Mina Leslie-Wujastyk is a professional climber from the UK. She is also a writer, speaker, and co-host of the Curious Climber Podcast along with Hazel Findlay. We talked about her early life, impermanence, flow state, learning to try really hard, how she made the switch from hard boulders to hard sport routes, what sets high-level climbers apart, and the decision to become a mom.
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Show Notes:
thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/mina-leslie-wujastyk
Nuggets:
0:05:52 – Baby life
0:09:40 – How Mina and I met, and her road trip to the US in 2012
0:14:18 – Mina at age 25, and competing on the World Cup circuit
0:18:10 – Project mentality, quick sends, and unfinished business
0:21:02 – Patron question from Konstantinos, and Mina’s first gym and early climbing mentors
0:24:27 – Living in India as a kid and how that shaped Mina’s worldview
0:30:28 – Impermanence, and the lesson Mina learned from her dad as an early teenager
0:33:09 – Being exposed to both indoor and outdoor climbing as a kid
0:35:22 – Doing both route climbing and bouldering as a teenager, bouldering as social-climbing, and making the British team
0:38:03 – Mina’s first trip to Rocklands South Africa and more about her road trip around the US
0:40:14 – Bouldering in the South East (US) and climbing in the Red River Gorge
0:42:01 – Loving climbing, pushing too hard, and crashing
0:47:52 – The challenge makes the experience
0:51:55 – Flow and highballing
0:58:16 – How climbing ethics shape our experience
1:00:43 – Why do we seek flow?
1:03:12 – Tapping into our most primal selves
1:04:46 – An excerpt from Mina’s article: ‘Pushing It’, and British ascents
1:08:11 – Learning to try really hard, and the yin and the yang
1:12:52 – Unfinished business
1:16:28 – ‘Just Do It’
1:19:27 – What lead Mina to shift her focus to sport climbing
1:22:44 – Climbing the 70m ‘Totally Free 2’ in one pitch, and stashing candy in her sports bra
1:28:48 – How aerobic capacity training (Aero Cap) helped her transition to sport climbing
1:35:19 – What sets high-level boulders apart, and how good tactics make the difference
1:40:25 – What specific tactics Mina learned from her partner David, and a funny story
1:45:35 – What sets high-level sport climbers apart, and Mina’s experience on ‘Nordic Plumber’
1:49:20 – “Climbing isn’t just about being fit and strong, it’s about being clever and creative”
1:50:54 – Mina’s thoughts on returning to ‘Rainshadow’, and two bad accidents
1:57:52 – The decision to have a kid
2:03:52 – RED-S, and how her recovery led to the decision to have Isaac
2:07:26 – The best surprises with becoming a mom, and the miracle of pregnancy
2:11:13 – Question from Anna about training during pregnancy
2:15:58 – Studying nutrition, and thoughts on nutrition during pregnancy
2:18:22 – What led to starting The Curious Climber Podcast, and recommended episodes (linked in show notes)
2:23:54 – Wrap up
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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