25: Allen Lactaoen, Brand New Athlete
I know Allen from our climbing training class in San Diego, but he is also a boulderer for a brand new IFSC federation, Team Guam. In this episode, we'll learn about what it’s like competing on the world cup circuit as an “average” climber who only started climbing at 23 years old and works a full time engineering job. We’ll also hear about what it’s like as a NEW competitor competing in Innsbruck including the afterparties, and all about the Guam climbing scene.
Timestamps
Timestamps of discussion topics
0:00 - Our climbing sesh
2:57 - Starting climbing at 23 years old
6:59 - Why he started comp climbing at 29 years old
11:15 - Wanting to bring climbing back to Guam
19:01 - Being a weekend warrior
24:14 - Current training + work balance
29:43 - Never having a personal coach
32:27 - First World Cup experience in Innsbruck
38:31 - The difficulty going to a WC alone
45:23 - What people do in ISO for 8 hours
51:09 - Thoughts while taking on his first WC Boulder
54:07 - Least favorite comp moment
57:02 - Innsbruck afterparty
59:37 - Favorite comp moment
1:05:40 - Climbing Gems chalk bag
1:10:13 - Where is Guam
1:13:02 - Guam climbing scene
1:23:53 - Discord Q: What made you decide to participate in world cups as an average climber?
1:30:15 - Discord Q: Are you going to all future bouldering WCs?
1:35:24 - Final thoughts/where to find Allen
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my first World Cup, and I was the only one from the organization present. I didn't really have
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a coach there, we didn't have our federation president there, or we didn't have any other
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athletes, it was just me representing Guam. Besides the coach, the lead specialist, Vicki,
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who is our female lead specialist, and me, everyone else has been climbing for less than a year.
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He told us that Akiyo Noguchi started climbing because she visited Guam.
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If you feel like you started too late, I mean, ideally you want to start early,
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but it's never too late to try and become something bigger.
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Welcome to another episode of the That's Not Real Climbing podcast. I'm your host Jinni,
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and I'm excited to introduce my first in-person guest, Allen Lacktaoen. I know Allen from our
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climbing training class in San Diego, but he is also a boulder for a brand new IFSC federation,
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Team Guam. In this episode, we'll learn about what it's like competing on the World Cup circuit as an
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average climber who only started climbing at 23 years old and works a full-time engineering job.
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We'll also hear about what it's like as a new competitor competing in Innsbruck, including the
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after-parties, and we'll learn all about the Guam climbing scene. If you're watching this on YouTube,
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you might notice some strange cuts to help the podcast flow better for audio only,
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but hopefully the appearances made by the cat will help make up for it.
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I hope you enjoy this episode with Allen. How was the climbing session? Good. You're talking about
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today's session? Yeah. Climbing session today was good. Since I'm still recovering from a
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finger injury, slight, like a minor finger injury, it felt pretty nice. In the main bouldering area,
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I was able to kind of climb without the tape on. So I've been slowly, progressively overloading it
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with tape and then without tape. It's been getting better. So the session today was good.
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Yeah. And you? How was your session? It was, I was happy to do most of the b-boulders on this
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slab. Did you try the other b-boulders on the overhang? I did one that Darren recommended to me
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and then another one that was a little hard. My fingers are kind of hurting today. So for those
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who don't know, I think a lot of people probably don't know you super well. No, I wouldn't expect
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people to know me already, but I'm still new to the circuit. Maybe people who watch who like know
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you in person. Yeah. So how did you get into climbing? So I picked up climbing back in
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2018 while I was in college. Fairly recent. Yeah, fairly recent. Only been six years,
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almost six years. I'm going on six. But yeah, it was my best friend in college, his sister climbed.
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And so when I went to their place for Thanksgiving, it was, they brought me to one of the climbing
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gyms up there and it's in Santa Rosa. And so then I picked up it there and then I started climbing
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at school. We had a climbing wall on campus and then at the local climbing gym that everyone went
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to. So that's where I picked it up. And then yeah, since then I've been mainly training for outdoors.
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So a lot of my training started focused on outdoors, especially later on as I got better
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in climbing. Like I think my first outdoor trip was maybe six months into climbing,
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five, five or six months into climbing outdoors. And then I got strong pretty quick, then got injured.
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Oh, that's a classic. The classic got too strong too fast, then got injured. Then you don't,
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if you're not still new climbing, trying to figure out a good protocol to heal faster and like get
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stronger as you're still injured was not in my mindset yet. So then I kind of went back in strength.
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But I got in that time, I got better at slopers than I was in crimps. So then now that's why now
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I, I would say my favorite is the sloper. Yeah. And then got back up to speed
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right before COVID, then COVID hit. And then during that time in COVID, I just recently
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moved down here to San Diego and then started working as a full-time engineer. So then in that
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time frame, it was hard to train because the gyms were closed. And if the gyms were open,
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you would have to schedule maybe like only a one hour period of training. And, and that was only,
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you're only allowed one hour training twice a week. So then you'd only train two hours a week.
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And that was hard, especially if you didn't have a home wall, like everyone started building
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home walls. I, as I was like living in a house that my roommate's parents owned,
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you know, I didn't really want to build in their backyard. Yeah. And I didn't want to take up their
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space. And plus, you know, knowing that I might have to move in the future, I didn't want to
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have to deal with that. So it's like, oh, so then most of my training was delayed at that point and
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then picked up speed again in like 2021. And then slowly got better. Or is this? Yeah. Yeah. And
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then I remember those days. Yeah. And then I had to schedule, but I don't think we had a limit in
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terms of how many sessions you had. Oh, really? The gyms. An hour? Yeah. Hour, an hour and a half.
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It was pretty, it was pretty bad. It was like, yeah. I mean, before it was like, you'd only,
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you'd warm up for like five minutes on like easy problems and a new project for the next 45.
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Huh. To like an hour and a half. And it's just like, ah, it was tough during those times.
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So then I would try and climb outside, but then I was, I was still new to my full-time job. So
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it was hard to balance that. And so then there's still some like hardships in my whole climbing
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career, but then I'm glad that I was able to pick up, pick it up again recently. And then switched
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to comp climbing once the Guam team was made. And like, once I found out that the Guam, that Guam
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created a team and recently got accepted into the IFSC, which was last year. So technically I've only
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been comp climbing for like the last nine months. Okay. So you pretty much link Boulder. Have you
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ever considered doing league competition? I have. Yeah. I mean, when, when the Guam team went for
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the Oceania qualifiers for the Olympics, it's, it was a combined format. So then I had to train a
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little bit of lead and kind of get back up to speed. I didn't like, by preference, I don't usually
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train lead. But I thought about it to supplement my bouldering. Yeah. As in like, because I don't
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have a lot of endurance in climbing, like normally like, you know, the typical bouldering, I don't
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really like, you know, the typical boulder saying it's like, you go up three clips and you're already
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pumped. Yeah. That's me. I've definitely, when I started out climbing, I was thinking I would
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end up being a lead specialist, which is, I mean, I bought like a whole bunch of like
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carabiners, quick draws, and I bought a rope to climb in the gym. And then, you know, I liked it.
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I didn't do it all the time, but I would occasionally hop on ropes when I wouldn't like oppose it when
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friends would offer to, you know, climb on ropes. And I mean, I enjoyed it back then. Now it's like,
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I prefer just bouldering. Yeah. Because it's easier access. That's true. In terms of like,
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having to find a partner, you know, scheduling with someone else to even,
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that I'm scheduling with someone else that you know, you trust, the way you, you know, it's hard
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to do that rather than, I mean, people still trust other people to believe them when you do with the
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open signup sheets in some gyms. It's like, okay. But I mean, like I like to climb with other people
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that I know that can take care of me and stuff like that. Yeah. But I mean, yeah, that's that.
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I mean, that's one main reason why I ended up just leaning more toward bouldering. And I mean,
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also it's just, I feel like I'm more of like a powerful style movement versus like long endurance
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climbs. And even in general, I've noticed that in other sports too. And that's why I've always,
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I recently, I thought about maybe I should try speed. Yeah. But I mean, maybe, I mean, I used to
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play volleyball in high school and I have strong legs and maybe I can implement that in speed
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climbing, but we'll see. Yeah. That's still in the thought process. If I want to ever try it out.
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Yeah. Well, I guess I also wonder because it seems like lead competitors tend to have a little bit
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more longevity in this sport. Right. At lead. That makes, yeah. And how old are you? You're like.
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29. I just turned 29 this year. Yeah. I thought you were 28. No, I, yeah. Don't rely on me.
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So like you're getting pretty like super old. Like, ah, I mean, I don't like to think.
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You're about to die. No, no, no, no, no. I mean, I don't like to think of that. I like,
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like, I don't like to think about the age. I mean, it's a nice little fallback of an excuse to,
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yeah, I'm not having a good day because of my age. So, you know, or like I'm having a bad session
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because like, you know, for my age, I'm pretty tired for the session. So I have some friends
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that are like younger than me or older than me too. Like they are just one, they always wonder
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or ask me and say, how do you, how do you have the, like the, the stamina to, or the energy to like
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JV's three hour sessions, three to four hour sessions, five, four to five days a week. And like, you know,
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it's a lot of training, but you know, I mean, it's the, I mean, the, the matter of fact is like,
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I'm enjoying it, you know, like I, yes, I'm tired, but that's the fun part about it. It's like,
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I enjoy it a lot. And that's the reason why I picked up the comp climbing is because I know that
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it's like something that I want. And it's like, I've always had this in the back of my mind that I
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wanted to somehow represent Guam in a way that could bring climbing, like grow with the climbing
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community back home. I mean, during COVID, I already had thoughts of like, oh, I want to try
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and open a gym back home. And then the first time I went back home during COVID, I recently
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found out that they had like a whole climbing community that I didn't know about. And it's been
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around since like, I think it's the eighties, but, and I was like, has this been my whole life?
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I could have, I would have picked up climbing way earlier, but I guess it wasn't like well
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advertising, advertise, or it was, it was like a Facebook group. So then it was Saoche, Word of
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Mao. You know, you have to ask the right people, come across the right people that knew about the
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community. And then when they finally opened up the gym, I was like, oh, someone did it before me,
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but I wonder who it was. And then they started like picking up. And I mean, that's another fact
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that is like the Guam climbing community is very, very new. Like the gym only opened up a year and
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a half ago. They just recently had their first year anniversary. Wait, so that's like the first,
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the first gym? The first like, well, I guess, advertised gym, I guess, like, because like
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there, apparently there was an older gym that was open before the new gym opened up. It's like one
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of those like garage style bouldering gyms that someone owned. Maybe it was, I can't remember
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if it was like at a, in a empty tenant space or if it was at someone's house. I can't remember
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what the correct fact of that is, but I've, I just recently found out that too. And I didn't even
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know that, but yeah, it, it, when they opened up the gym, it was like a small section of the, so
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the owner of the gym is, he plays badminton. And so part of the gym is half badminton, half climbing.
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And so there was a small section of, of the badminton courts where it's just like a small,
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maybe, I don't know how many meters, but it was, it's just like a small section of boulders.
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And then this year, right after the Oceania qualifier, last year, right after the Oceania
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qualifiers, they expanded all, like they basically closed off half of the badminton courts.
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Half the gym is now fully half badminton, half climbing. And I mean, and the gym is pretty big.
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It's like a warehouse. So it's, it's growing and like a lot more people have been
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drawing attention to it. And, you know, and that's why like, I, like, I really want this is because
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like, I really want this is because I want to help be part of the history and like help grow
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the climbing community back home. While there is still a small community out here that people from
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Guam in the mainland US that do climb. Yeah. And they reached out to me and some of them I've
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went to high school with, some of them I haven't. And they reached out to me through the, through the
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climbing Guam Instagram. And they're like, cause they've been posting about me about going to the
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Inspirit World Cup and stuff like that. So then I've been getting reached out to about that and be
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like, how can I be part of the team? And then like even the Guam coach, he's like, dude, ever since
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like you, like we've been posting about you, like people have been reaching out to us, you know,
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how can we be part of the team or how can we like help out the team? And that's, and that's, that's
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kind of what I want. It's like, I want people to like notice it a little bit more so that eventually
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the next generation of climbers that are coming from Guam don't have to worry about it so much.
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Like, you know, it's already like, it, you know, we take small steps and that's, and that's as a
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team, that's what we want is we want to grow the whole community. And I mean, it'd be, it would
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have been nice to have that growing up as well. And so it's just like, oh, okay. I want this for
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the future. I'm in Guam. I mean, there is a community there. And the hard part about that is
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I'm here training. I'm here training basically to kind of gain, I don't know how to say it, but like
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just to like better myself, to get the experience out here so that I can like maybe go back there
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and maybe in the future, I'll probably want to coach the team or, you know, or said I can be
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an engineer back home too. And then coach in the after hours, you know, I mean, because I have that
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passion for climbing. It's something that I want for Guam. Yeah. Yeah. That makes sense. Because I
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mean, if that experience and like, like the people who are experienced don't eventually go back
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to build it up, it's never gonna grow. It's almost like, I don't want to say it's a wasted effort,
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but that's what it would feel like. Yeah. Well, we'll get into Guam more in a bit, but first.
