I was just talking to one of my friends in the
bathroom and then she walked out of one of the
stalls and we looked at each other and we were
like, oh my gosh, it's Janja. So then we went
to ISO. I just was talking to one of my coaches
like, I can't do it. I felt sick, I was falling
asleep. It was only my third World Cup and being
in finals felt crazy. So I was just so, so excited.
And then when it was cancelled... I was yeah
really upset my first thought was like oh no
what if I'd never make a finals again they'll
just like make a comment or say like oh like
if I was as light as you I'd do that climb Welcome
to another episode of the That's Not Real Climbing
podcast. I'm your host, Jinni, and I'm excited
to introduce my guest for today, Emma Edwards.
Emma is a boulder on Team GB, and 2025 was her
debut in the senior World Cup circuit, and she's
already made a World Cup finals. However, if
you don't recognize her, it may be because that
was Prague where her finals got rained out. In
this episode, we'll go over all the mishaps that
happened at Prague, including an allergic reaction.
We'll learn about her training schedule, Team
GB, and the climbing culture in commercial gyms,
and how often she goes through climbing shoes,
which kind of blew my mind. I hope you enjoy
this episode with Emma. Please pardon this brief
intermission, but I'm excited to talk about Mad
Rock's newest and softest shoe yet, the Remora
Pro. If you like being able to feel the chips
you're standing on, and you like not having to
worry about standing on sketchy volumes in competitions,
then this is the soft shoe for you. They also
have a crazy 3D heel that allows you to get more
surface area when heel hooking, and inserts that
lock your heel into the shoe no matter how hard
you're pulling. Feel free to message me if you
have any questions about the shoes or sizing,
and you can use the discount code NOTREALCLIMBER
for 10 % off your entire Mad Rock order. Thank
you to Mad Rock for helping to sponsor the podcast.
Now, back to the show. How was your holidays?
Yeah, really nice. Thank you. And you? yeah it
was good do you have any like new year's plans
or resolutions ideas oh god um i've not really
thought about resolutions i want to be more organized
um yeah i need to get on it um but yeah i don't
really know to be fair do you have any new year's
plans not really any plans i always try to make
a resolution to like start stretching but it's
just so freaking boring I can't do it it's hard
isn't it it's like I used to have such a perfectionist
mindset with it as well and like it's I think
starting is the hardest part and I would be like
if I couldn't like the thought of doing it badly
I was like no I just can't be bothered to do
it but actually like doing something's better
than nothing but what's doing it badly for stretching
I don't know like I went through a phase where
I would have to do like 30 seconds in each stretch
and I'd do all my stretches um and then doing
it badly would just be like not I don't know
just not doing it properly and then I would just
find it really hard to stop because I'd have
this whole thing in my head of god I have to
get through like stretching but then I think
since I've been a bit more like relaxed with
it I like do it way more now Okay. What's your
routine look like? Or I guess you don't have
a routine because that would be too much perfection.
Yeah, maybe. For stretching, I think it's, I
try to stretch like every day. Not every day
is like a big stretching day. Like if I'm tired,
it's like getting to sleep is more important,
I think. But I definitely like try to do a bit
of like massage gun and foam roll. And then when
I can't stretch, I don't know. Yeah, I... tried
to get like a split one year very yeah very short
amount of time that I spent trying to do that
I've I always have the goal of middle splits
that I've never done but it like I would I was
doing it and I think maybe I was doing it too
hard Oh, really? Like overstretching? Yeah, I
think I was just like stretching too extreme
for what I was able to do. And then it made my
knees hurt really bad. Oh, really? I guess sometimes
like when you're holding middle split, it's like
the inside of the knees. That hurts me sometimes.
I don't know. Was it that or? It's kind of like
when you maybe like fall and then it like bends
the other way too much. Oh, are you hypermobile
or? No, no. It was just too much on the knees,
I think, when I stopped. then I never picked
it up again no middle splits I feel like I'm
like I'm relatively flexible but like box splits
or middle splits is the one I just like I can't
do and I need to be like committed for like yeah
a long time and consistent but do you think it
would help with climbing yeah for sure I think
it's like the most important one for climbing
with like keeping your hips into the wall and
especially and with slabs and everything um but
it's the one that I'm worst at which is really
annoying yeah I wasn't trying middle splits though
I was trying to do front splits that's the one
where you're like oh this one yeah it wasn't
for like climbing I just thought it'd be fun
no no that's cool that's cool but maybe that
can be your resolution as well yeah yeah yeah
no for sure um how is winter training going winter
it's going really well actually yeah I've started
working with a new coach um and yeah it's going
really well so far what does your training look
like So currently, I've actually switched to
doing three days on, one day off. Last winter,
I did six days on, one day off. Whoa, that's
a lot. Yeah, it was, I think it like, I don't
know, it's definitely beneficial in some ways,
but then in other ways, it's not beneficial.
