EP 12: Mike Doyle
April 6, 2020
Mike Doyle is an elite-level rock climber who balances climbing with a career as a software engineer. He also has a long history of competition climbing and coaching. We talked about lessons learned from 10+ years of coaching, his training philosophy, onsighting tips, go-to climbing shoes, surfing, and the best breakfast he’s ever had.
Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Stitcher, Google Podcasts
Check out other episodes with Mike:
Follow-Up: Mike Doyle (Feb 4, 2021)
Patreon:
Follow-Ups:
thenuggetclimbing.com/follow-ups
Podcasts:
Training Beta Episiode 18 w/ Mike Doyle
Articles:
Mike Doyle: A Remote-Controlled Climbing Life
Sonnie Trotter Completes the 'Canadian Alpine Trilogy'
Rock & Ice: Interview with Sasha Digiulian about the ‘Canadian Alpine Trilogy’
Rock & Ice: Ultimate Strength (the article Mike wrote in 2010 that outlines his training plan)
Mike’s Go-To Shoes:
La Sportiva Genius (for onsighting)
La Sportiva Muira (for edging and face climbing)
La Sportiva Testarossa (he wore these on ‘Necessary Evil’)
La Sportiva Solution (another go-to)
La Sportiva Muira VS (he wore these on ‘To Bolt Or Not To Be’)
Videos:
Mike Doyle - Athlete Spotlight "Necessary Diligence"
Sonnie and Tommy ‘The Shining’ video w/ lawn chair
Sonnie Trotter ‘Castles in the Sky’ video
RedBull - Sasha Digiulian Trilogy (short)
Sasha Digiulian's 'The Trilogy' official trailer
Routes Mentioned:
‘ADATO’ (Another Day At The Office) 5.14b, Horne Lake, Vancouver Island, BC
‘Necessary Evil’ 5.14c, Virgin River Gorge, AZ
‘Route of All Evil’ 5.14a, Virgin River Gorge, AZ
‘Rude Boys’ 5.13c, Smith Rock, OR
‘Dreamin’’ 5.12a, Smith Rock, OR
‘To Bolt Or Not to Be’ 5.14a, Smith Rock, OR
‘Chemical Ali’ 5.14a, Smith Rock, OR
‘Peep Show’ 5.12b, Smith Rock, OR
‘Spank the Monkey’ 5.13d, Smith Rock, OR
‘East Face’ (free) 5.13d, Smith Rock, OR
‘Just Do It’ 5.14c, Smith Rock, OR
‘War Hammer’ 5.14a, Castle Mountain, Canadian Rockies
‘The Shining Uncut’ 5.14a, Mount Louis, Canadian Rockies
‘Blue Jeans Direct’ 5.14a, Mount Yamnuska, Canadian Rockies
'Hasta La Vista' 5.14b/c, Mount Charleston/The Hood, NV
Other:
Mike on Instagram:
Nuggets:
2:06 – Mike’s go-to breakfast, and the best breakfast he’s ever had
3:09 – My climbing gym trip
3:25 – Mike’s early climbing and first (and last) experience with mountaineering
5:58 – Moving to Vancouver for college, coaching at the North Vancouver gym, and the stacked field of young climbers that came out of that program
8:29 – The culture that lead The Edge climbing team to be so successful
9:50 – Mike’s competition career and why he transitioned away from competitions
11:16 – Mike’s evolution as a coach, early coaching mistakes, the importance of building relationships with the kids on the team, and finding individual triggers
17:55 – Enjoying coaching, fear of falling, the story behind ‘Spank the Monkey’, and setting up a top rope on ‘Rude Boys’
21:58 – Flexibility training, and why Mike wouldn’t pay himself to be his own coach
23:25 – The best piece of coaching advice Mike ever got, and the importance of making the training environment fun
25:45 – More time in the gym, and “That’s when you learn technique is when you’re tired.”
26:49 – “Strength training is simple.”
28:13 – How Mike thinks about block training vs integrating training with climbing
31:14 – Some of the nuts and bolts of Mike’s hangboard training—specifically how he prepared for ‘Necessary Evil’ (reference the TrainingBeta podcast episode linked above for the exact workout he was doing)
32:29 – Mike’s struggle with one-arm hangs
34:46 – Doing a single 10-second full crimp hang for recruitment
37:30 – Mike’s lineup of holds and the importance of sticking to a program
38:09 – Why strength = endurance, and training yourself to recruit less (i.e. relax your grip) on a hangboard
40:09 – Climbing tired to improve efficiency/movement economy
40:50 – Mike’s thoughts on the Moonboard, and “Every tool has its applications.”
42:00 – Nagging injuries and thoughts on climbing hard in the future and what that means
43:06 – Mike’s ‘Remote Controlled Climbing Life’, dreams of traveling and climbing, and the story behind ADATO
46:43 – Why Mike still works 60+ hours per week
49:32 – Creating boundaries around work, “ride or die”, and the balance that Mike hopes to achieve with his current company and work life
52:28 – Working “extra remotely”, two-month trips, and needing a change of scenery
54:54 – A few things Mike looks for in a potential “extra remote” work space
55:32 – Mike’s keyboard and mouse recommendations (Kinesis–link in show notes)
57:06 – The Canadian Alpine Trilogy
1:06:32 – “It’s the Rockies.”
1:07:33 – Mixing in other climbing with the trilogy and plans to go back this summer
1:08:40 – Necessary Evil and necessary diligence
1:11:47 – Climbing as an escape vs. having a focusing project, takeaways from projecting Necessary Evil, and support from the climbing community
1:15:15 – Why Mike’s process on Necessary Evil resonated with so many people
1:16:04 – Mike’s (lack) of unfinished business, ‘Just Do It’, and how he goes about onsighting and redpointing on road trips
1:18:54 – Onsighting tips
1:20:38 – Why Mike love the La Sportiva Genius and why it has become his go-to onsight shoe
1:23:50 – Mike’s favorite stiff shoe for face climbing and the shoes he wore on To Bolt
1:25:01 – The advice Mike would give himself at age 18, climbing standards when Mike climbed his first 14a vs now, Adam Ondra’s onsight attempt on Necessary Evil, and why I think ‘Just Do It’ is in the bag for Mike ;)
1:29:51 – Surfing and Mike’s recent trip to Costa Rica
1:33:30 – What’s next for Mike, his elbow injury, running for fitness, and the one thing about running that translates most to climbing
1:35:34 – Upcoming trips
1:36:31 – Woodford story