The Nugget Climbing Podcast

Tyson Schoene has been the head coach of the Vertical World Climbing Team in Seattle, WA for nearly 20 years, and has shaped some of the best climbers in the world including Drew Ruana, Sean Bailey, and Quinn Mason. We talked about Tyson’s path to coaching, how he and his team build world-class athletes, the value of competition, climbing team as a family, and drills all of us can practice.  Support on Patreon:patreon.com/thenuggetclimbing  Show Notes:  http://thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/tyson-schoene   Nuggets:   2:37 – Viento, the resurgence of old forgotten crags, and surfing trips   6:22 – Coaching during COVID, missing the kids, and home walls  9:52 – Embracing downtime, training for adversity, and moving forward with new ideas  12:48 – Feeling privileged and prepared, feeling bored, and struggles with purposelessness and the social climate without a support group during the pandemic  16:56 – Being born in Seattle, Tyson’s parents as climbers, early climbing, and the pull of the lycra  21:20 – Other sports and passions, early competing, early coaching, seeing himself in the kids  26:46 – Climbing with the kids and learning from the kids  30:24 – Why Tyson feels like he never realized his full potential, and why he wouldn’t trade his impact on the kids for being a 5.15 climber  33:51 – The benefits of competition  43:18 – Being competitive vs. being a good competitor  46:11 – Working with Drew to get better at reachy moves  53:36 – Why shorter kids tend to become better climbers  54:30 – How Tyson knew he could push Drew to the edge, the athlete/coach relationship as a two-way street, and adapting to your athletes  58:38 – Hiring coaches from climbing team, traits that make good coaches, and giving back to the team  1:06:27 – Repetition, traversing, patience, and the primary things adults are missing as new climbers  1:14:06 – Efficiency, what makes the best climbers look the best, and why easy movement (i.e. ARCing) is relevant for someone trying to break into 5.14  1:19:44 – Circuits for power endurance, drawing from track and field, learning through experience, and spray walls  1:26:19 – Programming circuits  1:28:14 – Easy circuits vs. easy traversing and ARC training, balancing endurance training w/ power, and why Tyson expects training to change in the next ten years  1:33:44 – More on ARC training, Tyson’s (amazing) adult client, and why Tyson generally prefers working with kids vs. adults  1:36:05 – Tyson’s thoughts on why climbers should train both for sport climbing and bouldering to be the best possible athlete  1:39:27 – Patron Question: Power endurance exercises to break into 5.12?  1:42:29 – Other factors to consider when it seems like power endurance is our limiting factor  1:43:37 – Climbing with three fingers (IMR open) to conserve energy  1:48:30 – Pinkies  1:49:04 – Patron Question: Favorite App for spray wall?  1:50:49 – Taping circuits on the spray wall for members and for the kids  1:52:50 – Patron Question: What was it like competing before competition climbing was popular?  1:55:26 – Shirts, normalizing greatness, and the Vertical World family  2:03:41 – Gratitude   2:06:05 – Drills: Heals only  2:10:50 – Drills: Fives  2:17:27 – Thousands of drills, leadership skills, and emotional detachment  2:20:35 – Proud of the kids