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One of the things to me that was most interesting about your story is that unlike most athletes on
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the circuit, you didn't start out as a youth climber. You started when you were 23, I guess,
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22. 23, I would say 23. Yeah. Yeah. Which is quite late. Actually, that's later than me,
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because I think I started when I was 20. So do you feel like you missed out on much starting as an
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adult? Or how, well, of course you did. How much do you feel like you missed out on starting as an adult?
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Yes, I have missed out on a lot as if like that, I mean, that's why I mentioned wanting this for
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Guam is to kind of start the youth gathering for the climbing, because I mean, most of the climbing
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team right now is all adults and I'm not even the oldest one. Whoa, really? Yeah. I'm not even the
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oldest one. Well, we need to get into that later. Okay, we'll get into that later. Yeah. But yeah,
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I'm not even the oldest one, but yeah, I mean, it definitely feels like it seems like it's a little
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too late a little bit. Like I started late, but I personally, I don't like to think about age as like
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a, I don't want it like as an excuse to be like, oh, you know, I'm not good enough because, you know,
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I started too late, you know. I mean, it used to be like that kind of excuse before when I was,
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when I got injured and, you know, started climbing, I was like, ah, you know, I feel like I might be
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too old, like get stronger. And maybe yes, it does play a factor, but having that excuse is not part
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of my mindset. Cause I like to think of like, it's never too late to, you know, if you, if you believe
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in something that you want to do, you know, age shouldn't stop you being starting too late,
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shouldn't stop you. I do think I started too late, but I don't think it's too late to
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succeed in something that to this level. And I think similar to a lot of people who started
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climbing late and probably a lot of people who are like watching or listening right now,
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you also mentioned that you have a full-time job. So you're kind of like the weekend warrior.
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I think that's the term for it. I think there are a lot of like weekend warriors who manage to climb
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hard in the outdoor scene, but you don't hear of that so much in competition, partially because
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they're young, but also partially because it's like very time consuming to be, I guess like in
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competition, you kind of have to be good at everything instead of just projecting like one
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specific boulder for a long time. So how do you balance work and training?
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Balancing work and training is kind of difficult. I guess it would say, I would say it's a difficult
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topic to even like delve into because normally the balance is by feel. Like I like, like I'll go into
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work, like do my engineering job and then I'll have to reset my mind and then go to the gym
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and then kind of try and lock in, you know, which is why I kind of like take the training class that
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we take because it's kind of nice to have someone tell you what to do in training versus like
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training on your own. So I kind of have more days, I try to have more days where I'm training with
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someone rather than training with someone else. That way I don't have, I have to think a little
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bit West where I can just balance back and forth, change ideas, stuff like that. And then in the
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training class, I just have someone telling me like the workouts, what to do. But like balancing
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work and climbing is very, I would say the hard part of it is having energy every day to try and
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to try and balance everything because I mean by the end of the day of like, because I mean
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realistically, I mean I've worked a nine to five, but realistically I only worked six hours mainly
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because two of those hours-
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Are you sure you want that going out on the internet?
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No, I mean, no, I mean like in like locked in, like I'm at work for eight hours, but like I'm
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locked in for six, like the first hour is like me trying to like call myself, like get into the
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mindset of getting into work. And at the last hour of the day, I'm trying to like ease down and like
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get ready for training, right? So that's six hours of work, hour in between, and then I have the hour
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lunch. So the nine hour day, but like six hours of mainly working.
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Yeah.
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Right. I mean, and that's, you try to break it down into that so that you can kind of like
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get into different cycles of phases in the day to like when to train yourself to like
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when to lock into work and then when to log out of work. And then trying to make sure you stay
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log out of work so you don't have to think about whatever you're working on and you just worry
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about that tomorrow. And then you kind of lock in the training. And then when you're in training,
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kind of like say like, oh, I should have sent something. I'm like working on a project. Oh,
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I should have sent it. Well, I try to like leave that out of my mind and just kind of be present
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a little bit. Cause if I don't, then I'm going to have a bad session. And it's, and I mean,
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and that's the hard part too in training. It's like sometimes coming from being an outside climber
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to becoming a competition climber. The transition was a little bit difficult for me because in
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competition climbing, you want to flash all the, you want to flash the problem ideally. And then
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in outdoor setting, it's more of like enjoying the process of projecting. You know, I mean,
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yeah, sure. It'd be nice to flash it, flash a boulder outside or whatever. But what makes outdoor
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climbing very fun is the process of projecting, being able to tweak data and sit there and just
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admire the boulder, a little boulder route, and then just kind of climb it once you go for the
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red point and enjoy that. But in comp climbing, you either try it within that session, like in a
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competition setting, especially in a World Cup setting, it's like you either do it or you don't
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because it's going to be gone in the next few hours. Or it's going to be gone the next day.
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And you kind of have to like, what you have to learn how to let go of the things that you
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didn't send and just kind of take what you learned from that experience. And then after that,
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then kind of going back and reflecting off of it, but don't dwell on it and see what you can improve
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on. And I mean, yeah, and I mean, that's like the same thing with balancing work and training. It's
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like you kind of have to go in and out of those phases and then kind of forgetting what you,
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like the mistakes you made prior and kind of moving forward and see how you can improve.
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Okay, so what does your training look like right now with your work schedule?
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Coming up to Innsbruck, it's like three days on straight, one day rest, two days on then rest.
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So I'll do a three to week basically, Mondays rest days, Fridays rest days, and then all
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the days in between our workout days. How tired do you feel third day on? Because
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I never told you this, but my benchmark for my climbing was that I wanted to climb harder than
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you if you were third day on. That's a weird benchmark to say. I need some kind of like
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comparison, otherwise I have no motivation. I mean, that's fair because I mean, I sometimes
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I'll compare myself to Darren. Yeah, exactly. Darren is one of our strong friends in the class.
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I mean, it depends on how well I slept the day, the day's prayer or how well I eat in a week. I
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mean, that's another hard thing about balancing the life and work and training is trying to
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find a way to fit in cooking and or like, you know, cooking. It's hard. Because after a session,
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session ends at nine, I'll get home at like nine, 15, and 30, cook. Oh, you eat after.
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Yeah, I eat after. Oh, that makes sense. Yeah, I eat after. Yeah, it starts early because six
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is like right after work. Yeah, six is right after work. I mean, I'm not gonna have it.
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No wonder you always eat a snack during class. Yeah, I always buy a snack during class.
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If I don't buy a snack during class, then I'm just hungry the whole time. Or I'll just eat
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like a late lunch. Yeah. Like I'll eat at like three, two or three and then I'll just, because
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you know, I just, I'm locked in at work and I just like, I can't find the time to eat. I'm just like,
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I'll wait till like later. Yeah. I'll eat my lunch then. And I'll be like, okay, I'll strategically
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place my lunch right before class so that I'm not as hungry during class. And then eat dinner late.
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But yeah, I mean, that's, I mean, that's the, that's what would dictate how tired I would
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be on the third day. I mean, it's different from when I started training out at the beginning of
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the year. I was doing six days on. Yeah. And that was a bad idea. Thinking that like my mindset was
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like, oh, more timing, I can do this. More training means I'm going to get better faster. But that,
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don't ever do that. Yeah. Like don't ever, like, I don't know why I thought that. I mean,
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I did help a little bit, but it started doing a lot of overuse injuries, not injuries, but like,
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I started aches. I started having aches. Yeah. And then like, as I slowly got out of that and started
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doing just five days on, but doing of quality training, but then having good rest in between,
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I started feeling a little bit better. And that's, I mean, that's key things like warm up properly.
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If I don't warm up properly, then I'm going to have a bad session. If I warm up properly,
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it doesn't matter how tired I am. I'm just going to have a decent session if I warm up.
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And I use my warm up as a gauge of how well I'm going to be, how well I feel I'm going to be doing
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that day. And then, and I just accordingly where it's like, Oh, I feel really great. I'm going to
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try really, really hard. It doesn't matter how hard the problem is or how hard these moves are
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going to be or whatever workout we're going to do. It's just going to, I'm going to be like,
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I'm going to try hard. Okay. Yeah. And then if I'm feeling, feeling pretty crappy during warm up,
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then I'm just like, okay, I'm just going to dial down a little bit, still try hard, but
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don't overdo it. Otherwise I'm just going to force and force an injury. Yeah. You know, try hard
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enough that you don't force, you don't get, you don't get injured. Yeah. Yeah. Do you think these
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are like old people thoughts though, because a lot of the pros do six days and like double sessions.
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I mean, I recently, I've been thinking about the five days on with double sessions on some days,
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like just to just split up the time. Yeah. Like, cause I don't want to do a three hour session
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session, but then half of that session is a strength training workout. You know, I want to
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do like three hours, like maybe three hours of quality climbing session and then maybe do like
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the workout in the morning, you know, feel fresh. I like do the workout, rest a little bit during
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the day during work and then go into the climbing session like full on. And that's something that
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I've been thinking of recently. I'm still trying to find that out. And I mean, I have a training
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journal. I don't really write into it. I just like, all I, all I write into it is this is the days I'm
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going to go to climb. This is the workouts I'm going to do. That's it. And then I close the book
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and then remember everything. Forget about the book. Okay. I'll go back to it once in a while and be
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like, okay, I'll write my PRs. Okay. Yeah. Like max pull ups, how much weight I'm using the train
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and how I want to increase that over time. I mean, this is just me as like starting out, like,
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you know, I'm, I'm experimenting with myself because like, I mean, we have coach Amico helping
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us like train and I get ideas of workouts from him, but a lot of the training that I do is,
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is basically kind of, I'm personally putting it together for myself because I know myself,
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I know my body pretty well and I know how to adjust, um, pro, uh, accordingly whenever
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I'm feeling something's not working out. Yeah. So in terms of coaching,
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did you ever have a coach or like currently have a coach? I mean, I considered coach Rico as a
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coach. Okay. Well, like, you know, it's like very, it's different when it's kind of as a group versus
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like a personal. Oh yeah. I mean, I don't think I, no, I don't, I don't think I've ever had like a
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personal coach, like, uh, like tell me specifically, this is what you're going to do. I mean, eventually
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I kind of want to go into that because I just, you know, once I get to a certain point, it's like,
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if I feel like I'm plateauing, I might just like kind of like get coaching, like full coaching,
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like invest in full time coaching. Like this is like one-on-one coaching. Yeah. It's hard to,
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it's hard to, it's kind of hard to find what I prefer one-on-one coaching, but it's hard to,
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it's, it's hard to find that because a lot of the training plans that people put together today,
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it's usually just given to athletes, especially like for people climbing outside, you know.
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Oh sure. Yeah. But like, I don't know, like for climbing for, for competitions, I,
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I don't know where the outlets to look for. Like I, I normally, I just like kind of like start
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Googling things. But then by that, at that point, it's like, I'm ready. It's planning for myself.
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Uh, sure. I mean, I guess when I'm thinking of coaching, I'm not necessarily thinking like,
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oh, someone who just writes a training plan for you, but someone who's like watching you climb
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and giving you feedback on your climbing and what you're doing wrong for like a full hour instead
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of like. Eventually I might want to do it one-on-one, but not, but I still like the group setting
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because in the group setting, it feels nice because you have other people training you on,
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you know, you have a sense of, and I, I mean, that's why I like climbing. It's like the sense
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of community, kind of bouncing off ideas off of each other, even though maybe some data might not
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work for you, but at least you know, uh, based on like, you know, based on their body structure,
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I guess, and like playing height, stuff like that is it, it helps later down the line. If I ever want
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to coach, it's like, oh, maybe I know a certain data for a certain person because this is like
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your side that fits your box. Well, you know, if it doesn't fix your box, fit, fit your box, then
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let's adjust that accordingly based because I, I've talked to other climbers and what their
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thoughts are, their thought processes. And that's why I like the group setting, but it'd be nice to
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just have this one-on-one. Yeah, you should try one. I mean, Enrico does one-on-ones. Yeah, yeah,
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yeah. I still have to ask him, but I'm just always having fun in the class. I never really,
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I always forget. I always forget. Not one day, one day, eventually. So getting to your IFSC
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experience, um, I've been waiting forever to hear about this because it, I mean,
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Innsbruck was a little while ago. Please excuse this brief intermission, but I've gotten a few
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requests for this. So I just wanted to announce that if you're interested in helping support the
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show, my Patreon page is now live. Some perks include ad free, interruption free episodes,
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If you'd like to support the podcast non-monetarily, liking, commenting, and sharing
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helps a great deal as well. Back to the show. So yeah, you just recently went to your first
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ever World Cup for bouldering in Innsbruck, um, which is also kind of like a crazy first
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venue because I think there are more approachable ones or like Salt Lake is like closer at least.
