EP 101: Nina Caprez — Being a Swiss Machine, Leaning into Womanness, and a Beautiful Story of Failing on ‘The Nose’

Nina Caprez is a professional rock climber from Switzerland, who is known for her many impressive ascents of hard multi-pitch climbs. We talked about her current trip to Greece and her newest passion project, trying to free climb ‘The Nose’ with Lynn Hill, why failing on the route was a gift, and about softening and leaning into womanness.

*Nina also shared some exciting news in this episode!

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• Bryan Fast, Leo Franchi, Michael Roy, David Lahaie, and Robert Freehill

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Show Notes:

thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/nina-caprez

Nuggets:

6:39 – Where in the world is Nina Caprez?

9:44 – Nina describes her camping scene in Greece, and finding a new balance between travel and adventure

12:41 – The climbing in southern Greece, and the Andrea Project and bringing climbing to refugee camps

17:31 – Speaking 4 languages, and Nina’s recent Andrea Project in Romania

22:38 – Trying to free The Nose, burning out, and starting the Andrea Project with Jeremy and building the truck

29:20 – Being fulfilled from her new lifestyle, and sharing her passion

32:17 – Why “failing” on The Nose was the best thing that has happened for Nina

36:26 – “It was really time to let go”, and spending 7 days on the wall with Lynn Hill

40:45 – Nina and Jeremy’s vision for the Andrea Project

44:19 – Inspiration, letting goals happen naturally, and complete satisfaction

46:08 – Leaning into different parts of herself as a woman

47:43 – Food guilt, Nina’s natural cycle with the seasons, and listening to her body

52:11 – Using a low carb diet to drop 2kg of weight for The Nose, and realizing it was too much

53:49 – Flirting with the line, and wanting to prove something to someone else

55:27 – Climbing as an escape, guilt and jealously, and softening

59:31 – Question from Steve McClure: How does Nina balance performance with adventure?

1:01:56 – Her first climb at age 13, and growing up in the mountains, and leaving home to evolve

1:04:42 – Living “gypsy style” in France

1:06:41 – Traveling, and some of the places Nina has fallen in love with

1:13:57 – You don’t have to go far away to find an adventure

1:15:04 – Feeling attracted to the East, and wanting to bring climbing to people in need

1:16:50 – How Andrea got its (her?) name

1:17:42 – Another question from Steve McClure: Have you thought about having kids?

1:21:23 – Stories from Nina’s proudest climbing achievements

1:26:51 – Patron question from Randall: What's your process for big walls? Rap in vs. ground up? How do you physically prepare for such an experience?

1:28:36 – Endurance as a strength, not feeling fear, and becoming comfortable living in the vertical space

1:32:24 – “Training” through climbing, and thriving on variety

1:36:49 – “We keep it as a secret…”