I don't know to do it right is hard and then
I'm only doing Boulder so I think maybe this
year the thinking was more like I'll try to have
like three like good sessions like with skin
and then a rest day and then just repeat but
yeah I'm doing three on one off and just like
everything really like climbing gym I don't know
the usual like strength training and hangboarding
stuff like that yeah yeah I think most sessions
I'll have like some form of like fingerboarding
or like I do like those pinch pickup things um
and then I'll have like a climbing session which
could be like subs and then power endurance or
like comp blocks and then a hardboard session
and then um not every day but a lot of days recently
I've been having gym it's very much like I don't
know it feels like it's like let's get out as
tired as possible and like push our arms as much
as we can do you is your coach there like the
entire time while you're training no no um so
he writes my training plan and then I see him
like once or twice a week in person for sessions.
That makes sense. What did your six days on training
look like? That sounds crazy to me. Last winter.
Yeah, it was a lot. It was more like I would
do like hard day, hard day, easy day, hard day,
hard day, easy day, kind of. So maybe like the
third day would be like slabs and conditioning
or something. So I'd have skin for the next days.
But it was just a lot of climbing, a lot of gym.
But I think if you like build up your capacity
and you can train that much, then it can be okay.
I don't know. Was it mainly just like a skin
issue? Yeah, I think I did. I think now I'm preferring
the three on one off to the six days because
I just have. more skin and energy for the sessions
and I can make them like better quality sessions
I think did you ever like tape up your skin to
yeah yeah for sure I think I don't know it's
really annoying and it's annoying like I've definitely
found it mentally hard at first to be like taped
and not doing a climb and knowing if I untaped
that I would find it okay I think it takes like
a lot of maturity to be like no it's fine like
it doesn't matter it's just training you can
tape um but when i was doing six days i definitely
spent a lot of sessions taped i think yeah i
mean i wonder if that's helpful too because then
it makes you i don't know like work your grip
harder yeah work your body positioning maybe
it could be a thing i think erin spends a lot
of time taped up and she has really strong hands
so maybe it's the manual yeah actually i wonder
if i should try that out just tape up every session
yeah i mean because I feel like for me, I'm so
texture dependent. Like if the texture on a hold
isn't good, I'm like over it. Yeah, no, same.
I hate a badly textured hold. Yeah, so I think
maybe I need to work on that now that I think
about it. So yeah, let's get into learning more
about you and your climbing. How did you start
out getting into climbing and competing? My parents
both climbed a little bit in uni, like not properly,
but... They occasionally went like outdoor climbing
and so I think when I started climbing when I
was 10 we were visiting family in France in Paris
and we went to Font and I think that was my first
time climbing and then we came home and I think
I asked to go like I just asked to go climbing
and then like six months later I joined a kids
club and yeah I just really liked it. Did you
do, like, family trips? We did when I was younger
to Font, yeah, yeah. It was really nice. And
then when did you actually start competing a
bunch? Or, like, do you, like, remember a moment
when you decided to start doing it seriously?
So I started competing, like, quite soon after
I started climbing. There was, like, this competition
circuit called the Youth Climbing Series in the
UK, and it was, like, you do regional comps,
and then you try to make it to the national.
like grand final they used to call it um so I
did that like six months after I started climbing
but when I like took it seriously I think that
was maybe when I was like 15 or something I like
just I don't know I decided I wanted to get onto
the GB team and yeah what inspired you to want
to get onto the GB team or like how do you make
the decision that I don't know it's like hard
for me to imagine being so young and deciding
that it's something I want to do, I don't know,
like, professionally or take really seriously.
