EP 197: Melina Costanza Returns — Harnessing the Power of Nerves, Praising Your Effort, and Choosing Good Over Perfect

Graham Zimmerman is an award-winning alpinist, writer, filmmaker, and climate advocate. We talked about his harrowing ascent of Mt. Bradley in his early 20s, getting injured in New Zealand, how his relationship with risk has evolved, losing friends in the mountains, the mystery of passion, the 100-year-plan, falling in love with his wife Shannon, getting shut down on K2 by global warming, the climate crisis, the concept of imperfect advocacy, and his new book, A Fine Line: Searching for Balance Among Mountains.

Become a Patron - 7 Day Free Trial!

patreon.com/thenuggetclimbing 

Watch the Video Interview:

EP 209: Graham Zimmerman — Uncut Video!

Check out Chalk Cartel!

chalkcartel.com

Use code "NUGGET" at checkout for 20% off your next order!

Check out Tindeq!

tindeq.com

Use code “nugget” for $10 off your order!

Check out KAYA!

kayaclimb.com

Use code "NUGGET" at checkout for 20% off your first year of KAYA PRO!

Check out Rhino Skin Solutions!

rhinoskinsolutions.com

Use code “NUGGET” at checkout for 20% off your next order!

We are supported by these amazing BIG GIVERS:

• Michael Roy, Craig Lee, Mark and Julie Calhoun, Yinan Liu, Zach Emery, Alex Pluta, and Matt Walter

Show Notes:  

thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/graham-zimmerman

Nuggets:

(00:00:00) – Intro

(00:01:38) – Daddy style

(00:03:59) – Mt. Bradley

(00:12:23) – The recipe for success

(00:14:32) – How I related to the book

(00:19:03) – Graham’s injury in New Zealand

(00:21:54) – The Burger King story

(00:24:04) – Falling for mountains

(00:30:24) – The mystery of passion

(00:32:07) – Mark Allen

(00:40:45) – What makes alpinism hard?

(00:44:04) – The logistics of mountain ascents

(00:48:11) – Building a relationship with places

(00:52:09) – The 100-Year Plan

(00:57:48) – Shannon

(01:04:06) – Compromise and purpose

(01:08:30) – Getting engaged

(01:16:13) – Loss and risk

(01:25:58) – K2 and climate

(01:34:16) – Imperfect advocacy

(01:43:15) – Voting

(01:50:40) – Energy and water

(01:51:39) – POW

(01:52:29) – Don’t stop climbing

(01:54:11) – Graham’s book and EXTRA teaser

Jesse Grupper is a 27-year-old American who will be competing at the 2024 Olympics. We talked about his nomad lifestyle, the idea of “training trips”, climbing as an art form, the concept of optimistic training, thinking of ourselves as bodies of water, how he turned around his bouldering after placing last in his first World Cup, balancing Olympic prep with his job, soft robotics, and more!

Become a Patron - 7 Day Free Trial!

patreon.com/thenuggetclimbing 

Watch the Video Interview:

EP 208: Jesse Grupper — Uncut Video!

Check out Tindeq!

tindeq.com

Use code “nugget” for $10 off your order!

Check out Crimpd!

crimpd.com

Or download the Crimpd app for free!

Check out PhysiVantage!

physivantage.com (link includes 15% off coupon)

Use code "NUGGET15" at checkout for 15% off your next order!

The Nugget is sponsored by BetterHelp!

betterhelp.com/NUGGET

Use this link for 10% off your first month!

We are supported by these amazing BIG GIVERS:

• Michael Roy, Craig Lee, Mark and Julie Calhoun, Yinan Liu, Zach Emery, Alex Pluta, and Matt Walter

Show Notes:  

thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/jesse-grupper

Nuggets:

(00:00:00) – Intro

(00:01:44) – Infusions for Ulcerative Colitis

(00:06:40) – Jesse’s nomadic lifestyle

(00:08:26) – Training trips

(00:18:30) – Almost quitting competitions

(00:23:05) – Getting bullied for climbing as a kid

(00:27:45) – Climbing as an art form

(00:30:12) – Asking yourself questions

(00:38:05) – Optimistic Training

(00:45:05) – Pessimism is lazy

(00:47:54) – Frustration

(00:50:58) – Support

(00:53:16) – Each of us is a body of water

(00:57:20) – Was Jesse a natural at climbing?