3 Aug 20202h 23min

Blake Cason is a mindfulness and work/life balance coach, and the founder of Pivot Wellness. We talked about bringing awareness to our relationship with climbing, practicing radical honesty, ways of strengthening the mindfulness muscle, cycling priorities, and ways that both Blake and I have struggled to find balance between work and climbing. Support on Patreon:patreon.com/thenuggetclimbing  Show Notes:  http://thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/blake-cason  Nuggets:  2:01 – The first time Blake jugged a line, choss in the Canadian Rockies, and supporting Mike on ‘The Shining Uncut’8:19 – Intentionally showing up to support another person in climbing9:58 – The relationship sandbox, and play and responsibility13:53 – Common issues/areas that Blake works on with her clients and climbers16:34 – Beauty in doing things that don’t have a point, and being out of alignment with what motivates us vs. what we’re actually doing20:24 – “Shoulds”, guideposts, and self-imposed suffering23:33 – Radical honesty, “is that working”, and slowing down28:12 – Finding mindfulness through climbing, and her climbing relationship as a barometer32:11 – Tuning into your body and your breath to return to the present moment34:14 – Focusing on the breath, and code-switching35:52 – Training the mindfulness muscle 39:43 – The practical use of mindfulness, and how to bring mindfulness to reflecting on the past or envisioning the future42:50 – Mindfulness applied to climbing performance, “paying attention”, and finding language that resonates44:57 – Savoring, loosening the grip, tapping into a growth mindset, and getting the whole brain firing 53:04 –  Self-limiting beliefs, “Is being attached to that belief working?”, and the research behind the importance of self-compassion58:28 – The brain-body connection, “abort mission”, and punting1:01:18 – ‘Joe Six Pack’, recognizing a need, and choosing to walk away (for now)1:05:31 – How Blake would work with a client who struggles with fear1:12:59 – My (Steven’s) struggle with balancing the podcast with my own climbing and expectations1:16:49 – Cycling priorities, and how Blake cycles her focus between her own climbing and her business, and values vs. priorities1:23:56 – Using inspiration as a guide for priorities1:25:57 – Zooming out1:32:13 – Gratitude1:32:55 – The area of mindfulness that Blake is working on currently1:37:31 – Where to connect with Blake and how you can work with her1:40:28 – Take a breath1:42:49 – My free life coaching session, and send us questions!

27 Jul 20201h 46min

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

20 Jul 20201h 50min

Ben Herrington is a professional route setter and likely Washington’s most prolific boulderer. We talked about why Ben performs best as a “weekend warrior”, his three go-to training sessions, mistakes he sees other boulderers making, climbing vs. skateboarding, his history with drug abuse and addiction, the path to sobriety, some of his most meaningful FAs, and V15 potential in Washington.  Support on Patreon:patreon.com/thenuggetclimbing  Show Notes:  http://thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/ben-herrington  Nuggets:  1:56 – Feeling aimless without work, missing purpose, and the subtle curse of being a full-time climber  4:09 – Skatingboarding vs. climbing: mastering, achieving, and style  7:37 – Ben’s three climbing categories (strength, technique, and try hard) and which one holds him back  9:31 – Practicing “try hard” with a three-try limit  10:31 – Skateboard culture, proving your right to be there, and “success days” vs. “training days”  12:30 – Why Ben feels like he performs best as a weekend warrior  13:38 – Ben’s three go-to indoor sessions  14:52 – The Sharma philosophy: flash or limit  15:42 – Ben’s “Strength Day”  17:24 – Why Ben prefers climbing other people’s hard boulders, wanting to be good at every style, the ego beatdown of changing styles, and The Red vs. Smith  21:21 – Why hard climbing isn’t type-1 fun, and why the variety in climbing appealed to Ben so much after skating  22:40 – Ben’s strength/power bouldering session length, gym climbing vs. outdoor climbing in terms of weight lifting, and gym climbing because it’s fun  25:54 – “Medium Day”, “Endurance Day”, and the benefits of down climbing for fitness  27:44 – Transfering sport climbing fitness back to bouldering, and climbing ‘The Reckoning’  29:11 – St. George bouldering vs. sport climbing, and expanding your horizons to have more 5-star lines to do  31:09 – Ben’s interest in trad/mixed climbing, and the routes that pull at him most  33:03 – The fun vs. suffering spectrum, and “everybody knows what it takes, they just have to be willing to do it.”  34:51 – What motivated Ben when he was younger vs. now  37:04 – Ben’s oppositional strength training routine,  training front levers once every two weeks, and the evolution of Ben’s core training  39:48 – How Ben can tell if a climber has good core strength, and the importance of core strength for hard climbing  40:38 – Training Front Levers, plank variations, and the feeling of being wrecked  42:37 – Lack of training consistency due to COVID, the approach of summer, and missing the climbing gym  44:55 – Ben’s weekly climbing schedule, and always taking Friday off  45:26 – 14 years sober, addiction to pain pills, and how Ben got started in climbing  49:19 – Obsessive-compulsive behavior, losing friends and his dad to drugs, moving to WA to get sober, and early bouldering in Leavenworth  55:27 – The obsessed bug  57:04 – Exploring for new routes, and bolting ‘Imagine’  1:03:41 – Cleaning and climbing ‘Imagine’ during quarantine  1:06:31 – John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’, the setting, the rock, and everything you’d want in a route  1:07:53 – The story behind ‘Inception’ (Ben’s favorite FA)  1:11:00 – Ben’s early progression in climbing, the “spurge and plateau”, and filling out the repertoire  1:12:54 – Some of the best hard boulders in WA, Newhalem bouldering, and endangered moss  1:15:58 – V15 potential in WA  1:17:45 – Ben’s ideal boulder condition for NW granite, giving credit to “the cracking” of a sequence or boulder problem, and the challenge of grading FAs  1:19:33 – What holds back climbers in the gym  1:21:38 – What holds back climbers when projecting outdoors  1:23:26 – How Ben decides whether to keep trying a climb, optimism vs. pessimism, and ‘Singularity’  1:26:52 – Gratitude  1:27:30 – Missing the gym  1:28:25 – Ben’s plans for the summer, and chasing conditions  1:32:24 – Ben’s Instagram, his recent Squamish video (that you should all watch—see show notes), and not knowing where to post climbing content  1:34:46 – Ben’s latest skate trick project, and influencing kids at the skate park

