Devin Dabney is a rock climber, routesetter, rapper, music producer, writer, and creator of The American Climbing Project podcast. We talked about using humor to talk about uncomfortable subjects, inviting people into conversations, how climbing saved his life after considering suicide, breaking down barriers to climbing, how competition makes us better, and making a difference in the climbing community.
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Show Notes:
thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/devin-dabney
Nuggets:
0:08:20 – Green screens and SpongeBob
0:12:52 – How Devin and I connected, and binging his podcast
0:17:41 – Devin’s vision for The American Climbing Project (ACP)
0:23:30 – Using humor to poke at difficult subjects, and inviting people into conversation
0:28:37 – Devin’s target audience, exposing listeners to different perspectives about race, and my (Steven’s) ignorance having grown up as a white kid from the PNW
0:32:22 – Climbing as an escape, and connecting to the world around us as climbers
0:33:50 – Plans for season 2 of ACP, and covering gender and sexual orientation in climbing
0:35:03 – Rob, and the ACP blog
0:38:23 – The skits
0:39:40 – Devin and Rob’s mission to provide a tool to grow and improve the climbing community and redistribute wealth
0:41:52 – The mixtape format of the ACP
0:45:22 – The Black Square skit
0:47:26 – Creativity, and sprints of inspiration
0:48:44 – How Devin puts together one of his episodes
0:52:10 – Growing up playing the violin, and getting into music production and rap
0:55:58 – Devin’s 7 different jobs
1:00:03 – The Great Equalizer, and Devin’s introduction to climbing
1:07:13 – Feeling lost, drafting a suicide note, and how climbing changed his life
1:09:15 – Studying architecture, traveling around the world, and sharing the real shit
1:14:29 – Why providing access to climbing feels important to Devin, and the many reasons climbing is awesome
1:17:09 – Barriers that keep climbing from being accessible/welcoming to marginalized groups of people
1:24:27 – The discomfort of climbing, the civil rights movement, and why the history of climbing is white
1:28:37 – Trading weed for moonshine, and the different experience of being with other white vs. black climbers
1:31:24 – “I would never go hunting without a white person.”
1:33:48 – The Halloween episode story, and photo releases in gym waivers
1:41:58 – How the podcast has been received, and responding to criticism
1:48:25 – Being reactive to headlines
1:52:40 – Topics that Devin hopes to cover in future seasons of the ACP podcast
2:00:12 – How to support the ACP
2:05:28 – Plug Tone Audio, why Devin loves competition, and shared inspiration
2:17:15 – Who Devin looks up to
2:20:50 – Guests that Devin would love to hear on The Nugget
2:23:48 – The depth we have as rock climbers
2:25:45 – Climbers are leaders
2:26:35 – What’s next for ACP
EP 133: Neil Gresham — Using Ballet to Climb Harder, Developing Your Finishing Game, and Extensor Training for Stronger Fingers
EP 132: Rebecca Williams — A Deep Dive Into Fear of Falling, the Self-Soothing System, and Climbing Smarter
EP 131: Ryan Devlin — Life as a TV Actor, Progressing From 11b to 12c in a Year, and How Pro Climbers Relate to Struggle
EP 130: Stian Christophersen & Martin Mobråten — Writing The Climbing Bible, Finger Strength vs. General Strength, and Strategies for Improving Technique
Follow-Up: Matt Fultz — How to Train for the Hardest Crimp Boulders in the World (Teaser)
EP 129: Dorian Evers — How to Navigate Different Stoke Levels in Your Relationship, and Getting Vulnerable with Your Partner
EP 128: Callie Joy Black — Training During Pregnancy, Climbing Hard with Kids, and Being Your Own Project
Follow-Up: Steve Maisch — My Summer Training Plan, and How to Get Stronger on the Moonboard (Teaser)
EP 127: Jesse Firestone — Bouldering Tactics, Quantum Leaps, and Non-Physical Factors That Affect Our Performance
BONUS: Michelle LeBlanc — An Upcoming 2SLGBTQ+ Pride Event in Squamish
S1E2: The Great Equalizer (Repost from The American Climbing Project)
Follow-Up: Alita Contreras — Sending Her First 5.14a, and Training With Lattice (Teaser)
EP 125: Zofia Reych — The Heritage of Climbing, Breaking Down Gender Roles, and What It’s Like to Be Autistic
EP 124: Karly Rager — Mental Strategies for Developing Focus, Learning vs. Performing, and Building a Coaching Business
EP 123: Magnus Midtbø — The Hard Work Behind Success, Go-To Climbing Workouts, and Takeaways from Training with Adam Ondra
Follow-Up: Chad Andrews — The Pros and Cons of Living on the Road to Climb, and Having a Healthier Relationship with Money (Teaser)
EP 122: Jared Vagy — How to Prevent Knee, Shoulder, Elbow, and Finger Injuries as Climbers
EP 121: Carol Simpson — Being a Girl in the South in the 1950s, Yoga as the Fountain of Youth, and Ageism in Climbing
EP 120: Lea Volpe — The World of Paraclimbing Competitions, How We Perceive Wheelchairs, and Empathy in Coaching
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