(01:00:07) – Turning around his bouldering

(01:04:44) – Strategy for the Olympics

(01:07:47) – Training with circuits

(01:13:40) – Balance

(01:21:12) – Soft robotics

(01:30:48) – “Take it easy, but take it.”

(01:32:17) – What Jesse wishes we thought more about

(01:35:20) – Wrap up and EXTRA teaser!

Will Bosi is back to talk about sending ‘Return of the Sleepwalker, his third V17/9A! We talked about surprising himself by sending the stand start in three sessions, why ROTS suited his style better than he expected, how he trained during the bad weather breaks, his process, how he felt on the send, how ROTS stacks up against his other hardest boulders, plans to try Megatron V17 and return to Terranova V16 and Excalibur 5.15c, what he plans to try next, and more!

Will’s Original Episode:

EP 166: Will Bosi

Paul Houghoughi (The Climbing Physio) is one of the top physiotherapists in the world for climbing injuries. We talked about how to rehab lumbrical injuries, training with hypermobile fingers, wrist strengthening exercises, causes of synovitis and capsulitis, why stretching your fingers is important, blood work for stiff joints, tennis and golfers elbow, how to decipher different types of elbow pain, Paul’s top advice to not get injured, and much more!

Become a Patron - 7 Day Free Trial!

patreon.com/thenuggetclimbing 

Watch the Video Interview:

EP 207: Paul Houghoughi — Uncut Video!

Check out Rhino Skin Solutions!

rhinoskinsolutions.com

Use code “NUGGET” at checkout for 20% off your next order!

Check out KAYA!

kayaclimb.com

Use code "NUGGET" at checkout for 20% off your first year of KAYA PRO!

Check out Crimpd!

crimpd.com

Or download the Crimpd app for free!

Check out Tindeq!

tindeq.com

Use code “nugget” for $10 off your order!

We are supported by these amazing BIG GIVERS:

• Michael Roy, Craig Lee, Mark and Julie Calhoun, Yinan Liu, Zach Emery, Alex Pluta, and Matt Walter

Show Notes:  

thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/paul-houghoughi

Nuggets:

(00:00:00) – Intro

(00:02:28) – Topics covered

(00:04:01) – Paul’s grandfather, and how Paul became a climbing Physio

(00:08:08) – Plans for the Olympics

(00:08:44) – Lumbrical injuries

(00:16:21) – Stress shielding

(00:18:24) – Rehabbing lumbrical injuries

(00:24:56) – Preventing lumbrical injuries

(00:26:25) – Grip gears, and Alex Megos

(00:29:19) – How to introduce a new grip position

(00:34:13) – Training with hypermobile fingers

(00:39:05) – The link between hypermobility and proprioception

(00:41:33) – Wrist strengthening exercises

(00:48:35) – Synovitis and capsulitis

(00:55:39) – Climbing with synovitis and capsulitis

(00:59:25) – How to promote finger health and prevent finger injuries at any age

(01:03:06) – Why stretching your fingers is important

(01:06:31) – Blood work for stiff joints

(01:07:35) – What is normal to expect as we age?

(01:09:18) – Playing the long game

(01:11:08) – Hiding the broccoli

(01:12:53) – The danger of overloading yourself with exercises

(01:17:27) – Tennis Elbow

(01:23:32) – My experience with Golfers Elbow

(01:25:57) – End-of-range contractions

(01:27:45) – Preventing elbow injuries

(01:29:31) – How to decipher types of elbow pain (tendons vs. nerves vs. joints)

(01:33:55) – Elbow joint issues

(01:35:14) – Good rehab comes down to specific diagnosis

(01:36:14) – Paul’s top advice to not get injured

(01:40:14) – Wrap up and EXTRA for Patrons!