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Salt Lake is closer. I was supposed to go to that, but I think the funding for the organization,
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that for the Guam organization was out there yet. So then they were trying to figure out how to fund
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uh, the athletes and stuff like that. So then I just had to wait for the time, the right time to go.
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And I think Innsbruck was a nice experience to go to, even though talking to some of the climbers
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there, they're like, they're like, oh, it's quite the choice to start at Innsbruck. And even like
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people outside the circuit are like setters that I like Jesse at Flux. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, Jesse at
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Flux, he was like, yeah, Innsbruck was quite the choice because I've heard this from a lot of
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climbers that Innsbruck is supposed to be one of the hardest World Cups out of the whole circuit.
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Apparently, uh, not the minor, I didn't know that, but yeah, I was just like, oh, Innsbruck is like
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a nice place to be. Yeah. And a lot of people like to go to that World Cup. It'd be a nice
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opportunity to meet other climbers in the circuit and just kind of learn from that experience. Plus
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it'd be, sometimes you just gotta start hard. I mean, yeah. I mean, it's totally fine. Yeah.
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It's yeah. I just thought, you know, Salt Lake might make more sense. Yeah. It would just be
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easier. It would have been easier to go to. But yeah. So since you're brand new to the circuit,
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I guess take me through the entire process of the comp because like I've interviewed more season
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athletes, but they're like so used to it that they don't really, they're just, they know what
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it's like. So for you not having been to any before, like, what was it like? Did anything like surprise
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you? Um, yeah, I guess like the timing, uh, of when you want to go to, um, the country or city that
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you're, that the World Cup is going to be in because like, you know, you have to need some time
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to acclimate to the time zone, get used to the, you know, get into the groove again after doing
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a long flight. I mean, from, from here, yeah. I mean, like from here to Europe, it's like a
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10 hour flight, depending on where you go. And then, you know, you have to kind of acclimate
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after that, like sitting down the whole time, you know, eating, if you don't bring food with
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you or snacks with you, airport food, trying to react from a getting used to the surroundings,
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you know, learning your way towards the gym, stuff like that. It gets a little stressful.
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See the timing of when we get to the country or city, uh, kind of plays a little bit into how
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well you lean into the competition. How early did you go? Uh, I would say I got there maybe
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five, six days before. Oh, that's so not early enough. A lot of the athletes that I saw there,
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I met there, some of them were there for like maybe a week and a half to two weeks before.
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I mean, some of them train there regularly. So they're either there a month before, you know,
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so it depends on who that depends on the athletes and what fits their budget. And so I think
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that's on what fits their budget and stuff like that or what fits their timeframe. I mean, for me
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working as an engineer, I kind of have the time at where, okay, I'm going to, I'm going to leave
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after a full week of work. So I'll probably leave on a Friday or Saturday and then get there and
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then acclimate. And then, you know, and like, you know, if I'm there like a week or two before,
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00:37:10,160 --> 00:37:15,680
I'm still going to be working remote. Oh, you still worked? Yeah. Oh, I know. I don't know.
354
00:37:15,680 --> 00:37:21,920
Okay. No, because, well, because this was my first one, my first World Cup and I was the only one
355
00:37:21,920 --> 00:37:27,360
from the organization present. Yeah. It was no, I didn't really have a coach there. We didn't have
356
00:37:27,360 --> 00:37:32,240
our federation president there or I didn't, we didn't have any other athletes. It was just me
357
00:37:32,880 --> 00:37:40,880
representing Guam. So I wanted my full attention for the whole thing, like the whole event.
358
00:37:40,880 --> 00:37:47,760
Yeah. So basically the whole two weeks I was in Innsbruck, I just took, but I regularly,
359
00:37:47,760 --> 00:37:53,360
like whenever I go, when I travel a lot to other countries or, you know, when I'm on like training,
360
00:37:54,240 --> 00:38:00,720
sometimes I'll go to visit family in Europe. Oh, sure. Yeah. Or like, you know, or, or like if I'm
361
00:38:00,720 --> 00:38:07,840
going on a climbing trip to like either train in another gym or, you know, go home to Guam,
362
00:38:07,840 --> 00:38:14,240
I will normally work remote. Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah. I mean, somehow got to pay for travel.
363
00:38:17,040 --> 00:38:22,080
But I mean, that, that was, yeah. So then timing it was one of it. And then
364
00:38:23,600 --> 00:38:30,160
getting, because it was my first time, it's like, sometimes it does suck when you're in a new setting
365
00:38:30,160 --> 00:38:38,560
like that for the first time, trying to know someone is key a little bit. Like trying to get to know
366
00:38:38,560 --> 00:38:45,200
either people on the circuit or if you're training at the gym before, you know, before the event,
367
00:38:45,200 --> 00:38:51,760
try to make maybe like a friend. Yeah. I mean, going alone is crazy. Yeah. It's like you're in a
368
00:38:51,760 --> 00:38:57,600
new setting. You don't know anyone at the gym and you know, obviously it's your first time on the
369
00:38:57,600 --> 00:39:04,800
circuit and like me not being part of the youth circuit or anything like that. No one really knows
370
00:39:04,800 --> 00:39:10,000
me. So then it's just like, it does become a little bit nerve wracking. That's like one thing
371
00:39:10,000 --> 00:39:14,640
I kind of focused on once I got there is to kind of get into a group, get to know people. Well,
372
00:39:14,640 --> 00:39:19,840
get to know at least someone. But I mean, luckily I have a friend that lives in Innsbruck. So then
373
00:39:19,840 --> 00:39:25,520
I, I did have some sessions with him prior to the event. So then it kind of eased the nerves. But
374
00:39:25,520 --> 00:39:30,960
yeah, like the first session I had at the gym, I was like, my heart was racing. It's like, oh my
375
00:39:30,960 --> 00:39:36,640
God, it's sinking in. And by the second day I had the session with my friend and then it was like,
376
00:39:36,640 --> 00:39:43,040
oh, okay. Everything's relaxed slowly, slowly. Like I'm starting to relax a little bit. And by
377
00:39:43,040 --> 00:39:48,800
the time I got into ISO, I made some friends that who are from other countries that are on the
378
00:39:48,800 --> 00:39:54,080
circuit. Also they're fighting, it's their debut or they've been on the circuit for like maybe once
379
00:39:54,080 --> 00:39:59,840
or one or two World Cups. They've been to one or two World Cups and got to know them a little bit
380
00:39:59,840 --> 00:40:05,600
more. Got to learn some, maybe some of their struggles or struggles within their organization
381
00:40:05,600 --> 00:40:11,920
in terms of like other stuff. And so it was like kind of nice to have those kinds of conversations
382
00:40:11,920 --> 00:40:18,880
with other countries. And then that kind of like, by the time I was in ISO, I didn't think of
383
00:40:18,880 --> 00:40:26,640
anything. Like everything was kind of relaxed. It was very nice to see all of the big names in ISO
384
00:40:26,640 --> 00:40:33,360
and during training sessions that like in the gym that are like also like training for the World Cup.
385
00:40:33,360 --> 00:40:37,040
Kind of, it was definitely a little bit nerve wracking, but it's like after you see them once,
386
00:40:37,040 --> 00:40:45,680
it's like, cool. We're just all climbers. It takes some time to sink in, but once it sinks in, it's
387
00:40:45,680 --> 00:40:52,960
like you're kind of starting to slowly lock, you're slowly locking in. So like when you saw
388
00:40:52,960 --> 00:41:02,400
the big names like warming up, did that mess with your mind at all? Days prior, sort of, but not on
389
00:41:02,400 --> 00:41:08,560
ISO day. Oh really? Yeah. I mean, you already know the skill level and you know the skill gap, but
390
00:41:08,560 --> 00:41:13,200
it's like, you know, you're there. Like to me personally, it was like, I'm there to learn
391
00:41:13,200 --> 00:41:19,600
from the experience and I'm there to also just try hard and see how much my training has been
392
00:41:19,600 --> 00:41:26,960
for the past six months prior has been doing compared to because I mean, I used Innsbruck
393
00:41:26,960 --> 00:41:33,440
as a benchmark to see how my training has been doing, working, has been working throughout the
394
00:41:33,440 --> 00:41:40,240
six months after, six, seven months after the Oceania qualifiers. Because I did okay at the
395
00:41:40,240 --> 00:41:44,160
Oceania qualifiers and then coming into Innsbruck where it's the hardest, one of the hardest world
396
00:41:44,160 --> 00:41:51,280
cups, I think I did okay. Yeah. I could have done better, but because it was my first competition,
397
00:41:51,920 --> 00:41:57,760
it was a, I mean, the thing, the key points that I, you know, that people normally would look for,
398
00:41:57,760 --> 00:42:04,080
it's like never crossed my mind, but after doing it, it's like, oh, you know, when you're on the
399
00:42:04,080 --> 00:42:10,640
floor, like switching beta up something like you kind of, a lot of, I've talked to this about with
400
00:42:10,640 --> 00:42:18,720
Enrico where it's like, you, that's somehow, that's how you can tell from the elite and advanced
401
00:42:18,720 --> 00:42:27,440
climbers where sometimes the elite climbers can change beta mid-move, you know, or like even in
402
00:42:27,440 --> 00:42:34,480
the, in a dyno movement, they can probably change their beta mid-air. Potentially. I mean, I don't
403
00:42:34,480 --> 00:42:43,360
know for sure, but that's like an idea to think about it. Like, you know, but like me, I'm like
404
00:42:43,360 --> 00:42:48,080
changing beta while I'm on the floor. Sure. Yeah. Not while I'm on the wall. Cause like, I'm, I'm
405
00:42:48,080 --> 00:42:53,520
not searching for the right, I mean, I was, but in some of the movements that you're doing during
406
00:42:53,520 --> 00:42:58,240
comps, you're doing a dyno or you're doing like, it's hard to make those micro adjustments in the
407
00:42:58,240 --> 00:43:03,760
air and think about it once you're on the ground, because you tend to be like, oh, that works. And
408
00:43:03,760 --> 00:43:09,760
you get stuck in a loop of like, okay, I'm going to keep trying it and, you know, almost works one
409
00:43:09,760 --> 00:43:14,800
time. So then you keep, you get stuck into that group. I mean, you, you've competed, you know how
410
00:43:14,800 --> 00:43:19,760
that feels. You know how that feels. Well, I don't really have as much, so much time pressure, but
411
00:43:19,760 --> 00:43:28,400
yeah. I mean, we had five minutes on the wall in qualifications. I mean, five minutes is, is a rough
412
00:43:28,400 --> 00:43:35,200
time. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's, it's not enough time to like try and set the, but I mean, it's,
413
00:43:35,920 --> 00:43:41,600
you had some time to just have it. It's, it's, it's like the time to like try and like
414
00:43:42,400 --> 00:43:47,120
put, give it your all. And I mean, definitely after my qualification round, I felt like I ran her.
415
00:43:47,120 --> 00:43:53,760
I ran like five miles. I was like out of breath. I was gassing for air. I mean, cause a lot, like
416
00:43:53,760 --> 00:44:00,640
a lot of it was, a lot of it was just fighting on the wall. And my friend that was in Innsbruck,
417
00:44:00,640 --> 00:44:04,640
that was in the crowd cheering me on. He was like, dude, what is it? He was like, what is it? How
418
00:44:04,640 --> 00:44:09,760
does it feel to be up there on the stage? And it's like, honestly, like I, like once you're standing
419
00:44:09,760 --> 00:44:18,240
on the stage, like, like when I was up there, for me, it was like, I'm seeing the boulder that I'm
420
00:44:18,240 --> 00:44:25,280
going to climb, but then I'm also seeing someone top next to me, someone trying and falling next
421
00:44:25,760 --> 00:44:32,160
to my right and someone topping to my left. And so like, I tried to funnel that out. And then
422
00:44:32,160 --> 00:44:37,520
he was like, do you hear the crowd? Like, do you ever like feel like the presence of the crowd?
