Jenn DeBellis is an elite-level boulderer and software engineer. We sat down in Rocklands and talked about her biggest lessons from childhood gymnastics and collegiate athletics, trying V13s in Magic Wood and Rocklands, getting comfortable with failure, learning to embrace her style, her elaborate warmup routine, how she plans her 6-week training cycles, her role with KAYA, tips for sustaining a full-time job on the road, and much more!
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Show Notes:
thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/jenn-debellis
Nuggets:
0:04:57 – Bugs and SAT words
0:06:39 – Jenn’s gymnastics background, and pole vaulting in college
0:11:12 – Paying attention to the best qualities in our friends
0:13:15 – Tough coaches, and learning to be tough on herself
0:15:00 – Being comfortable with failure, and Jenn’s Olympic aspirations in gymnastics
0:19:26 – Setting the scene
0:20:09 – Getting inspired by Ray of Light V13, and Jenn’s initial goals for her trip to Rocklands
0:22:24 – The breakdown of Ray of Light, and the standards in Rocklands
0:24:10 – V10 and 8A, and the decision to try really hard and inspiring things
0:26:30 – The 8a leaderboard, and shift her philosophy to chase dream boulders
0:30:50 – My new shoe mod for Black Shadow
0:34:08 – Getting excited about “sending” crux moves, and turning small wins into big wins
0:35:59 – Trying beyond limit boulders, and making tradeoffs
0:40:21 – Jenn and I compare our experiences with Black Shadow and Ray of Light, and share takeaways
0:48:00 – The climbers we’ve learned from, and the truth about people who climb hard
0:51:04 – Owning your style, not falling into the pitfall of trying to copy your peers, and trying Full Throttle V13 in Hueco
0:57:23 – How living on the road has changed my perception of climbing, and different ways you can express difficulty in climbing
0:59:06 – Working on her strengths and supplementing her weaknesses
1:01:20 – Thinking about her training in checkboxes
1:03:14 – Not knowing where home is, and having many homes on the road
1:08:28 – Jenn’s lifestyle, leaving her PhD program to live in a van
1:15:05 – How Jenn balances indoor training and outdoor performance
1:17:49 – How she plans her training cycles, and using autoregulation to ramp up after a trip
1:21:29 – “Injury is the enemy.”
1:22:12 – How Jenn balances her climbing life with a full-time remote job
1:23:46 – Life is 30% less efficient on the road
1:25:49 – Tips for finding cheap rent in cities
1:26:54 – The dirtbag mindset, how to make working on the road sustainable
1:31:13 – How Jenn structures a 6-week training block, and the key ingredients in her training
1:33:07 – Weight lifting, and cutting out accessory exercises
1:35:07 – Board climbing, and how to train for something like Full Throttle
1:36:46 – Jenn’s long-ass climbing warmup
1:40:21 – The different stages of Jenn’s warmup
1:41:28 – Keeping training and outdoor trips separate
1:43:45 – Improving year on year
1:44:54 – Upcoming trips and goals, and training 4x4s on her home wall
1:47:53 – KAYA, Jenn’s role on the engineering team, and her passion for her work
1:54:44 – Favorite rock type, and thinking better on granite
1:57:08 – Ultimate dream climbs, and meaningful first female ascents
1:59:34 – Joe’s Valley doughnuts
2:01:11 – Kodiak Cakes
2:02:06 – Go-to climbing shoes
2:02:17 – Jenn’s connection to Joe’s Valley, and how she became a software engineer
2:05:02 – Desert Island DVDs
2:06:31 – Hype music
2:08:27 – Best decision she’s ever made, and how long she sees herself living this lifestyle
2:11:42 – Thoughts about having a family and drawing inspiration from strong moms
2:12:42 – What Jenn wishes people spent less time thinking about
2:14:25 – Building out her van
2:17:36 – Toying with the idea of bringing back blogs
2:19:45 – Wrapping up in the dark
Follow-Up: Emil Abrahamsson — Gaining Weight to Climb His First V15, Overhauling His Training, and Thinking Long-Term With Projects (Teaser)
EP 161: Sam Stroh — Botching It and Sending Anyway, and Biggest Lessons from Hard Boulders to Free Climbs on El Cap
EP 160: Fundamentals — How to Pick a Project
EP 159: Tom Randall & Sam Van Boxtel — Why YouTube is the Future of Climbing Media, and How Much $$ YouTubers Make
EP 158: Fundamentals — How to Improve Your Technique
Follow-Up: Tim Emmett — Lessons From 80+ Days on Era Vella 9a, and Changing His Diet to Thrive at Age 48 (Teaser)
EP 157: Jeannie Wall — Getting Stronger in Her 50s, the Value of Doing Challenging Things, and Slowing Down to Go Fast
EP 156: Fundamentals — How to Go on a Sport Climbing Trip
EP 155: Caleb Robinson — Reaching V13 in Four Years, Biggest Lessons From Competitive Soccer, and the Power of Consistency
Follow-Up: Aidan Roberts — Sending Alphane, Training for V18 Projects, and Listener Q&A (Teaser)
Announcing YouTube + Win a Training Bundle!
EP 154: Fundamentals — How to Go on a Bouldering Trip
EP 153: Ollie Torr — The Secret to Finger Strength, How to Climb Like Aidan Roberts, and Staying on the Bus
Follow-Up: Jordan Cannon — Sending ‘Wet Lycra Nightmare’ on the Leaning Tower (Teaser)
EP 152: Fundamentals — How to Go on a Climbing Trip
Announcing Fundamentals!
EP 151: Anna Hazelnutt — Toe Training for the World’s Hardest Slabs, and Giving Others Permission to Be Real
Follow-Up: Tyler Nelson — Cutting Edge Finger Training Ideas, and the Difference Between Active Recruitment vs. Passive Tension (Teaser)
EP 150: Luke Mehall — How Climbing Gave Him His Life, Creating The Climbing Zine, and Sustaining Creative Work
EP 149: Steven on Kegels and Coffee — We Are Not Robots, As It Turns Out
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