Charlie Schreiber returns to the podcast! Charlie joins me from Fontainebleau to talk about the epiphany he had in Rocklands, leaving his job to focus on Paradigm Climbing, teaming up with Alex Johnson, getting obsessed with ‘The Big Island’ 8C/V15, building a perfect replica of the boulder, how to train on your limit projects, the concept of the “ideal circuit”, and much more!

Become a Patron - 7 Day Free Trial!

patreon.com/thenuggetclimbing 

The Nugget is sponsored by BetterHelp!

betterhelp.com/NUGGET

Use this link for 10% off your first month!

Check out PhysiVantage!

physivantage.com (link includes 15% off coupon)

Use code "NUGGET15" at checkout for 15% off your next order!

Check out Chalk Cartel!

chalkcartel.com

Use code "NUGGET" at checkout for 20% off your next order!

Check out Crimpd!

crimpd.com

Or download the Crimpd app for free!

We are supported by these amazing BIG GIVERS:

• Michael Roy, Craig Lee, Mark and Julie Calhoun, Yinan Liu, Zach Emery, Alex Pluta, and Matt Walter

Show Notes:  

thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/charlie-schreiber-returns

Nuggets:

(00:00:00) – Intro

(00:02:49) – Eating mangos in Fontainbleau

(00:05:00) – Epiphanies from his Rocklands trip

(00:09:15) – Capacity and the group psych

(00:12:06) – Strategy and resting hard

(00:15:22) – Sleep

(00:16:58) – Partnering with Alex Johnson

(00:20:45) – What is Paradigm Climbing?

(00:23:11) – Solving coaching puzzles

(00:25:22) – 9-week cycles

(00:27:34) – Deloads

(00:29:19) – The brain adapts faster than the body

(00:31:12) – Looking back and ahead

(00:36:46) – Stacking training programs

(00:42:15) – “It’s not your last day”

(00:45:31) – Having Martin Keller as a mentor

(00:46:37) – The similarity between training and performing

(00:48:13) – Supplemental training on trips

(00:50:44) – Conditions in Font, and ‘Karma’ 8A+/V12

(00:53:06) – ‘Getting psyched on The Big Island’ 8C/V15

(00:57:59) – Blanancing trips with his marriage

(01:00:15) – Building ‘The Big Island’ replica

(01:11:34) – How much does the replica cost?

(01:14:14) – Training on the replica

(01:22:21) – How to train on your project

(01:27:45) – How much progress did he make on the replica?

(01:29:16) – Progress and time remaining on his trip

(01:32:32) – How he is projecting the actual boulder, mobility, and sore ankles

(01:35:45) – Will Charlie train this way on future projects?

(01:38:40) – Will replicas unlock V18?

(01:40:15) – Nalle’s FA of ‘Burden of Dreams’ 9A/V17

(01:42:20) – The Ideal Circuit

(01:46:43) – Setting specific comp boulders for Adam Shahar

(01:51:32) – How you win comps vs. not lose comps

(01:54:42) – How to create your own Ideal Circuit

(01:56:30) – Creating your own boulders

(01:59:08) – Imposing demands

(02:01:48) – Wrap up and EXTRA teaser!

Kai Lightner is back on to talk about his recent send of 'Life of Villains' 5.14d/9a at the Hurricave! We talked about the emotional rollercoaster of sending 'LOV', how it felt to send 9a in his current body, not rushing the process, his trip to Jamaica, bolting his first route, what's going on with Climbing 4 Change, and more!