It kind of, like, just, like, built up. Like,
I started with the regional comps and the national
comps and then I would, like, make national finals
and just seeing all the people in the GB team,
it just felt like the next step. And then, like,
I really wanted to go to the internationals and
I don't know. Yeah, it just felt like the next
thing. that was coming I don't know like it just
yeah you don't you don't feel like there was
a specific decision it was just like this makes
sense is the next thing to work towards I think
so okay so yeah this was your first year in the
senior circuit right yes yeah yeah I mean it
was a crazy first year in the senior circuit
I think you made semis in all world cups except
for one uh yeah apart from Kachow at the start
of the season yeah um how did it feel and what
did you learn from the 2025 season um it was
really cool uh yeah I didn't expect it to go
so well like obviously I hoped it would go well
um but it was just like crazy to be competing
with the people who I've watched like on my screen
for so long and to like just be in iso and just
even like seeing them warming up it's just like
insane um and yeah i think i learned a lot about
like myself and uh the comps and was it like
your first time um like traveling around for
competitions too uh with the youth team i'd already
done like a decent amount of traveling around
europe and then uh for youth worlds I'd been
to Dallas and South Korea and China actually
before but um it was definitely like a very different
experience and like having all the comps back
to back that was yeah very new for me and i think
i could have done things better i'm not sure
i think yeah what would you like change about
the traveling for next year not sure i think
i need to figure it out for next year um but
i definitely felt that i got like physically
quite tired by the end of the season and i would
hope to like um yeah hopefully with my coach
we can figure out how i maybe don't get so tired
like maybe it's a case of like training more
or training a bit less i'm not too sure um but
yeah i'd like to figure that one out like you
were still doing training during the season um
no like kind of like not training training so
much like i wasn't doing long days um but i was
still doing like shorter hard sessions because
you want to stay recruited um I don't know I
think it's a hard balance to find like the right
amount to do I find it quite hard to uh like
know what my body needs but hopefully with like
the pasture and everything I can figure it out
a bit better yeah and you also said it was cool
to be an iso competing with the people you watched
on screen yeah it was crazy who was like who
are you like most like did you feel nervous warming
up next to them was there like anyone that you
super looked up to that yeah I remember in Kachow
seeing like Miho and I was just like fangirling
so hard like oh my gosh just like seeing her
in person was crazy and then I remember seeing
Yanya for the first time in Innsbruck like that
was insane i think i was just talking to one
of my friends in the bathroom and then she like
walked out of one of the stalls and i was we
looked at each other and we're like oh my gosh
did you say anything or you just kind of stared
just like tried not to like be too obvious um
but yeah i think it was really cool to um like
see those people in real life and yeah everyone's
just like so nice and it's really cool I wonder
how she feels when people just like, when she
just like walks out and sees people like whispering
about her to the side. But yeah, how do you feel
like warming up in that environment? Like, does
it feel nerve wracking and scary warming up next
to people like that? I think I definitely found
it intimidating at first because just like watching
people, like everyone is so impressive and like
so strong, like the moves they're doing on the
spray wall. I was, especially like in Kachow,
I was just like, oh my gosh. But I think as the
season went on, I became more comfortable with
it for sure. But definitely at first I found
it quite intimidating. Yeah, I bet. One of the
audience submitted questions that had come in
was, how has the transition from youth to senior
been for you? And do you have any advice for
youth climbers going through that transition?
Yeah, I found the transition from youth to senior,
like, good but also hard at times because it's
just that you're going into a much more competitive
and harder environment and everyone is just so
good and there's so many people i think if i
had advice it would try to be it would be to
try to be confident because it's really hard
at times and i definitely found like going into
senior I had a lot of like self -doubt and just
when you like see the start list and you see
all the names on the start list it's hard to
look at that and think how am I meant to compete
against these people because they're all so good
but they're also just people and like everyone's
in the same boat like yeah I think that would
be my advice. Did you feel like there was a difference
in the actual boulders between youth and senior
like they climbed differently? Yeah I think senior
one's definitely a bit more powerful in my opinion
um which is really cool uh especially like in
semi -finals like the power boulders are usually
really really hard is that um more of a strength
for you or do you get nervous when it comes to
like power boulders i don't think it's my strength
but i think in competitions i climb power boulders
i find them the easiest to like get into a good
mindset and try my best on like i find slabs
in comps quite hard but power boulders it's just
like okay i know this is going to be really hard
i know i'm going to have to try as hard as i
can and i feel like in a comp i can get into
that headspace or like yeah quite well yeah what's
your mindset on on slab uh i really like slab
but i find slabs in comps quite stressful and
it's something i really want to improve at next
year I think it's one of my main goals because
in training I feel quite confident on slabs and
then I get to the comps and I like think about
the slabs and see the slabs and they make me
so stressed but yeah it's definitely something
I'd like to be able to work on and be able to
show some good slab climbing next year. Is it
like the time pressure or like the number of
attempts that get to you? I think it's A lot
of the time it's the sequence. I don't think
I've ever been the best at like reading sequences
from the ground, especially on slabs. So I like
rely a lot on my intuition on the wall. But and
then if I'm not feeling confident, it's hard
to rely on that. And I think I struggle with
being confident on the slabs in comps. So hopefully
the next season. I can be more confident. Yeah,
I think I'm super bad at reading from the ground
too. Yeah, I find it so hard. That's something
I need to work on. But I don't know how to work
on it. Yeah, it's a tough one. And then sometimes,
like, sometimes I think it's better to use your
intuition. But then other times, like, you need
to have, like, a plan A, a plan B. I don't know.
