yeah, every

00:46:30.320 --> 00:46:32.480
time you show up, if you don't do it, he's like,

00:46:32.559 --> 00:46:36.000
oh my God, he didn't do it. Exactly, yeah. I

00:46:36.000 --> 00:46:39.019
guess it probably came from, I mean, my first

00:46:39.019 --> 00:46:41.539
final I made wasn't had Joji and I was the only

00:46:41.539 --> 00:46:44.639
one to top the slab, which was like a super physical

00:46:44.639 --> 00:46:46.900
slab. Like there was nothing on the feet. Like

00:46:46.900 --> 00:46:50.440
it was all like shouldery things and small. Yeah,

00:46:50.559 --> 00:46:52.679
it was just like shouldery things and just like.

00:46:53.130 --> 00:46:55.510
switch foot or put foot on a volume like I don't

00:46:55.510 --> 00:46:57.369
know but I remember it was just pure physical

00:46:57.369 --> 00:47:01.590
and almost everything in in your arms and yeah

00:47:01.590 --> 00:47:04.789
that the same comp I also slept in the final

00:47:04.789 --> 00:47:07.829
and then also the next comp I did pretty good

00:47:07.829 --> 00:47:11.300
and another hard slap so I guess like it's this

00:47:11.300 --> 00:47:15.039
and then indeed like Matt Gurum started to saying

00:47:15.039 --> 00:47:18.119
it. And then, yeah, he never got it out of his

00:47:18.119 --> 00:47:21.619
head. So he just kept saying it for, I guess

00:47:21.619 --> 00:47:24.300
he will keep saying it. And every time I don't

00:47:24.300 --> 00:47:27.460
do the slap, I will disappoint Matt. And so,

00:47:27.539 --> 00:47:31.079
yeah, that's just how it is right now. Yeah,

00:47:31.079 --> 00:47:34.650
sorry that you have to carry that weight. I think

00:47:34.650 --> 00:47:37.909
one of the audience questions was, what are your

00:47:37.909 --> 00:47:40.369
top tips for comp style slab and specifically

00:47:40.369 --> 00:47:43.690
foot swaps? So do you have anything for that?

00:47:44.010 --> 00:47:47.949
Well, what I did find out is like when you do

00:47:47.949 --> 00:47:51.849
foot swaps, especially without hands, it's like

00:47:51.849 --> 00:47:55.469
I can always try to put my body out of the wall

00:47:55.469 --> 00:47:58.489
a bit. And from the moment I want to do the foot

00:47:58.489 --> 00:48:01.210
swap, like I go back into the wall. It's like

00:48:01.210 --> 00:48:04.469
only like... a centimeter or like a millimeter

00:48:04.469 --> 00:48:08.070
but it kind of it kind of helped me a lot to

00:48:08.070 --> 00:48:10.730
do like some foot swaps so the feeling this is

00:48:10.730 --> 00:48:13.250
like this is actually pretty helpful like you

00:48:13.250 --> 00:48:15.949
should try if you if you do a foot swap like

00:48:15.949 --> 00:48:18.809
just go this like tiny bit out of the wall and

00:48:18.809 --> 00:48:20.769
once you want to make the foot swap you just

00:48:20.769 --> 00:48:23.829
like go back and then you you kind of stop the

00:48:23.829 --> 00:48:25.849
momentum when you're again the closest to the

00:48:25.849 --> 00:48:27.969
wall you like kind of fall into the wall again

00:48:27.969 --> 00:48:31.849
it's just like a small centimeter or less but

00:48:32.360 --> 00:48:35.500
can help me like quite a lot also like playing

00:48:35.500 --> 00:48:38.019
with like the how you how you switch your foot

00:48:38.019 --> 00:48:40.719
because you can switch your foot like this or

00:48:40.719 --> 00:48:43.780
you can like turn your feet and switch it like

00:48:43.780 --> 00:48:48.699
this like it's like both works but it's a different

00:48:48.699 --> 00:48:52.440
situation and like it depends on which situation

00:48:52.440 --> 00:48:54.980
you are which one works so No, I think that'll

00:48:54.980 --> 00:48:57.300
be helpful. We have like a no hand slab set up

00:48:57.300 --> 00:49:00.619
right now. So maybe I'll try out the out and

00:49:00.619 --> 00:49:03.880
in method. Yeah, for me, it's always a nightmare,

00:49:04.019 --> 00:49:07.239
those no hand slabs. Yeah, because it's always

00:49:07.239 --> 00:49:10.699
like so scary. I don't know, especially with

00:49:10.699 --> 00:49:14.360
volumes. It's so bad. Yeah, the shoes. I don't

00:49:14.360 --> 00:49:17.900
like it. Yeah. I also have a weird thing where

00:49:17.900 --> 00:49:21.900
I feel bad doing no hand slab because I feel

00:49:21.900 --> 00:49:24.719
like I'm wasting my rubber on it. Like I'm worried

00:49:24.719 --> 00:49:26.840
that every single time I turn my foot, I'm like,

00:49:26.880 --> 00:49:30.119
there goes, there goes, there goes my, my shoe.

00:49:30.519 --> 00:49:33.719
Yeah. It kind of, yeah. It's kind of true. Like,

00:49:33.739 --> 00:49:36.519
yeah, the rubber, it just changes every time

00:49:36.519 --> 00:49:39.599
you slip off or, or whatever. Like, yeah. Especially

00:49:39.599 --> 00:49:42.460
when you use shoes that are fast, like flat,

00:49:42.579 --> 00:49:46.260
like yes. When you do volume slabs, it's. Yeah,

00:49:46.360 --> 00:49:49.420
it can go fast, sure. Yeah, I guess going into

00:49:49.420 --> 00:49:51.340
the mindset a bit, you already talked a little

00:49:51.340 --> 00:49:55.500
bit about how if you don't send a slab now, it

00:49:55.500 --> 00:49:59.019
kind of gets in your head. Yeah, not necessarily

00:49:59.019 --> 00:50:01.539
when it's a slab, but just in general, it depends

00:50:01.539 --> 00:50:03.940
on which situation you are in. I mean, there

00:50:03.940 --> 00:50:07.260
are so many situations that can happen. You can

00:50:07.260 --> 00:50:10.000
have the people in front of you that do the boulder,

