Episode 120: Board Meetings | The Top 5 Reasons Why the Pros Are Better Than You

For most of you reading this, the truth is that the pros are better than you. Why? Are they special in some way? Some of them don't even "train"! How the hell did they get so good? 

Nate and I sit down after recording several other episodes and drinking several beers, to discuss the top 5 reasons why the pros are so good. Some reasons you can use to improve your own climbing, some that just depend on your situation.

FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPT:

Kris Hampton  00:31

What's up everybody? I'm your host, Kris Hampton.

Nate Drolet  00:35

And this is Nate Drolet.

Kris Hampton  00:37

And together we form......I didn't plan anything for this.

Nate Drolet  00:45

It's good. You can't catch me off guard this time. 

Kris Hampton  00:47

Shit. This is what happens when you've been drinking. You don't plan ahead and that's a bad thing. So we've been sitting here, Nate just got back to Lander. Where have you been by the way? 

Nate Drolet  01:02

Rifle

Kris Hampton  01:04

 Doing what dude? 

Nate Drolet  01:05

Kneebarring?

Kris Hampton  01:06

Hahaha

Nate Drolet  01:07

 Yeah, it's all you do.

Kris Hampton  01:08

Knee barring and breathing in smoke, apparently.

Nate Drolet  01:10

Yeah. You talk about beta.

Kris Hampton  01:11

Yeah, there's a lot of talk about beta. 

Nate Drolet  01:14

Yeah. I don't know if you climb. 

Kris Hampton  01:16

You crawl. Vertical crawling. 

Nate Drolet  01:19

Haha. Yes. 

Kris Hampton  01:20

No, actually, I kind of enjoy the climbing in Rifle. I'm not a.... is there a word for like a Rifle....um...local? 

Nate Drolet  01:31

Rifle-ite?

Kris Hampton  01:33

Rifle-ite?

Nate Drolet  01:34

I don't know. 

Kris Hampton  01:36

Hmmm. I don't know if that's right. I feel like there should be a much more derogatory term. 

Nate Drolet  01:44

Oh okay.

Kris Hampton  01:45

Yeah, but I don't know what that would be. Anyway, I'm definitely not a Rifle-ite, but, but I do enjoy it for like, an hour and a half or so before I need to move on. But Nate's been in Rifle and he just got back to Lander, Wyoming here where I have been mostly just battling with a new computer and trying to get it set up and painting my house. And, and actually, I am back to training, and I've been climbing outside quite a bit, so that's kind of cool. And feels different, which is weird. Shouldn't feel different, it should just be normal. And I think I'm settling in here, so maybe it will be normal. But anyway, why are you back here? Why aren't you just still in Rifle?

Nate Drolet  02:38

Oh, here to work and here to train and 

Kris Hampton  02:42

Here to podcast 

Nate Drolet  02:43

Here to podcast.

Kris Hampton  02:44

It's an addiction. 

Nate Drolet  02:45

Yes

Kris Hampton  02:45

We're addicted to this. We ate dinner. We sat here drinking beers and talking like we normally do and we were like, "Hey, we've got stuff to podcast, we should just podcast." and we're going to talk about the top five reasons why the pros are better than you and better than us. Because there are real reasons for this and, and I think they're worth talking about. Some aren't available to everyone, but some are. So I think it's worth discussing why the the big names that we watch on Instagram, on on Facebook, on Reel Rock, why they're better than we are. And a lot of them don't train frankly.

Nate Drolet  03:34

Yep

Kris Hampton  03:34

 Or at least they don't call it training. So I think it'd be interesting really to dig into why we think that they're better. Let's just jump into this thing. So the we're going to look at five. These aren't necessarily in the in the order that... we tried...but I think you could easily flip this list over and it could be... it could make just as much sense because I think our number five reason is sort of the the spawn of all the others.

Nate Drolet  04:13

Haha

Kris Hampton  04:15

 It gives birth to why all these other four reasons are possible for a lot of people. Not for everyone, because there certainly are outliers. There are climbers who sort of buck the trend with these rules, but but by and large this is how we see it. And that number five reason is money/privilege. And frankly, if we're just being honest here and I'm going to go ahead and say it it's pretty much white privilege at this point. Most pro climbers are....in this country anyway, I'm I'm not gonna speak about other countries, because I just don't know enough, frankly. But in the US, most pro climbers are white climbers and that's largely because they've had the privilege to be able to pursue that. Your thoughts? 

Nate Drolet  05:20

Yeah, I mean

Kris Hampton  05:20

You're just staring at me like, I'm crazy for even saying this.

Nate Drolet  05:24

I know. No, I mean, I, I agree with it. You know, and I think it's important to say that money obviously by itself doesn't isn't a standalone. Because there's a lot of people who have trust funds, or who just have enough money that they don't need to work and man, they're worse off for it when it comes to their climbing. 

Kris Hampton  05:42

Yeah, totally.

Nate Drolet  05:43

They're the people who we are  like, "Man, you know, you maybe go like, volunteer, do something, like have something else to fill your time with?" because they don't have these other four qualities that we're going to speak on.

Kris Hampton  05:54

Yep.

Nate Drolet  05:56

 But yeah, I mean, it's kind of like, you know, it's kind of the elephant in the room. Like, if you're a pro climber in the United States, like, chances are, like you, the most work you've ever done was probably, like, part time work as a routesetter in a gym.

Kris Hampton  06:12

Yeah, yeah. And like you just said, it's the elephant in the room. So we considered making this our number one reason. But I think it's important to lead with it, so that we understand that a lot of these other four qualities are made a little easier to obtain when this is your starting point. It doesn't mean that's the only way. There are certainly great climbers out there who don't have money and privilege backing them. 100% That's not even a question. But it is for sure easier to have the time, the opportunity, the the fee for being on a youth team, you know, whatever it might be, if you have that money or that privilege to begin with.

Nate Drolet  07:09

Yeah, no, I mean, it's a huge difference. And it's, so there's this concept called the Matthew Effect, which is, those who have will, receive more. And so a good example of this is if you look at like a youth basketball team. So if you have a kid who, at 13, is already 6 feet tall, chances are, he's going to be starting in every single game. Because he's starting in every single game, he's going to get more experience, he's going to get better. So because he already had a head start, he's going to keep having that  head start. He's going to get better than everyone else because of it. 

Nate Drolet  07:44

So the thing is, you know, let's say, let's look at climbing. If you have someone who, like, if I'm looking to sponsor someone, let's say I'm a shoe company, if I have the choice between someone whose parents can fly them to South Africa every summer, and you know, they can post all these videos with nice cameras, or nice phones or whatever, versus some kid who can barely afford a gym membership in the Midwest, like, that's not a question.

Kris Hampton  07:44

Yep. 

Kris Hampton  08:10

Right. Totally.