Donate to C4C:

climbing4change.org

Kai’s Original Episode:

EP 55: Kai Lightner

Nuggets:

(00:00:00) – Kai’s upcoming trip and project

(00:03:41) – Self-preservation

(00:05:11) – The emotional rollercoaster of ‘Life of Villains’ 5.14d/9a

(00:07:57) – How it felt to send ‘LOV’ in his current body

(00:13:40) – Not rushing the process

(00:16:50) – Expanding his technical arsenal

(00:18:15) – Bad weather, broken holds, and the send

(00:23:07) – His trip to Jamaica

(00:27:00) – Building a climbing gym in the National Training Center

(00:28:42) – Bolting his first route

(00:33:31) – The food

(00:35:34) – What’s going on with C4C

(00:37:49) – Paying it forward

(00:41:35) – How to support C4C

(00:45:47) – Testifying in Washington to get climbing gyms recognized as sports facilities

(00:54:02) – Bouldering with Drew Ruana, and negative temperatures

Adrian Vanoni is an up-and-coming finger crack wizard who has been on fire for the last few years. We talked about him breaking into 5.14, freeing El Cap ground up and then in a day, training for the famous ‘Cobra Crack’ using a campus board, doing the first free ascent of a 5.14 finger crack in the alpine, lucid dreaming about beta, going after hard routes that will force you to grow as a climber, and much more!

Become a Patron - 7 Day Free Trial!

patreon.com/thenuggetclimbing 

Check out KAYA!

kayaclimb.com

Use code "NUGGET" at checkout for 20% off your first year of KAYA PRO!

Check out Mad Rock!

madrock.com

Use code “NUGGET” at checkout for 10% off your next order!

Check out Tindeq!

tindeq.com

Use code “nugget” for $10 off your order!

Check out Rhino Skin Solutions!

rhinoskinsolutions.com

Use code “NUGGET” at checkout for 20% off your next order!

We are supported by these amazing BIG GIVERS:

• Michael Roy, Craig Lee, Mark and Julie Calhoun, Yinan Liu, Zach Emery, Alex Pluta, and Matt Walter

Show Notes:  

thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/adrian-vanoni

Nuggets:

(00:00:00) – Intro

(00:02:04) – Mustaches, haircuts, and wired headphones

(00:05:16) – Our conversation about trying to climb 5.14

(00:07:42) – Geeking out about ‘Badman’ 5.14a

(00:08:40) – Collecting unfinished business, and sticking with it on projects

(00:11:04) – Little Si, and a new crag in WA

(00:13:30) – Adrian’s lifestyle

(00:16:04) – The glamorous life of an amateur climber

(00:20:29) – His beginnings in trad climbing

(00:23:29) – Developing the skills to free El Cap

(00:24:16) – Freeing ‘Golden Gate’ ground up with Sam Stroh

(00:26:14) – Comparing his and Sam’s tick lists

(00:30:54) – Putting ‘El Corazon’ in a day into context

(00:40:44) – Will’s impressive belay season

(00:41:25) – Blue-collar sending

(00:46:39) – ‘Mr. Chicken’

(00:53:38) – Trying hard is trainable

(00:58:50) – Anticipation, expectation, and redpoint stress

(01:00:59) – Living in the present, and appreciating the journey

(01:04:00) – Sending ‘Cobra Crack’ 5.14b

(01:10:25) – Training for Cobra on the campus board

(01:17:31) – Visualization and lucid dreaming

(01:21:30) – More ‘Badman’ beta

(01:25:01) – The nuance of resting on sport routes

(01:29:09) – Beta depends on context

(01:35:58) – Prusik Peak and ‘Prayer for a Friend’

(02:00:24) – The style of big wall ascents

(02:10:06) – Street credit

(02:18:07) – Sending ‘Prayer for a Friend’ 5.14-

(02:22:56) – Goal routes and boulders

(02:31:42) – Social media vs. inspiration

(02:39:41) – Not everything is for everyone

(02:45:54) – My climbing as a more public person

(02:49:26) – Growing to meet a route where it is

(02:51:26) – Get on the hard thing you want to do

(02:57:57) – ‘Freerider’ in a day

(03:13:19) – Wrap up and EXTRA teaser!

Anak Verhoeven is a professional climber from Belgium and one of the most accomplished female sport climbers ever. We talked about growing up with her mom as coach and dad as trainer, why she quit competitions, dealing with a strange injury that plagued her for 3+ years, winning her first World Cup, building 9a+ endurance with mediocre training facilities, making up rules in the gym, her onsighting strategy, being public about her faith, and much more!

