EP 27: Audrey Sniezek — Corporate Work, Starting A Gym, and Telling Yourself You Belong
Explicit content warning
07/20/20 • 110 min
Audrey Sniezek is a software engineer for Microsoft and a former professional climber. We talked about her beginnings in both computer science and climbing, becoming a morning person, her 4 a.m. warmup routine, starting a climbing gym near the Red River Gorge, coaching in China, self-talk for confidence, and her most recent 5.14a.
Support on Patreon:
Show Notes:
http://thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/audrey-sniezek
Nuggets:
1:58 – Peanut butter sandwiches, being a finisher of things, the lunch crux, and dry salads
5:48 – Timex computers, studying computer science, and turning down Microsoft
10:22 – Temporary job with Microsoft, REI, and “is there any climbing in Washington?”
12:43 – Bigger and scarier, improving by climbing a lot, lead climbing and pushing personal boundaries
14:21 – Flexibility with work, squeezing in climbing, and “I’m only as transparent as I need to be.”
16:03 – Alpine style sport climbing, and becoming a morning person
17:55 – Audrey’s morning warmup routine
20:58 – Making the most of morning sessions, swapping days, and finding a COVID pandemic buddy
23:45 – Waking up extra early to send ‘Lost Horizons’, and commuting to and from climbing
25:41 – The corporate boomerang, living in a van to climb full time, preferring to stay places longer, and Audrey’s current trifecta
28:58 – Fitness training, healthcare, why Audrey came back to a corporate job after freelancing, and building trust to achieve a better work/life balance
34:11 – A shift in company culture due to COVID
37:15 – A home in Vegas, and starting a gym in near the Red River Gorge
40:34 – Starting a computer science program at the Beattyville high school, and how the Beattyville climbing gym came to be
45:22 – Audrey’s vision for the gym, old-school setting, and watching the kids climb
47:28 – William’s stroke
49:37 – How Audrey uses the Beattyville gym and how she balances climbing and training in general
51:50 – Living in China and accidentally becoming a climbing coach
56:53 – Splitting up training and coaching, the language barrier, a teary-eyed farewell, and Audrey’s training legacy
1:00:20 – Audrey’s training session breakdown, Tabata style warmup, technique drills, going back to fundamentals, and training power on easy climbs
1:03:56 – Why Audrey doesn’t do much Moonboarding or hangboarding
1:05:39 – Recent finger injury, slowly getting back into the swing, and missing the “try hard”
1:08:02 – What factors help Audrey “bring it”
1:08:40 – ‘The Sickness’
1:13:48 – ‘Black Plague’, linkups, milking climbs for all they’re worth, and new projects
1:16:39 – Four-year gap between 5.14s, competing in the world cups, and a hamstring injury
1:18:51 – How Audrey sent ‘The Sickness’ without any specific prep
1:20:50 – Trying a 5.14 at Mt. Potosi
1:23:39 – Goals and dreams
1:26:05 – ‘Dr. Evil’, funky beta, and a surprise send
1:31:03 – “The only thing stopping me is me.”
1:33:32 – 5.14 (or 5.15) in her 50s, “am I a machine”, and trying things sooner rather than later
1:34:32 – How’s Audrey training changed in her 40s, her own fitness and training resources
1:36:57 – What Audrey wishes she had known in her 20’s, confidence, and “I belong here”
1:39:45 – Self-talk, the piece of paper, and “I’m capable.”
1:41:43 – Low confidence, building yourself up, and reminding yourself that you create your results
1:42:41 – Gratitude, heartbreak, and community
1:45:06 – The victory cone
Audrey Sniezek is a software engineer for Microsoft and a former professional climber. We talked about her beginnings in both computer science and climbing, becoming a morning person, her 4 a.m. warmup routine, starting a climbing gym near the Red River Gorge, coaching in China, self-talk for confidence, and her most recent 5.14a.
Support on Patreon:
Show Notes:
http://thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/audrey-sniezek
Nuggets:
1:58 – Peanut butter sandwiches, being a finisher of things, the lunch crux, and dry salads
5:48 – Timex computers, studying computer science, and turning down Microsoft
10:22 – Temporary job with Microsoft, REI, and “is there any climbing in Washington?”
12:43 – Bigger and scarier, improving by climbing a lot, lead climbing and pushing personal boundaries
14:21 – Flexibility with work, squeezing in climbing, and “I’m only as transparent as I need to be.”