Nate Drolet  08:11

 Like, I'm going to go ahead and like, give a free pair of shoes to the kid who is already traveling the world and taking great photos and all this stuff. Like, I mean, that's, it's such an easy decision, like so those who already have will receive more, like in that case, 

Kris Hampton  08:28

Totally. I mean, I think I think it's worth mentioning that sponsorship, since you just brought that up, doesn't revolve around ability or potential, as much as it revolves around the ability to talk about what you've been doing, and show what you've been doing and create media around what you've been doing and get people excited about what you've been doing. So I think that if you're starting from a place of, of, I don't want to, I don't want to say "less", but that's that's really what it comes down to when we're just looking at numbers. When you're starting from that place, and you don't have, like you mentioned the nice cameras or the iPhone that you can go out and shoot high quality videos on of your bouldering trips or whatever, then there's not as much reason for you to get a sponsorship. And that first sponsor can be a huge leg up in getting your next sponsor and getting your next contract and so on and so forth. So I think you're right. I think that when you start with more, it's easier to get more. 

Nate Drolet  09:52

I mean, it makes sense too because sponsorships I mean, it's a business transaction. 

Kris Hampton  09:56

Totally. 

Nate Drolet  09:57

It is not a handout. It is not 

Kris Hampton  10:00

Shouldn't be, anyway

Nate Drolet  10:01

It shouldn't be, you know, it's like, you know, it's not charity. Like it is, "I'm going to give you something, I expect something in return of equal or greater value". It's like, and that's, you know, that's business. And so it makes much more sense for a company, like, if I could just give someone a pair of shoes, and they're already going to be able to fly around the world on their own dime and like, you know, post all these videos, that's so much, I'm getting so much more value out of that than they are, for just for giving them a pair of shoes or, you know, X amount of shoes a year or whatever.

Kris Hampton  10:37

I don't want to go, like I don't want to make people think that giving someone in the Midwest who only... who doesn't have the privilege, doesn't have the money, giving them a sponsorship is charity. I don't want to make that misconception. But I do want to make sure that people understand that oftentimes, when big companies are sponsoring people, it's not based on their potential. 

Nate Drolet  11:09

Totally

Kris Hampton  11:09

Because there are lots of climbers in the Midwest, who don't have money, who didn't start from privilege, or all around the country, not just in the Midwest, all around the world, who who have crazy potential but because they aren't able to get their faces out there in front of people, whether it be in youth teams, or big trips, or social media or whatever, they're not afforded the same opportunities. So I don't want it to sound like it's charity when you're giving someone with potential a sponsorship. But most sponsorships just aren't based on that, frankly. 

Nate Drolet  11:53

Yeah.

Kris Hampton  11:54

 Like you said, it's a business transaction.

Nate Drolet  11:57

No, so that's, that's definitely a good point. So to go back to, I mean, the benefits of having money and privilege. Like you have more time, like, you don't have to work as much. You get to travel more, which like, 

Kris Hampton  12:13

Both as a child and as an adult, we're talking here. 

Nate Drolet  12:16

Yes. Being able to travel like this is one thing that if people want to get better as rock climbers, like traveling is one of the greatest things you can do. Like you're going to climb on a lot more rock, you can climb around other people with different styles. Like you have the potential to learn more traveling than almost with anything else, like it is a huge leg up. Yeah, it's like that, that by itself is a huge difference. And the time that comes with it, like, you know, if you're like a 17 year old kid, and you don't have to have a summer job, and you can just go to like Rocklands for three months, it's like, you can do a lot of hard rock climbing, like. And I think this is a huge thing that people don't quite understand is like, there are a lot of people out there, like we travel a good bit for whenever we put on clinics, there are a lot of people who are just as strong as pro climbers are.

Kris Hampton  13:08

Totally

Nate Drolet  13:09

Like, it blows me fucking away. 

Kris Hampton  13:11

Totally. 

Nate Drolet  13:12

It's unreal just how strong people are and how, like, just good of they are. But

Kris Hampton  13:17

What was the dude in Kansas City's name? William...Shao?

Nate Drolet  13:20

Shao. Yes. 

Kris Hampton  13:22

Yeah. So strong and so cool. Just middle of nowhere. Crusher.

Nate Drolet  13:30

Yeah. And I mean, we meet people like that everywhere. Like, there are people who, you know, it's like, I'll ask people their goals, and they'll be like, "Oh I'd really like to climb V12"  and I'm like, "You should maybe be aiming for like V14."

Kris Hampton  13:42

Yeah, you should get on some V12s tomorrow.

Nate Drolet  13:44

Yeah. You know, when you're done flashing them, like, keep going. 

Kris Hampton  13:48

Haha .Yeah

Nate Drolet  13:48

But it's just a matter of like, they don't have they're like, "Hey, I have three weekends a year to go climb outside. Like, I don't live near rock or I have all these other life responsibilities. I love getting to climb, but I'm stuck in the gym, I don't have the opportunity to go out." And it's just like, man, if you had like, it's one of those things where I just, it's just like, "Can I just like drive you to Joe's Valley real quick?"

Kris Hampton  14:11

Right. Right.

Nate Drolet  14:11

Like, you'll just do, you'll just climb Joe's and then we'll go somewhere else. 

Kris Hampton  14:14

Yeah.

Nate Drolet  14:16

 But like, the like, so there are a lot of people who have great potential, but it's just a matter of they don't have the means or like, or maybe it's you know, maybe they do have the means or time but they'd rather dedicate it to other things.

Kris Hampton  14:29

Exactly. I think that's a really valuable point to look at. You know, because there are a lot of people who don't find climbing until somewhat later in life and they still have great potential, but they have a family to think about. They have a full time career to think about. And, you know, that's something that honestly and you've already mentioned this, most climbers in this country don't...most pro climbers in this country don't really have to think about outside of climbing. I don't know of many pros who have families, who have other jobs outside of climbing. Most of the pros who have families were pros before they had families. They didn't come into it in that position.

Nate Drolet  15:20

 Yeah. 

Kris Hampton  15:21

So I think it's important to keep that in mind, when you're wondering why the pros are better than you.

Nate Drolet  15:29

You know, and there's, there's definitely this perception too that and it's something that I'm personally not a very big fan of, that if you climb outside more, that somehow makes you like a better person than if you spend more time in the gym. And I've seen this a lot with like youth climbers, for instance. So I was in Hueco a few years ago, around the Rock Rodeo, and there was like a youth crusher, who he doesn't rock climb anymore, but there was like a circle of pro climbers. For some reason I was there and he walks up and he starts talking about how he had been traveling around the world climbing and all these different things and at one point, he was just like, "Yeah, you know, and I've got my friends back home, who they like to brag about, like, or they like, they're really psyched about the climbs they did in the gym but I tell them that those don't really matter, like, because it's not outside."

Kris Hampton  16:21

Right

Nate Drolet  16:22

And so he ends up walking away and the pro, like a few of the pro climbers like "Oh, that's cool that he knows the difference between indoors and outdoors" and in my mind, I'm like, "No, like, he's just a brat." Like,

Kris Hampton  16:33

Haha

Nate Drolet  16:34

I mean, it's the truth, though. It's like yeah, those kids that climb at his gym, probably can't, like their parents can't send them to like, around the world to Europe to go climb in the summer.

Kris Hampton  16:45

Right

Nate Drolet  16:45

To them like that V9 in the gym like that is their dream goal for that week or that month, like

Kris Hampton  16:50

Totally, and that's totally fine.