13 Jul 20201h 41min

Nathan Hadley is a professional route setter and an all-around rock climber. We talked about completing the Canadian Alpine Trilogy, the benefits of training using bouldering circuits, how to practice onsighting skills in the climbing gym, establishing the first 5.14 at Index, WA, and the importance of following the psych.  Support on Patreon:patreon.com/thenuggetclimbing  Show Notes:  http://thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/nathan-hadley  Nuggets:  2:41 – The Canadian Alpine Trilogy  7:23 – Prep for the Trilogy, bouldering base from route setting, and Nathan’s one-month approach for getting back in sport climbing shape  8:53 – Fontainblaue-style circuit training  12:36 – Why Nathan thinks circuits are more effective than route laps and 4x4s  15:08 – Example two-day per week PE program  18:21 – Low-end endurance  20:52 – Structure in the things that matter  22:15 – Competing at sport climbing nationals, onsighting in Turkey, and sending ‘Scarface’  29:38 – Nathan’s “relaxed approach”  33:39 – Switching modes, listening to your body, and following psyche  35:37 – Onsighting practice in the gym  40:57 – Warming up for hard onsights and entering the right mental space  44:40 – Intentions and guidelines, and why Nathan’s trip to Turkey was so successful  46:15 – FA of ‘En Passant’ (aka Ten Percent Direct)  54:27 – Route setting as prep for ‘En Passant’  55:39 – Outdoor bouldering and getting stronger by climbing bouldery routes and Index  57:05 – Leaving his mark at Index  1:00:00 – Chess and The Fun Triangle  1:02:01 – Route setting with volumes, volumes as tools, and creating a diversity of climbing styles in the gym  1:05:06 – Forerunning as training  1:07:31 – Climbing less, and learning from the experts who know bodies  1:09:26 – Grateful to be working  1:10:24 – ‘Vanishing Point’, looking for a new route on Dolomite Tower, and dreaming of a WA Trilogy  1:22:00 – Nathan’s website