Become a Patron - 7 Day Free Trial!

patreon.com/thenuggetclimbing 

Check out Rhino Skin Solutions!

rhinoskinsolutions.com

Use code “NUGGET” at checkout for 20% off your next order!

Check out Green Chef!

greenchef.com/60nugget

Use code "60nugget" at checkout for 60% off plus 20% off your next two months!

Check out Crimpd!

crimpd.com

Or download the Crimpd app!

The Nugget is sponsored by BetterHelp!

betterhelp.com/NUGGET

Use this link for 10% off your first month!

We are supported by these amazing BIG GIVERS:

• Michael Roy, Craig Lee, Mark and Julie Calhoun, Yinan Liu, Zach Emery, Alex Pluta, and Matt Walter

Show Notes:  

thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/anak-verhoeven

Nuggets:

(00:00:00) – Intro

(00:03:14) – Living in a small motorhome with her parents on long trips

(00:06:40) – Anak’s 9a and harder resume, and her level of fame in Belgium

(00:10:03) – How Anak makes a living

(00:13:51) – The advantages of doing everything herself

(00:15:48) – How her mom and dad became her coach and trainer

(00:17:58) – Practicing her autograph as a kid

(00:20:13) – Competing in her first international competition

(00:22:34) – Struggling in early competitions, and navigating disappointment

(00:25:54) – Setting the bar high

(00:27:47) – Family meetings

(00:31:24) – Rest days, exercises, and hair washing

(00:37:04) – Leading her first route at age 4

(00:41:08) – Getting injured and falling in love with climbing

(00:44:19) – The variety within climbing

(00:50:50) – Why Anak quit competitions

(00:56:51) – Anak’s strange arm injury

(01:06:46) – Working on her shoulder mobility

(01:10:21) – Keeping her arm injury a secret

(01:14:08) – Current status of her arm

(01:17:05) – Understanding what folks with chronic illness go through

(01:20:59) – What does Anak miss the most about competitions?

(01:25:46) – Longer trips, and the stress of competitions

(01:30:43) – Winning her first World Cup in Arco

(01:34:05) – The satisfaction of sending Ciudad de Dios pa la Enmienda

(01:42:15) – Getting fresh air during competitions

(01:44:59) – Anak’s training shed

(01:47:57) – Training on the same routes for 3 years, and motivation vs. fancy facilities

(01:53:01) – Anak’s strategy for onsighting comp routes

(01:57:11) – Making up rules at the gym

(02:01:36) – How Anak built her endurance

(02:07:15) – Mental endurance

(02:11:27) – 9b and trad climbing goals for 2024

(02:14:43) – Why she is open about her faith

(02:22:33) – How do climbers react to her faith?

(02:29:46) – The pressure I felt as a kid to spread faith, and moving away from religion

(02:33:09) – How Anak thinks about sharing her faith, and her lack of judgment toward other people

(02:34:57) – Choosing her faith for herself

(02:37:57) – Wrap up and EXTRA teaser!

Jakob Schubert is one of the greatest competition climbers ever. In 2023 he won the World Championships in both lead and combined, secured his ticket to the Paris Olympics, sent his first 9c with his FA of ‘B.I.G.’, and sent his hardest boulder with ‘Alphane’ 9A. We talked about his incredible year, learning from Adam Ondra’s risky and efficient climbing style, what he learned from failing on ‘Sleepwalker’ V16, plans for more 9c’s, and much more!

Become a Patron - 7 Day Free Trial!

patreon.com/thenuggetclimbing 

Check out PhysiVantage!

physivantage.com (link includes 15% off coupon)

Use code "NUGGET15" at checkout for 15% off your next order!

Check out KAYA!

kayaclimb.com

Use code "NUGGET" at checkout for 20% off your first year of KAYA PRO!

Check out Tindeq!

tindeq.com

Use code “nugget” for $10 off your order!

Check out Crimpd!

crimpd.com

Or download the Crimpd app!