It's hard to find the balance. How do you feel
about, like, coordination style? I love coordination.
Like, I think it's my favorite. kind of climbing
yeah I really really like it do you have any
tips there for how to figure them out more quickly
I think for coordination a lot of it is like
giving 100 % from the get -go and just committing
like properly and even if it like because if
it doesn't feel good at least you know that you've
given it 100 % and you know it doesn't feel good
that way I think that's really important um because
if you don't commit then you don't know For me,
often with coordination, I think of the position
I want to end up in and then I trust my body
that it's going to get me there and I just give
it my all, I think. One of the comps that you
did the best in was Prague. You ended up being
in a finals position and then the event got rained
out. What was that experience like? Prague was
kind of crazy. Before the qualies, it was an
afternoon qualies, um for my lunch i had some
like i had other stuff but i had some breadsticks
and hummus and it just looked like normal hummus
um i eat hummus all the time i really like it
um and then i ate some and my lips like started
tingling and i was like oh this is really odd
and then i like check the ingredients and i see
that it's like peanut butter hummus and i'm allergic
to peanuts um so then i started to have an allergic
reaction um and this was how bad is it I'm not
anaphylactic so my throat doesn't close up but
I was like getting like hives and yeah and then
my stomach started to hurt and I like took my
pills and everything um my antihistamines um
but it was like just before I headed to ISO I
started to have the reaction um so I was just
there like oh my gosh like what have I done like
this is so bad um But then, I don't know, I went
downstairs, we were going to head off to ISO
and the coaches were just trying to be like,
no, you're okay. Like, they were just trying
to calm me down and, like, they were really good
and, like, really supportive. So then we went
to ISO and then I just, like, I felt so bad at
this point. I just was talking to one of my coaches,
like, I can't do it. Like, I was just, like,
falling, I don't know, I felt sick, I was falling
asleep, it was just everything. um and then we
the it was raining and the comp got postponed
so we got moved to some like museum and then
we were there for a couple hours which was actually
a blessing in disguise for me because I think
um my reaction was like not so good at that time
I was like um I was like going really hot then
really cold then my whole body went red I don't
know it was kind of crazy um So we moved to this
museum for a couple of hours. We went back to
the ISO for the comp. And then I was still like
having the reaction, but it was definitely, it
was like coming in waves and it was definitely
a bit better. But I remember like warming up.
I felt like so, so bad and like awful. But then
the comp went ahead and it was at like 8pm, I
think. um the qualies and uh by the time I actually
got to like call zone for qualies the reaction
had kind of stopped but um I hadn't eaten in
like like since the hummus because I just couldn't
stomach anything so I was I had like no energy
um and yeah I think the coaches were really good
like I was kind of freaking out and like, I'm
not going to make semis. I really want to make
semis. Like, this is all my fault. Like, why
did I eat the hummus? But they were like, no,
you can still make semis. Like your body can
do more than you think, but it doesn't matter.
Like you're doing all that you can do. Yeah.
They were really supportive. And so I did qualities
and I felt like so bad, but I, and then after
qualities. I was like, there's no way I've made
semis. Like, because I only got like two tops
as well. And I was just like, no way. So we walked
back to the hotel and then I just like checked
the results. I was like, oh my gosh, wait, I'm
in semis. And then I was like over the moon.
Like I couldn't believe it. Like I was in semis.
And then semis, we had a rest day in between.