00:50:10.099 --> 00:50:12.280
you can have the people after you that do the

00:50:12.280 --> 00:50:14.199
boulder, you can have nobody that do the boulder,

00:50:14.280 --> 00:50:17.780
you can have like... your rival that do the boulder

00:50:17.780 --> 00:50:21.900
or whatever there's so many not necessarily which

00:50:21.900 --> 00:50:24.119
kind of boulder it is it's just like it's more

00:50:24.119 --> 00:50:27.039
like the situation you're in like that can change

00:50:27.039 --> 00:50:30.159
a lot yeah wait real quick who's your rival I

00:50:30.159 --> 00:50:32.760
don't know like I guess everybody I want to beat

00:50:32.760 --> 00:50:35.219
everybody I mean in the end I want to win the

00:50:35.219 --> 00:50:38.119
competition so I was just talking in general

00:50:38.119 --> 00:50:41.639
but yeah okay For me, it's more like, yeah, I

00:50:41.639 --> 00:50:44.079
just want to win, so I have to beat everybody

00:50:44.079 --> 00:50:46.659
anyway. Okay, so of those situations you just

00:50:46.659 --> 00:50:48.860
mentioned, like people before you or after you

00:50:48.860 --> 00:50:51.639
topped or nobody topped, which of those do you

00:50:51.639 --> 00:50:54.619
feel like, I guess, hurts your mindset the most

00:50:54.619 --> 00:50:57.360
and which one kind of fires you up more? For

00:50:57.360 --> 00:51:00.360
me, what fires you up the most for sure is when

00:51:00.360 --> 00:51:02.400
the people in front of you don't do the boulder.

00:51:02.539 --> 00:51:07.539
That's what really gives you like, okay, like...

00:51:07.659 --> 00:51:09.980
Now you can like make the show, you know, like

00:51:09.980 --> 00:51:14.420
the boulder, it has not been topped. So, so,

00:51:14.440 --> 00:51:16.039
you know, you can really do something great.

00:51:17.599 --> 00:51:20.860
The worst is probably when the people behind

00:51:20.860 --> 00:51:23.320
you do the boulder, because, you know, you can't

00:51:23.320 --> 00:51:25.840
change it anymore. And you know that it has been

00:51:25.840 --> 00:51:28.539
topped. So, you know, you're like kind of disadvantaged

00:51:28.539 --> 00:51:31.719
to already the person that's behind you. And,

00:51:31.719 --> 00:51:34.599
you know, you don't know who else, but possibly

00:51:34.599 --> 00:51:39.170
somebody else too. And yeah, when somebody from

00:51:39.170 --> 00:51:42.929
a few tops, it's more like, okay, like, yeah,

00:51:43.030 --> 00:51:46.030
you kind of have to do the boulder or the boulder

00:51:46.030 --> 00:51:48.210
is just really hard and he just didn't. But anyway,

00:51:48.369 --> 00:51:51.630
you know that he did it, so it is a possible

00:51:51.630 --> 00:51:54.769
boulder. And yeah, if you want to have the best

00:51:54.769 --> 00:51:57.550
chance to pass to the next round, you kind of

00:51:57.550 --> 00:52:00.150
have to do the boulder too. I mean, the best

00:52:00.150 --> 00:52:06.449
is to not get it into your head. anyway you you

00:52:06.449 --> 00:52:09.909
kind of see it anyway like it's either you just

00:52:09.909 --> 00:52:12.030
close your eyes for the next five minutes or

00:52:12.030 --> 00:52:16.150
or you even even just hearing the the crowd like

00:52:16.150 --> 00:52:19.269
the crowd is pretty loud so even if you have

00:52:19.269 --> 00:52:21.349
like some special thing with noise cancelling

00:52:21.349 --> 00:52:25.010
you will hear it anyway so right so yeah it's

00:52:25.010 --> 00:52:28.889
yeah it's it's hard to to not get anything into

00:52:28.889 --> 00:52:31.530
your head but maybe sometimes it's better to

00:52:31.530 --> 00:52:38.539
try to like just let it into your head and just

00:52:38.539 --> 00:52:41.820
like knowing how to react on these situations

00:52:41.820 --> 00:52:45.059
then always try to avoid it and then like having

00:52:45.059 --> 00:52:49.460
to like like calm yourself again down or something

00:52:49.460 --> 00:52:53.000
because i think it's yeah what like i said it's

00:52:53.000 --> 00:52:56.159
impossible to not see it so it's better to to

00:52:56.159 --> 00:52:58.699
train how to react on these situations than to

00:52:58.699 --> 00:53:02.079
not trying to not see it Yeah, I guess, how do

00:53:02.079 --> 00:53:05.699
you train yourself to not react? Well, that's

00:53:05.699 --> 00:53:11.699
the hard thing. It's hard to train that, but

00:53:11.699 --> 00:53:17.860
I think one of the good strategies, I mean, one

00:53:17.860 --> 00:53:20.039
of the good training methods for sure is visualization.

00:53:20.679 --> 00:53:25.699
I feel like visualization is hard because it's

00:53:25.699 --> 00:53:28.989
not like... It's not like 100 meter sprint where

00:53:28.989 --> 00:53:31.070
you just like have to sprint and you're just

00:53:31.070 --> 00:53:32.989
going to visualize that you're ready for the

00:53:32.989 --> 00:53:34.670
sprint and you do the sprint and you win the

00:53:34.670 --> 00:53:38.349
sprint. Because when you visualize, try to do

00:53:38.349 --> 00:53:41.650
it as realistic as possible. Only when you do

00:53:41.650 --> 00:53:45.349
a boulder comp and lead comp also, you're not

00:53:45.349 --> 00:53:47.789
going to know the routes or boulders two weeks

00:53:47.789 --> 00:53:51.289
in advance. So having a perfect visualization

00:53:51.289 --> 00:53:54.269
of your comp is already impossible. So you kind

00:53:54.269 --> 00:53:58.750
of have to... visualize this situation. It's

00:53:58.750 --> 00:54:03.710
not always easy, but I still feel like this helps

00:54:03.710 --> 00:54:11.130
a lot. Also, I think the best thing is on simulations,

00:54:11.170 --> 00:54:17.849
just like training with good people who are possibly

00:54:17.849 --> 00:54:21.550
going to top the boulder before you or after

00:54:21.550 --> 00:54:23.590
you and putting yourself in these situations.