6 Jul 20201h 24min

Paige Claassen is a professional rock climber and the founder of the Southern Africa Education Fund. We talked about pre-send rituals, breathing techniques, how she changed her diet to improve recovery, recent training, how she structures bouldering and outdoor sessions, learning from each attempt, and favorite crag snacks.  Support on Patreon:patreon.com/thenuggetclimbing  Show Notes:  http://thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/paige-claassen  Nuggets:  1:55 – “Coming to you live from my closet!”  3:04 – Frangog  4:44 – Learning to try hard, and reminding yourself that “I’ve sent in the past when things weren’t perfect”  8:26 – ‘Just Do It’, deep audible breaths, and clicking into the moment  11:45 – Pre-send rituals, working with a biokineticist, and activation points  14:28 – Paige’s thoughts on audible breathing  17:36 – Breathing beta, composing yourself, and “Everyone loves climbing on jugs”  19:03 – ‘Odin’s Eye’, eating more protein, training differently, and becoming a different climber  24:21 – Gym bouldering for power 27:15 – How Paige structures a bouldering session, and focusing on quality over quantity  28:59 – Training seasonally, and how Paige structures outdoor climbing sessions  30:33 – Day on day off  31:34 – Finding what works for you, and owning it  32:06 – A mental shift to not performing in the gym  33:24 – “I just love projecting.”  34:31 – Believing in the process, tricep pushups, and recent training during quarantine  39:42 – Losing ten pounds by eating more fat, protein amounts, and collagen for fingers and skin  44:20 – Southern Africa Education Fund (SAEF), building school buildings, and a new playground  49:24 – Mentorship, open and learning, and living in an exciting time  51:43 – Gratitude for family  53:14 – Current favorite climbing snack, and “I’m not afraid of carbs.”  56:01 – Fish tacos and buffalo cauliflower  57:35 – ‘Shadowboxing’, 5.15 as a goal, and climbing more 5.14+ routes in North America  59:58 – ‘Dreamcatcher’  1:00:50 – Learning from each attempt, frustrating to fun, and “if we’re not having fun there’s no point  1:02:35 – “Treat yourself as you would treat others.”  1:03:20 – Completing the Yurdin family (minus Kasbah)

29 Jun 20201h 4min

Jasna Hodžić is part writer, part scientific researcher, and part badass rock climber. We talked about sending her first 5.14a, ‘To Bolt Or Not To Be’ at Smith Rock, about practicing her anti-style to climb a route called ‘Voodoo’ 5.14b, and about her struggles with a misdiagnosed finger injury, compartment syndrome, and RED-S.  Support on Patreon:patreon.com/thenuggetclimbing  Show Notes:  http://thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/jasna-hodzic  Nuggets:  2:18 – Woodstoves, cooking while driving, and leaving an ice cube tray in the oven  5:46 – Hyper + cute boys, Mr. Buff Man, and getting into rock climbing  8:35 – Studying abroad in Spain in 2013, climbing at world-class areas, and finding an infectious climbing scene   11:38 – ‘To Bolt Or Not To Be’, the archetype of hard rock climbing, pure inspiration, and commuting from Seattle to try the route  18:35 – Advantages of top-roping, skin pain, and progression on To Bolt  22:23 – “Smedges”, going through six pairs of Muira VSs, punting at the 10th bolt, and bailing on her own birthday party  27:31 – Taping for warmups, warming up for To Bolt, and the Mike Doyle story  31:48 – Climbing ‘Peace’ first redpoint try, onsighting the last two bolts, and glacier polish   40:35 – Tick marks, visualizing, and focusing on the crux  43:07 – ‘Voodoo’ (Jasna’s first 5.14b), Equinox, and the jump start  48:34 – Jasna’s fake finger injury  59:28 – Taking a break from the gym and feeling stronger after a winter of rock climbing  1:03:13 – Mixing projects and quick ticks, trying hard routes, and anti-style  1:08:17 – Vertical climbing isn’t type 1 fun, steep climbing during quarantine, and climbing 14a in her anti-style  1:10:10 – Scuba diving on ‘Papa Legba’  1:14 14 – The foot story (compartment syndrome)  1:30:59 – Dealing with injuries and gratitude for health and health care  1:37:38 – Jasna’s experience with RED-S (formerly know as Female Athlete Triad)  1:45:43 – How Jasna has changed her diet post-RED-S, cottage cheese, getting DEXA scans, and other takeaways  1:53:53 – Eating more frequently, calories, calve muscles, and body fat  1:57:13 – Favorite books  2:01:37 – Photojournalism, Jasna’s R&I article, blogging, writing to process the gunk in your head, and the importance of publishing  2:07:11 – Dreams of making a living as a writer, and her PhD  2:10:20 – Gratitude for health and partnerships  2:13:23 – Climbing goals, being meticulous with climbing, and falling into projects  2:18:37 – Not on the Insta-Twitter