We are supported by these amazing BIG GIVERS:

• Michael Roy, Craig Lee, Mark and Julie Calhoun, Yinan Liu, Zach Emery, Alex Pluta, and Matt Walter

Show Notes:  

thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/jakob-schubert

Nuggets:

(00:00:00) – Intro

(00:03:44) – Jakob’s best year ever

(00:08:49) – Securing his ticket to Paris, and focusing on B.I.G.

(00:10:40) – Inspiration for rock climbing

(00:13:20) – Learning about efficiency from outdoor projects

(00:16:28) – Less emphasis on winning the overall World Cup

(00:18:55) – Giving away his trophies

(00:20:08) – Why did Jakob choose ‘B.I.G.’ 9c and A’lphane’ 9A as projects?

(00:24:16) – Teaming up with Adam Ondra and Stefano Ghisolfi

(00:26:48) – Learning from Adam’s risky and efficient climbing style

(00:36:13) – The quality of ‘B.I.G.’

(00:38:13) – Breakdown and logistics of ‘B.I.G.’

(00:43:46) – Breaking a hold on his send go of ‘B.I.G.’

(00:45:29) – Did live streaming change the experience?

(00:48:22) – Will Jakob do more live streams in the future?

(00:50:26) – His project schedule on ‘B.I.G.’

(00:53:45) – Logistics of traveling to Flatanger

(00:56:26) – Is ‘B.I.G.’ the best hard route in the world?

(00:59:36) – Plans to return to ‘DNA’ 9c

(01:00:00) – What does ‘B.I.G.’ stand for?

(01:01:45) – How Jakob prepared for ‘B.I.G.’, and revisiting the route with fresh eyes

(01:09:16) – Tweaking beta to send ‘B.I.G.’

(01:11:48) – Muscle memory, connecting hard moves, and repeating boulders with different beta

(01:14:48) – “Waking up” his fingers for ‘Alphane’

(01:17:14) – Analyzing videos of ‘Alphane’

(01:18:28) – Speed training

(01:20:02) – Recovery

(01:21:09) – Failing on ‘Sleepwalker’ V16 (8C+) and what he learned from it

(01:25:48) – Greedy

(01:27:47) – What he plans to do differently for ‘Sleepwalker’ when he goes back

(01:29:30) – Drew Ruana’s story about Jakob, and who Jakob has been the most impressed by

(01:35:27) – Wrap up and EXTRA teaser!

Jon Cardwell is back on to talk about his new route ‘Wind Up Bird’ 5.15b at The Fortress of Solitude in CO, how moving away helped him send, what he learned from failing on ‘Super Crackinette’ in France, how he applied Uphill Athlete principles to his training for sport climbing, plans to go back for the extension, bolting 5.15 projects in New Mexico, and much more!

Jon’s Original Episode:

EP 50: Jon Cardwell

References:

Adam Ondra flashing ‘Super Crackinette’ 9a+

EP 169: Scott Johnston

Training for the Uphill Athlete (book)

Nuggets:

(00:00:00) – Sending ‘Wind Up Bird’ 5.15b (9b)

(00:17:40) – How moving away helped him find success

(00:22:21) – Failing to climb ‘Super Crackinette’ 5.15a (9a+), and what he learned from it

(00:27:29) – Adam Ondra’s flash of ‘Super Crackinette’

(00:30:00) – Drawing inspiration from Scott Johnston,  and training for ‘Wind Up Bird’

(00:35:53) – Constantly learning

(00:40:42) – More about his training

(00:45:45) – Falling 50+ times on the same move, and building momentum

(00:47:35) – Taking your foot off the gas, maintaining strength, and training plans for the extension

(00:54:20) – Exhaustion and motivation

(00:56:51) – The complexity of sport climbing

(00:58:42) – Is V16 a goal for Jon?

(01:01:23) – New 5.15 projects at The Tunnel in NM

(01:03:00) – Is anyone trying ‘Wind Up Bird’?

(01:05:21) – Will the extension be 5.15c (9b+)?

(01:07:12) – Wrap up