16:03 – Alpine style sport climbing, and becoming a morning person
17:55 – Audrey’s morning warmup routine
20:58 – Making the most of morning sessions, swapping days, and finding a COVID pandemic buddy
23:45 – Waking up extra early to send ‘Lost Horizons’, and commuting to and from climbing
25:41 – The corporate boomerang, living in a van to climb full time, preferring to stay places longer, and Audrey’s current trifecta
28:58 – Fitness training, healthcare, why Audrey came back to a corporate job after freelancing, and building trust to achieve a better work/life balance
34:11 – A shift in company culture due to COVID
37:15 – A home in Vegas, and starting a gym in near the Red River Gorge
40:34 – Starting a computer science program at the Beattyville high school, and how the Beattyville climbing gym came to be
45:22 – Audrey’s vision for the gym, old-school setting, and watching the kids climb
47:28 – William’s stroke
49:37 – How Audrey uses the Beattyville gym and how she balances climbing and training in general
51:50 – Living in China and accidentally becoming a climbing coach
56:53 – Splitting up training and coaching, the language barrier, a teary-eyed farewell, and Audrey’s training legacy
1:00:20 – Audrey’s training session breakdown, Tabata style warmup, technique drills, going back to fundamentals, and training power on easy climbs
1:03:56 – Why Audrey doesn’t do much Moonboarding or hangboarding
1:05:39 – Recent finger injury, slowly getting back into the swing, and missing the “try hard”
1:08:02 – What factors help Audrey “bring it”
1:08:40 – ‘The Sickness’
1:13:48 – ‘Black Plague’, linkups, milking climbs for all they’re worth, and new projects
1:16:39 – Four-year gap between 5.14s, competing in the world cups, and a hamstring injury
1:18:51 – How Audrey sent ‘The Sickness’ without any specific prep
1:20:50 – Trying a 5.14 at Mt. Potosi
1:23:39 – Goals and dreams
1:26:05 – ‘Dr. Evil’, funky beta, and a surprise send
1:31:03 – “The only thing stopping me is me.”
1:33:32 – 5.14 (or 5.15) in her 50s, “am I a machine”, and trying things sooner rather than later
1:34:32 – How’s Audrey training changed in her 40s, her own fitness and training resources
1:36:57 – What Audrey wishes she had known in her 20’s, confidence, and “I belong here”
1:39:45 – Self-talk, the piece of paper, and “I’m capable.”
1:41:43 – Low confidence, building yourself up, and reminding yourself that you create your results
1:42:41 – Gratitude, heartbreak, and community
1:45:06 – The victory cone
Previous Episode
EP 26: Ben Herrington — Go-To Training Sessions, Skateboarding, and Obsessive Compulsion
Ben Herrington is a professional route setter and likely Washington’s most prolific boulderer. We talked about why Ben performs best as a “weekend warrior”, his three go-to training sessions, mistakes he sees other boulderers making, climbing vs. skateboarding, his history with drug abuse and addiction, the path to sobriety, some of his most meaningful FAs, and V15 potential in Washington.
Support on Patreon:
Show Notes:
http://thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/ben-herrington
Nuggets:
1:56 – Feeling aimless without work, missing purpose, and the subtle curse of being a full-time climber
4:09 – Skatingboarding vs. climbing: mastering, achieving, and style
7:37 – Ben’s three climbing categories (strength, technique, and try hard) and which one holds him back
9:31 – Practicing “try hard” with a three-try limit
10:31 – Skateboard culture, proving your right to be there, and “success days” vs. “training days”
12:30 – Why Ben feels like he performs best as a weekend warrior
13:38 – Ben’s three go-to indoor sessions
14:52 – The Sharma philosophy: flash or limit
15:42 – Ben’s “Strength Day”
17:24 – Why Ben prefers climbing other people’s hard boulders, wanting to be good at every style, the ego beatdown of changing styles, and The Red vs. Smith
21:21 – Why hard climbing isn’t type-1 fun, and why the variety in climbing appealed to Ben so much after skating
22:40 – Ben’s strength/power bouldering session length, gym climbing vs. outdoor climbing in terms of weight lifting, and gym climbing because it’s fun
25:54 – “Medium Day”, “Endurance Day”, and the benefits of down climbing for fitness
27:44 – Transfering sport climbing fitness back to bouldering, and climbing ‘The Reckoning’
29:11 – St. George bouldering vs. sport climbing, and expanding your horizons to have more 5-star lines to do
31:09 – Ben’s interest in trad/mixed climbing, and the routes that pull at him most
33:03 – The fun vs. suffering spectrum, and “everybody knows what it takes, they just have to be willing to do it.”