423
00:44:37,520 --> 00:44:44,880
And I'm like, yeah, I do. But once I'm like focused on the climb, every, I like, I, the audio of the
424
00:44:44,880 --> 00:44:50,320
crowd, like just tunes out. Like I don't, I don't hear it. All I hear is like, if someone says my
425
00:44:50,320 --> 00:44:57,600
name, sure. I mean, obviously like someone's cheering my name or, you know, the announcer,
426
00:44:57,600 --> 00:45:03,920
that's it. But I mean, like even that, the announcer would be tuned out already because I'm so focused
427
00:45:03,920 --> 00:45:09,200
on the climb. And I think that's just either that's a me thing or if it's something that other
428
00:45:09,200 --> 00:45:14,800
athletes may also have, but that personally, that's, that's what happened. Like that's how it felt
429
00:45:14,800 --> 00:45:19,840
during the climbs. Yeah. I mean, I think that's, that's what you want. You don't want to be thinking
430
00:45:19,840 --> 00:45:23,280
about everything. You kind of only want to be thinking about the boulder. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
431
00:45:24,240 --> 00:45:29,600
But yeah, going back to ISO, since it was your first time, you're not ranked, you must have been
432
00:45:29,600 --> 00:45:38,000
in ISO for like ever. Oh, well, so I thought I would, I would have been, well, I'm not ranked,
433
00:45:38,000 --> 00:45:43,200
but then because I think I, because I did the oceanic wall fire, I sort of was like a little
434
00:45:43,200 --> 00:45:50,480
bit bumped up into the cycle. So I was like, not at the end, but I was near the end. And then some
435
00:45:50,480 --> 00:45:58,080
people that would never did youth worlds, youth world cups or, you know, like, you know,
436
00:45:58,080 --> 00:46:05,200
world cups or that didn't do the youth circuit. And it's the first time they were on like the
437
00:46:05,200 --> 00:46:12,560
end of the list. Oh, okay. Yeah. So how long were you in ISO for? I would say we got into ISO like
438
00:46:12,560 --> 00:46:22,720
around noon, noon or like one o'clock in the afternoon. And I didn't get on till eight.
439
00:46:22,720 --> 00:46:28,480
What? Yeah. I mean, I was supposed to get on at seven, but then the rain, the rain,
440
00:46:28,480 --> 00:46:36,000
I mean, whatever. Sure. Yeah. It rained, it rained in the middle of ISO. So then people who were
441
00:46:36,000 --> 00:46:43,520
halfway through their, their climbs had to stop because it rained. I mean, we could have continued
442
00:46:43,520 --> 00:46:51,440
climbing, but then the venue was fully covered. It would have been nice to have were they're out
443
00:46:51,440 --> 00:46:58,240
because the mats were not, the mats were wet, which is why they stopped it. The boulders weren't wet,
444
00:46:58,880 --> 00:47:11,360
but yeah. So then I had, we, everyone that was like maybe from six PM to eight got pushed back
445
00:47:11,360 --> 00:47:17,040
an hour and a half. Wow. Yeah. That is so long though. That's actually longer than I thought.
446
00:47:17,040 --> 00:47:22,960
You have people like, I mean, it's funny to think about it, but people who are at the,
447
00:47:22,960 --> 00:47:30,960
who start later in the, in the qualification rounds, a lot of them take naps.
448
00:47:32,480 --> 00:47:36,400
A lot of them take naps, but sometimes it's nerve wracking to take a nap because you might
449
00:47:37,440 --> 00:47:45,920
oversleep. Yeah. Like one of the, one of the guys I met from the Indian team, from the Indian team,
450
00:47:45,920 --> 00:47:53,280
they, he took a nap and then he woke, he heard someone fall on the warmup wall next to him.
451
00:47:53,280 --> 00:47:57,200
And he thought it was someone trying to wake him up that he was, he didn't make this time.
452
00:47:58,800 --> 00:48:02,640
But he woke up, came back to us and he was like, we were joking around and I was like,
453
00:48:02,640 --> 00:48:08,560
yeah, you should have just kept sleeping because it's raining. You know? And you know, we don't,
454
00:48:08,560 --> 00:48:13,920
we're delayed by, we don't know how much longer. And we were hoping that it would only be 30
455
00:48:13,920 --> 00:48:19,680
minutes, but it turned out to be an hour and a half. Oh my God. Yeah. I mean, like a lot of people
456
00:48:19,680 --> 00:48:28,400
are, if they're later in, later on the qualification round, they either take a nap and you, or they,
457
00:48:28,400 --> 00:48:35,680
and they, or they start warming up like maybe an hour before. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. What did you do?
458
00:48:35,680 --> 00:48:42,640
Did you take a nap? Well, I, to get my like energy going up, I warmed up all the guys that were
459
00:48:42,640 --> 00:48:48,560
warming up, ready to go. You warmed up early? I warmed up, well, so I warmed up early, but I
460
00:48:48,560 --> 00:48:55,440
didn't like, it was like a half, half ass warmup. Like I'm just like doing a band workout, a band
461
00:48:55,440 --> 00:49:03,520
workout, but like a band warmup and then hanging on the hangboard. It was, I mean, like once I'm
462
00:49:03,520 --> 00:49:10,320
warmed up, it's quicker for me to warm up prior to, you know, game time, prior to game time.
463
00:49:10,320 --> 00:49:16,560
Yeah. Cause like I've warmed up maybe like a good 15 minutes at the beginning and then rested for
464
00:49:16,560 --> 00:49:23,440
the next eight hours. Oh my God. Okay. Rested for the next eight hours, well seven hours,
465
00:49:23,440 --> 00:49:30,240
and then I warmed up again prior. Yeah. So, I mean, it definitely sucks to be later in the time
466
00:49:30,240 --> 00:49:35,920
slot, but I mean, it is what it is. Well, you also didn't have your phone. So yeah, we don't have
467
00:49:35,920 --> 00:49:41,760
our phones. That's sad around. I guess you talk to people. Yeah. You know, we get to talk to people.
468
00:49:41,760 --> 00:49:49,040
Some people are playing like football, soccer, soccer in the warmup areas. Yeah. Or like we're
469
00:49:49,040 --> 00:49:56,560
playing like, we're getting to know each other. You know, know some of the climbers. Like I've met
470
00:49:56,560 --> 00:50:06,080
the Thailand team are, I think that's how you say his name. And then I met some like people from
471
00:50:06,080 --> 00:50:13,040
Cyprus, from the India team. And then, you know, at least I got to know people. Like I met,
472
00:50:13,040 --> 00:50:19,520
it's actually the first time I met Al from the US team, the coach for C5. That's the first, I've
473
00:50:19,520 --> 00:50:25,920
seen him at the gym coaching C5, but then like, it's the first time I met him. And then I met
474
00:50:25,920 --> 00:50:31,600
him and like actually introduced myself. Yeah. I met him there and it's like, you know, it's, you
475
00:50:31,600 --> 00:50:37,200
learn how to spend your time in ISO. A lot of the time, like, oh, I actually talked to like some of
476
00:50:37,200 --> 00:50:42,240
the Japanese coaches there too, because they, they saw my shirt and Japan's pretty close to Guam.
477
00:50:42,960 --> 00:50:49,520
Oh, yeah. So then like, they're like, oh, Guam. Yeah. Like how many of you guys are here? And so
478
00:50:49,520 --> 00:50:54,480
they're like, oh, where's the rest of your team? Got to know them. ISO is pretty, it's an interesting,
479
00:50:54,480 --> 00:50:59,440
and I think it's different. It's a different experience for everybody. That was just my
480
00:50:59,440 --> 00:51:05,600
experience. Like, because I, I want to make friends with other countries and get to know them.
481
00:51:06,160 --> 00:51:13,040
That way I have, that way the next time I go to the World Cup, I wouldn't feel so lonely.
482
00:51:13,040 --> 00:51:19,600
Yeah. Okay. And so then going out into the first boulder, what was that like
483
00:51:19,600 --> 00:51:27,520
first ever World Cup qualification boulder? First boulder was actually, it was interesting
484
00:51:27,520 --> 00:51:32,720
because I looked at it, read it as a coordination boulder and like, I was throwing myself at the
485
00:51:32,720 --> 00:51:39,920
boulder. Cause that's, I mean, that's something that I struggled in, in the ocean and qualifiers is that
486
00:51:41,520 --> 00:51:48,320
my coach, I mean, the Guam coach noticed that when I'm trying a boulder, I'm not going 100%.
487
00:51:48,320 --> 00:51:54,400
I'm like maybe giving like 80%, you know, so that I gave it 100% on the first boulder. I'm like
488
00:51:54,400 --> 00:52:04,960
throwing myself on the Cordo, the Cronician Dino, flying on the mats, but I'm like looking at the
489
00:52:04,960 --> 00:52:13,120
boulder and you know, I'm a little bit stumped for the first, like for the first boulders,
490
00:52:13,120 --> 00:52:19,440
for the first boulder, because it's like first actual boulder of the World Cup. And so I'm like
491
00:52:19,440 --> 00:52:25,120
sitting there stumped and like, I'm trying to read the beta. I'm like, ah, shoot. It's slowly
492
00:52:25,120 --> 00:52:31,120
sinking in. Like I got to read this pretty quick. I give it full, like full 100%. So then I'm like
493
00:52:31,120 --> 00:52:38,320
throwing myself at it. Didn't get it, but I felt close. And then, you know, after doing the whole
494
00:52:38,320 --> 00:52:45,760
qualification round, I talked to one of the Australian coaches and he was like, and I was
495
00:52:45,760 --> 00:52:51,360
like, exchange your beta with him. I was like, how did the others do it? Like, it was, did I read it
496
00:52:51,360 --> 00:52:56,640
correctly? I mean, because I didn't have the Guam coach there, but yeah. And then I was like,
497
00:52:56,640 --> 00:53:02,480
I was definitely reading it wrong. Oh, yeah. Because I mean, I read it right the first attempt
498
00:53:02,480 --> 00:53:08,000
and it didn't feel right for me. So then I tried a different way and I stuck it stuck to that beta
499
00:53:08,000 --> 00:53:13,520
than I, the second beta that I picked. Do you have videos of your qualification attempts?
500
00:53:14,400 --> 00:53:21,440
Yes, but I don't have them saved now. I fall. I will eventually put that together in a video.
501
00:53:21,440 --> 00:53:27,440
Okay. Well, I want the videos. So, yeah. It's just going to be a video of videos of me falling.
502
00:53:27,440 --> 00:53:33,360
I mean, but we also like can't see the qualification. Yeah, that's true. So it's just, yeah.
503
00:53:33,360 --> 00:53:39,600
Oh yeah, that's true. Yeah. I forgot. They should feel like they should air the qualification boulders
504
00:53:39,600 --> 00:53:46,800
or at least do, I don't know, highlights, do better highlights of all the athletes versus,
505
00:53:46,800 --> 00:53:52,640
yeah, I don't know. Cause you want to be on TV. Yeah. Yeah. I used to get the exposure, especially
506
00:53:52,640 --> 00:53:59,520
for the people, for the countries that also have the same situation as Guam, you know, they're
507
00:53:59,520 --> 00:54:03,520
small. They want to get the exposure, but it's hard to get that exposure if you're not,
508
00:54:05,680 --> 00:54:09,440
you're not higher up on the circuit or something like that. You know, it's hard to get that
509
00:54:09,440 --> 00:54:15,520
exposure. So now going into, let's get, let's get your least favorite moment from the comp first.
510
00:54:15,520 --> 00:54:22,240
Uh, like I, you know, I mean the, the after competition feel like you feel like you could
511
00:54:22,240 --> 00:54:28,240
have just done better if you read the beta correctly, stuff like that. Yeah. Um, you know,
512
00:54:28,240 --> 00:54:37,760
because, you know, I, I basically placed last place. I was, I was placed 98, I think 97. I
513
00:54:37,760 --> 00:54:46,080
don't remember, but I mean, that, that was like already beyond me, but, um, I guess at the moment
514
00:54:46,080 --> 00:54:52,800
it felt pretty bad. Yeah. How did you feel about your performance compared to like yourself?
515
00:54:53,440 --> 00:54:58,720
I felt like it did pretty well. Like I was, I think it came down to like reading data properly
516
00:54:58,720 --> 00:55:05,120
and adjusting data properly. And then, um, I don't know, I think I did pretty well. I, I almost saw
517
00:55:05,120 --> 00:55:13,280
the zone three of the two, three or three of the problems. I think two, two of the problems. Um,
518
00:55:13,280 --> 00:55:19,120
I was hoping there's only the, the, the two slam problem. Those were the two really close
519
00:55:19,120 --> 00:55:25,600
ones where I thought I was going to snag the zone and maybe top it. But, um, I ended up reading the
520
00:55:25,600 --> 00:55:32,720
beta completely wrong because I went back, watched my video and then watched how like, I don't know,
521
00:55:32,720 --> 00:55:38,880
but the people who have been posting the sends on Instagram and watching their beta, I was like,
522
00:55:38,880 --> 00:55:44,960
man, I knew I did it slightly wrong, but it was, cause a lot of the boulders, they're like,
523
00:55:45,680 --> 00:55:50,320
they kept the hand on while I was trying to coordinate, do a coordination, coordination
524
00:55:50,320 --> 00:55:54,160
dynamo on a slab when it wasn't really intended, but you could do it that way. It just definitely
525
00:55:54,160 --> 00:56:01,840
makes it harder. Um, some of them kept the hand on. Um, I was doing a shuffle on one of the other
526
00:56:01,840 --> 00:56:06,640
slabs where I kind of got this like a little scar on my face. Cause I, okay. Yeah, I saw that.
