EP 252: Justin Salas — Life As a Legally Blind Climber, Building Mental Maps, and Being a Changemaker

Justin Salas is a legally blind climber who is a 6x National Champion and the 2018 World Champion. He’s also climbed up to V11 outside. We talked about what his visual experience is like, the psychology of an invisible disability, assistive technology, how he climbs, sight guides, projecting tactics, building out a van, the Olympics and paraclimbing competitions, visualization, being a changemaker, and much more.

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Show Notes:

thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/justin-salas

Nuggets:

(00:00:00) – Intro

(00:01:23) – Pulley injuries

(00:05:26) – Vanlife

(00:11:01) – Justin’s visual experience

(00:15:35) – An invisible disability

(00:23:37) – “Yes I’m blind, no I’m not.”

(00:27:55) – Faces

(00:30:45) – Losing his vision

(00:35:59) – Denial, gratitude, & bad days

(00:40:58) – BMX & getting into climbing

(00:44:49) – Coping mechanisms

(00:48:36) – Assistive technology

(00:54:34) – How he climbs

(01:02:26) – His first day of climbing

(01:10:59) – Sight guides

(01:22:34) – Footholds

(01:25:29) – Stamina training

(01:28:21) – Fred’s Cave & projecting tactics

(01:33:14) – Getting inspired

(01:36:34) – Texas Hold Em

(01:37:32) – Assessing landings

(01:41:31) – Downclimbing & approaching

(01:45:04) – Toothpaste

(01:47:58) – Specialized bikes

(01:51:42) – Asking for help

(01:57:54) – April

(02:05:47) – Building out a van

(02:10:09) – Vegas

(02:12:56) – Nature is healing

(02:15:37) – Overcoming fear

(02:24:55) – Mitigating risk

(02:27:29) – What drives Justin in climbing

(02:30:48) – The Olympics & paraclimbing competitions

(02:39:39) – Blind visualization

(02:46:48) – Building a mental map

(02:50:11) – Changemaker

(02:54:40) – Faith

(03:01:04) – Curiosity & learning

(03:04:31) – A beautiful question from Andy

(03:11:28) – “A house divided will fall.”