So the allergic reaction was all good by then.
and semis went really really well what about
that semis um went super well for you like was
it just boulders that fit your style better um
I think it was a mixture I think the boulders
really suited me um and I think that uh because
of the whole drama the day before I was just
and because I qualified in the last place as
well I was just like so grateful and happy to
be there that I climbed so freely and I was just
climbing really well I think and then you were
getting ready to like climb in finals afterwards
yeah yeah I guess I don't know the timing for
how it all happened like you were still preparing
for finals did you already start warming up or
um yeah how did that go well so we let me think
for finals yeah so me and Erin arrived and I
say And I think we'd both started our warmup
and then we got told maybe something would like,
maybe it would be delayed a bit. And then I think
we did some games or something. We were doing
like a Harry Potter quiz at some point, I think,
or maybe a friend's quiz. I don't know. But we
definitely started the warmup and then we got
told we were going to go out for presentation
and we like got changed and whatnot. But then
we were told the event was cancelled and we were
just all like, oh my gosh. And it was, yeah,
it was hard. Wait, I thought you were, how did
you do a Harry Potter quiz or like friends quiz
if you're not allowed devices in ISO? Oh, it
was just like, we would think of questions. Oh,
seriously? Yeah. I don't know. I think Aaron
and one of our coaches. are both like quite big
Harry Potter fans so they were like competing
and one of the other coaches was asking questions
okay yeah that's funny huh sounds fun I guess
friends quiz was better I think yeah I was also
a big friends fan um so yeah I guess how did
you feel about not getting to compete in finals
or did you have any feelings about of like nerves
or excitement for finals uh I think for finals
I was like just so excited because i didn't expect
to be in a finals like it was only my third world
cup and especially after qualifying in the last
place being in finals felt crazy um so i was
just so so excited um and then when it was cancelled
i was yeah really upset and i my first thought
was like oh no what if i'd never make a finals
again and it's not like the first thought you
want but um yeah i found it really hard i think
and i think i found um burn world cup quite hard
because i um it was the world cup after and uh
i just like put too much pressure on wanting
to be in the finals again Yeah, I guess pressure
and like expectations is kind of always really
difficult for athletes to work through. How do
you feel about like the mental side of competitive
climbing was another audience question that came
through? Yeah, I think the mental side is something
that I still need to work on quite a lot because
I think it's really important. And I think being
confident is really important in competition
climbing, especially. But I think I've never
seen like a sports psychologist or anything.
I think it's definitely something I might look
into before next season because I think it'd
be really useful. Is there anything thinking
back on your performance in Burn that you would
have wanted to change? I think I wish I could
have enjoyed the semifinal more. I think it's
kind of silly because I'd only made like one
final. but just because it was cancelled i found
it quite hard to enjoy it because i was only
thinking about making the final and rather than
like uh being grateful for being in the semis
and like being present on the boulders um yeah
i wish i'd enjoyed that more because i think
for me i climb my best when i'm like happy and
yeah I guess like what were your thoughts during
the semis on each boulder? Because I feel like
personally for me, I mean, I've never done any
competitions where there's like an ISO format,
but during competitions, I am thinking pretty
hard about like where, what boulders other people
are doing versus ones I haven't done. Is that
kind of what you mean when it comes to getting
in your head during competitions when you're
trying to think about getting into finals? I
think kind of the comps where it or the rounds
where I think it's going the best I end up not
thinking about the external factors and stuff
I can't control um but sometimes yeah I do I
had like in the past I've definitely thought
some of those things like if someone tops a boulder
next to you rather than like being concentrated
on my boulder my mind's going to that and I think
Yeah, it's hard sometimes. And then, oh, do you
get prize money from being in fifth place at
prom? If you're interested in ad -free episodes
and would like to unlock over four hours of deleted
scenes, including one where Emma talks about
paddle dino tips and ISO activities, do consider
helping support this podcast on Patreon. Some
other perks include a membership pin shipped
to you after two months, prioritized guest questions,
or the ability to submit video questions, and
more to come. The proceeds go back into the podcast
to help me break even, and they help me improve
the experience of the guests. If you'd like to
help out non -monetarily, liking, commenting,
and sharing helps a great deal as well. Back
to the show. Yes, I did actually. I think I got
1 .5k, which is quite good. Oh wait, that's not
bad. Maybe like 1 ,300 euros actually. I'm not
sure. But I think it was one of the good tiers
for... prize money like i think there's like
a silver platinum or something like that i think
burn was high prize money too oh there's like
differences between each world cup yeah prague
and burn were higher prize money than other world
cups i think oh i didn't know that yeah i heard
like for some world cups the like even first
place only gets like 2000 or something like that
yeah i think so usually it's I think Burn was
double what some other World Cups were. I mean,
I could be wrong. Like, I don't want to spread
false information. No, that's interesting. Yeah.