527
00:56:06,640 --> 00:56:12,160
A lot of, so if you, like a lot of the athletes that, like even the females,
528
00:56:13,120 --> 00:56:18,400
they're like, always has something on her face. Yeah. Well, like everyone, like all like, you know,
529
00:56:18,400 --> 00:56:26,240
who like fought on slab. Yeah. You even like, uh, like Jesse pills had, like, had the, had the cut,
530
00:56:26,240 --> 00:56:32,880
uh, scuff on her face and like a bunch of the, like, I think, uh, John Wan Chun's little brother,
531
00:56:32,880 --> 00:56:37,840
for everything, but yeah, he, it was his debut too. And he had scuff on his face. Like I was like,
532
00:56:37,840 --> 00:56:43,840
oh, and the Cyprus team guy, him and I were talking about it. Everyone has the little scar on their
533
00:56:43,840 --> 00:56:49,440
face. Yeah. And I was like, oh yeah, I was fighting hard on that slab because I was trying to shuffle
534
00:56:49,440 --> 00:56:55,200
and I kept scratching my face on it, but there was a static beta to it. I didn't think of doing
535
00:56:55,200 --> 00:57:03,920
that. So it's like, I think reflecting off of it, I think the least favorite part is like me just
536
00:57:03,920 --> 00:57:09,440
not reading the data. Preferably. So then favorite part, I mean, sitting in the athletes box, sitting
537
00:57:09,440 --> 00:57:15,760
at the throw off with all the, with all the other world cup athletes, kind of nice, like watching
538
00:57:15,760 --> 00:57:20,960
other, like watching the semis, watching the finals, stuff like that. And then there's the
539
00:57:20,960 --> 00:57:28,800
the after party. Oh yeah. And the after party. Yeah. Give me the dirt there. Uh, I mean, it was,
540
00:57:28,800 --> 00:57:35,520
it was fun. Like I got to know, uh, I got to know better, like the, some of the other, the
541
00:57:36,240 --> 00:57:42,880
Thailand guy, I mean, yeah, the guy from Thailand, um, some of the Australian team too, that I didn't
542
00:57:42,880 --> 00:57:48,000
really get, make friends with back in the ocean, ocean qualifiers, got to hang out, hang out with
543
00:57:48,000 --> 00:57:55,600
them. Um, met some fans of the Australian team, hung out with, hung out with me. And then like,
544
00:57:57,120 --> 00:58:01,280
you know, everyone was drinking, everyone was having a nice time. And then sharing the dance
545
00:58:01,280 --> 00:58:06,080
floor with everyone else was pretty interesting because I have a background in dancing. So then.
546
00:58:06,800 --> 00:58:10,240
So you could beat them in some time. I don't know. I mean, I did like,
547
00:58:10,800 --> 00:58:15,440
I used to like, cause I used to compete in break dancing. And so then I, when I told
548
00:58:15,440 --> 00:58:20,000
some of the Australian guys that I did do that, they're like, Oh, you better, I'm not, I'm not
549
00:58:20,000 --> 00:58:23,760
leaving the dance floor unless you bust a move. And so I mean, I did that. It was kind of nice.
550
00:58:23,760 --> 00:58:29,440
There was like different dance circles going on. And so it was kind of cool. And then everyone
551
00:58:29,440 --> 00:58:35,120
were just like getting to know each other. Got to see like, I don't know, like Simon Lorenzi
552
00:58:35,120 --> 00:58:43,440
dancing on the dance floor. Oh, like all the big names like Amish, uh, animal, um,
553
00:58:43,440 --> 00:58:48,720
uh, who else is there? I can't remember. Um, oh, like a bunch of the Austrian team.
554
00:58:49,440 --> 00:58:53,440
I think, yeah, a bunch of the German team and stuff like that were there.
555
00:58:54,000 --> 00:58:56,560
So it was kind of cool to share the best moves.
556
00:58:58,640 --> 00:59:01,360
Okay. Fair.
557
00:59:02,640 --> 00:59:03,360
Yeah.
558
00:59:04,400 --> 00:59:08,240
I don't know. I mean, I was the only one that did some break dance moves on the floor,
559
00:59:08,240 --> 00:59:10,000
but everyone had some good moves.
560
00:59:10,000 --> 00:59:15,920
Yeah. Okay. I don't know how to, I don't know how to go deeper into that, but yeah,
561
00:59:15,920 --> 00:59:21,520
that was kind of, it was fun. I guess that was the most memorable cause I got the kind of,
562
00:59:21,520 --> 00:59:26,640
it's a different experience, especially in that setting when everyone's so focused
563
00:59:26,640 --> 00:59:32,400
and during the, during the competition, when everyone can just like relax during,
564
00:59:32,400 --> 00:59:38,240
you know, the after party. It's kind of nice. Okay. And then the, the, the, the, the, the,
565
00:59:38,240 --> 00:59:42,800
it's kind of nice. Okay. And, um, favorite moment during the comp.
566
00:59:43,360 --> 00:59:54,800
I mean, being there, being, like being, knowing, like go do going through every single boulder,
567
00:59:57,600 --> 01:00:03,840
was great. And then knowing that I basically gave it my all was like,
568
01:00:03,840 --> 01:00:08,880
that's like the most memorable and my most favorite. Um, I mean, being there is already
569
01:00:08,880 --> 01:00:14,800
like an honor. Yeah. So it's, I mean, yeah, I don't know what else to say.
570
01:00:14,800 --> 01:00:22,480
Yeah, that's my favorite part. Like being able to try those boulders and have a crowd watch is nice.
571
01:00:22,720 --> 01:00:29,920
And then having a friend in the crowd and the Australian team coaches cheer on, you know,
572
01:00:29,920 --> 01:00:35,680
at least having someone cheering your name during, during the comp is also nice too. Yeah.
573
01:00:35,680 --> 01:00:40,640
I mean, it's, it feels, it feels in the moment kind of thing. It's hard to describe.
574
01:00:41,280 --> 01:00:44,400
Yeah. It's like a, I made it here moment.
575
01:00:44,400 --> 01:00:50,000
Yeah. It's like, I made it here moment, you know, like I'm like, it shows that like, you know,
576
01:00:50,000 --> 01:00:56,240
hard work does pay off, you know, and it, it encourages you to try harder, you know, and,
577
01:00:56,240 --> 01:01:00,640
and, you know, and that's what I wanted to gain from the experience. Yeah.
578
01:01:01,840 --> 01:01:06,400
I wish I could have that moment. It's, I mean, it's, it's, it's hard. I mean,
579
01:01:06,400 --> 01:01:12,720
a lot of people are like, and it's, it's, that's the, that's the crazy thing too, because going,
580
01:01:13,280 --> 01:01:20,720
be living here in San Diego and meeting people who are like way stronger than me or like,
581
01:01:20,720 --> 01:01:25,440
you know, climbing with people who are way stronger than me, you know, and I mean, they sometimes,
582
01:01:25,440 --> 01:01:30,960
you know, some people just choose not to compete and, you know, like to just climb outside, but
583
01:01:30,960 --> 01:01:39,120
like, it's crazy to think that I myself is representing Guam and, you know, and I, you know,
584
01:01:39,120 --> 01:01:45,600
and climbing with people who are as strong as I am, or like stronger. And it's, it's crazy to think
585
01:01:45,600 --> 01:01:52,960
that, that like, not everyone gets that opportunity. And I feel, I feel very honored and I don't know if
586
01:01:52,960 --> 01:01:58,480
I could say, would say lucky, but like, you know, like it kind of, it's, it's, it's just crazy to
587
01:01:58,480 --> 01:02:07,360
think about, like the timing of it all too, like, you know, I just like having, like seeing Guam
588
01:02:08,080 --> 01:02:13,600
slowly building up to me, like, you know, being part of the circuit with this. Great.
589
01:02:13,600 --> 01:02:18,480
Yeah. I guess, do you ever feel kind of like weird that you,
590
01:02:18,480 --> 01:02:24,880
I don't know, like that you're able to like be on the world cup circuit, even though when you climb
591
01:02:24,880 --> 01:02:32,080
here, sometimes you like lose the comps. I don't know how to phrase that any better. You know what
592
01:02:32,080 --> 01:02:38,480
I mean. I know what you mean. And it definitely feels odd. But I mean,
593
01:02:40,080 --> 01:02:43,920
Take what you can get, I guess. Yeah, take what you can get, but like you take every opportunity
594
01:02:43,920 --> 01:02:52,320
that you can, if you have it available to you, because, you know, you have nothing to lose
595
01:02:52,320 --> 01:03:00,880
realistically. Like you're, you're, you're going in for the experience to become a better climber,
596
01:03:00,880 --> 01:03:08,160
right? And, and to build it up for Guam. And to build it up. And, you know,
597
01:03:08,160 --> 01:03:14,560
I mean, like a lot of the guys here, a lot of my friends here are like, don't like think,
598
01:03:14,560 --> 01:03:19,600
don't have the imposter syndrome, you know, don't think that you don't deserve you there,
599
01:03:19,600 --> 01:03:25,040
because, hey, you're one of the strong, your climbers, one of the stronger climbers from Guam,
600
01:03:25,040 --> 01:03:31,600
you know, they want you to represent Guam, you know, then, you know, all this stuff. And I'm like,
601
01:03:31,600 --> 01:03:36,080
okay, yeah, it's nice to think of that, you know, even though, you know, there's definitely other
602
01:03:36,080 --> 01:03:42,480
people that could be on the world circuit, but, you know, but then the, the pool within their
603
01:03:42,480 --> 01:03:48,880
country or whatever, you know, is stacked. And, you know, it's, it's crazy. But I mean, like, you
604
01:03:48,880 --> 01:03:55,120
know, Guam is still new to climbing. So, you know, you take every opportunity that you can get,
605
01:03:55,120 --> 01:04:00,720
so that you can build it to be even stronger. You know, so I mean, sure, I have those thoughts in
606
01:04:00,720 --> 01:04:06,640
my head, like, why am I even here? But I mean, like, it's for the greater good for, you know,
607
01:04:06,640 --> 01:04:12,880
it's for something even bigger, like, think, I think it's there's a bigger picture to it. And I'm
608
01:04:12,880 --> 01:04:20,000
like a small piece of it. Yeah. So, yeah. And I guess it's also like, you know, like, I think
609
01:04:20,000 --> 01:04:27,120
and I'm like a small piece of it. Yeah. So, yeah. And I guess it's also like, sort of based on
610
01:04:28,080 --> 01:04:34,240
the opportunities that you grew up with, because you didn't have climbing there. Yeah. And then,
611
01:04:34,240 --> 01:04:38,880
obviously, like here in the US, it's already a lot more established. So, yeah, you've kind of always
612
01:04:38,880 --> 01:04:45,280
had those opportunities. Yeah. And it's, it's sort of like makes me hungry for more climbing. Like,
613
01:04:45,280 --> 01:04:51,600
it's like, it, I feel like it's, it's weird to say it like this, but it's like, it feels like it's
614
01:04:51,600 --> 01:05:00,880
supplementing my, like, my drive to climb even harder. I used to think like, oh, V10 is impossible,
615
01:05:00,880 --> 01:05:05,280
or like, you know, oh, yeah, you know, or I used to think that, you know, anything past like,
616
01:05:06,240 --> 01:05:12,000
V10 is going to be so unreachable for me. And like, you know, recently, I like I've gotten so much
617
01:05:12,000 --> 01:05:18,720
better, like I'm slowly reaching higher grades and stuff like that outside. And, you know, I'm slowly
618
01:05:18,720 --> 01:05:25,280
like executing my moves in comp style stuff. And you know, it's like, there's no, you can visualize
619
01:05:25,280 --> 01:05:30,320
the ceiling, but you know, you could still go past it, you know, and, and, and that's, that's my
620
01:05:30,320 --> 01:05:36,400
thought process on that. If you can take the opportunity, you can break past your ceiling
621
01:05:36,400 --> 01:05:43,200
that you're seeing that, you know, maybe you can be better. Okay. Yeah. That's a good statement.
622
01:05:43,200 --> 01:05:48,960
Yeah. Okay. Do you want to talk about the Climbing Gems Chalk Bag that you received?