00:54:24.320 --> 00:54:26.440
And every time when you're in this situation,

00:54:26.840 --> 00:54:30.440
you really have to acknowledge that you're in

00:54:30.440 --> 00:54:33.619
this situation and then try to find the best

00:54:33.619 --> 00:54:37.500
method to handle it. Yeah, I don't exactly know

00:54:37.500 --> 00:54:39.840
that much about visualization. I thought that

00:54:39.840 --> 00:54:42.719
was more about when you see the boulder, like

00:54:42.719 --> 00:54:46.960
trying to see that like you on it and then you

00:54:46.960 --> 00:54:49.300
doing it. But you're saying like even way before

00:54:49.300 --> 00:54:51.099
the comp, you're just like imagining yourself

00:54:51.099 --> 00:54:53.579
winning the comp. Yeah, that's a different kind

00:54:53.579 --> 00:54:56.280
of visualization. That's really like trying to

00:54:56.280 --> 00:54:59.800
prepare your body or your mind, more like your

00:54:59.800 --> 00:55:02.239
mind for the competition that's coming. Like

00:55:02.239 --> 00:55:06.840
if you visualize, like, for example, like me,

00:55:06.880 --> 00:55:09.619
when I was at the Olympics, it was hard to concentrate.

00:55:09.860 --> 00:55:12.139
Like I was like blown away. Like I can say it's

00:55:12.139 --> 00:55:14.559
like I was like blown away of the comp. Yeah,

00:55:14.599 --> 00:55:17.679
that's like a huge event. And like, there was

00:55:17.679 --> 00:55:21.940
no way I could have like. known it was this big

00:55:21.940 --> 00:55:26.059
so if you like just go back like like i don't

00:55:26.059 --> 00:55:28.400
know like months before and you start like visualize

00:55:28.400 --> 00:55:31.820
like in your head like every like like multiple

00:55:31.820 --> 00:55:34.840
times a week you like visualize everything like

00:55:34.840 --> 00:55:37.519
the crowd the the impression you're gonna get

00:55:37.519 --> 00:55:40.280
like the fact that you're gonna get blown away

00:55:40.280 --> 00:55:43.019
but like every like you try to visualize all

00:55:43.019 --> 00:55:46.539
that like you kind of prepare yourself um that

00:55:46.539 --> 00:55:49.480
it doesn't feel like this first time anymore

00:55:49.480 --> 00:55:52.260
like it feels like you've already done it and

00:55:52.260 --> 00:55:55.039
yeah then you kind of know how to handle it it's

00:55:55.039 --> 00:55:59.840
i mean i'm still like i still it's hard and so

00:55:59.840 --> 00:56:03.159
i i can't do it like super good but i i'm pretty

00:56:03.159 --> 00:56:06.239
convinced that this method is like very good

00:56:06.239 --> 00:56:09.500
to prepare prepare for big competitions like

00:56:09.500 --> 00:56:14.320
just to not have this feeling of being the first

00:56:14.320 --> 00:56:17.760
time at this big event like yeah like overwhelmed

00:56:17.760 --> 00:56:19.940
i guess yeah yeah exactly yeah this is the word

00:56:19.940 --> 00:56:22.500
like not being overwhelmed because it will feel

00:56:22.500 --> 00:56:25.019
like you've already done it i mean you try to

00:56:25.019 --> 00:56:26.940
get the feeling that you have already done it

00:56:26.940 --> 00:56:29.159
yeah okay that's interesting i haven't heard

00:56:29.159 --> 00:56:30.920
that one before but i can see that how that would

00:56:30.920 --> 00:56:33.599
help yeah it's it's very hard because visualizing

00:56:33.599 --> 00:56:36.719
it's hard to keep the concentration while visualizing

00:56:36.719 --> 00:56:40.900
it's also hard to really know what to visualize,

00:56:41.059 --> 00:56:44.139
especially in bowlering or lead climbing because

00:56:44.139 --> 00:56:45.840
you don't know what you're going to get as a

00:56:45.840 --> 00:56:49.340
bowler. But I think it can help, especially when

00:56:49.340 --> 00:56:52.340
you know what kind of mistakes you're making,

00:56:52.480 --> 00:56:54.739
when you know what kind of thoughts you're getting

00:56:54.739 --> 00:56:57.760
when somebody before you top a bowler. So I think

00:56:57.760 --> 00:57:00.519
it can help for sure. One more thing about mindset.

00:57:01.380 --> 00:57:04.780
Correct me if I'm wrong, but in my mind, when

00:57:04.780 --> 00:57:07.900
I think of all the male competitors, I feel like

00:57:07.900 --> 00:57:10.099
you seem like one of the more angry competitors.

00:57:10.699 --> 00:57:14.880
Oh, really? Yeah. Do you feel like that's the

00:57:14.880 --> 00:57:18.059
case? I don't know. I don't feel angry at competitions.