Nate Drolet  16:52

It's awesome. Like, that's what they're psyched on. And so I think like there is this, like, I don't want to say elitist, but it kind of is like this idea of like is "Oh, if you're not climbing outside, like it doesn't count." It's like, I love rock climbing. I love climbing outside, but it's like, you know, there, there's definitely this hierarchy and I think it's a little silly.

Kris Hampton  17:14

Do you log your indoor climbs on 8a? 

Nate Drolet  17:17

No, I barely... I don't I don't even send outside, so it's not like I log anything.

Kris Hampton  17:21

Hahaha. Yeah, yeah. No, I totally agree, though. You know, it's some people don't climb because they want to go outside.

Nate Drolet  17:33

I'm from Houston, like everyone I knew was like that forever. Like, yeah, when I first started, it was like, "Oh, yeah, for Thanksgiving, we're gonna go to Horse Pens and cool,  I guess I'll bleed from my fingertips for a week. And then I'm going to go back to plastic. I'm going to go back to the projects that I care about."

Kris Hampton  17:47

Haha

Nate Drolet  17:47

 I mean, ....fun Texas fact: Horse Pens from where I live, or grew up in Texas was 50 miles closer than Hueco Tanks. 

Kris Hampton  17:57

Right

Nate Drolet  17:58

Like, I didn't live near rock, really. So yeah, for me, like the gym was awesome. I loved it. Like, I had my awesome crew that I climbed with, like it was just a ton of fun. 

Kris Hampton  18:08

Yeah. And there's a lot of kids growing up that way right now. You know, and a lot of adults who are sort of stuck in that mode, and... stuck is the wrong word there. They're in that mode because that's what they have available. They don't have the time, they don't have the opportunity to get outside. And that's fine. I mean, I think I think we're way beyond the point where it makes you cooler to climb outside. You know, maybe that's what it was when gyms were the anomaly, when they were the new thing and they were just a byproduct of climbing outside. But I think that's flipped. You know, they are probably, I'm totally guessing here...but, but I would bet there are more people climbing in gyms than there are climbing outside right now.

Nate Drolet  19:04

Totally. And as someone who likes climbing outside, I'm fine with that. 

Kris Hampton  19:08

Yeah, totallly. I have no problem with it. 

Nate Drolet  19:10

Yeah, like, it's cool too because like, I get to meet so many people when we go to gyms who they're just like, like, "Man, one of my coworkers, like introduced me to this. And this is cool, I get to do this on Wednesdays now." And like

Kris Hampton  19:21

Yeah

Nate Drolet  19:21

"It's been an awesome, like, added experience to my life." And I'm like, "This is cool." Like, you know, this person doesn't ever, they don't feel like they're missing out by not going outside. Like, they're just having fun. Like, I think that's fucking awesome. 

Kris Hampton  19:34

Yeah, me too. 

Nate Drolet  19:35

But yeah, and it's just like, you know, there's a lot of people that rock climb in gyms and if they all went outside, that'd be a bad thing. Like, we don't have that kind of space.

Kris Hampton  19:42

 They're all in Rifle, actually.

Nate Drolet  19:44

Yeah, they're all on the Project Wall right now. 

Kris Hampton  19:46

Hahaha

Nate Drolet  19:47

But for real, it's like, you know, if you're having fun, like, awesome, get after it.

Kris Hampton  19:52

Yeah, totally agree. And, and I do think that's the kind of root reason. It's It's the thing that starts the pros, most pros on the path that they're on. And, and it doesn't have to be money. It, it really is just opportunity. Money drives a lot of that. It's opportunity and it's the privilege to have that opportunity.

Nate Drolet  20:23

 It could also just be like where you grew up. Like if you happen to grow up somewhere where it was like, "Oh, this is a hot spot for"

Kris Hampton  20:30

Do people grow up in Boulder, or do they just move there?

Nate Drolet  20:32

I think everyone's a transplant

Kris Hampton  20:34

 I think so too. 

Nate Drolet  20:35

But I mean, for instance, a good example is Dallas. Like, there are a lot of really good, especially a lot of great women climbers come out of Dallas. Like, you know, and like, that just happens to be a place where like, they're really good at cultivating youth climbers. 

Kris Hampton  20:51

Yeah. 

Nate Drolet  20:52

So yeah, it's like that, you know, that's a geographic privilege, like, you know.

Kris Hampton  20:58

Yeah. So, you know, I think that's the root cause. And then, building off of that, we've got a few attributes that that almost anyone can cultivate, to some degree.

Nate Drolet  21:16

Totally

Kris Hampton  21:17

You know, I'm not trying to just totally shit on pro climbers here and just say, "Oh, you're just a bunch of privileged brats." 

Nate Drolet  21:23

There's a lot of privileged brats who don't climb well.

Kris Hampton  21:25

There totally are. Haha. And there are some pro climbers who aren't privileged brats.

Kris Hampton  21:29

 I won't say there's a lot of them, but there's some. I'm just not trying to shit on those people. So they do have quite a few attributes that, that we can look up to and we can try to emulate and will make us better climbers, if we're successful in that. And our number four, is that they have consistency and also, as a byproduct of that money privilege and consistency is that they have peers who have sort of similar goals, similar ideas, similar schedules and structures to their life. So consistency and peers is our number four. So first, let's kind of talk about the peers so that we can sort of get the shitting on the pros out of the way.

Nate Drolet  21:29

Totally.

Nate Drolet  22:29

Okay. Yeah, no, I think it's a good, it's a good move. So I think peers is really important. You know, there's that whole idea that you are the average of the five people that you're surrounded by. And in Dave McLeod's talked about this. He said, you know, if you want to climb V15, go climb with a bunch of V15 climbers. 

Kris Hampton  22:47

Yep.

Nate Drolet  22:48

 Like if you're surrounded by people who, like, every time they go into the gym, they try hard and they're just consistent with their work. Because that's just it, like, if all it took to climb hard was like, one six week bout of just like, "I'm going to campus board for like, four hours every day.", anyone could do it. Like anyone can try hard for a short period of time.

Kris Hampton  23:09

Until their elbows blow up. 

Nate Drolet  23:10

Yeah, for sure. But to be able to, like consistently put in the work, for year after year, like that takes a special level of dedication. Like and it's fun.... it sucks. It's like, it's not fun to do that. But having people around you who are also like on that same driven goal, that's huge. So any day that you're not feeling it, like and they are, you're like, "Okay, I'm just gonna ride their motivation."

Kris Hampton  23:36

 Yep. 

Nate Drolet  23:36

Or vice versa.

Kris Hampton  23:38

Yeah, I mean, totally, when, shortly, maybe not even shortly, but a couple of years after I first met you and climbed with you, you started climbing a lot with Jimmy Webb and Brian Voges and Brad Weaver and that crew and I was very envious of that because I knew as soon as I started seeing that you were climbing with those guys that you were going to skyrocket because those guys had some level of opportunity.... I won't call it necessarily privilege because I don't know their situations, but they did have the opportunity to climb outside a lot and they were good climbers, and you fell in with that crew and and I knew you were going to learn a lot from that situation. So I think that means a ton to have people around you who think that V10 is a warm up.

Nate Drolet  24:40

I got really good at carrying pads to remote V14s. I'm like next level.