623
01:05:48,960 --> 01:05:58,560
Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, so this is a chalk bag from Climbing Gems. The owner of Climbing Gems,
624
01:05:58,560 --> 01:06:07,920
her name's Anne and she's from Australia. I'm, the Guam team met her during the Oceania Qualifiers.
625
01:06:07,920 --> 01:06:16,480
And then, so that's kind of, that's where the friendship started. And so, yeah, so she, we've,
626
01:06:16,480 --> 01:06:23,200
we followed each other on Instagram. We shared back and forth stuff like, oh, you know, like talk bag,
627
01:06:23,200 --> 01:06:29,200
talk and like climbing talk and stuff like that. And then when I posted that I was heading towards
628
01:06:29,200 --> 01:06:35,120
Innsbruck, she messaged me and it's like, ah, man, it would have been great to have someone,
629
01:06:36,080 --> 01:06:42,240
you know, test out my chalk bucket. Cause she has the Paraclimber, I forgot the Paraclimber from the
630
01:06:42,240 --> 01:06:55,360
great GV team. Oh yeah, Anita. Yeah. She sent her to test it out on the Paraclimbing Elite. And so
631
01:06:55,360 --> 01:07:01,600
she was like, oh, I wish someone would test out my bouldering bag. Right. Okay. Or, you know,
632
01:07:01,600 --> 01:07:07,360
the chalk bucket. And I was like, I can test it out, but I think it might be too late for you to
633
01:07:07,360 --> 01:07:13,040
ship it. I'm literally on my flight to Innsbruck. And she's like, don't worry, I'll think about,
634
01:07:13,040 --> 01:07:22,160
I'll figure something out. So she literally makes this while I'm on the flight. Whoa. Express shifts
635
01:07:22,160 --> 01:07:31,440
it to my Airbnb in Innsbruck. And she was like, hopefully it gets to you on time. Cause you were
636
01:07:31,440 --> 01:07:36,160
only there five days in advance. Yeah. I was like, wait, five days in advance. And she was like,
637
01:07:36,160 --> 01:07:40,560
yeah, I was like, wait, five days, well, five, six days in advance. And I was like, oh, I don't
638
01:07:40,560 --> 01:07:47,040
think it's going to make it. And so she sends it and literally the day before it got to the door.
639
01:07:47,760 --> 01:07:52,480
And I was like, oh, it's meant to be. And so I get to test it out. It's really nice. I like the,
640
01:07:52,480 --> 01:07:57,840
it's very different because I mean, a lot of companies do the magnetic enclosure,
641
01:07:58,640 --> 01:08:02,640
but because it's still like a, I guess you could say prototype model.
642
01:08:02,640 --> 01:08:09,200
I got to test it out and there's definitely things to change on it, but you know, that's part of the,
643
01:08:09,200 --> 01:08:15,200
that was part of the conversation is that I was supposed to test it out and give her feedback,
644
01:08:15,200 --> 01:08:19,280
you know, and stuff like that. And it was really nice because the material of the shirt that she
645
01:08:19,280 --> 01:08:26,080
used, I mean, this is the logo, the brand, the logo of the brand. And the shirt is like
646
01:08:26,080 --> 01:08:32,000
really high, it's like heavy duty. And a lot of people, I've been getting a lot of comments
647
01:08:33,040 --> 01:08:38,320
on it of people wondering, is it Tyvek or not? I was like, no, it's a t-shirt.
648
01:08:38,320 --> 01:08:39,600
What is Tyvek?
649
01:08:39,600 --> 01:08:43,520
Tyvek is the fabric you underlay your tent with.
650
01:08:43,520 --> 01:08:44,560
Oh yeah, yeah, okay.
651
01:08:44,560 --> 01:08:51,360
Yeah. Yeah. And so I was like, no, no, no, it's a t-shirt. So that, I mean, like at least the fabric
652
01:08:51,360 --> 01:08:57,440
that she uses for her t-shirts are very high quality. And then the magnetic enclosure is
653
01:08:57,440 --> 01:09:01,920
pretty strong, not too strong that you can't, it's a hard time opening it.
654
01:09:02,800 --> 01:09:05,600
Yeah. Maybe after a long session.
655
01:09:05,600 --> 01:09:11,520
Yeah, I mean, after a long session, but at least like most of the time, like when I throw my bag
656
01:09:11,520 --> 01:09:16,480
down and it closes, it's kind of nice, especially if you're worried about chalk falling out. It has
657
01:09:16,480 --> 01:09:22,240
like this nice little feature of the jeans at the bottom. She ran out of t-shirt materials, so then
658
01:09:22,240 --> 01:09:29,760
she used like an old denim. And I guess that's also another great thing about it is she uses
659
01:09:29,760 --> 01:09:41,200
recycled, you know, recycled fabric, basically stuff like old t-shirts, old pants. Or like if you
660
01:09:41,200 --> 01:09:48,320
have a worn out team t-shirt, she can also, you know, do that. It's sort of like a memento
661
01:09:48,320 --> 01:09:54,080
kind of thing if you want to have some sentimental value in chocolate. And so she does that. She does
662
01:09:54,080 --> 01:09:59,840
like the little custom orders and stuff like that. And I think she has a website, but if you message
663
01:09:59,840 --> 01:10:08,320
her on her Instagram, she'll lead you in the right direction to kind of get, get the right
664
01:10:08,320 --> 01:10:14,320
to maybe eventually get one of these. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. I will link her Instagram in the description
665
01:10:14,320 --> 01:10:22,320
so people can check that out. So moving on to the Guam team, a lot of people don't know about,
666
01:10:23,200 --> 01:10:29,600
watch about Guam, like what's the vibe there? Where is it? What the climbing scene is like there?
667
01:10:29,600 --> 01:10:39,680
Yeah. I mean, so Guam is in the Oceania region, basically. It is, I would say, a four and a half
668
01:10:39,680 --> 01:10:46,080
hour flight in Japan. So if you're looking at the world map, if you're looking at Japan and you're
669
01:10:46,080 --> 01:10:53,840
looking at the Philippines, you basically draw a line from Japan south, south, southeast, and then
670
01:10:53,840 --> 01:11:01,040
directly east of the Philippines. It's, it's a small island. It's about 15 miles wide, 32 north to
671
01:11:01,040 --> 01:11:06,560
south. Oh, it's pretty small. Wow. Yeah. It's pretty small. Speed limit is like 35 miles per hour.
672
01:11:06,560 --> 01:11:10,880
Okay. So like if you wanted to do like around the island trip, you could do it in a day.
673
01:11:10,880 --> 01:11:16,960
Oh yeah. It's a US territory. So it does do miles. Yes. Yes. It's a US territory. So yeah. And a lot
674
01:11:16,960 --> 01:11:23,760
of people mistake that, that, you know, when we, a lot of people that move from Guam to the United
675
01:11:23,760 --> 01:11:29,200
States, mainland, or like to other countries, a lot of them, a lot of us are complimented about our
676
01:11:29,200 --> 01:11:34,240
English. Oh, okay. Your English is very well. And I was like, nah, I mean, English is our first
677
01:11:34,240 --> 01:11:42,320
language. The local language though, and the local people are known as Chamorro. So, so we're like,
678
01:11:42,320 --> 01:11:48,960
you know, the Chamorro people and it's, it's, it's an Austronesian descent, I guess you could say.
679
01:11:48,960 --> 01:11:55,920
It, we, we like, like most of the Oceania region, it's like Austronesian, Polynesian kind of,
680
01:11:56,640 --> 01:12:02,400
the set. So then mostly I believe it, if I remember correctly, sorry if I'm wrong,
681
01:12:03,200 --> 01:12:07,680
I believe it. I remember learning in my, when I was in college in Guam, I remember
682
01:12:07,680 --> 01:12:13,680
in my Guam history class, it was Austronesia. So we're in the Pacific, we're US territory.
683
01:12:14,720 --> 01:12:19,280
You know, we have a naval base, we have an air force base. So we're basically a tactical
684
01:12:20,320 --> 01:12:25,280
region. We're a tactical island, I guess. I mean, it was, yeah. And that's, that's how we gain US
685
01:12:25,280 --> 01:12:29,920
citizenship. And, you know, there's a lot of political aspects to it that I don't really want
686
01:12:29,920 --> 01:12:35,840
to go into. But I mean, yeah, Guam, so there's a lot of political aspects to it. So I think
687
01:12:35,840 --> 01:12:49,280
that's where Guam is located. It's a nice island, very high tourist scene. And used to have a lot of
688
01:12:49,280 --> 01:12:57,040
Japanese tourists recently been getting a lot of Korean tourists, stuff like that, from other
689
01:12:57,040 --> 01:13:03,280
Asian countries come visit Guam for like vacation. It's like the Hawaii of Asia, sort of.
690
01:13:03,280 --> 01:13:04,480
Oh, okay.
691
01:13:04,480 --> 01:13:10,480
Sort of. I guess you could say it like that. Yeah. And then like the climbing community started
692
01:13:10,480 --> 01:13:15,840
recent, the climbing community has been there for a bit. But it's very, very hush hush down low a
693
01:13:15,840 --> 01:13:22,560
little bit for a while. And then when they opened up the commercial gym, it blew up.
694
01:13:23,520 --> 01:13:26,160
So is there like an outdoor climbing scene too?
695
01:13:26,160 --> 01:13:33,520
Oh, yeah. So that's how the old climbing community was. It was word of mouth. And it was like,
696
01:13:33,520 --> 01:13:39,840
if people wanted to climb outdoors. But there's not a lot of boulders and it's a lot of
697
01:13:40,640 --> 01:13:47,600
lean roots. But there's a lot of established lead roots. And sometimes even like cave roots,
698
01:13:47,600 --> 01:13:53,280
like you go into a cave and you climb. It's a little weird, but a lot of the,
699
01:13:53,840 --> 01:13:57,680
we're slowly developing. We're hoping to develop eventually.
700
01:13:57,680 --> 01:14:06,640
There are the t-nuts, the t-nuts, the anchors that were used in the established roots were all steel.
701
01:14:06,640 --> 01:14:09,040
So all they're, they're all rusted out.
702
01:14:09,040 --> 01:14:11,040
Oh, what do people usually use?
703
01:14:11,040 --> 01:14:16,320
No, they're normally it's steel, but if you're by the ocean and it's very salty,
704
01:14:16,320 --> 01:14:17,200
Oh, gotcha.
705
01:14:17,200 --> 01:14:24,320
you want to use titanium bolts and titanium gear. So then it doesn't wear out in a corrosive
706
01:14:24,320 --> 01:14:38,320
environment. So then the Guam coach and some other people are planning, slowly planning on
707
01:14:38,320 --> 01:14:46,560
re-establishing those roots and putting up new ones. It's just finding the money to buy all of
708
01:14:46,560 --> 01:14:55,840
the titanium bolts and then finding the time to go and put those roots up. And which is why
709
01:14:55,840 --> 01:15:01,600
like the Guam coach is always like, we need you here. We need you here. We need someone to start
710
01:15:01,600 --> 01:15:06,640
FA-ing everything. And I was like, ah, I mean, I could, but it's all weed. I have a boulder.
711
01:15:06,640 --> 01:15:13,600
I mean, and we do have some boulders, but a lot of them are like the top outs are like,
712
01:15:13,600 --> 01:15:21,200
have heavy shrubs. It has like trees on top of the boulders, mosques and stuff like that.
713
01:15:21,200 --> 01:15:27,680
And, and, oh, and for people who are curious, the rock type is limestone. It's like the very sharp,
714
01:15:28,960 --> 01:15:34,160
sharp limestone. Yeah. People who like to scramble. Some people like to scramble on top of the
715
01:15:34,160 --> 01:15:40,160
limestone hillsides by the, by the ocean. And a lot of them usually come back down.
716
01:15:40,160 --> 01:15:44,800
From those heights with a lot of cuts on their legs because it's very sharp. And like,
717
01:15:45,520 --> 01:15:50,320
I feel like you can slice your hand off some of the limestone. I don't know what to compare it
718
01:15:50,320 --> 01:15:56,960
to though, cause it's, it's basically coral limestone. I don't know if it's similar to
719
01:15:59,040 --> 01:16:03,600
like, like Spanish limestone. I'm not sure. I mean, you don't,
720
01:16:03,600 --> 01:16:06,400
I don't even know what limestone is.
721
01:16:06,400 --> 01:16:10,640
Maybe your disperse could probably, your disperse could probably give some insight on that.