00:57:18.800 --> 00:57:22.780
Maybe I look angry. I know my dad is a teacher

00:57:22.780 --> 00:57:27.960
and I went to the same school as my dad in high

00:57:27.960 --> 00:57:30.659
school. And I know everybody was always saying

00:57:30.659 --> 00:57:34.079
like, yeah, why? Like they were not saying it

00:57:34.079 --> 00:57:36.679
to me, but I heard it from my mom. But they were

00:57:36.679 --> 00:57:40.239
like, yeah, your dad is always like angry. Like

00:57:40.239 --> 00:57:43.699
why? And then my dad is like, yeah, but no, but

00:57:43.699 --> 00:57:46.219
I'm not angry. It's just like my face is just

00:57:46.219 --> 00:57:51.239
angry. So maybe my face is just angry. I don't

00:57:51.239 --> 00:57:56.659
know. But I know that I'm always in this serious

00:57:56.659 --> 00:58:00.099
mindset. I'm not like the one who is always like

00:58:00.099 --> 00:58:02.139
going to smile because it doesn't really help

00:58:02.139 --> 00:58:05.239
me for. Yeah, I think it's kind of some people

00:58:05.239 --> 00:58:08.219
like when they do a comp, they have to smile

00:58:08.219 --> 00:58:12.300
to do good. Or me, I think I'm just like a bit

00:58:12.300 --> 00:58:15.519
more serious when I do the comp. So I'm not always

00:58:15.519 --> 00:58:20.480
going to look very happy. But yeah, I'm definitely

00:58:20.480 --> 00:58:24.059
not angry all the time. Okay, that's good to

00:58:24.059 --> 00:58:25.679
know. I mean, it depends. There are for sure

00:58:25.679 --> 00:58:28.559
situations where I'm angry, but yeah. And I don't

00:58:28.559 --> 00:58:31.420
think I get upset like very fast at competitions.

00:58:32.059 --> 00:58:34.679
Yeah, I'll maybe have to look through and think

00:58:34.679 --> 00:58:37.460
about what times I remembered you being angry.

00:58:37.500 --> 00:58:40.099
I was like, oh my God, that's really scary. I

00:58:40.099 --> 00:58:42.619
guess, well, I don't think you looked specifically

00:58:42.619 --> 00:58:45.400
angry in this example, but there was that one

00:58:45.400 --> 00:58:47.559
time where you did a backflip after you couldn't

00:58:47.559 --> 00:58:50.199
do the climb. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know.

00:58:50.380 --> 00:58:53.539
It's funny because I was just doing like a random

00:58:53.539 --> 00:58:56.320
session in Paris and there were like three different

00:58:56.320 --> 00:58:58.860
guys. who came to me like, yeah, you're the guy

00:58:58.860 --> 00:59:02.880
from the backflip. And I was like, what? I guess

00:59:02.880 --> 00:59:05.059
it's something that I understand. I mean, also

00:59:05.059 --> 00:59:08.019
with this backflip that comes, it's kind of special

00:59:08.019 --> 00:59:10.739
to do it. And I don't really know why I did it.

00:59:11.920 --> 00:59:15.699
I guess I remember I came pretty close to sticking

00:59:15.699 --> 00:59:19.719
this pinch boulder. And I don't know, at one

00:59:19.719 --> 00:59:22.639
point I come down and I think I was like, just

00:59:22.639 --> 00:59:26.010
like full of like... adrenaline that I like kind

00:59:26.010 --> 00:59:28.869
of didn't control myself and I like just jumped

00:59:28.869 --> 00:59:32.349
up and did like a backflip just out of like yeah

00:59:32.349 --> 00:59:34.869
just because I had like full of adrenaline and

00:59:34.869 --> 00:59:36.869
I had to do something and I knew my time was

00:59:36.869 --> 00:59:41.090
up and I was like yeah like yeah yeah I wish

00:59:41.090 --> 00:59:44.130
I just had topped the boulders Yeah, I know.

00:59:44.570 --> 00:59:47.269
No, I mean, I wish you had done it. But yeah,

00:59:47.329 --> 00:59:49.170
when you came off and did that, I was just like,

00:59:49.190 --> 00:59:52.670
oh, it's like the backflip of anger. Yeah, yeah,

00:59:52.690 --> 00:59:54.469
no, I was definitely, I mean, I was, yeah, it

00:59:54.469 --> 00:59:56.949
was more like out of like, just like being full

00:59:56.949 --> 00:59:59.849
of adrenaline being like, like, why did I like,

00:59:59.869 --> 01:00:02.090
like, how did it happen? I let go, you know,

01:00:02.090 --> 01:00:04.750
it's like, it's like, it's like, you know, when

01:00:04.750 --> 01:00:07.050
you see Adam, Adam Ondra, when he cups the ball,

01:00:07.110 --> 01:00:09.670
or he's like, jumping around everywhere, you

01:00:09.670 --> 01:00:11.940
know, it's like. kind of like this like you just

01:00:11.940 --> 01:00:13.920
like pull up this adrenaline and you don't know

01:00:13.920 --> 01:00:16.719
what to do with your body anymore so it just

01:00:16.719 --> 01:00:19.880
things happen like randomly so yeah that makes

01:00:19.880 --> 01:00:22.619
sense uh before we go into more audience questions

01:00:22.619 --> 01:00:28.300
um in terms of non -climbing or um yeah anything

01:00:28.300 --> 01:00:30.079
that you do outside of climbing and competing

01:00:30.079 --> 01:00:32.679
um especially because you're still healing from

01:00:32.679 --> 01:00:35.199
your injury for like the next six weeks yeah

01:00:35.199 --> 01:00:36.980
what do you like to spend your time doing what

01:00:36.980 --> 01:00:40.059
are you going to do in the next six weeks Yeah,

01:00:40.159 --> 01:00:43.019
hard question. I mean, the operation was quite

01:00:43.019 --> 01:00:45.820
recently. It was like Wednesday. Some days have

01:00:45.820 --> 01:00:49.699
passed. I went on holiday with my parents because

01:00:49.699 --> 01:00:54.880
they happened to go on holiday just now. So I

01:00:54.880 --> 01:00:59.719
joined them. What I'm going to do, it's a hard

01:00:59.719 --> 01:01:03.260
question. I mean, I live with six other people.

01:01:03.960 --> 01:01:09.239
Oh my gosh. I live with five other people. They're

01:01:09.239 --> 01:01:13.360
all climbers. But yeah, I mean, for sure, there

01:01:13.360 --> 01:01:16.400
are always people here. So I will never like

01:01:16.400 --> 01:01:18.940
be lonely. Like every time I'm eating, like somebody

01:01:18.940 --> 01:01:21.960
is there. The climbing gym is not that far away.

