Did that experience motivate you to
get more into specific goal-setting?It’s funny, I coach people and goal-setting
is part of the content that I teach, so I’m
always thinking I really need to get bet-
ter at goal-setting myself. For example, I
really wanted to do Freerider [IV 5. 13 a on
El Cap] in a day (that was in 2017 ). I set that
as my goal. Then I got to Yosemite and I
suddenly really didn’t want to do Freerider
in a day. I changed my goal and did Salathé,
which is one of the coolest routes I have
done and something I am really proud of
but it wasn’t my plan at all.Was your ascent of Once Upon
a Time in the Southwest E9 at a
turning point in your career?Yes, I did that the first year I was a profes-
sional climber. I had already signed a deal
with The North Face that year, which was
in 2010. Then Reel Rock filmed me on the
route in 2011 and it was that film did a lot
for my climbing career.Considering that you’re known for bold
and scary routes, do you ever feel
people have expectations of you?I almost never think of what is expected
of me. And my sponsors never direct what
style of climbing I should do.You’ve climbed all over the world,
so does British trad climbing still have
a special place in your heart?Yes, it does. I have a bit of a love hate rela-
tionship with the U.K. There is definitely
something about the climbing there that
you just don’t have anywhere else. It has
this unique style and history. But, then also“I almost never
think of what
is expected of
me. And my
sponsors never
direct what
style of climbing
I should do.”
there is a lot I dislike about the trad climb-
ing. The rock could be better, bigger and
more impressive. The strict onsight and
no bolting ethics kind of drive me mad
sometimes. You get to the top of this route
and you have to lasso a sapling or a boulder
and bring up your partner. Then spend 20
minutes walking off. I mean it is so nice
that there are no bolts in the crags and the
romance of it is kind of nice but also kind
of really inefficient.Back in 2012, you commented that
you think that the no-bolt British trad
ethic is holding British climbers back
in their climbing. But would you be
the climber you are today if it wasn’t
for British trad?My introduction to British trad climbing
was not the norm. I was lucky that I was
taught by my dad and my dad was basically
saying that if you’re not falling off a route
you’re not trying hard enough and you are
not picking routes that are hard enough for
you. Most people starting on British trad
are being told that when you are falling
you failed because you lost that onsight. I
agree that I wouldn’t be the climber that
I am today if I had grown up in Spain. If
you start trad climbing in the U.K., then
Yosemite or Indian Creek can feel like
you’re sport climbing. These are places
where cracks dominate the trad climbing
experience. You are just throwing cams
into the rock. Whereas if you are onsight-
ing in the U.K. often you’re at the bottom
and you are looking up and there are no
pieces of gear or holds you can really see.
You have to make those judgement calls as
you go and ropework is really important
and you are fiddling in tiny wires into
horizontal slots. It’s just a completely dif-
ferent set of skills.You started your coaching business
a few years ago and your coaching
focuses on the mental side of
climbing. What triggered you to
become a mind coach for climbers?I’ve always been interested in the psychol-
ogy of climbing, most specifically in how
our psychology effects performance and
what we can learn from going climbing.
So, it is really like two sides of a coin. I
read the book Rock Warr iors Way by Arno
Ilgner. That’s when I realized I could teach
it. I’ve observed people really scared when
they’re climbing. I observed a lot of peopleFindlay stemming
Tainted Love 5.13d
on the first ascent
in Squamishfeature