722
01:16:12,160 --> 01:16:18,560
Yeah. I mean, like the, there's, there's slowly establishing some, there's like a lot of the
723
01:16:18,560 --> 01:16:25,680
boulders that they have currently are like, maybe I think the max grade that they have right now is
724
01:16:25,680 --> 01:16:31,520
like, I can't remember, but then Mike, the coach there was like saying that there's a potential
725
01:16:31,520 --> 01:16:37,040
V10 and we don't know who can FA it. And they're asking me to do it. But whenever I'm there,
726
01:16:37,040 --> 01:16:43,440
I'm working and I usually work California time. So then it's, so I'm like very tired by the time
727
01:16:44,640 --> 01:16:50,240
they want me to, they want to go outside and, but maybe the next time around when I go back home,
728
01:16:50,240 --> 01:16:54,480
I think try and FA it. We'll see. We'll see. Try it. Yeah.
729
01:16:54,480 --> 01:17:00,640
Okay. So, so I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like,
730
01:17:00,640 --> 01:17:06,160
yeah. So then, well, maybe Guam can just be like a, a very comp focused.
731
01:17:06,800 --> 01:17:12,880
Yeah. I mean that, yeah, I think they started out that way because actually a fun fact for the,
732
01:17:14,080 --> 01:17:25,760
from the, of the team is that the, so me go living here in SD and then one of the female climbers
733
01:17:25,760 --> 01:17:30,720
used to live in the Bay area and climb over there. So she's like sort of our lead specialist.
734
01:17:30,720 --> 01:17:33,760
Oh cool. Yeah. She mainly likes to climb lead and she's,
735
01:17:33,760 --> 01:17:37,920
we watched her during the Oceania qualifiers and I was like, she's way better than me at lead.
736
01:17:37,920 --> 01:17:43,680
Okay. Yeah. She's crazy strong at lead, but yeah, but, and you know, and so she's like very strong
737
01:17:43,680 --> 01:17:50,720
at lead. So she's like our female lead specialist. And so she can, she trains the other people on the
738
01:17:50,720 --> 01:17:58,880
team on lead and, and in the comp style stuff, our coach and the Guam team, he's actually from
739
01:17:58,880 --> 01:18:04,240
Santa Barbara and he knows a lot of my friends from college. So it's, it's, it's pretty small world
740
01:18:05,680 --> 01:18:10,960
in terms of the climbing world. Cause it's like when I first met the team or like when I first
741
01:18:10,960 --> 01:18:19,280
met the crew back home, I was like, oh, I was like, I didn't even know that you guys were here.
742
01:18:19,280 --> 01:18:22,880
Yeah. I wish I knew that before the last time I was here. So that I kind of like
743
01:18:22,880 --> 01:18:26,640
met you guys. Yeah. Yeah. And so like, that's like nice little fun fact that
744
01:18:27,200 --> 01:18:32,960
some, so there's some people that have climbed here and brought, you know, the style, like the
745
01:18:32,960 --> 01:18:38,800
comp style too. Cause our head coach likes comp style. Nice. Yeah. At least they have that.
746
01:18:38,800 --> 01:18:45,120
Yeah. That's good. Okay. And you mentioned that some people on the team are still really new.
747
01:18:45,120 --> 01:18:54,320
Yeah. I would say besides the coach, the lead specialist, Vicki, who is our female lead specialist
748
01:18:55,200 --> 01:19:04,480
and then me, everyone else has been climbing for less than a year. That's crazy. I think there's
749
01:19:04,480 --> 01:19:09,280
some people that may have like picked up climbing a little bit earlier before it opened up. Cause
750
01:19:09,280 --> 01:19:13,040
we have, Oh yeah. Cause the gym is there. Oh actually no, we have one more guy. He's like
751
01:19:13,040 --> 01:19:19,520
the oldest guy in our team. He used to live here in San Diego. Oh wow. Yeah. Wow. Is this like the
752
01:19:19,520 --> 01:19:28,080
spot? Well, cause he's a, he's a, he's like a, I think he works for the coast guard, but he does
753
01:19:28,080 --> 01:19:34,240
a lot. He's actually, so one of the guys on our team was the oldest on our team. He competes in
754
01:19:34,240 --> 01:19:41,600
Ninja warrior. Oh yeah. And he actually has a Ninja warrior gym back home. Oh fun. Yeah. And so
755
01:19:41,600 --> 01:19:48,080
I remember seeing him here. He used to, I think he used to climb at the old Grotto G1.
756
01:19:48,800 --> 01:19:55,120
Well, I just the original Grotto, not G1. And so that's when I first saw him and I saw him
757
01:19:55,120 --> 01:20:00,880
wearing a long shirt and that was, this was like back in like 2019. And so, you know, and he moved
758
01:20:00,880 --> 01:20:07,040
back and I noticed, and then he opened up in Georgia and stuff like that. And so there's,
759
01:20:07,040 --> 01:20:12,800
so he's like, he's been climbing for a bit. And then there's another guy on our team, Mike. He,
760
01:20:14,400 --> 01:20:22,000
uh, he lived in Japan for like college, I think for, for school a little bit for maybe like a year
761
01:20:22,000 --> 01:20:28,000
and he picked up climbing there. And so there's a handful of us that have been climbing for maybe
762
01:20:28,000 --> 01:20:33,840
a little bit more than a year, me being six years and then maybe Vicky being like four or five years
763
01:20:33,840 --> 01:20:41,440
also. And then our head coach Noah, he's been climbing just as maybe longer than me. And then
764
01:20:41,440 --> 01:20:47,360
everyone else is less than eight when the gym opened. Yeah. Yeah. So it's crazy. And then, but
765
01:20:48,560 --> 01:20:57,920
a lot of the, like, I've noticed a lot of the newer climbers that are coming from Guam, they pick it
766
01:20:57,920 --> 01:21:04,960
up very easily. It's, it's crazy to see it. Like a lot of the newer guys, they're just like,
767
01:21:06,000 --> 01:21:11,840
very curious, like comp kids. And they're, well, they're young, but not like not comp kid,
768
01:21:11,840 --> 01:21:17,120
but not, not youth young, but they're very curious and they're just getting really, really good,
769
01:21:17,120 --> 01:21:22,880
really fast. So hopefully we'll get to see something happen in the next few years. Yeah. Uh,
770
01:21:22,880 --> 01:21:31,680
in terms of like excelling and comp. Hopefully, well, we'll see. Uh, I have high hopes, but yeah.
771
01:21:31,680 --> 01:21:37,120
And I mean, it'll take some time. It'll take time, but we need that. The thing is that we need that
772
01:21:37,120 --> 01:21:44,080
exposure. And so a lot of us are going out of the way and like, you know, going to comps or like,
773
01:21:44,800 --> 01:21:50,000
maybe going to a comp and not competing, but just like observe, you know, or going to other gyms
774
01:21:50,000 --> 01:21:55,360
outside the Guam gym where maybe the setting is a little bit different and they can train a little
775
01:21:55,360 --> 01:22:00,880
bit harder. Yeah. And it helps to have someone to look up to. So yeah, you gotta get out there.
776
01:22:00,880 --> 01:22:06,800
Yeah. I mean, a lot of them asked me for advice. Uh, like, I mean, I'll bounce off Noah, the coach,
777
01:22:06,800 --> 01:22:12,240
and it's just like, you know, it's at least that's why he's like, we need you here so that they have
778
01:22:12,240 --> 01:22:16,960
someone to bounce off of usually, but not like occasionally when you messaging us and stuff like
779
01:22:16,960 --> 01:22:23,760
that. Yeah. I mean, like it's, it's sometimes I feel like I have like, uh, FOMO where it's like,
780
01:22:23,760 --> 01:22:27,680
ah, I'm missing out so much. And it's like, this is all experienced with the team, but I mean, like
781
01:22:28,240 --> 01:22:33,120
sometimes like the sacrifice of living out here and like, well, also working as an engineer,
782
01:22:33,120 --> 01:22:38,960
but also training out here, getting experience here and trying to bring it back. It's, it's,
783
01:22:38,960 --> 01:22:44,720
it's all worth it in the end. Yeah. Oh, and a little piece of, I guess, I mean, I'm going off
784
01:22:44,720 --> 01:22:52,320
a tangent, a little piece of climbing history of Guam. Uh, we heard this from the vice president
785
01:22:52,320 --> 01:22:59,680
of the, of IFSC. I think the vice president of IFSC is from Japan. I think so. I could be wrong,
786
01:22:59,680 --> 01:23:06,720
but well, we met him at the ocean and qualifiers, but he told us that Akio Noguchi started climbing
787
01:23:06,720 --> 01:23:13,200
because she visited Guam. What? Yeah. Well, cause she, uh, yeah, that's the best little piece of
788
01:23:13,200 --> 01:23:22,720
history. Um, he, like when she was a kid, she, her and her family visited Guam. She climbed the tree.
789
01:23:23,440 --> 01:23:28,560
Oh, okay. She climbed like a coconut tree, got obsessed with climbing and picked up climbing,
790
01:23:28,560 --> 01:23:32,160
I guess. I guess that's how the story went. I could be wrong, but that's what I heard.
791
01:23:32,800 --> 01:23:39,360
So that's a little climbing history from Guam. Yeah. I don't know how long ago that was when
792
01:23:39,360 --> 01:23:44,640
Akio Noguchi was a little kid. Okay. So she didn't get on any of like the actual
793
01:23:44,640 --> 01:23:50,080
limestone icons. Yeah. I don't know, but she, they said that she was climbing a coconut tree and she
794
01:23:50,080 --> 01:23:54,960
was obsessed with climbing. That's good to know. And I think that was the last question I had.
795
01:23:54,960 --> 01:24:00,480
So we'll just move on to the couple of discord questions that we got. Um, what made you decide
796
01:24:00,480 --> 01:24:07,360
to take part in world cups? Um, if you're an average climber, is there anything in it other
797
01:24:07,360 --> 01:24:14,640
than the experience? I imagine it's a costly affair. Yeah. I mean, I mean, not just, I mean,
798
01:24:14,640 --> 01:24:21,680
sure. It's for the experience, but it's, it's putting your foot through the door. Like you,
799
01:24:21,680 --> 01:24:28,960
basically you're, you're, I know, like I'm stepping into like a domain of like bleak climbers and like,
800
01:24:28,960 --> 01:24:39,840
I know I'm not at that level, but just that alone will help expose, um, a lot. I mean, there's,
801
01:24:40,480 --> 01:24:45,440
I mean, I don't know the political aspect to it, but it's like, the more exposure you get,
802
01:24:46,160 --> 01:24:52,320
the more the, whatever organization is in charge of funding all these sporting,
803
01:24:52,320 --> 01:24:59,600
uh, funding these athletes, you know, you want that exposure, even though you know,
804
01:25:00,160 --> 01:25:08,800
where you're standing is compared to the rest of the circuit, because it shows to whatever head
805
01:25:08,800 --> 01:25:16,080
organization that, um, you know, we have, we're putting our foot through the door. We're getting
806
01:25:16,080 --> 01:25:23,120
that experience, you know, it's, and then it starts building, building up. Cause I mean, you know,
807
01:25:23,840 --> 01:25:30,640
there's a history of athletes not being paid enough, you know, um, and then it's not in,
808
01:25:30,640 --> 01:25:38,240
not just in climbing, you know, like looking into the Olympics right now, right? Women's rugby hasn't
809
01:25:38,240 --> 01:25:46,160
been well known, but because of the Olympics and them winning bronze, you know, you never know the
810
01:25:46,160 --> 01:25:52,000
outcome, you know, you, I could just be, have, I could be an average, I could be having a good day
811
01:25:52,000 --> 01:25:58,640
that day and I could just maybe go from place 98 to like halfway through this halfway through the
812
01:25:58,640 --> 01:26:06,400
state, you know, that big step is, is huge, you know, compared like sure, like I can be average,
813
01:26:06,400 --> 01:26:14,160
but compared to when you see that gain in experience, people will catch eye to that. You
814
01:26:14,160 --> 01:26:20,320
know, people are going to notice that it may not be to the normal person. It could be to like an
815
01:26:20,320 --> 01:26:28,880
organization that pays attention to the climbing, to, to whatever sport that you have, um, uh, you
816
01:26:28,880 --> 01:26:34,160
know, representing whatever country you have. And so then it kind of helps build and it goes back to
817
01:26:34,160 --> 01:26:42,160
building the community and building the sport back home is because, you know, if we can somehow
818
01:26:43,120 --> 01:26:51,040
catch on the eyes of more people, either from the island of Guam or people who pay attention to
819
01:26:51,040 --> 01:26:59,280
sports, then we can somehow get funding and get better programs for the youth team. And then maybe
820
01:26:59,280 --> 01:27:04,880
the youth team and then maybe we can build a stronger team, you know, that that's, and that's
821
01:27:04,880 --> 01:27:12,720
my perspective on it. Um, and, you know, and I'm using this opportunity to also just grow. I mean,
822
01:27:13,440 --> 01:27:17,760
I don't know, maybe I will eventually become stronger and maybe climb better at these both.