01:01:22.039 --> 01:01:24.679
So I can always go there. I know quite some people

01:01:24.679 --> 01:01:27.900
there. I mean, I still do have to train. Like

01:01:27.900 --> 01:01:31.860
I cannot just like relax and chill for the next

01:01:31.860 --> 01:01:36.260
six weeks. I have to... go to another town where

01:01:36.260 --> 01:01:40.340
my physio is so i have to go like three or four

01:01:40.340 --> 01:01:45.380
times to the physio i will start like exercises

01:01:45.380 --> 01:01:49.920
uh yeah without the elbow um so yeah that's for

01:01:49.920 --> 01:01:53.980
like training part when i won't be training um

01:01:53.980 --> 01:01:58.579
and then i'm kind of a lot into sports so i always

01:01:58.579 --> 01:02:04.679
try to find like more active um solutions so

01:02:04.679 --> 01:02:07.920
I already went because my little brother he's

01:02:07.920 --> 01:02:13.940
like he liked to do tennis so I hope I can I

01:02:13.940 --> 01:02:17.579
hope I will be able to do some tennis with him

01:02:17.579 --> 01:02:20.960
just like with one hand like single hand backhand

01:02:20.960 --> 01:02:25.039
but yeah he's pretty good so he kind of teaches

01:02:25.039 --> 01:02:27.699
me Vasta and he teaches me a bit how to do the

01:02:27.699 --> 01:02:32.110
tennis yeah if not Yeah, I don't know. I have

01:02:32.110 --> 01:02:34.789
a PlayStation 5 here, so I guess I will just

01:02:34.789 --> 01:02:39.630
be gaming. Nothing really special. Yeah, it's

01:02:39.630 --> 01:02:44.010
hard. I've tried to think about a lot of things,

01:02:44.090 --> 01:02:47.750
but a lot of things you just need two arms. Yeah,

01:02:47.750 --> 01:02:51.409
that's true, actually. I mean, I'm currently

01:02:51.409 --> 01:02:54.369
working on my driving license and I can't move

01:02:54.369 --> 01:03:00.449
my arms. I mean, I think in Belgium, The wheel

01:03:00.449 --> 01:03:02.789
is on the left side. I don't know, in America,

01:03:02.949 --> 01:03:08.789
on the right or left side? It's on the left side,

01:03:08.849 --> 01:03:11.289
yeah. Okay, yeah. Okay, so anyway, then it's

01:03:11.289 --> 01:03:15.230
the same. But yeah, so I can do the... How do

01:03:15.230 --> 01:03:20.630
you say the changing of numbers? Oh, the... The

01:03:20.630 --> 01:03:22.090
gear. Like the gear shifting? Yeah, the gear

01:03:22.090 --> 01:03:26.630
shifting. Oh, you don't have automatic. No, I

01:03:26.630 --> 01:03:29.150
mean, to pass the exam, it's better to do it

01:03:29.150 --> 01:03:33.250
on manual because then I can do both. Yeah. So,

01:03:33.250 --> 01:03:42.710
yeah. Anyway, I can drive a bit. So actually,

01:03:42.889 --> 01:03:45.610
yesterday we tried, but I got in the argument

01:03:45.610 --> 01:03:47.989
with my dad and so I couldn't drive for my dad

01:03:47.989 --> 01:03:53.010
anymore. So he was pushing too much. Oh, I get

01:03:53.010 --> 01:03:55.650
that. Oh, yeah. Teaching a kid how to drive,

01:03:55.750 --> 01:03:58.530
I think, it's a stressful process. Yeah, I can

01:03:58.530 --> 01:04:03.730
imagine. So, yeah. So, yeah. I tried to do that.

01:04:03.949 --> 01:04:08.090
And for the rest, I mean, I will go watch some

01:04:08.090 --> 01:04:10.449
competitions, actually. There are some competitions

01:04:10.449 --> 01:04:14.929
coming up. Like, there is the Tokyo Sessions

01:04:14.929 --> 01:04:18.289
in Amsterdam, which is not super far. And there

01:04:18.289 --> 01:04:22.949
will be, like, I think Sota will be there. Okata

01:04:22.949 --> 01:04:27.170
will be there Mao so I think I will go watch

01:04:27.170 --> 01:04:30.909
that which will be quite fun there will be the

01:04:30.909 --> 01:04:34.409
team bowler arena which is like the duo competition

01:04:34.409 --> 01:04:38.730
in France I think I'll go watch that too because

01:04:38.730 --> 01:04:43.030
yeah France with like the French team quite of

01:04:43.030 --> 01:04:47.250
the French team and so yeah just go watch that

01:04:47.250 --> 01:04:51.079
also some people who I live with in Brussels

01:04:51.079 --> 01:04:55.179
they will go do the events so yeah I guess I

01:04:55.179 --> 01:04:59.000
just train like yeah just go watch competitions

01:04:59.000 --> 01:05:01.719
or things like that still a lot of climbing then

01:05:01.719 --> 01:05:05.340
yeah I hope so just doing one hand climbing yeah

01:05:05.340 --> 01:05:10.199
doing some slabs more slab work okay cool and

01:05:10.199 --> 01:05:13.079
then I guess your goals for 2026 do you have

01:05:13.079 --> 01:05:17.030
anything in mind for next season Well, yeah,

01:05:17.130 --> 01:05:20.389
I still haven't won a World Cup, so I would really

01:05:20.389 --> 01:05:23.210
like to. I mean, I'm still young, so there's

01:05:23.210 --> 01:05:26.590
still a lot of time, but I hope I can win a World

01:05:26.590 --> 01:05:31.730
Cup this year. It will be amazing. My goal eventually,

01:05:31.949 --> 01:05:34.389
I really hope to become Olympic champion one

01:05:34.389 --> 01:05:38.050
day. I mean, I have to start with the World Cup.

