EP 52: Jon Glassberg (Part 1) — Filming Emily Harrington on ‘Golden Gate’, and Pursuing V15

Jon Glassberg is the owner of Louder Than Eleven, a leading media production company in the Outdoor Industry. He is also a total crusher, having climbed 400+ boulders from V10 to V14. In part one we talked about filming Emily Harrington on her in-a-day ascent of ‘Golden Gate’, about Jon’s early climbing, about pursuing the goal of V15, and about his struggle with a bizarre injury.

Support on Patreon:

patreon.com/thenuggetclimbing

Show Notes:

http://thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/jon-glassberg-part-1

Nuggets:

2:54 – Coffee, intermittent fasting, and being more productive in the morning

4:24 – Jon’s go-to breakfast on a climbing day, and on an El Cap filming day, and caffeine

6:20 – Getting back from Yosemite, and Jon’s five-year film project with Emily Harrington

8:03 – Emily’s scary fall in November 2019

13:17 – Emily climbing ‘Golden Gate’ in a day, and her dramatic fall near the top

23:23 – Emily’s grit, and how Alex Honnold is different than everyone else

28:18 – Jon’s perception of free climbing El Cap in a day, and why Emily’s accomplishment is so impressive

32:47 – Jerrydoodleberg

35:41 – Jon’s month trip to Yosemite, balancing work with climbing, and learning to be better with your time

40:32 – Being in Yosemite during covid, and the previous government shutdown

41:45 – Jon’s bouldering highlights from this Yosemite trip

44:36 – Why Jon prefers bouldering over big wall free climbing

46:41 – Existing on the side of El Cap

49:51 – Learning new systems, and being obsessed with efficiency

50:33 – Working with Steve Maisch, how Jon maintains finger strength during a shoot, and training on the Moonbaord during covid

54:40 – Jon’s training philosophy and the value of hangboarding (both physical and mental)

57:43 – The one-arm hangboard protocol Jon learned from Steve Maisch

1:00:17 – 3F drag repeaters, Jon’s finger strength, growing from 5’2” to 6’3” in a year, and building log cabins

1:04:03 – Climbing back when V12 was “hard”, Boone NC, graphic design school, early filming, and the underpants gnomes

1:09:39 – Grad school, almost buying a gym, and starting LT11

1:12:14 – The evolution of LT11, and working on his first feature film

1:17:31 – Emily’s accomplishment in context, and the history of women free climbing El Cap in a day

1:19:21 – The new school approach to big wall free climbing on El Cap, and shooting with Jorg Verhoeven

1:27:11 – The process of putting together a feature film (after filming)

1:34:35 – Balancing commercial work with storytelling

1:38:01 – The roll of a line producer, and how Jon uses Google Drive to keep track of projects

1:42:59 – Jon’s to-do list for life

1:44:43 – Jon’s V15 goal, working with Steve Maisch, and joking about weight classes in climbing

1:48:11 – ‘The Island’, Jon’s crazy injury, and crutching all over Red Rocks

1:57:06 – Jon’s limited mobility, putting on socks, and Jon’s thoughts on the wear and tear of bouldering

2:00:53 – A new philosophy for projecting, and a sample of Jon’s iconic boulders list