22 Jun 20202h 20min

Justin Brown is the founder of Rhino Skin Solutions, a company that provides high-performance skincare products for rock climbers. We talked about best practices for skincare, tips for dialing skin for different rock types, how to grow a business while keeping things simple, and the connection between greatness and insanity.  Support on Patreon:patreon.com/thenuggetclimbing  Show Notes:  http://thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/justin-brown  Nuggets:  2:23 – The COVID pivot, hand sanitizer, and the restaurant hustle  5:48 – Whole Foods, the Rhino growth trajectory, and growing to make a better product  9:50 – How to fix product that has separated   11:30 – Hand Sanitizer for greasy hands and dirty climbers  13:52 – Best practices for healing dry skin  17:24 – Dry/Performance plus Spit for dry and pliable skin, removing sweating as a factor, and different skin for different rock types  19:32 – How to use Rhino Spit   20:39 – Justin’s skincare routine leading up to a climbing trip  24:02 – Combining using Performance and Repair, and best practice for antiperspirant use   26:28 – Training your brain to sweat less and taking a break from using products once a month  30:35 – Tegaderm and Hypafix for splits and gobies  34:34 – Better climbing tapes  36:48 – Filing old shoe rubber, shoe cleaning products, and OXY Pads  41:48 – The early days of Rhino, and why Justin   46:21 – A simple business model and growing organically  49:08 – Growing vs. profitability, putting systems in place, not wanting cogs, and the label machine  54:51 – Work-life balance, getting an employee, and freeing up time  58:40 – Getting hurt climbing, starting MMA, getting in the best shape of his life, and the heart monitor story  1:03:58 – Training for MMA and carryover to rock climbing  1:06:21 – Justin’s standing in jiu-jitsu and converting belt rankings to the Yosemite Decimal System  1:08:05 – Mixing MMA and climbing, a pesky wrist injury, and climbing because it’s fun  1:10:56 – Greatness and insanity, and different limiters on crazy  1:12:27 – Steven’s thoughts on limiters, how limiters shift, and waking up early to hangboard  1:14:38 – Exceeding climbing goals, the gratification of improving at something new, and the myth of discipline  1:17:06 – How each route at Smith leads to the next, and progressing through the 5.13s  1:21:12 – Justin’s approach to climbing ‘Badman’ (his first 5.14), and dealing with shoulder impingement  1:25:25 – Carryover from jiu-jitsu to rock climbing  1:28:49 – Carryover from rock climbing to jiu-jitsu, projecting sequences, and foot matches  1:32:18 – Climbing 5.14 again, goal routes, and climbing the hardest route from the year you were born  1:35:33 – Justin’s (secret) Shuteye Ridge trip  1:37:29 – Gratitude for family and his sister’s illness  1:40:48 – My experience with van life during COVID-19, being in stasis, why Justin craves going out to eat, and restaurant energy  1:46:14 – Rye sourdough mango pancakes  1:47:02 – High-4 (Justin’s new company for pet care)  1:50:20 – New Rhino products (coming soon)  1:52:23 – Where to connect with Rhino for skincare questions  1:53:10 – One last story

15 Jun 20201h 55min