823
01:27:19,360 --> 01:27:25,920
Um, we'll see eventually in the next four, four years, if I still continue competing, but at
824
01:27:25,920 --> 01:27:33,200
least there's some kind of foundation that the, that the team back home can build on, you know,
825
01:27:33,200 --> 01:27:38,560
and there's the saying that the, that the team likes to say, there's the motto of the gym,
826
01:27:38,560 --> 01:27:44,720
which is from the ground up. Oh, okay. Yeah. That's the, that's the, that's the, that's like
827
01:27:44,720 --> 01:27:51,680
the motto of our gym is from the ground up because, you know, we start from nothing and we're just
828
01:27:51,680 --> 01:27:57,120
going to build up from there. And you know, when you build something coming from an engineer that
829
01:27:57,120 --> 01:28:03,600
works on structures, you want to build the strong foundation, you know, the, you know, you may not
830
01:28:03,600 --> 01:28:09,040
have the strongest climbers in that foundation, but at least they're laying the lines, they're laying
831
01:28:09,840 --> 01:28:17,520
the, you know, the re the reinforcement and all that stuff to help build the team for future
832
01:28:17,520 --> 01:28:22,160
generations. Yeah. I mean, certainly if I were you, I would take every opportunity. Yeah. Cause
833
01:28:22,160 --> 01:28:27,920
it's just, it's just cool. Yeah. And it's really cool. I mean, I've definitely like second guessed
834
01:28:27,920 --> 01:28:32,800
it when they first made the team. I was like, Oh my God, it's not, it's a lot of money for traveling.
835
01:28:33,520 --> 01:28:39,920
I'm going to have to dip into my savings a little bit. You know, I have to, you know, I mean, I,
836
01:28:39,920 --> 01:28:46,720
I mean, sure. I, I mean, I, to make things fair, I also tried out for the team. I had to fly back
837
01:28:46,720 --> 01:28:53,600
home and that's a lot of money to fly back home. Yeah. It's pretty far. And so I, I definitely
838
01:28:53,600 --> 01:29:00,960
second guessed it. I talked to my friends at the gym, my friends from college who also climb and,
839
01:29:00,960 --> 01:29:08,320
you know, and they were like, yeah, I mean, what's there to lose other than money, other than, you
840
01:29:08,320 --> 01:29:16,160
know, spending the money, but at least you're doing something for the future of climbing in Guam. And
841
01:29:16,160 --> 01:29:23,360
I was like, yeah, I mean, that's, and I, and that's at least like one of my climbing goals is to,
842
01:29:24,480 --> 01:29:30,560
it's always been one of my climbing goals. Once I started climbing was to build the community. Like
843
01:29:30,560 --> 01:29:37,040
I mentioned earlier, it was to build a community in Guam. And you know, since there's already a gym,
844
01:29:37,040 --> 01:29:42,560
maybe I can open a training center, you know, that's, you know, that caters to the team.
845
01:29:42,560 --> 01:29:49,200
Yeah. I think that makes sense. I mean, to me at least, because I've also obviously spent a lot of
846
01:29:49,200 --> 01:29:55,840
time and money getting involved in this climbing scene, either through like competitions or like
847
01:29:55,840 --> 01:30:03,760
going to see, just like see the world cups. Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, I mean, it's definitely an investment
848
01:30:03,760 --> 01:30:11,760
and investment, a personal investment to do all this stuff. But you know, sometimes you kind of
849
01:30:11,760 --> 01:30:16,960
look at the big picture and sometimes you just kind of, you look at the big picture and you just
850
01:30:16,960 --> 01:30:25,440
kind of brush it over and say, it's for something bigger. Yeah. Okay. And so then what is your plan
851
01:30:25,440 --> 01:30:32,080
for the future? Are you going to go to all bouldering world cups? Eventually slowly depends on how
852
01:30:32,080 --> 01:30:42,160
funding will go for the team and you know, whoever gets better in the team. Because we ideally,
853
01:30:42,160 --> 01:30:48,400
we want to send each and every one of our athletes so that everyone gets the same experience that I
854
01:30:48,400 --> 01:30:56,240
had. And you know, because I mean, we only like, we only have our local comps. And you know, we
855
01:30:56,240 --> 01:31:02,240
don't have other setters from other countries or you know, other gyms, we only have the one gym and
856
01:31:02,240 --> 01:31:08,000
we only have the one's head setter. So then, you know, we don't have that much exposure. So a lot
857
01:31:08,000 --> 01:31:17,840
of them are going to be competing in the world cups. And then for me personally, I would like to
858
01:31:17,840 --> 01:31:24,720
go do a full circuit of bouldering world cup and then maybe eventually add in league.
859
01:31:24,720 --> 01:31:34,800
Eventually, we'll see, we'll see how that goes. But as for now, it's going to be periodically.
860
01:31:35,760 --> 01:31:43,040
I know some of us will be going not to Prague, because we have a local comp happening back home
861
01:31:43,040 --> 01:31:52,000
in September, which I'll be attending. But a lot of a handful of us will be going to World Cup Seoul
862
01:31:52,000 --> 01:32:00,800
and Korea. So yeah, I mean, I guess expect me to be there. But I mean, they don't air the
863
01:32:01,760 --> 01:32:08,160
qualification round, so you won't really see me. I'll probably be posting if I, you know,
864
01:32:09,280 --> 01:32:14,240
while I'm there. And if I'm not competing, then I'm going to be there to support the team,
865
01:32:14,240 --> 01:32:18,320
because that's part of my travel route right now.
866
01:32:18,320 --> 01:32:22,160
Okay. So there's multiple people from Guam going to Seoul.
867
01:32:22,160 --> 01:32:30,800
Yeah, I think so Vicky, the female on our team is for sure. She will most likely do both boulder
868
01:32:30,800 --> 01:32:42,480
and lead. And then we're looking at potentially myself and two other guys, maybe three, because
869
01:32:42,480 --> 01:32:52,400
we have eight allotted slots. Oh, wow. Yeah, eight. Well, it's two for each category. So two for
870
01:32:52,400 --> 01:33:00,000
bouldering, two for lead, but then it's male female. So then four, four. And then if you have
871
01:33:00,800 --> 01:33:09,520
one person doing both, that takes two spots. So max eight, minimum four, I guess, if you have,
872
01:33:09,520 --> 01:33:15,840
am I doing, I don't know if I'm doing that, but yeah. So, because there's another guy on our team,
873
01:33:15,840 --> 01:33:23,920
his name's Don, and he's pretty strong. And then we have another guy who's gotten strong at lead.
874
01:33:23,920 --> 01:33:29,680
We don't have a lead wall, but he's got the endurance for it. So we're literally training
875
01:33:29,680 --> 01:33:37,680
from nothing and trying to build some, you know, because it's hard to build tall walls in Guam.
876
01:33:37,680 --> 01:33:47,120
Because we have a height restriction for buildings because we have high seismic zone earthquakes
877
01:33:47,120 --> 01:33:54,240
in Guam. And, you know, and that's the only building type that you can build taller than 30 feet
878
01:33:54,800 --> 01:34:03,520
is a hotel. Oh, yeah. And I mean, we can try and do a climbing hotel. But that'd be interesting to do.
879
01:34:03,520 --> 01:34:11,840
There's been suggestions of digging into the ground and like digging down maybe 10 feet and then doing
880
01:34:11,840 --> 01:34:19,600
a 40 foot tall building, but it's at 30 in terms of, I mean, I think that's what they did. I think
881
01:34:19,600 --> 01:34:24,880
that's what Enrico said. That's one of the gyms in Japan did that because they also have the same
882
01:34:24,880 --> 01:34:30,320
height. They have the same height restriction. Oh yeah. Yeah. Because they don't have any lead walls.
883
01:34:30,320 --> 01:34:36,880
No, a lot of them are boulder. But I mean, like you can still train lead on boulder. So you just
884
01:34:36,880 --> 01:34:43,120
have to make sure you learn how to clip. Yeah. Yeah. And or and train. Oh, well actually, yeah.
885
01:34:43,120 --> 01:34:50,720
And train for your head game for the height. Yeah. And just like the one shot. Yeah. And so
886
01:34:51,680 --> 01:34:56,960
a lot, there's a couple of people on the team that have been training on the outdoor boulders
887
01:34:56,960 --> 01:35:02,720
with the sketchy bolts, but they're doing it on top rope, but learning to clip. And you know,
888
01:35:03,360 --> 01:35:09,280
they're clipping at the same time and you know, gaining that endurance and head game,
889
01:35:09,280 --> 01:35:14,240
even though they're on top rope, but moth leading. So I mean, that's how I learned how to lead
890
01:35:14,240 --> 01:35:23,440
actually basically. It's the same. Yeah. I mean, you work with what you have. Yeah. Okay. Well,
891
01:35:23,440 --> 01:35:29,040
well, good luck in Seoul. Yeah. Thank you. It's cool to see. Okay, I think that's all the questions
892
01:35:29,040 --> 01:35:37,600
I had. Any final thoughts or final statements? I mean, going back to what I said previously,
893
01:35:37,600 --> 01:35:43,680
I guess to reflect back on a conversation we had and if you know, if you feel like you've started
894
01:35:43,680 --> 01:35:51,040
too late and it's never, I mean, ideally you want to start early, but it's never too late to try
895
01:35:51,040 --> 01:35:58,880
and become something bigger and be part of a bigger picture. And if something feels like,
896
01:36:00,320 --> 01:36:08,320
like if something feels like it is impossible to make it feel possible is to see the final outcome,
897
01:36:09,120 --> 01:36:13,520
to visualize the final outcome far into the future and be like, okay, this is why.
898
01:36:13,520 --> 01:36:20,160
And I mean, if you have high passions for climbing or in anything in general, and you want to make
899
01:36:20,160 --> 01:36:29,040
that thing bigger or like build a community for it and establish something, then hey, we can go for
900
01:36:29,040 --> 01:36:37,680
it. You know, it's like, if you want it so that much, then do whatever it takes. Yeah. So I guess
901
01:36:37,680 --> 01:36:45,200
that's one that, yeah, that's my final statement, I guess. Okay. No, it's good. Good. Anything you
902
01:36:45,200 --> 01:36:51,600
want to shout out or let people know where they can find you? You can find me, I mean, the only
903
01:36:51,600 --> 01:36:59,120
socials I have is Instagram. Okay. And I'll link that. Yeah. It is A-G-B-O-I, which is,
904
01:36:59,120 --> 01:37:05,600
it's just A-G-Boy. A-G is my initial, my first name initials and then boy. It is, it's just,
905
01:37:05,600 --> 01:37:12,560
and I mean, backstory to that is it was my alias growing up as a break dancer and I stuck with it.
906
01:37:12,560 --> 01:37:19,040
So that's why. Wait, A-G-Boy is not your initials? No, A-G is my initials. Boy is just other. How is
907
01:37:19,040 --> 01:37:28,560
that your initials? Oh, my full name is Alan Gregory. What do you mean? Yeah. So my full name is
908
01:37:28,560 --> 01:37:35,680
Alan Gregory. Your first name? Yeah. Like legally, like my legal name is Alan Gregory. God damn,
909
01:37:35,680 --> 01:37:41,120
you never told me that. No one knows that. Now the world knows. Oh, now the climbing community
910
01:37:41,120 --> 01:37:46,880
knows that. Yeah. I mean, I don't really say much on it. A lot of people always wonder like,
911
01:37:46,880 --> 01:37:52,000
where did the G come from? Yeah. I was like, oh, it's my second name. Like my legal name is
912
01:37:52,000 --> 01:37:59,520
Alan Gregory. Okay. Gotcha. But you can just call me. And like, I mean, like to back on the,
913
01:37:59,520 --> 01:38:05,600
my Instagram name, it's just everyone back from high school, they don't know me as Alan.
914
01:38:05,600 --> 01:38:10,880
They only know me as A-G-Boy. Okay. Yeah. I mean, that's me doing that. I mean, that's because
915
01:38:10,880 --> 01:38:16,560
everyone you meet from dancing and that was my alias in dancing. Oh, alias. Gotcha.
916
01:38:16,560 --> 01:38:22,720
Yeah. So you can find me on at A-G-Boy on Instagram. Awesome. Okay. Well, thank you for
917
01:38:22,720 --> 01:38:29,360
joining me today. This was fun and best luck to you in Seoul. Thank you. Thank you so much for making
918
01:38:29,360 --> 01:38:34,320
it to the end of the podcast. Don't forget to like and subscribe if you enjoyed. Otherwise, you are
919
01:38:34,320 --> 01:38:40,320
a super fake climber. If you're listening on a podcasting platform, I'd appreciate if you rated
920
01:38:40,320 --> 01:38:46,480
five stars and you can continue the discussion on the free competition climbing discord linked in
921
01:38:46,480 --> 01:39:14,480
the description. Thanks again for listening.
