Dylan Barks is an elite-level boulder and sport climber, and a dark horse in the climbing scene. He sent ‘Creature from the Black Lagoon’, his first V16, just two weeks after this interview. We talked about how Dylan uses a spray wall for 95% of his training, how he prepares for both bouldering and sport climbing trips, and about recovering from an eating disorder to climb his hardest ever.
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Show Notes:
thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/dylan-barks
Nuggets:
4:00 – Vanlife pipedreams, Dylan’s work and school, and finding his groove climbing outside
7:05 – Being in both the competition and outdoor worlds
8:30 – Bad haircut timing, and the alpine as a harsh and special place
11:32 – How Dylan prepared for his trip to RMNP, and spray wall training for both bouldering and sport climbing
14:11 – Dylan’s training philosophy, and why he uses the spray wall
16:24 – The value of benchmarks, and mixing limit bouldering with perfect repeats
17:58 – ‘A Day in Boone’, how Dylan has trained his capacity, and session format
21:40 – The line between capacity training vs. junk mileage
23:45 – Deep dive: spray wall session format
26:32 – 60 move circuits, running, and pushing through vs. resting
31:23 – Watching Dylan on ‘Wild Cat’, and his story about competing against Daniel Woods
37:00 – Internalizing the feeling of a move, and bringing intention to all of your climbing
39:17 – Sending ‘White Noise’, and finding another gear on this trip
40:20 – Taking the lower grade, and being his own harshest critic
41:32 – Where Dylan sees a lot of climbers going wrong in their training and improvement
43:44 – Coaching Jon, and coaching the team in MI
45:43 – Starting climbing at summer camp
46:33 – ‘Southern Smoke Direct’, taking a hiatus due to an eating disorder, and the light at the end of a dark tunnel
48:52 – Sharing about an eating disorder, and how Dylan’s struggle started
51:51 – Dysmorphia, and “Your body’s got it.”
56:00 – A couple of paragraphs from ‘Weighing In’
1:01:13 – Trusting the process, seeing things working, and the tricks our mind can play on us
1:04:57 – Looking at old pictures
1:06:04 – What 18-year-old Dylan needed to hear
1:08:28 – Going to the hospital, rebuilding relationships, and turning things around
1:10:48 – Mike, and “feed the beast”
1:12:14 – Untapped potential for strength, and thoughts vs. actions
1:15:08 – Navigating negative thoughts
1:17:00 – Using your climbing and training as the main driver for body composition
1:20:19 – Climbing ‘Arrested Development’ second try
1:24:15 – Mindful climbing, and being in the present moment
1:25:52 – Practicing mindfulness
1:26:52 – If you could only do one more hard rock climb…
1:28:35 – That “click”
1:30:14 – Southern sandstone
1:31:21 – Go-to climbing shoes
1:33:02 – Warming up your technique
1:34:35 – Trying ‘Creature from the Black Lagoon’
1:36:04 – School, and getting out his “ya yas”
1:37:25 – Aspirations to be a pro-climber?
1:39:01 – Vulnerability and the gift of sharing
1:40:10 – Gratitude, and meaningful connections
SEND ALERT: Will Bosi — ‘Return of the Sleepwalker’ V17, and What He Plans to Try Next!
EP 207: Paul Houghoughi (The Climbing Physio) — How to Rehab Finger Injuries, Build Bulletproof Wrists & Elbows, and Never Get Injured Again
EP 206: Building a Perfect Replica of ‘The Big Island’ V15, Training on Your Projects, and the Ideal Circuit — Charlie Schreiber Returns
SEND ALERT: Kai Lightner — ‘Life of Villains’ 9a, Not Rushing the Process, and Building Jamaica’s First Climbing Wall
EP 205: Adrian Vanoni — Finger Crack Wizardry, Blue Collar Sending, and Lucid Dreams About Beta
EP 204: Anak Verhoeven — How to Build 9a Endurance, Why Motivation Trumps Fancy Facilities, and Being Public About Her Faith
EP 203: Jakob Schubert — World Champion to 9c and 9A, Adam Ondra’s Risky and Efficient Style, and Failing on ‘Sleepwalker’
SEND ALERT: Jon Cardwell — Establishing ‘Wind Up Bird’ 5.15b, and Uphill Athlete Training
EP 202: Tyler Nelson Returns — How to Get Stronger Fingers, Habits to Prevent Injuries, and Why Climbers Shouldn’t Train Like Gymnasts
EP 201: James Pearson — The Full Redemption Story, Proposing the Mythical Grade of E12, and Climbing Harder After Kids
EP 200: Brooke Raboutou — An Olympian’s Mindset, Dancing on the Wall, and Competing Against Your Friends
EP 199: Will Anglin & Matt Jones — A Masterclass in How to Progress Your Climbing
EP 198: Travis Tameirao — The Day His Life Changed Forever, Climbing V10+ With an Artificial Knee, and Taking the Wheel
EP 197: Melina Costanza Returns — Harnessing the Power of Nerves, Praising Your Effort, and Choosing Good Over Perfect
EP 196: Pete Whittaker — Chasing the Hardest Cracks in the World, Embracing the Suck, and Futuristic Desert Projects
EP 195: Matt Segal Returns — The Recipe for a Peak Year, Cooking Tips, and High Summits and Higher Grades
EP 194: Will Anglin — Why We Should Treat Climbing Like Baseball, and the #1 Thing All Climbers Should Do
EP 193: Mat Wright — Risking It All to Send, The Power of Specific Goals, and Relaxing Hard to Climb Harder
EP 192: Alex Biale — Bootlegging Wine, Training With Ollie Torr, and the Keys to a Balanced Life
EP 191: Jesse Firestone Returns — Finding Silver Linings, How to Move Like Adam Ondra, and Key Benefits of Visualization
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