EP 09: Will Stanhope
March 16, 2020
Will Stanhope is a professional rock climber with many notable ascents in the realm of single and multi-pitch trad climbing, free-soloing, and cutting edge first ascents. We talked about Will’s recent freak accident and broken finger, the injury process, trad climbing tips, pushing through fear vs. listening to fear, and a case for more climbing/less training. You can learn more about Will at http://www.willstanhope.com/
Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Stitcher, Google Podcasts
Patreon:
Follow-Ups:
thenuggetclimbing.com/follow-ups
Videos:
‘Boys in the Bugs’ (Will and Matt climbing the FFA of the ‘Tom Egan Memorial Route’ 5.14)
Will climbing ‘Cobra Crack’ 5.14 in Squamish
Hazel Findlay & Will Stanhope Soloing in Froggat (really great music)
Trad Climbing Tips w/ Will Stanhope
Climbing the FFA of the 'Central Howser' 5.12+
Will's free solo of 'Zombie Roof' 5.12+
Routes/Articles:
‘Tom Egan Memorial Route’ 5.14, Bugaboos, BC
‘Central Howzer Tower’ 5.12+, Bugaboos, BC (Will’s FA w/ Matt Segal and Jason Kruk)
‘Parthian Shot’ E9/10, Burbage, UK
Leo Houlding's Wikipedia page'
’The Prophet’ 5.13d R, El Capitan, Yosemite
Rock climbing grades conversion chart (with UK E-grades)
Podcasts:
Triple Black podcast episode w/ Will
The Cutting Edge podcast episode w/ Will - All the Howsers in a day
The Curious Climber Podcast (Hazel & Mina’s new podcast)
Training:
Hangboard protocol from Andrew Bisharat's website (Repeaters workout)
Books/Other:
Alone on the Wall by Alex Honnold
A River Runs Through It by Norman Maclean
Anthony Bourdain's Wikipedia page
The Anthony Bourdain quote Will mentioned
More about Will:
Will’s finger X-ray Instagram post
Nuggets:
2:14 – The cruxes of dating internationally as a Canadian
3:00 – Freedom of the Wheels
4:35 – Will’s recent accident and finger injury, modern medicine, and getting the hardware removed
6:56 – “It’s the easy ground that gets you.”
7:14 – Running, rehab, flow state, and a day of easy soloing
9:15 – Having goals and listening to the body, numb scar tissue and Will’s freak accident, and Will’s finger X-Ray
11:03 – Filling the void while injured, “There’s more to life than climbing”, and fly fishing plans
14:09 – FFA of the ‘Tom Egan Memorial Route’ in the Bugaboos, and lots of rainy tent time
15:59 – History of the ‘Tom Egan Memorial Route’ and the pretties crack Will has ever seen
17:06 – “The perfect training recipe” (i.e. manual labor + hangboard repeaters), Will’s thoughts on hard tips crack climbing, and why the rest of us should exercising caution when it comes to hard crack climbing
20:56 – Soloing as a part of Will’s training, and a case for climbing more
22:03 – Guiding and getting recognized for past accomplishments
23:28 – Shifting away from hardcore projecting, and the Howzer Tower linkup w/ Leo Holding
26:30 – Simulclimbing, finding the right partner, and (contrived) climbing games
30:18 – Future projects, getting into mountain climbing, and “wielding all the swords”
32:03 – Headpointing vs. soloing, pushing through fear vs. listening to fear, and backing off
34:16 – Keeping soloing “safe”
35:09 – Downclimbing: “The lost art”
36:37 – Free soloing in Froggat (10+ years ago), trying ‘Parthian Shot’ and breaking his foot, and climbing ‘Muy Caliente’
39:07 – The E-grade system
40:33 – What Will learned from climbing with Leo
42:00 – “You can’t skip learning”, and why Will keeps his goals to himself nowadays
44:12 – Bouldering
45:02 – Will’s trad climbing tips for racking up, and polysporin (or neosporin) for gobies
47:15 – “More climbing, less training”
49:19 – Will’s hangboarding protocol
50:22 – Pushups and training opposing muscles and core stability
51:59 – What Will wishes he’d known at age 20 (he’s currently 33 years old) “Trust your own instincts”
52:44 – What Will wishes he’d known at age 30 - “Always really clean your climbing shoes”
53:22 – Will’s Anthony Bourdain kick
55:20 – Grateful to be alive
55:51 – Excited to get back in the game
56:31 – Will’s Instagram, ‘Freedom of the Wheels’ sequel, wrap up