Kris Hampton  24:47

Hahaha. I wish I could employ you for that but I don't even know any remote V14s, so I can't do that.

Nate Drolet  24:55

But yeah, no, I mean it was like that was something I feel very fortunate for that like and even, you know, I feel like with any, like all sports that I've ever done, I've been, like, kind of fortunate with that in that, like, I've been surrounded by just people who are better than me. You know, it's funny, like, I ran cross country in high school. And for the longest time, I was just like, "Um, like, whatever, like, I'm not really a great runner." Like, I was, like, my whole everyone on my team was significantly better than me and I'm from Houston, where it's just like, like, people in Texas take high school sports very seriously. 

Kris Hampton  25:32

Haha

Nate Drolet  25:34

And like, you know, it's very much a stereotype, but it's true. But it was funny. Like, when I was in college, 

Kris Hampton  25:42

Is Friday Night Lights in Texas?

Nate Drolet  25:43

 Yes

Kris Hampton  25:44

I thought so. Okay

Nate Drolet  25:45

Yeah. So I went to college up in Kentucky, and then in Tennessee, but I went to a friend's, it was his little brother's high school cross country state meet. And he was running in the state meet, and he runs and he finishes and I was like, "This seems kind of slow." And I looked, I would have taken second in state. Like, I have never in my life won a ribbon or a trophy for anything. Ever.

Kris Hampton  26:10

Haha. Not even bowling?

Nate Drolet  26:12

Oh, wait, that's not true. I have one for bowling.

Kris Hampton  26:14

I forgot about that.

Kris Hampton  26:14

 Ah, gotcha.

Kris Hampton  26:15

Hahaha

Nate Drolet  26:16

 But for like running or for running or climbing, it's like, yeah, like, in an actual open competition. It's like, like, in running, I just considered myself just like, "I don't know, it was kind of fun and I enjoyed it and like, I had a cool team of guys that I ran with it." But it's like, in hindsight, it's like, it was just like, I didn't even realize that the people around me, like, pulled me so far forward. 

Kris Hampton  26:38

Right, right. 

Nate Drolet  26:39

Um, just because that was the group I was with. And I think that's, you know, in climbing, like, I was fortunate in the same way that like, I just always was climbing around people that were much better than me. So it was like, the perspective and just like, you know, if the weather wasn't great, it's like, they still climbed or if they didn't, then they would train. And it's like, that's just what you did. 

Kris Hampton  26:58

Yeah. 

Nate Drolet  26:58

Like, you just kind of kept pressing forward.

Kris Hampton  27:01

Yeah, and I think you can fall into that, if you're like, the youth climber who has some of those kids on your team, when you're, when you're a kid, and, and you can learn from that. But as adults, we can also employ that as well. You know, it's, it's totally feasible to look around you, find the other people who are working hard, and, and just build a rapport with those people to try and work hard together. When this when the Power Company started, that's exactly how it started, was I needed some fucking people to train with, so I built this thing to have people to train with.

Nate Drolet  27:51

And so that's how you convinced Taylor to train.

Kris Hampton  27:53

That was way down the road haha. 

Nate Drolet  27:54

Haha still working on that.

Kris Hampton  27:56

I actually, I actually offered Taylor to train him for free and he turned me down. And then a year later, he came back and said, "Okay, I'm gonna take you up on that." And I said, "How do you know that offer still open?"

Nate Drolet  28:12

Haha Yeah.

Kris Hampton  28:13

 But but early on, it was like, I need partners. I need partners who are just as stoked, just as dedicated, just as willing to get into the gym and really battle for it as I was. Because I knew if I were doing it by myself, I had a much higher chance of burning out, finding something else to do, finding excuses for not getting into the gym. So I sought out those people who were, who would be willing to do it and I convinced them, maybe a little bit of trickery, to do it as well. 

Nate Drolet  28:57

Yeah. 

Kris Hampton  28:58

And and I definitely chose correctly, early on. The people I chose, some of them are still with me today, you know, are still with The Power Company today. So you can find those people, no matter what age it is you start at. When I started back to sport climbing, I was it was already after 30, 32 or something 31 or 32. So you can do it at any age. It doesn't just have to be that you grew up with a group of kids who are already steeped in that tradition. You know, you can find it

Nate Drolet  29:35

Totally. Yeah. And I think and it just makes things more fun.

Kris Hampton  29:40

 It does for sure.

Nate Drolet  29:41

Like having a great crew of just people that like yeah, I mean, because training, like if you're doing the right kind of thing, its hard. Like, it's hard and can come.... sometimes it just kind of sucks. It's just like if you can do that with other people, it's like, you know, you can have some enjoyment out of it. If nothing else, you can watch someone else like be just as pissed off and upset as you are because they're having to deal with and you're like, "Oh, okay, like, We'll all I'll make it through this."

Kris Hampton  30:07

Right. Right. But yeah, I think that, like, what you just mentioned, that training is hard and that it, if you can watch other people flail around a little bit, and struggle with the frustration than it helps you out. I think that leads right into our number three, which is that a lot of the pros have a really good built in the process and approach, they had a really good start to their climbing. And if you if you're lucky enough to have people around you who are willing to dig into the frustration of climbing and find it, and see it as a challenge, as it as something that will help them grow, as opposed to just something that's holding them back, then you've got a leg up already. You know, and I think a lot of the kids.... not to not to harp on this, but a lot of the kids who come up through this team system and have the kids who continue all the way from, you know, the beginning of the very earliest youth climbing Youth D to, to Juniors, those kids get that far because they have a good process, most of them. And they've learned that process along the way, and you've learned it with them, if you've had that privilege to be able to continue in that system. Not everyone obviously has that privilege. So seeking out the people who have that good attitude, who have that growth mindset is really, really important.

Nate Drolet  32:05

Totally. I couldn't agree more. Yeah, I mean, when you look at process, like, I mean, when you look at great climbers like the way they even just approach something. I mean, just like climbing outside is a great example. Like I've seen so many high level climbers that just like, like, they view things not as like, when they see something, they're like, "I just have to get it done." Like there isn't another option. Like this is a challenge, like and that's how they view it. It's not something like

Kris Hampton  32:41

And they don't take the failure personally. 

Nate Drolet  32:43

Yes, that's what I guess I'm trying to say. 

Kris Hampton  32:45

Yeah, it's not, it's not a reflection on them as a human, it's, and as a person, it's just a reflection of their process.

Kris Hampton  32:54

 I think that's the really big takeaway is that when a, when a really good climber, a pro climber fails on a project, it doesn't mean that they suck as a climber. It just means there's something in their process they need to alter, something they need to change, something they needed to make better. And that's a really, really important lesson to learn. And especially in today's society, of participation trophies, and everything has to be perfect and failure isn't supposed to be an option. But failure is what we do, you know, 99% of the time, and these kids have come up in this system that help them really understand that. So surrounding yourself with those people who have that process, who have who have that approach, who have started that way can make you understand it that much faster.

Nate Drolet  32:54

Mmm hmm.

Nate Drolet  34:07

Totally. And you know, like as far as how this can apply to just every person, when I we talk about processes could even just be working a single boulder problem. I can't tell you how often it is that you know we will work with someone and they will try move three times and they're like, "I can't do it."

