EP 27: Audrey Sniezek — Corporate Work, Starting A Gym, and Telling Yourself You Belong

Audrey Sniezek is a software engineer for Microsoft and a former professional climber. We talked about her beginnings in both computer science and climbing, becoming a morning person, her 4 a.m. warmup routine, starting a climbing gym near the Red River Gorge, coaching in China, self-talk for confidence, and her most recent 5.14a.

Support on Patreon:

patreon.com/thenuggetclimbing

Show Notes:

http://thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/audrey-sniezek

Nuggets:

1:58 – Peanut butter sandwiches, being a finisher of things, the lunch crux, and dry salads

5:48 – Timex computers, studying computer science, and turning down Microsoft

10:22 – Temporary job with Microsoft, REI, and “is there any climbing in Washington?”

12:43 – Bigger and scarier, improving by climbing a lot, lead climbing and pushing personal boundaries

14:21 – Flexibility with work, squeezing in climbing, and “I’m only as transparent as I need to be.”

16:03 – Alpine style sport climbing, and becoming a morning person

17:55 – Audrey’s morning warmup routine

20:58 – Making the most of morning sessions, swapping days, and finding a COVID pandemic buddy

23:45 – Waking up extra early to send ‘Lost Horizons’, and commuting to and from climbing

25:41 – The corporate boomerang, living in a van to climb full time, preferring to stay places longer, and Audrey’s current trifecta

28:58 – Fitness training, healthcare, why Audrey came back to a corporate job after freelancing, and building trust to achieve a better work/life balance

34:11 – A shift in company culture due to COVID

37:15 – A home in Vegas, and starting a gym in near the Red River Gorge

40:34 – Starting a computer science program at the Beattyville high school, and how the Beattyville climbing gym came to be

45:22 – Audrey’s vision for the gym, old-school setting, and watching the kids climb

47:28 – William’s stroke

49:37 – How Audrey uses the Beattyville gym and how she balances climbing and training in general

51:50 – Living in China and accidentally becoming a climbing coach

56:53 – Splitting up training and coaching, the language barrier, a teary-eyed farewell, and Audrey’s training legacy

1:00:20 – Audrey’s training session breakdown, Tabata style warmup, technique drills, going back to fundamentals, and training power on easy climbs

1:03:56 – Why Audrey doesn’t do much Moonboarding or hangboarding

1:05:39 – Recent finger injury, slowly getting back into the swing, and missing the “try hard”

1:08:02 – What factors help Audrey “bring it”

1:08:40 – ‘The Sickness’

1:13:48 – ‘Black Plague’, linkups, milking climbs for all they’re worth, and new projects

1:16:39 – Four-year gap between 5.14s, competing in the world cups, and a hamstring injury

1:18:51 – How Audrey sent ‘The Sickness’ without any specific prep

1:20:50 – Trying a 5.14 at Mt. Potosi

1:23:39 – Goals and dreams

1:26:05 – ‘Dr. Evil’, funky beta, and a surprise send

1:31:03 – “The only thing stopping me is me.”

1:33:32 – 5.14 (or 5.15) in her 50s, “am I a machine”, and trying things sooner rather than later

1:34:32 – How’s Audrey training changed in her 40s, her own fitness and training resources

1:36:57 – What Audrey wishes she had known in her 20’s, confidence, and “I belong here”

1:39:45 – Self-talk, the piece of paper, and “I’m capable.”

1:41:43 – Low confidence, building yourself up, and reminding yourself that you create your results

1:42:41 – Gratitude, heartbreak, and community

1:45:06 – The victory cone