01:05:39.449 --> 01:05:43.489
So yeah, I think that's the biggest goal for

01:05:43.489 --> 01:05:47.380
next year. Also, the European Championships will

01:05:47.380 --> 01:05:53.920
be in Brussels. So that's pretty big. So it's

01:05:53.920 --> 01:05:55.659
going to be the beginning of the season. I don't

01:05:55.659 --> 01:05:57.699
know how it will be with the recovery of the

01:05:57.699 --> 01:06:01.059
yellow ball. But yeah, I'll try to do my best

01:06:01.059 --> 01:06:04.480
there. And it's for sure going to be a big goal

01:06:04.480 --> 01:06:10.860
to win there. So yeah, that's the thing. I also

01:06:10.860 --> 01:06:13.159
hope to still be able to compete in the lead.

01:06:15.619 --> 01:06:18.900
Now I will have done less lead than I normally

01:06:18.900 --> 01:06:23.280
do. So I guess I'll see how that goes. Also,

01:06:23.340 --> 01:06:27.059
I have quite some outdoor projects. Mike Yannick,

01:06:27.159 --> 01:06:30.340
he just did the second descent of Rastaman migration

01:06:30.340 --> 01:06:36.920
in Seuss. I've tried with him like sometimes

01:06:36.920 --> 01:06:39.940
and yeah, I hope I will be able to send that.

01:06:40.019 --> 01:06:42.739
That will be really amazing, yeah. Okay, best

01:06:42.739 --> 01:06:44.539
of luck to you there. Thank you. Hopefully it

01:06:44.539 --> 01:06:48.380
will be a good 2026 for you. I hope so too. So

01:06:48.380 --> 01:06:52.199
then, yeah, before we end things, we have a few

01:06:52.199 --> 01:06:55.920
more audience -submitted questions left. We'll

01:06:55.920 --> 01:06:58.280
get into some of those now. So the first one,

01:06:58.460 --> 01:07:01.219
would love some insight into the language situation

01:07:01.219 --> 01:07:05.239
in Team Belgium. You're Flemish, but most of

01:07:05.239 --> 01:07:08.139
the team is French -speaking. Is that ever challenging

01:07:08.139 --> 01:07:13.349
for you? Not anymore. I mean, now I'm quite okay

01:07:13.349 --> 01:07:16.949
with French. In the beginning, I was challenging.

01:07:17.250 --> 01:07:21.289
In the beginning, I mean, when I was very young,

01:07:21.349 --> 01:07:23.550
I didn't speak English. I didn't speak French.

01:07:23.670 --> 01:07:29.369
I only spoke Dutch. But yeah, there were a lot

01:07:29.369 --> 01:07:33.929
of French -speaking people, a lot of French -speaking

01:07:33.929 --> 01:07:36.750
people. Also, the coaches and the adult team,

01:07:36.889 --> 01:07:40.150
now it's... My coach is now on the adult team.

01:07:40.309 --> 01:07:46.469
I mean, yeah, often. She's Flemish, but before

01:07:46.469 --> 01:07:49.590
it was mostly French. So in the beginning it

01:07:49.590 --> 01:07:53.489
was quite hard also to communicate with the athletes.

01:07:53.630 --> 01:07:57.230
Like I had to learn English. So it was not always

01:07:57.230 --> 01:07:59.510
easy. But luckily in Belgium, I think it's quite

01:07:59.510 --> 01:08:02.150
easy to learn English since we're not really

01:08:02.150 --> 01:08:07.239
a country that like... dub all the all the movies

01:08:07.239 --> 01:08:11.139
we kind of we kind of watch the movies in English

01:08:11.139 --> 01:08:16.880
I mean just in the original language so so yeah

01:08:16.880 --> 01:08:20.359
it's I think in Belgium it's very like almost

01:08:20.359 --> 01:08:24.199
especially in Flanders I mean as you have said

01:08:24.199 --> 01:08:26.819
like the Flemish part don't dub the French part

01:08:26.819 --> 01:08:31.819
they they put everything in French but yeah a

01:08:31.819 --> 01:08:35.140
lot of Flemish people speak English So luckily

01:08:35.140 --> 01:08:38.720
I learned English pretty good. French, I have

01:08:38.720 --> 01:08:42.340
always got on school too. And once I went to

01:08:42.340 --> 01:08:44.760
the Belgium team and I started hearing all the

01:08:44.760 --> 01:08:47.619
French, I started trying to speak French. And

01:08:47.619 --> 01:08:51.359
now it's okay. But yeah, when you do like team

01:08:51.359 --> 01:08:53.279
meetings in the Belgian team, mostly it's in

01:08:53.279 --> 01:08:58.420
English. Also, it's kind of a habit to speak

01:08:58.420 --> 01:09:00.539
with some English, with some I speak French.

01:09:00.600 --> 01:09:03.479
It depends. For example, when I speak with Nico,

01:09:03.699 --> 01:09:08.880
even though I speak perfectly, that I speak good

01:09:08.880 --> 01:09:12.000
French, we just have the habit to speak English

01:09:12.000 --> 01:09:15.539
because we kind of go back to the time that I

01:09:15.539 --> 01:09:17.399
didn't speak French and I spoke better English.

01:09:17.600 --> 01:09:20.279
So with him, I always speak English. But when

01:09:20.279 --> 01:09:23.579
I speak with a French team, it's always going

01:09:23.579 --> 01:09:26.899
to be in French now. So yeah, it depends on people.

01:09:27.560 --> 01:09:30.840
But yeah, right now, it's not really a problem.

01:09:31.430 --> 01:09:34.050
Yeah, okay. That's good to know. Being in the

01:09:34.050 --> 01:09:36.689
US, that's all very... I don't even think about

01:09:36.689 --> 01:09:39.130
other people having to speak different languages.