Kris Hampton  34:25

And they're done. Move on. 

Nate Drolet  34:27

Yeah. Like, it blew me away the first time I ever went bouldering in Colorado because what a lot of people do is like, go out like I would go out with a buddy and we get to a boulder at like 10 in the morning. Like we'd get warmed up, get there at like 10 in the morning and we wouldn't hike out till it was dark and that was the only boulder we tried. And like that first summer I went out I climbed like... I had climbed one V10 before that. I was out just for the summer and I climbed like six new V10s that summer. And it was just like, you know you could easily be like, "Oh, this was like a huge amount of growth." but it was like, I was spending, like, let's say one only took me three sessions, that was like 18 hours of work.

Kris Hampton  35:08

Right

Nate Drolet  35:09

 Like, and not many people will ever, like put in that much time into a single boulder, like over the course of 3 days.

Kris Hampton  35:15

 And that could be a single move.

Nate Drolet  35:17

 Yeah, like, I mean, often it was. Like, there were two different boulders where was like, "Okay, I just have to stick this one move and then I'll do the boulder." And so it's like, "Okay, I try the move. I rest 10 minutes". I would try it again ad then rest 10 minutes. And I would do that for just hours

Kris Hampton  35:31

Right

Nate Drolet  35:31

Until it eventually got done. And you know, I make small adjustments and see how I can make things better. But it's like, had I not been surrounded by people who were like, "Yeah, we're just going to go to Whispers of Wisdom today." I'm like, "Cool. What's next?" and they're like, "No, we're going to Whispers of Wisdom today."

Nate Drolet  35:46

 Like, "We'll be getting, we're gonna hike in at about 8am and warm up. And then we're going to be at Whispers of Wisdom today, like until it's dark, or we do it. "

Kris Hampton  35:46

Hahaha

Kris Hampton  35:56

Right. 

Nate Drolet  35:57

And I was just like, "Oh, this is, this is kind of serious."

Kris Hampton  36:00

 Yeah

Nate Drolet  36:01

Like, but that was a process I had never seen before.

Kris Hampton  36:04

Yep. Yeah, normally, it's like, I mean, at least the way that I understood bouldering, the way I understood route climbing, is that you try it a few times, and then you move on to something else and you try that a few times, and then you move on to something else. And and that's a, that's a valid approach as well, but the thing that separates the pros from the people who are climbing seriously, but still somewhat recreationally, is that the pros understand that this process means digging in, and really working their asses off to get it done. And if you look at Angie Payne on the first V13 for women, that was a loooooong ass process. It took her years of work to make that happen, to kick that door open. If you look at Chris Sharma climbing Jumbo Love, years of work to kick that door open. You know, that's a long ass process that most people would give up on long before it was seen to fruition.

Nate Drolet  37:32

No, totally. And it's one of those things that kind of jumps back to when we talk about peers, like seeing other people and being like, "Oh, like, this is how you take things seriously, like. Okay, like I will do the same."

Kris Hampton  37:44

 Yeah

Nate Drolet  37:45

 I think that's really important. And I think something that kind of segue to our next point is when we talk about process, like one thing that the highest level climbers do better than I think almost anyone is when they come up against a roadblock, they say, "How can I fix this? Like, what can I do to make myself better?". Instead of saying like, "Oh okay, like, I'm just not good at this. Like, I'm not a crimp person.", they're like, "No, how do I get great at crimps? Like, I want to do this." 

Kris Hampton  38:13

Right

Nate Drolet  38:13

And I think so our number two point

Kris Hampton  38:18

Is gonna come up after the break

Nate Drolet  38:20

Going to come up after the break. 

Kris Hampton  38:23

Break. Hey, everybody, Kris here, I'll try to keep this short and sweet. Since this thing became officially official, I've basically been obsessed. I've got dozens of episodes waiting to go out, and I'm constantly recording new conversations. I want to continue putting this level of energy into it and you all can help. We've created a page at patreon.com/powercompanypodcast where you can help support what we're building. In return, even for as little as $1 per month, you'll get access to the brand new We Scream Like Eagles podcast, which includes tips from our guests, extra conversations about hot topics, and Q and A's with your questions posed to our guests. If you think it's worth more than $1 a month, we've got other rewards available on top of bonus episodes like stickers, ebooks, T shirts and training plans. So if you've been considering pitching in, now's the time. That's patreon.com/powercompanypodcast. Thanks a ton and back to the show. 

Kris Hampton  39:27

And we have returned. Number two 

Nate Drolet  39:31

All right, number two. And so this one is I think really overlooked by a lot of people and it's that most pros don't really have weaknesses.

Kris Hampton  39:45

Yeah, and and we should qualify that because they do have strengths. 

Nate Drolet  39:51

Yes. 

Kris Hampton  39:53

But that doesn't mean that what isn't their strength is necessarily a big weakness.

Nate Drolet  39:59

Yes, they don't have extreme weaknesses.

Kris Hampton  40:01

 Yeah. 

Nate Drolet  40:02

So an easy example is, you know, you look at someone like Chris Sharma and you're like, "Okay, yeah, he's just like really strong and like fit" and whatever, like the dude's done To Bolt Or Not To Be like,

Kris Hampton  40:13

Right.  He's not just a jumpy, dynamic climber. 

Nate Drolet  40:17

Yeah

Kris Hampton  40:17

He can climb some technical vertical when he needs to.

Nate Drolet  40:23

Yeah, he's done a lot of really hard technical climbing in his life. You know, we can kind of go down the list of almost any climber. And it's like, it's very easy to say like, "Oh, Daniel Woods is just like, really strong, has really strong shoulders, and core and fingers and that's it." And it's like, because he's brute, he has such a high level of brute strength beyond like almost anyone else in the world, it's easy to like, kind of assume that he's just not a great technical climber. But he's like, actually, he's done a lot of really hard granite climbing and like, he's a really, really good rock climber. 

Kris Hampton  40:56

Yeah, totally. 

Nate Drolet  40:57

His weaknesses are stronger than almost anyone else's strengths. 

Kris Hampton  41:00

Yep. 

Nate Drolet  41:01

And it's because he's spent so much time developing these things.

Kris Hampton  41:05

Yeah. And partly because he's had the opportunity to do so. 

Nate Drolet  41:09

Totally.

Kris Hampton  41:10

 And that's totally fine. I mean, I think you take it how you can get it. So if you have, if you can create the opportunity to go out and gain some experience elsewhere, you should do that. 

Nate Drolet  41:24

Yeah

Kris Hampton  41:24

You know, especially if it's, this is a tough, actually point of contention in my own head, I guess

Nate Drolet  41:35

Okay

Kris Hampton  41:35

Because I'm the only one contending this. But....riddle me this, if you have a very, very limited amount of time to get out, to, to create those opportunities where you can go to other rock types and styles and areas, should you do that? Or should you play to your strengths and go where you know, you will perform the best?

Nate Drolet  42:10

I guess it depends what your future will look like and what your goals are. Like, if eventually you're going to have more time off and you're going to be able to climb more, then I say, you know, like, take the hit now and learn more.

