EP 30: Connor Herson — Fourteen 5.14s at Fourteen, Big Wall Free Climbing, and Power Training on a Home Wall

Explicit content warning

08/10/20 • 83 min

Connor Herson is the kid who free climbed ‘The Nose’ at fifteen years old. What most people don’t know is that he is also an incredible sport climber. We talked about his sport climbing goal at age fourteen, his path to free climbing ‘The Nose’, big wall tactics, gear recommendations, headpointing, training power during COVID, recent sends, and future goals on El Cap.

Support on Patreon:

patreon.com/thenuggetclimbing

Show Notes:

http://thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/conner-herson

Nuggets:

2:00 – Breakfast, caffeine, and sleep

3:26 – Connor’s goal at age 14

8:23 – Jailhouse, kneebar pads, the evolution of climbing, and 5.14d

12:53 – Trying ‘Triple Direct’

14:27 – Outgrowing beta on the ‘Changing Corners’ pitch

15:45 – Breakdown of the ‘Triple Direct’ linkup

17:24 – Three-day ascents

19:51 – Warming up for 5.14 straight out of bed and kneebaring the ‘Changing Corners’

22:08 – The path to freeing ‘The Nose’

30:34 – Making up PE class

33:25 – Two nudges from Tommy

38:09 – “If it’s a free route on El Cap it’s a goal.”, building a base of free routes, and thoughts on ‘The Dawn Wall’

40:21 – ‘Broken Arrow’, moderates to build a base, and headpointing tactics

47:55 – Bad landings, safety margins, and sewing up the first 25’ of ‘Broken Arrow’

49:37 – Offset cams, and cams vs. nuts

51:23 – ‘The Green Mile’

54:12 – Power training during shelter-in-place, ‘Throwin’ the Houlihan’, and ‘Surf Safari’

59:48 – Patron Question: Why are so few young climbers pulled towards trad and big walls?

1:05:06 – Patron Question: Connor’s go-to climbing shoes?

1:06:53 – Patron Question: Strategies for dealing with discomfort on big walls? (water, harness, shoes)

1:12:24 – Patron Question: Continue being an “all-rounder” vs. becoming more specialized?

1:14:16 – Jailhouse for training, and “if it’s training it can be contrived.”

1:15:52 – Gratitude

1:17:31 – Connor’s recent two-week trip, and sharing the driving

1:18:53 – Connor’s upcoming trip and goals

Support on Patreon:

patreon.com/thenuggetclimbing

Show Notes:

http://thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/conner-herson

Nuggets:

2:00 – Breakfast, caffeine, and sleep

3:26 – Connor’s goal at age 14

8:23 – Jailhouse, kneebar pads, the evolution of climbing, and 5.14d

12:53 – Trying ‘Triple Direct’

14:27 – Outgrowing beta on the ‘Changing Corners’ pitch

15:45 – Breakdown of the ‘Triple Direct’ linkup

17:24 – Three-day ascents

19:51 – Warming up for 5.14 straight out of bed and kneebaring the ‘Changing Corners’

22:08 – The path to freeing ‘The Nose’

30:34 – Making up PE class

33:25 – Two nudges from Tommy

38:09 – “If it’s a free route on El Cap it’s a goal.”, building a base of free routes, and thoughts on ‘The Dawn Wall’

40:21 – ‘Broken Arrow’, moderates to build a base, and headpointing tactics

47:55 – Bad landings, safety margins, and sewing up the first 25’ of ‘Broken Arrow’

49:37 – Offset cams, and cams vs. nuts

51:23 – ‘The Green Mile’

54:12 – Power training during shelter-in-place, ‘Throwin’ the Houlihan’, and ‘Surf Safari’

59:48 – Patron Question: Why are so few young climbers pulled towards trad and big walls?

1:05:06 – Patron Question: Connor’s go-to climbing shoes?

1:06:53 – Patron Question: Strategies for dealing with discomfort on big walls? (water, harness, shoes)

1:12:24 – Patron Question: Continue being an “all-rounder” vs. becoming more specialized?

1:14:16 – Jailhouse for training, and “if it’s training it can be contrived.”

1:15:52 – Gratitude

1:17:31 – Connor’s recent two-week trip, and sharing the driving

1:18:53 – Connor’s upcoming trip and goals

Previous Episode

EP 29: Tyson Schoene — Building World-Class Athletes, the Value of Competition, and Drills for Every Climber

Tyson Schoene has been the head coach of the Vertical World Climbing Team in Seattle, WA for nearly 20 years, and has shaped some of the best climbers in the world including Drew Ruana, Sean Bailey, and Quinn Mason. We talked about Tyson’s path to coaching, how he and his team build world-class athletes, the value of competition, climbing team as a family, and drills all of us can practice.

