So, you’re some kind of fancy doctor. What kind of limitations does that put on your training and climbing?
Fancy is a big stretch, but yes, I work as an anesthesiologist in British Columbia. Surprisingly, the job offers a lot of benefits that have supported my climbing. I’m very fortunate to be able to take a fair number of vacation weeks per year, which allows for multiple-week climbing trips. I have at least one weekday off per week and work a few nights per month, which increases the number of days I get outside.
The biggest challenge for me so far has been managing acute and chronic sleep alteration from working night shifts. My training/climbing quality is definitely reduced despite a solid morning nap, and I tend to have a tougher time with cognition and emotional regulation. The chronic effects of sleep disruption are pretty well known, but I notice that I don’t recover as well as I would otherwise.
Overall though, the benefits of having so much time to climb outside outweigh the downsides.
How have you managed to stay consistent while working that kind of job?
I’m pretty meticulous with planning. I schedule most sessions a few weeks in advance based on my work schedule. I have a pretty good sense of when I’m going to feel good enough for a high quality progression session and when I need to dial it back and do a short finger session and some active recovery. On a smaller scale, I’m pretty dialed with my meal planning. All of my food for the day is ready to go so I’m able to fuel my sessions and optimize recovery.
I’ve also tried to free up more time for myself by eliminating time spent on things I don’t value. I don’t spend much time on social media, I eat variations of the same five or six meals every day and I’m fortunate enough to outsource things I suck at (i.e. coaching and cleaning). Not only does this reduce the time pressure with training, but it gives me the ability to engage in non-climbing related hobbies (watching movies!) and spend time with people I love (my wife!).
What are some of your favorite sends recently and why?
- Bison: After sending the Squamish classic Tatonka, I set my sights on the right exit (Bison). It takes the hard start move of Tatonka and adds a reeeeeally cool ?rose move-thing from a kneebar into a tensiony second crux off a crimp. Jesse and I have been working a lot on my ability to use crimp holds, which I’ve struggled with since I started climbing. Bison is memorable for me because I was able to get really consistent on the Tatonka start move (another struggle for me), and demonstrate an improved proficiency on smaller holds.
- El Camino: After successfully doing the first couple of moves and doing the topout once, I was a complete jackass and tried to brush some debris off the fairly straightforward slab exit. Instead of cleaning it up, I managed to get a ton of dirt and pine needles all over the place, which made for a spicy topout that I probably should have bailed on. By this point, though, I was committed. What resulted was two and a half minutes trying not to cry in a shitty fall zone and a spotter with trust issues.
What were the biggest limitations in your climbing when we started working together, and what’s been most effective at improving them?
- Crimps: As a recovering gym-bro with sausage fingers, I’ve had to work on my ability to use crimps, especially holds where you need to get a bit of pulp behind them. In our time together, Jesse’s tried to help me make peace with my morphology, but I’m pretty stubborn. The biggest thing that’s helped is improving training specificity with this grip type. Low gear on a system board, high-angle finger training and deliberately seeking out small, sucky holds have helped level-up my crimping going into 2025.
- Mental game: Prior to working with Jesse, I really struggled with execution and emotional regulation. I would redline almost everything and frequently panic prior to pulling onto the start holds of anything remotely hard. I still struggle when people scream “allez”, “come on” or my favourite “let’s go beast” while I’m just trying to get out of my own head, but we’ve worked out a few strategies to keep me level headed. The most effective thing for me is first-person visualization. In addition to visualizing how I’ll do the moves, I keep in mind how I’m going to feel and the tempo with which I’ll move from hold to hold.
What would be your single biggest piece of advice for improving at climbing?
Try not to punch the clock (but also punch the clock sometimes). I don’t see the point of carving out two hours for training on a weekday or wasting gas driving to the crag if I’m not going to be intentional with my passion. When I’m climbing, I want to be laser-focused on climbing. Limiting the amount of distraction in my sessions has allowed me to better analyze my own practice and learn a lot from other climbers. A side benefit is having stronger mindfulness muscles for the other things that matter, like my friends and family.
That being said, sometimes you need to drag yourself to the gym or crag and do the thing. You never give yourself the chance to have an amazing session if you don’t get out the door. Worst case scenario, you have a shitty session and you’re still a tiny bit better for it.