01:09:39.449 --> 01:09:42.829
Yeah, I guess it's easy, yeah. Next one. Do you

01:09:42.829 --> 01:09:45.829
think calisthenics or gymnastics training is

01:09:45.829 --> 01:09:49.489
necessary now in comp climbing? Well, I've thought

01:09:49.489 --> 01:09:55.680
about it and I have the feeling like... The time

01:09:55.680 --> 01:09:59.659
you can spend on gymnastics or other things,

01:09:59.779 --> 01:10:01.920
you can as well just spend on your wall doing

01:10:01.920 --> 01:10:05.100
coordination. So I'm not really the biggest fan

01:10:05.100 --> 01:10:08.859
of doing like the coordination training outside

01:10:08.859 --> 01:10:15.960
of climbing. So yeah, I would say no, but I mean,

01:10:16.119 --> 01:10:21.079
climbing is still like not the most developed

01:10:21.079 --> 01:10:26.760
sports. I wouldn't be surprised if it actually

01:10:26.760 --> 01:10:30.380
can help. But for the moment, I've not heard

01:10:30.380 --> 01:10:33.880
of anybody or I've not seen any exercises that

01:10:33.880 --> 01:10:36.520
I would say, okay, that can actually like help

01:10:36.520 --> 01:10:39.340
for coordination. So yeah, like I said, I think

01:10:39.340 --> 01:10:42.640
the time for the moment, my opinion is more like

01:10:42.640 --> 01:10:45.819
the time you can, you spend on gymnastics, you

01:10:45.819 --> 01:10:49.640
can just spend on the climbing or the coordinations.

01:10:50.140 --> 01:10:52.199
Yeah, I guess that makes sense. You don't think

01:10:52.199 --> 01:10:54.500
any of your gymnastics training before the age

01:10:54.500 --> 01:10:58.060
of seven helped with your climbing? Yeah, I mean,

01:10:58.159 --> 01:11:02.220
seven is very young, you know, so I don't even

01:11:02.220 --> 01:11:06.319
remember what I was doing. But yeah, I've always

01:11:06.319 --> 01:11:08.319
done gymnastics at school too because I was in

01:11:08.319 --> 01:11:11.539
a sport. I was doing sports at school and I've

01:11:11.539 --> 01:11:15.579
done two hours of gymnastics. So there I saw

01:11:15.579 --> 01:11:19.079
automatically like I'm... better than the average

01:11:19.079 --> 01:11:21.460
student in gymnastics just because it's kind

01:11:21.460 --> 01:11:26.819
of the same muscles um so but yeah when I was

01:11:26.819 --> 01:11:29.819
seven I don't even remember what I did so I thought

01:11:29.819 --> 01:11:32.819
I thought that it's gonna be it's gonna have

01:11:32.819 --> 01:11:36.970
made a big difference Okay, last one. Well, there

01:11:36.970 --> 01:11:39.390
were two, but they are kind of similar, and they're

01:11:39.390 --> 01:11:43.050
both about slab climbing, of course. People say

01:11:43.050 --> 01:11:46.189
that slab climbing needs a climber to stay calm,

01:11:46.489 --> 01:11:49.710
especially during competitions. So how do you

01:11:49.710 --> 01:11:52.550
stay calm on slab? And then the other one was

01:11:52.550 --> 01:11:56.109
someone, I think, who also competes in climbing.

01:11:56.649 --> 01:11:58.689
How do you get better at slabs, specifically

01:11:58.689 --> 01:12:01.210
in competitions, because it's hard to relax?

01:12:01.899 --> 01:12:05.920
Yeah, it's very important to stay calm. I see

01:12:05.920 --> 01:12:11.319
also myself slabs that I don't do. Like often

01:12:11.319 --> 01:12:13.859
it's when you don't stay calm or you're like

01:12:13.859 --> 01:12:16.960
kind of want to grab things that are not there,

01:12:17.039 --> 01:12:19.239
especially like when you have like this edges

01:12:19.239 --> 01:12:22.939
on the volumes, like you're always tend to take

01:12:22.939 --> 01:12:26.939
them, but often it's, or sometimes it's not better.

01:12:27.000 --> 01:12:29.699
Like you're just going to put yourself in. in

01:12:29.699 --> 01:12:34.220
bad positions so yes staying calm on the slab

01:12:34.220 --> 01:12:36.560
is one of the most important also one of the

01:12:36.560 --> 01:12:40.500
most the hardest parts and i think it's like

01:12:40.500 --> 01:12:45.159
i said this being aware that you're not not calm

01:12:45.159 --> 01:12:49.420
enough so you can adapt to the situation when

01:12:49.420 --> 01:12:52.539
you're not calm it's mostly because you you don't

01:12:52.539 --> 01:12:56.420
trust your feet and then or something like this,

01:12:56.520 --> 01:12:59.060
or you feel like you're going to fall off, and

01:12:59.060 --> 01:13:02.600
then you just have to realize, okay, what's the

01:13:02.600 --> 01:13:04.539
worst thing that can happen when you just fall

01:13:04.539 --> 01:13:08.300
off? The worst thing can maybe break your foot,

01:13:08.340 --> 01:13:14.779
but probably not. Terrible, okay. Yeah, but okay,

01:13:14.880 --> 01:13:17.060
that's maybe bad to say when you want to help

01:13:17.060 --> 01:13:19.939
somebody, but probably you're not going to break

01:13:19.939 --> 01:13:25.720
your foot. So if you just try and and you just

01:13:25.720 --> 01:13:31.380
go for the move, then you will feel that it's

01:13:31.380 --> 01:13:34.439
staying. I mean, every boulder is tested, every

01:13:34.439 --> 01:13:39.159
boulder works. So you're just trusting everything.

01:13:39.439 --> 01:13:43.899
It's hard to give better advice than that feeling.

01:13:44.460 --> 01:13:49.560
Just feel it and trust it. Yeah. I've also, I

01:13:49.560 --> 01:13:52.619
know already like often when I don't do a slap,

01:13:52.779 --> 01:13:55.479
it's just like, you don't stay calm. You don't

01:13:55.479 --> 01:13:58.579
trust the feet. Like you want to rush too much,

01:13:58.579 --> 01:14:03.279
but it's just about trying to do the move. And

01:14:03.279 --> 01:14:05.399
once you try to do a move, maybe you fall off,

01:14:05.439 --> 01:14:08.500
but then you can like adapt to the move. If you're

01:14:08.500 --> 01:14:11.289
not trusting it. Like you're like two steps behind,

01:14:11.430 --> 01:14:13.350
like first you have to trust it, then you can

01:14:13.350 --> 01:14:16.229
start learning the moves. And then I guess, especially

01:14:16.229 --> 01:14:18.310
with like the time pressure and competitions

01:14:18.310 --> 01:14:21.810
on slab, because it's like a slower climb too.