Kris Hampton  42:24

Build the skills?

Nate Drolet  42:25

Yeah, develop the skills because I mean, yeah, like you go, like, here's a really easy example. I went to Flagstaff, Arizona, and climbed at Priest Draw. I only climbed there for three days but when I was there, I tried to climb literally everything. I learned more about toe camming and toe hooking from those three days than I have in like, you know, probably the equivalent of like 12 months of guiding in Hueco Tanks.

Kris Hampton  42:53

Right. 

Nate Drolet  42:53

As far as roof climbing goes, I learned more in those three days, because my whole goal was just climb everything like in that short amount of time. Now I could have gone and been like, "Ah, I'm just gonna pick one rock climb", or I could have gone to straight to somewhere like Hueco or Joe's where it's like overhanging crimps and I could have picked something right up my alley and climbed harder than I what I did in Priest Draw but like I learned so much that has since like, benefited me greatly. Like so I think if you're open to it, you can learn a lot from very little time, but you have to be willing to be open and learn from it.

Kris Hampton  43:28

Yeah, and I think the flip side of that is that if you're in a situation where you know that you will most likely only be climbing in this area for the rest of your years, whatever that might be, or for the majority of it, and you're really only interested in doing this type of thing, then that's what you should focus on. And that's totally okay, you know.

Nate Drolet  43:57

Yeah

Kris Hampton  43:58

If you want, if you want to have major strengths and glaring weaknesses, great, do it. But the, the, one of the big differences between the pros and you is that they don't have those weaknesses. 

Nate Drolet  44:14

Yeah

Kris Hampton  44:15

You know, that's, that's what makes them so good at what they do is that they've, they've been widely traveled. They've tried a bunch of different rock types. They've tried a bunch of different styles. They've tested themselves on all sorts of things. Just to give another example, like you did, Angie Payne was just recently here at the Machine Shop. 

Nate Drolet  44:40

Oh, I know.

Kris Hampton  44:41

Haha. I sent you all of your projects being flashed,

Nate Drolet  44:45

Yes haha.

Kris Hampton  44:46

Via text message. I was very happy about that, actually. But Angie is known as a crimp and tension sort of climber and she's very, very very good at that, exceptionally good at that. But that didn't stop her from second try doing my mid term, 30 attempt, maybe more sloper project that luckily I sent the week before she showed up. 

Nate Drolet  45:21

Haha. Yes. 

Kris Hampton  45:22

But she did it second try pretty damned easily. And she's not known as a sloper climber, you know, but it's not a massive weakness for her in comparison to the average, the standard, so

Nate Drolet  45:44

Yeah and you know when to use another example and this is someone who we kind of call out pretty frequently on this podcast, but Siegrist, back before he climbed 15a, like he, everything he had climbed were these big mega pitches, like big long rock climbs. And he came out here to Lander and he did Moonshine, which is, I don't know... what 40 feet? 

Kris Hampton  46:05

Sure, yeah.

Nate Drolet  46:06

It's like a 40 foot 14d. Like, um...like, it is very severe. And it's the kind of thing where it's like he, he could have just skipped over that. He'd have been completely fine just going and climbing more big rock climbs with higher like, you know, equally high numbers, if not higher, like, for same or less amount of time. 

Kris Hampton  46:26

Yep

Nate Drolet  46:26

Like, but he put in a lot of effort to be able to get that done, because he knew that if he could climb a 14d that was that short, then it's like when he goes back to things that are much bigger and like, I think it was the next year that he climbed Biographie. But when he got on bigger things that he was already fit for, it's like, he's going to be a better climber for it. And I think a lot of rock climbers, like a lot of the best climbers and not even just professionals, but those who climb at the highest level, like, they do this. Like, they seek out their weaknesses to the point where even if it is like, you know, it's like, okay, like, "So and so is really good at like slopers and compression", like, look at Jan Hoyer. It's like, oh, he's a big guy who climbs on slopers and does big power moves. He's done Action Direct

Kris Hampton  47:13

Right

Nate Drolet  47:14

 Like, that's kind of a heinous like mono rock climb. 

Kris Hampton  47:18

Right, right. 

Nate Drolet  47:19

The exact opposite of what most guys who were like six foot four, and like, I don't know, 180 pounds would ever want to do.

Kris Hampton  47:26

Right. Yeah. And that's not to say that they don't have weaknesses. 

Nate Drolet  47:30

Totally

Kris Hampton  47:30

Again, I just want to reiterate that we all have weaknesses. They've just, they've spent a considerable amount of time, not only playing to their strengths, but also working on their weaknesses and I think that's one of the big differences.

Nate Drolet  47:53

Yeah, I completely agree. I mean, if we look at like, an easy example is, if we just looked at hand strength, like the amount of people I've met who have the hand strength of V15 rock climbers, who can barely pull double digit. 

Kris Hampton  48:07

Yeah

Nate Drolet  48:08

Like, there's a lot of them.

Kris Hampton  48:09

 Yeah

Nate Drolet  48:10

But it's just that they don't have the other thousand facets, that like make the highest level rock climbers climb at that level. 

Kris Hampton  48:18

Yep. And I also want to reiterate that that's okay. I mean, if you're listening to this podcast, and you're like, "I don't really want to be a pro climber." That's fine. You don't have to have the level of dedication to working on your weaknesses. You don't have to have the dedication to finding peers who have yours goals, similar goals in mind. You know, this is just to illustrate why those pros are where they're at. They, they have done a.... they've done more work in these facets than the average climber has and that's what's got them there. Most of the time it is not training. You know, um, it pains me a little bit to say that since that's how we make our living, but but most of the time, that's not it. I do think most of these facets could be improved through coaching, through having someone to talk you through tactics, to talk you into going outside, even though the weather doesn't look amazing, to talk you through performance anxiety. I do think that's really important. But most of the time the the difference isn't training.

Nate Drolet  49:46

Yeah. You know, I think this takes us really well into our number one and that's effort.

Kris Hampton  49:53

Yeah, this is big.

Nate Drolet  49:55

Yeah.

Kris Hampton  49:56

You know, and most of us don't want to believe it.

Nate Drolet  49:59

No. We all like to think we work really hard. 

Kris Hampton  50:01

Yeah. 

Nate Drolet  50:03

So first book I ever highlighted in my entire life was Dave McLeod's "Nine Out Of Ten Climbers"

Kris Hampton  50:11

I knew you were gonna say that. God damn it. I really want to write a better book than that but it's hard. It's a pretty fucking good book.

Nate Drolet  50:17

Yeah, as far as I'm concerned, it's still the best book on rock climbing training.

Kris Hampton  50:22

Yeah, and if you guys haven't read it, check out our episode post on the blog and we'll have it linked on there. It's also in our references page. If you just go to our website, go to the blog, on the right side, you'll see, "Check out our references", and it's on there for sure. Because all of us think that this is one of the best books in climbing. 

Nate Drolet  50:47

Yeah, actually, it's funny because Paul's actually reading it now and the first time he just texted us in our group text and he's like, "Oh, my God, guys, I finally picked up this book. I understand what you're saying."

Kris Hampton  50:55

 Yeah. 