34:51 – What motivated Ben when he was younger vs. now
37:04 – Ben’s oppositional strength training routine, training front levers once every two weeks, and the evolution of Ben’s core training
39:48 – How Ben can tell if a climber has good core strength, and the importance of core strength for hard climbing
40:38 – Training Front Levers, plank variations, and the feeling of being wrecked
42:37 – Lack of training consistency due to COVID, the approach of summer, and missing the climbing gym
44:55 – Ben’s weekly climbing schedule, and always taking Friday off
45:26 – 14 years sober, addiction to pain pills, and how Ben got started in climbing
49:19 – Obsessive-compulsive behavior, losing friends and his dad to drugs, moving to WA to get sober, and early bouldering in Leavenworth
55:27 – The obsessed bug
57:04 – Exploring for new routes, and bolting ‘Imagine’
1:03:41 – Cleaning and climbing ‘Imagine’ during quarantine
1:06:31 – John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’, the setting, the rock, and everything you’d want in a route
1:07:53 – The story behind ‘Inception’ (Ben’s favorite FA)
1:11:00 – Ben’s early progression in climbing, the “spurge and plateau”, and filling out the repertoire
1:12:54 – Some of the best hard boulders in WA, Newhalem bouldering, and endangered moss
1:15:58 – V15 potential in WA
1:17:45 – Ben’s ideal boulder condition for NW granite, giving credit to “the cracking” of a sequence or boulder problem, and the challenge of grading FAs
1:19:33 – What holds back climbers in the gym
1:21:38 – What holds back climbers when projecting outdoors
1:23:26 – How Ben decides whether to keep trying a climb, optimism vs. pessimism, and ‘Singularity’
1:26:52 – Gratitude
1:27:30 – Missing the gym
1:28:25 – Ben’s plans for the summer, and chasing conditions
1:32:24 – Ben’s Instagram, his recent Squamish video (that you should all watch—see show notes), and not knowing where to post climbing content
1:34:46 – Ben’s latest skate trick project, and influencing kids at the skate park
Next Episode
EP 28: Blake Cason on Radical Honesty, the Mindfulness Muscle, and Cycling Priorities
Blake Cason is a mindfulness and work/life balance coach, and the founder of Pivot Wellness. We talked about bringing awareness to our relationship with climbing, practicing radical honesty, ways of strengthening the mindfulness muscle, cycling priorities, and ways that both Blake and I have struggled to find balance between work and climbing.
Support on Patreon:
Show Notes:
http://thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/blake-cason
Nuggets:
2:01 – The first time Blake jugged a line, choss in the Canadian Rockies, and supporting Mike on ‘The Shining Uncut’
8:19 – Intentionally showing up to support another person in climbing
9:58 – The relationship sandbox, and play and responsibility
13:53 – Common issues/areas that Blake works on with her clients and climbers
16:34 – Beauty in doing things that don’t have a point, and being out of alignment with what motivates us vs. what we’re actually doing
20:24 – “Shoulds”, guideposts, and self-imposed suffering
23:33 – Radical honesty, “is that working”, and slowing down
28:12 – Finding mindfulness through climbing, and her climbing relationship as a barometer
32:11 – Tuning into your body and your breath to return to the present moment
34:14 – Focusing on the breath, and code-switching
35:52 – Training the mindfulness muscle
39:43 – The practical use of mindfulness, and how to bring mindfulness to reflecting on the past or envisioning the future
42:50 – Mindfulness applied to climbing performance, “paying attention”, and finding language that resonates
44:57 – Savoring, loosening the grip, tapping into a growth mindset, and getting the whole brain firing
53:04 – Self-limiting beliefs, “Is being attached to that belief working?”, and the research behind the importance of self-compassion
58:28 – The brain-body connection, “abort mission”, and punting
1:01:18 – ‘Joe Six Pack’, recognizing a need, and choosing to walk away (for now)
1:05:31 – How Blake would work with a client who struggles with fear
1:12:59 – My (Steven’s) struggle with balancing the podcast with my own climbing and expectations
1:16:49 – Cycling priorities, and how Blake cycles her focus between her own climbing and her business, and values vs. priorities
1:23:56 – Using inspiration as a guide for priorities
1:25:57 – Zooming out
1:32:13 – Gratitude
1:32:55 – The area of mindfulness that Blake is working on currently
1:37:31 – Where to connect with Blake and how you can work with her
1:40:28 – Take a breath
1:42:49 – My free life coaching session, and send us questions!
If you like this episode you’ll love
Episode Comments
Generate a badge
Get a badge for your website that links back to this episode
<a href="https://goodpods.com/podcasts/the-nugget-climbing-podcast-187377/ep-27-audrey-sniezek-corporate-work-starting-a-gym-and-telling-yoursel-17118456"> <img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/goodpods-images-bucket/badges/generic-badge-1.svg" alt="listen to ep 27: audrey sniezek — corporate work, starting a gym, and telling yourself you belong on goodpods" style="width: 225px" /> </a>
Copy