Questions:
0:00:00 Intro
0:00:56 Nico - Solo bouldering
0:05:25 Simon Pearson - What to do while watching climbing media
0:11:00 Jantina - Should people of different sexes or sizes be coached differently?
0:24:38 Briana - Free will and, also, donuts
0:28:02 Daniel - Feeling lost in limit bouldering sessions
0:33:28 Jeffrey - Programming low gear
0:35:24 Angel Gonzalez - Caffeine for early morning sessions
0:38:02 Sam - When is a problem worth your time?
0:44:05 Jishnu - How to practice skills with a low density in your facility/area
0:47:32 Jishnu - Toe training?
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50:03
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50:03
#11 - Tom Herbert
Tom Herbert is a nutrition coach and all around swell Brit. He joined me on the pod to talk about dance, flow, and climbing, and we took many (unsurprisingly) philosophical side quests.
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2:16:33
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2:16:33
#10 - May 2025 AMA
Questions from my Patrons and clients for April 2025.
Support the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/jfireclimbing
Questions:
00:00:00 Intro
00:01:01 Daniel - Skills I’m working on
00:03:17 Daniel - What am I excited about this year?
00:05:17 Daniel - How long to rest for different kinds of boulders
00:08:02 Jake, Briana & others - Kingslayer takeaways, maintaining motivation
00:14:32 More Kingslayer takeaways, personal growth, social stuff
00:18:07 Briana - donuts in Leavy?? (pure disappointment)
00:19:02 Robin - circadian rhythm and projecting
00:22:20 Robin - Advice for setting circuits, cognitive strain
00:25:30 Olga - Making friends
00:28:14 Olga - Gaston training
00:30:56 Olga - One-movers, love em or hate em?
00:33:02 Sam - Youtube?
00:34:58 Jishnu - Skill training: improving focus
00:38:52 Skill training: measuring success/feedback (related to above question but separate answer)
00:40:53 Jishnu - Using rings/TRX for strength training
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46:08
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46:08
#9 - Ethan Salvo
Ethan Salvo is a Squamish-based climber. He's been climbing just over 7 years and has climbed some of the hardest boulders in North America. Last summer he broke out of his boulderer shell and climbed the Cobra Crack, a notorious 5.14 gear climb.
I had the chance to write some training for him late last year, and we reconnected to talk about his experience trying one of the hardest boulders in Bishop over the winter.
We talked about:
- Personal growth and trying Lucid Dreaming V15
- Doing all the best and hardest climbs in Squamish
- Future projects in Squamish
- Skin management & tactics
- Northwest climbing conditions (kind of a Squamish conditions masterclass)
- Why Ethan doesn't practice flashing
- The ups and downs of dirtbagging
- My general training advice for someone at Ethan's level
0:00:00 Intro
0:03:34 Ethan's trip to Bishop to try Lucid Dreaming
0:15:15 Summoning the try-hard in Bishop vs Squamish
0:23:24 Was Ethan "strong enough" to do Lucid right off the bat?
0:29:01 Is Ethan a physical outlier? (I put my foot in my mouth)
0:34:23 Penrose Step & the insane minutiae of hard grips
0:40:22 Skin management
0:45:09 Living in a 2002 Subaru for months (tips for unwelcome mouse friends)
0:53:00 Ethan's current climbing and upcoming plans
1:05:10 Weather
1:13:51 Maximizing time vs other variables
1:17:25 What to look for on the weather forecast & learning micro-climates
1:22:52 Ethan's flash of Mad Bush V12 (nuts)
1:26:40 Discussion on flashing/onsighting in general
1:34:00 Squamish weather details
1:36:10 Return to Lucid, skin management details
1:45:18 Manufactured condies and bouldering ethics
1:54:43 Strength training suggestions for Ethan
2:02:22 What do good genes get you?
2:03:37 Wrap up
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2:04:22
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2:04:22
#8 - Juliet Hammer
In this episode I chat with Juliet Hammer and her dog Addy. Juliet is a climbing coach and an experienced boulderer and sport climber. She has a degree in biology and she's a certified strength and conditioning specialist. We talked about:
Juliet's climbing history
Differences between bouldering and sport in terms of preparation, mindset and tactics
Being a short climber
Board climbing
Coaching philosophy and shop talk
Personal grades
Social media, content creation and voluntary hardship
Value capture as both a coach and climber
Dangers of focusing on dopamine hits
00:00:00 Intro
00:02:43 Juliet's sport/bouldering identity & seasonality
00:16:02 Proper introduction, comp/cordo climbing, coaching indoors vs outdoor clients
00:25:27 Board climbing & being a short climber
00:30:31 Strength training
00:37:27 Coaching philosophy and shop talk
00:48:07 More short climber tips, self-comparison
00:54:43 Personal grades and the toxic wasteland of 8a.nu
01:00:41 Motivations
01:02:38 Jesse is ignorant about the southeast and complains about summer
01:05:51 More seasonality / sport & boulder logistics questions
01:08:08 Hot take 1, is climbing harder always more fun?
01:12:28 Hot take 2, are sport climbers better climbers?
01:13:56 Sport climbing vs bouldering popularity and value for progression
01:16:37 Content strategy and value capture as a content creator and coach
01:26:33 Dopamine hits, voluntary hardship, video beta and availability bias
01:42:55 Addy
01:45:09 Work with Juliet