Nate Drolet  50:57

But so first line I literally have ever highlighted my entire life was in "Nine Out Of Ten Climbers"

Kris Hampton  51:03

What color highlighter?

Nate Drolet  51:04

Yellow. So did I ever tell you about this? I've reread that book about six times. And for the first four times, I used a different color highlighter, so I knew what my highlights were every year

Kris Hampton  51:14

Ahh, interesting.

Nate Drolet  51:15

Which was pretty cool because it 

Kris Hampton  51:16

That is cool. 

Nate Drolet  51:17

There are these huge gaps where like, you know, year three, I'd be like, "Oh my God, there's this huge paragraph, how have I not highlighted this?"

Kris Hampton  51:23

"How did I not see this before?"

Nate Drolet  51:24

"This is speaking to me." But then I would look at my old highlights from years past and I'd be like, "Duh".

Kris Hampton  51:29

"That's old hat. Everybody knows." Y

Nate Drolet  51:30

Yeah, it's like, "This is common sense, like, what was I even thinking?" But it's pretty cool. But then I lent it to a friend who is actually staying at your house right now

Kris Hampton  51:41

 Oh

Nate Drolet  51:41

And it disappeared. 

Kris Hampton  51:43

Oh

Nate Drolet  51:43

So I no longer have those highlights. 

Kris Hampton  51:45

I'll have to talk to her about that. 

Nate Drolet  51:46

Yes. But so those those highlights, that whole book doesn't exist anymore...but first highlight I ever did in my life that no longer exists, was that...it's roughly.... it pretty much just says, "Better climbers put in better effort" and that the line is.... "4% more effort every day does not make a 4% better rock climber. It makes a 90% better rock climber."

Kris Hampton  52:12

Right. Yeah.

Nate Drolet  52:13

 Because it compounds. Like over time, like you put in 4% more effort every single day, like that is what makes the difference. 

Kris Hampton  52:21

Yeah

Nate Drolet  52:21

Like and I like I honestly think that above everything else, like that makes such a huge difference, like that little bit of extra work.

Kris Hampton  52:30

Yeah, I mean, totally, if, if you and all of us....<<crash>>....Jesus...All of us have seen this in our own climbing. If you're out at the crag and you don't want to get back on that boulder, you don't want to get back on that pitch, whatever it is you you just don't want to put that effort in and someone talks you into it and then you send and you're like, "Oh, that wasn't that bad." You know, it's not like you put in a ton more effort. But you got the thing done by putting in this little bit more effort. And every single person listening has had something similar to that happen. I've seen it over and over and over and over again, with clients, during sessions, putting in that extra little bit of effort makes a gigantic difference, especially over time.

Nate Drolet  53:31

Totally. Have you ever...have you had any like kind of rules or things like that, that you've put in to help you put more effort in? 

Kris Hampton  53:41

Oooh. Rules.

Nate Drolet  53:43

 I can give you an example of mine.

Kris Hampton  53:45

Do it.

Nate Drolet  53:45

 So one I've been trying to do recently, because it's hard to do, is go to anchors every time. Like every time I tie in, I go to anchors.

Kris Hampton  53:55

Every time?

Nate Drolet  53:56

Yeah. And so here's what's funny is it's bad tactics to go to anchors every time.

Kris Hampton  54:01

Mmm hmm.

Nate Drolet  54:01

 Because there's a lot of times where it's like, "No, I just need to do the go to the bottom. Like go through the bottom, but if I fall, I'll just come down." But what I realized was I was using tactics as an as an excuse. 

Kris Hampton  54:11

Hmmm. Yep. 

Nate Drolet  54:11

I'd be like, I'd be like, "Oh, I'll save energy. I'm just not going to go to the top." But really, like, in the back of my mind, it was like, "I don't want to go to the top because it's like, I might still fall" like, "I don't want to have to do this link", like, you know, or it's just like, "I fell. I'm fucking furious right now. Like my foot slipped. It shouldn't have. Dirt me now. I want to be done with this." Where it's like the real...but the thing is, it's like "No, I need to go up. I need to fix that error that I made so that I never make it again. And then I go to the top."

Kris Hampton  54:39

 Yep

Nate Drolet  54:39

Like and it's it's one of those things where it's like really, like there's this moment of like a fury or frustration or whatever the second I fall and all you have to do is get over it, grab the rope and haul up and then I'm like, "Okay, cool." Like, you know, I'm in a better mood, I'll just like go to the top and I'll figure this out. It really isn't that much extra effort, but it's so easy to just like walk away early. So for me, that's something I've been instilling now is like, I'm intentionally going against my own tactics of, "Oh, you know, I'll only work out the top if I need to" and now it's like, "No, I go to the top every time." Like, when this becomes an issue, it'll become an issue, but for right now, it's not.

Kris Hampton  55:17

Yeah, I had a similar moment, actually and the patrons already know this from over at the We Scream Like Eagles podcast, but when I was switching from bouldering, into sport climbing, the route that I was trying was really bouldery at the bottom and then it was like V8 into a 13a, basically. And in my head, I'm a boulderer, but I know how to route climb. So I can, once I send that V8, which was everything I'm bad at in climbing, I should be able to just go to the top. But then, when I finally decided, "Oh, I'm just gonna start at the top of the V8 and go", and I felt the next bolt, I was like, "What the fuck? This isn't supposed to happen." And it just hadn't occurred to me that I might need to dial in those other sections, and spend some time in the upper half of the route. I had already done that portion of the route via a link up, so I knew I could do it. But that was years before when I was a totally different climber. But more recently, in my training, I've definitely had a rule of "Get uncomfortable." It's really just that simple. I had fallen into this.... I like to be comfortable. I mean, for lack of a better word. I don't want to push outside of those boundaries. So when I'm training, whether it's on the hangboard, whether it's doing campus punks, whatever it is, I need to get a little bit uncomfortable. And I've started to really embrace that over the last few sessions, to the point where I went a little too hard. My finger is still a tiny bit numb because I just stayed on the hangboard way too long. But regardless, that's my rule right now, get a little bit uncomfortable. Because my.... I had built up this grand capacity through sport climbing and then when I became boulderer, it was like, "Oh, this shit is easy." I don't really need to put in that much effort., as far as, like, get uncomfortable, long term sort of effort means. It was more like, try really hard for a couple seconds and that's all you need to do. Now with training, I need to try really hard for more than just a couple seconds and that makes me uncomfortable, so so that's my rule right now.

Nate Drolet  58:18

Nice. That's a good rule. You know, and I think and we talked about process...like, I think that's something that great climbers do just intuitively. And it's...so one thing that's really funny is like I used to when I climbed with Brian Voges a bunch

Kris Hampton  58:32

You mean they just give effort intuitively?

Nate Drolet  58:34

They give effort and they like, find what makes them uncomfortable. 

Kris Hampton  58:37

Mmm hmm. Yeah

Nate Drolet  58:37

Like they seek out the things that make them uncomfortable. Like the best climbers do. But yeah when I used to climb with Brian Voges, I remember it was funny because I would...a lot of times I would ask him questions. Like, if I had these revelations, I was like, "Oh my goodness!", like "This!" and he'd be like, "Duh"

Kris Hampton  58:53

Hahah

Nate Drolet  58:53

But like

Kris Hampton  58:57

He seems like a fairly stoic, straightforward, dude.