01:14:22.109 --> 01:14:28.649
Yeah, it is. For me, it kind of helped to put

01:14:28.649 --> 01:14:32.010
myself into those situations. Like I get a slab

01:14:32.010 --> 01:14:34.810
and I just put like, instead of five minutes,

01:14:34.850 --> 01:14:37.170
you put like one minute and then you're just

01:14:37.170 --> 01:14:41.729
gonna. know you're under time pressure, but at

01:14:41.729 --> 01:14:47.170
least you know you're going to be under time

01:14:47.170 --> 01:14:50.869
pressure and you're going to learn how to stay

01:14:50.869 --> 01:14:54.649
calm. It's very easy, but you're just going to

01:14:54.649 --> 01:14:56.770
learn it like this, I think. I guess, do you

01:14:56.770 --> 01:15:00.069
remember that Rockmaster's Slab Top? That was

01:15:00.069 --> 01:15:02.750
kind of like a buzzer beater, right? Yeah, that

01:15:02.750 --> 01:15:06.989
was crazy. What were you thinking on that last

01:15:06.989 --> 01:15:09.819
try? I was thinking it's over, actually, because

01:15:09.819 --> 01:15:13.359
I was getting eliminated if I didn't pass the

01:15:13.359 --> 01:15:17.399
move. Because I don't know why, but I just slipped

01:15:17.399 --> 01:15:20.300
two times in the beginning. And then I just watched,

01:15:20.520 --> 01:15:25.159
I think Yannick did the move. And so I just watched

01:15:25.159 --> 01:15:27.180
him and I was like, okay, for sure it's going

01:15:27.180 --> 01:15:31.739
to feel bad. But, I mean, if I don't commit to

01:15:31.739 --> 01:15:35.260
it, it's finished. It's over. Like, I'm going

01:15:35.260 --> 01:15:41.520
out. I just tried to stay calm. I just, I just

01:15:41.520 --> 01:15:44.560
tried to feel and yeah, put my feet through and

01:15:44.560 --> 01:15:47.060
I put it on hold. And as I expected, it didn't

01:15:47.060 --> 01:15:50.279
feel good, but I knew like, okay, you, you can

01:15:50.279 --> 01:15:52.840
stand on the feet. So I just slowly, it's, it's

01:15:52.840 --> 01:15:55.279
all about like finding the right balance between

01:15:55.279 --> 01:16:01.000
like going slow and moving your, moving your

01:16:01.000 --> 01:16:04.760
weight to the other foot, but not too fast. And

01:16:04.760 --> 01:16:08.420
just. keep feeling and feeling. And at one moment,

01:16:08.479 --> 01:16:11.060
like you, you feel when you can go on the other

01:16:11.060 --> 01:16:14.260
foot and it's kind of just, it's, it was just

01:16:14.260 --> 01:16:18.800
about this, just like feeling when it's the time

01:16:18.800 --> 01:16:22.100
to just put it all on this one feet. And yeah,

01:16:22.159 --> 01:16:24.180
it's just like, I thought about it, how it was

01:16:24.180 --> 01:16:27.279
going to feel and it felt like that. And yeah,

01:16:27.340 --> 01:16:31.779
then it worked out. So, so yeah, it's, it's,

01:16:31.779 --> 01:16:36.159
yeah, it was crazy. Just the slap. It worked

01:16:36.159 --> 01:16:40.220
out. Yeah. It was cool to see. So I think, yeah,

01:16:40.319 --> 01:16:42.739
that's all the questions I had today then. Thanks

01:16:42.739 --> 01:16:46.539
for joining me. Any like last minute words of

01:16:46.539 --> 01:16:48.520
wisdom you want to get out there? It's really,

01:16:48.600 --> 01:16:51.039
I have the feeling, I already now have the feeling

01:16:51.039 --> 01:16:53.840
people expect to say, to give some wisdom words

01:16:53.840 --> 01:16:56.199
about Slab Clan, but I really don't have anything

01:16:56.199 --> 01:16:59.020
more. No, I mean, I think your Slab tips were

01:16:59.020 --> 01:17:01.430
good. When you really want to improve slab climbing,

01:17:01.630 --> 01:17:04.510
you should just go to France probably. It's the

01:17:04.510 --> 01:17:08.010
best place to train slab climbing. Okay. No,

01:17:08.090 --> 01:17:11.489
that totally works. That's good. And where can

01:17:11.489 --> 01:17:14.949
people find you if they want to reach out? Yeah,

01:17:14.989 --> 01:17:18.949
probably on Instagram. I mean, I'm not always

01:17:18.949 --> 01:17:22.390
responding because I always forget to look at

01:17:22.390 --> 01:17:27.069
the request. Because Instagram put an update

01:17:27.069 --> 01:17:29.489
and you don't see the numbers of how many requests

01:17:29.489 --> 01:17:31.710
we have anymore. So now you have to really think

01:17:31.710 --> 01:17:35.989
about it. But yeah, I mean, if they have a question,

01:17:36.029 --> 01:17:38.930
they can just reach me on Instagram. I try to

01:17:38.930 --> 01:17:42.060
respond. Okay, cool. Well, awesome. Thank you

01:17:42.060 --> 01:17:44.220
again. And it was amazing to talk to you. Yeah,

01:17:44.260 --> 01:17:46.819
no worries. What's fun to do. Thank you so much

01:17:46.819 --> 01:17:49.300
for making it to the end of the podcast. Don't

01:17:49.300 --> 01:17:51.300
forget to like and subscribe if you enjoyed.

01:17:51.520 --> 01:17:55.140
Otherwise, you are a super big climber. If you're

01:17:55.140 --> 01:17:57.579
listening on a podcasting platform, I'd appreciate

01:17:57.579 --> 01:18:00.300
if you rate it five stars and you can continue

01:18:00.300 --> 01:18:03.100
the discussion on the free competition climbing

01:18:03.100 --> 01:18:06.079
discord linked in the description. Thanks again

01:18:06.079 --> 01:18:06.560
for listening.