EP 115: Jordan Cannon — The Triple Crown in Yosemite, Big Wall Pooping Stories, and How to Build the Skills to Climb El Capitan

Jordan Cannon is a professional climber who exploded onto the Yosemite scene in recent years with multiple in-a-day free ascents of El Capitan, and hard big wall linkups. We covered Jordan’s climbing origin story, playing college soccer, seeking adventure in Yosemite, van life tips, big wall pooping stories, free climbing El Cap in a day vs. multiple days, the value of dirtbagging, and much more.

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Show Notes:

thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/jordan-cannon

Nuggets:

0:06:46 – Peter Croft’s episode, and how Jordan got connected with Peter

0:10:30 – Climbing with your heroes, and getting turned on to sport climbing by Peter

0:12:40 – Jordan’s origin story, and teaching himself how to sport climb in a tree at age 7

0:21:01 – Telling his mom he wanted to become a climber at age 4

0:23:02 – Appreciating climbing more because he found it later in life

0:25:43 – Being burned out on team sports, being let down by teammates, and seeking adventure in rock climbing

0:29:08 – Starting to climb at the James Island County Park Climbing Wall

0:32:01 – Road tripping to CA

0:34:38 – Going to Joshua Tree for the first time

0:38:46 – Jordan’s rock climbing education, and what Jordan and I each studied in college

0:44:35 – Jordan’s path to becoming a professional climber, feeling alone in his passion for trad and adventure climbing, and getting out of San Diego

0:48:07 – What drew Jordan to Yosemite, and seeing Valley Uprising for the first time

0:54:04 – People who made history by not trying to make history

0:57:28 – Being overwhelmed by the amount of things to repeat in climbing, and Jordan’s first experience in Yosemite

1:01:31 – Why you shouldn’t wait until you are “good enough” to go to Yosemite

1:03:35 – Why Yosemite is Jordan’s favorite climbing area, and why he needs breaks from it

1:05:21 – Working seasonally and living the dirtbag life, working odd jobs, and how Jordan structures his year

1:09:26 – Living out of a Honda CRV, living in a cave in Yosemite, and the value of dirtbagging

1:15:26 – Jordan’s top vanlife tips, and pee bottle beta

1:20:52 – Going number two

1:22:30 – Big wall pooping stories, and “shit-putting”

1:30:03 – Free climbing El Cap in a day vs. over multiple days

1:37:36 – Sending the Triple Crown link-up

1:46:56 – The coolest goal Jordan can think of in Yosemite

1:49:21 – How Jordan structures his year now that he is a professional climber

1:54:47 – Jordan’s bouldering and sport climbing goals, and meeting Tom Herbert

1:58:57 – Advice for aspiring big wall or traditional climbers

2:01:01 – Diet, sleep, and having different modes (send, training, rest)

2:05:54 – “Long term consistency trumps short term intensity.” - Bruce Lee

2:07:32 – Taking off-seasons or easy phases

2:13:13 – The Classroom Analogy

2:17:05 – The skills and steps required to climb El Cap

2:20:29 – Wrap up and Jordan’s Yosemite goals for the Spring of 2022