Nate Drolet  59:00

Yeah. Very much so. But, like so often, like, if I was just like, "Oh, like, if every session I just try and find something I'm terrible at and work on that, like, it'll make me better." and he's just like, "What have you been doing?"

Kris Hampton  59:14

Hahaha

Nate Drolet  59:15

 Like, he's just like, like, "This is rock climbing"

Kris Hampton  59:18

"Are you just doing this for fun?"

Nate Drolet  59:19

Yeah! It's like, "Wait, are you having fun right now? Wait, we can do that?" 

Kris Hampton  59:23

Haha

Nate Drolet  59:25

But no, it's just like, there were so many times where he would just like he had built in this process of all these things that every time I would like, have these revelations, he'd be like, "Yeah, that's just like, that's what we do." 

Kris Hampton  59:34

Yeah

Nate Drolet  59:34

"That's what we do everyday". 

Kris Hampton  59:35

Push toward that discomfort.

Nate Drolet  59:37

 Yeah. But and so this isn't even just like, "Oh, you try a little bit harder every time you pull on the wall." It is that but it's also like, you do the core workouts when you're tired or when you're like, not feeling it. Like, you know you do, like if you go to the gym and you feel like garbage, it's like, "Okay, I'm just gonna do like a light endurance workout. I'm gonna get something out of this." Like, you do the mobility work, you do ike you you make sure you're well hydrated, you make sure you eat well.

Kris Hampton  1:00:02

You don't give yourself the excuses. 

Nate Drolet  1:00:04

For sure. 

Kris Hampton  1:00:05

That's a big part of it. And actually, for me, that's, that's been a big part of it recently, because I have a business I'm trying to run. I have a house I'm trying to get to exactly what I want it to be. I have a new marriage I'm trying to make sure is working perfectly. And it's summer in Lander, which is fucking insane. 

Nate Drolet  1:00:31

Yeah, tons of people here

Kris Hampton  1:00:32

 I had no idea what it was gonna be like

Nate Drolet  1:00:34

If you wanted an excuse, you have a million.

Kris Hampton  1:00:36

 I have a million of them. And there have been days where I'm like, in fact, just two days ago, I was like, "I'm gonna get up early. I'm gonna go train." I got up at 7:30 even though I stayed up way too late. I felt tired. I got up, I made coffee. I got on my computer. I started doing work. Before I knew it, it was 12:30.

Nate Drolet  1:01:05

Oh, man

Kris Hampton  1:01:06

 And I'm like, "It's not early anymore. I'm just going to skip training and I'll do it tomorrow." And then about 1:30 I'm like, "Nah, I can't do that. I need to go train." So I went out there and I trained, even though it was the hottest part of the day, I didn't really have a whole lot of interest in it other than in the future, sometime, I'm going to be really fucking glad that I went out here and I did this. So that's really what it came down to. 

Nate Drolet  1:01:33

Yeah. You know, and it touches on our point of consistency, just like, you know, it's really easy....yeah, it's really easy to just try hard for like little bouts. You know, in distance running, there's this phrase, "Everyone has heart in the final stretch.", like, you know, it's really easy to sprint at the end, like, 

Nate Drolet  1:01:52

And same thing, it's really easy to train hard when your psyched. But it's like, there's a lot of times where you're not going to be motivated, like work may have just really sucked, like, you know, a lot of things might be going wrong. It's just, you know, if you can even just be like, "Okay, I'm just going to carve out 30 minutes. I'm going to go into the gym, I'm just going to climb, like, I just need to do something." Like, if that's all you can do, then cool. Like that is still going to go a long way, versus just writing things off.

Kris Hampton  1:01:52

Right

Kris Hampton  1:02:20

Yeah, I mean, if you can consistently put in a little more effort than you did last season, that's gonna go a long way, even if it is just a small percentage. And that doesn't matter if it's, each day, if you're putting in a little more effort on that particular boulder. You know, if you can put 1% more effort, that might mean the send. If you can put 1% more effort into your training plan for that cycle, that might mean being better prepared for the send. You know, it's that effort that means a lot. And whether it's privilege or not, whether it's money or not, whether it's whatever that got those pros to that point, most of them, many of them are still putting in that effort day after day after day. They're getting in the gym. They're going hard. They're thinking about what they need to do, what sleep they need to get, what they need to eat, to be able to perform later down the road. So so that effort is huge and if you can add a tiny percentage point to it, great.

Nate Drolet  1:03:45

Yeah, totally. And I mean, the other thing, too, is like there are so many facets that you can improve on in climbing, or that you can do to improve your climbing. It's like if you can just get a little bit better, a little bit better sleep, you're gonna climb harder. 

Kris Hampton  1:03:59

Yep.

Nate Drolet  1:04:00

 Like, you know, maybe well maybe not if you are already getting like 12 hours a night. Like at a certain point you are just gonna be a panda, sleeping like 18 hours a day and eating the rest, which there are worse things. But..

Kris Hampton  1:04:12

Hahaha. Should a panda just be our logo? I mean, that would be cool.

Nate Drolet  1:04:15

That would be awesome. 

Kris Hampton  1:04:16

It would be cute, too.

Nate Drolet  1:04:17

Haha

Kris Hampton  1:04:19

But I mean, honestly, sleep is something I've focused on a lot. I mean, at this point in my life, it makes a giant difference and it seemed like such a small thing a decade ago. You know, so those tiny things that you can put a tiny percentage point of effort toward make a big difference later on. 

Nate Drolet  1:04:44

Yeah.

Kris Hampton  1:04:45

All right. I think that's all we got here. And again, I just want to point out that this is not just trying to say all the pros are better than you, you're never gonna get there. The pros are our people that Nate and I and most of you out there look at for inspiration, for motivation. Nate and I are lucky to call a lot of these people our friends. Many of you are lucky to call a lot of those people your friends. You know, that's what's really cool about the sport is that we get to share the field, we get to boulder right next to, rope up right next to our heroes, the other professionals in the sport. And, and I think we have a lot to learn from them. We used.... kind of the root of this... that they have the money, the privilege, the opportunity to do these things not to diss the pros, but to say that it may not, it's not worth comparing yourself to that if you're a full time doctor, lawyer, mechanic, painter, whatever. You know, if you have a full time job and a full time family, and those are your priorities, great. You should do those things. I want to 100% support that. But there are some things we can learn from the pros and even though they're rooted in this privilege, and this opportunity, we can still chase those things. We can still shore up our weaknesses. We can still be more consistent. We can look for the peers that share our same goals and our same schedules. We can learn a better approach a better process, a better process to the routes, the boulders that we're trying and we can learn to put in more effort, period. So hopefully you guys get something from this. 

Kris Hampton  1:07:17

You know where to find us. powercompanyclimbing.com You can find us on the social medias @PowerCompanyClimbing on the Facebooks, the Instagrams and the Pinterest. You can look for us on Twitters. You can look for us there twice, three, four, five times, doesn't matter. You're not gonna find us because we don't tweet. We scream like equals.