Support on Patreon:

patreon.com/thenuggetclimbing

Show Notes:

http://thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/tyson-schoene

Nuggets:

2:37 – Viento, the resurgence of old forgotten crags, and surfing trips

6:22 – Coaching during COVID, missing the kids, and home walls

9:52 – Embracing downtime, training for adversity, and moving forward with new ideas

12:48 – Feeling privileged and prepared, feeling bored, and struggles with purposelessness and the social climate without a support group during the pandemic

16:56 – Being born in Seattle, Tyson’s parents as climbers, early climbing, and the pull of the lycra

21:20 – Other sports and passions, early competing, early coaching, seeing himself in the kids

26:46 – Climbing with the kids and learning from the kids

30:24 – Why Tyson feels like he never realized his full potential, and why he wouldn’t trade his impact on the kids for being a 5.15 climber

33:51 – The benefits of competition

43:18 – Being competitive vs. being a good competitor

46:11 – Working with Drew to get better at reachy moves

53:36 – Why shorter kids tend to become better climbers

54:30 – How Tyson knew he could push Drew to the edge, the athlete/coach relationship as a two-way street, and adapting to your athletes

58:38 – Hiring coaches from climbing team, traits that make good coaches, and giving back to the team

1:06:27 – Repetition, traversing, patience, and the primary things adults are missing as new climbers

1:14:06 – Efficiency, what makes the best climbers look the best, and why easy movement (i.e. ARCing) is relevant for someone trying to break into 5.14

1:19:44 – Circuits for power endurance, drawing from track and field, learning through experience, and spray walls

1:26:19 – Programming circuits

1:28:14 – Easy circuits vs. easy traversing and ARC training, balancing endurance training w/ power, and why Tyson expects training to change in the next ten years

1:33:44 – More on ARC training, Tyson’s (amazing) adult client, and why Tyson generally prefers working with kids vs. adults

1:36:05 – Tyson’s thoughts on why climbers should train both for sport climbing and bouldering to be the best possible athlete

1:39:27 – Patron Question: Power endurance exercises to break into 5.12?

1:42:29 – Other factors to consider when it seems like power endurance is our limiting factor

1:43:37 – Climbing with three fingers (IMR open) to conserve energy

1:48:30 – Pinkies

1:49:04 – Patron Question: Favorite App for spray wall?

1:50:49 – Taping circuits on the spray wall for members and for the kids

1:52:50 – Patron Question: What was it like competing before competition climbing was popular?

1:55:26 – Shirts, normalizing greatness, and the Vertical World family

2:03:41 – Gratitude

2:06:05 – Drills: Heals only

2:10:50 – Drills: Fives

2:17:27 – Thousands of drills, leadership skills, and emotional detachment

2:20:35 – Proud of the kids

Next Episode

EP 31: Maya Madere — Windsurfing, Endurance Training for Boulderers, and Trusting Intuition

Maya Madere is a 21-year-old comp kid from Austin, TX. We talked about attending school at Stanford and studying computer science, the endurance training program that helped her transition from bouldering to sport climbing, gunning for the 2024 Olympics, competition strategies, outdoor goals, intuitive training and eating, power screams, and windsurfing.

Crafted Energy:

https://www.craftedenergy.com/

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Support on Patreon:

patreon.com/thenuggetclimbing

Show Notes:

http://thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/maya-madere

Nuggets:

1:40 – Windsurfing

8:44 – Maya’s transition from comp boulderer to outdoor sport climber

12:06 – How Maya feels about her current climbing

13:29 – Off-season climbing, coronavirus, and taking a break

16:42 – Outdoor climbing vs. training, “quantity over quality”, self-coaching, and doing too much vs. too little.

21:15 – Campusing, endurance training with Solomon Barth, and up-down-ups

24:28 – Up-down-up details

30:00 – Practicing climbing more quickly

32:56 – How Maya mixes endurance with maintaining bouldering strength and power

35:19 – Psicobloc

38:26 – Neverending Story, and why Maya would choose competition climbing over outdoor climbing (if she had to pick one)

41:08 – Where Maya sees her climbing going moving forward

42:14 – Paying her way around the world through competitions, and why it wasn’t sustainable

45:12 – The Boulderfield Master Series, compromise between school and competition rock climbing, and how Maya sees herself in relation to other top competitors

47:37 – Computer Science

50:27 – 2024 Olympics

53:36 – Maya’s most memorable comp, expectations, and why she prefers to be the underdog

57:15 – Making competing routine

59:50 – Practice comps and mock comps

1:02:21 – Breathing exercises and competing and altitude

1:04:45 – Cardio

1:06:54 – Speed climbing, and lead vs. sport

1:08:44 – Diet and weight

1:14:17 – Lifting, systematic vs. intuitive training, and mental energy

1:19:55 – Breakfast, vegetables, and intuitive eating

1:22:42 – Crafted Energy bars