I think it depends on maybe the individual host,
I guess. I think so. Federation. A little. I'm
not sure. Yeah, I didn't know there was so much
difference between different comps, though. That's
interesting. um and then another like general
question I think you're kind of one of the slightly
taller athletes yeah um yeah do you like remember
that ever playing to your advantage or disadvantage
at all during the season uh I think yeah it has
its advantages and disadvantages definitely um
some coordinations I think easier if you're taller
um but also there was definitely some boulders
this season that I found hard because of well
it's not because of like it's something I need
to work on um but there are definitely some small
boxes this year that I could like train to fit
in better I think what kind of moves are harder
for you as a taller athlete uh I think like bunched
positions I find quite hard um and like getting
in and out of small boxes um based like it's
something i can work on so just need to get my
middle spirits yeah more stretching yeah yeah
um so now getting a little bit into gb climbing
um i feel like specifically the past couple years
have been kind of crazy for team gb um almost
seems like it came out of nowhere a little bit
um what do you feel like it is that contributed
to that is it like inspirational past athletes
like having Shauna as like a um I don't know
what's the word like idol or someone to look
up to or is there like good gym density or what
do you think contributes to it yeah I think the
team's definitely transitioned a lot in the past
couple years um and everyone is doing so well
it's crazy I think, yeah, it's really useful
to have like Shauna and people like that to look
up to. But I think it's just, I don't know, I
just think everyone is working really hard and
everyone is looking around and you see all these
people working hard. And yeah, it's really cool
to be surrounded by really strong climbers at
the World Cups. Is it because you guys don't
even have like a national training center or
anything? No, no. um so we used to have a training
center um but it wasn't amazing uh and then last
year i think a lot of the guys especially really
struggled with getting on world cup level or
style boulders um because a lot of the stuff
you just can't set in a commercial gym and they
just wouldn't set hard enough for the guys so
this year um we've managed to get a bit more
support and instead of having a training center
GB decided to have to use some money to set uh
climbs in depot climbing centers i don't know
they're quite a big climbing chain in the uk
so now we've got these project boulders up at
different centers across the country and i think
it's really really good and yeah it's useful
i guess it's surprising to hear that um the team
was struggling with having hard enough boulders
set before because I think everyone was doing
super well last year as well. Even on the men's
side, you had Toby and Max and Diane and so many
strong people. So it's surprising to hear. All
of that was just on commercial sets and spray
walling? I think a lot on the spray wall and
a lot on the woody board, for sure. But also
when they would all train together, they would
make up a lot of moves. just like push each other
a lot they would always do like slab eliminates
and do everything they can to practice the world
cup style without having the world cup boulders
and i think them training with each other they
pushed each other really hard and that was really
good okay yeah what about like um on the female
side like do you feel like the setting at commercial
gyms is decent enough to train on for you guys
um i think it physically it's okay um like if
you make your way around enough centers you can
definitely get enough physical boulders but i
think a lot of them aren't in the world cup style
um it's more just like it's kind of quite basic
a lot of the climbing um but with the new mint
boulders with the collaboration between gb and
depot it's really good and we've got like world
cup style holds and world cup style setting and
the right level so it's been really really useful
yeah i guess for a lot of people who well i would
say most people don't get the chance to experience
the difference between like world cup setting
and commercial setting um how would you describe
the difference and what it feels like i think
world cup boulders are usually um like more dynamic
and harder to read sometimes like you have like
multiple options and sometimes you have to pick
between options and also you just get like bigger
moves and slabs just take up the whole panel
and in a commercial center it's hard to like
you can't really set like that so it's hard to
get exposure on the world cup style slabs when
yeah you don't have them Yeah, I guess I've seen
a decent amount of commercial sets just because
through YouTube videos that Aaron or Toby post.
I feel like I see pretty interesting, at least
dynamic boulders. Do you feel like the dynamic
boulders compare at all to World Cup boulders?
Yeah, I think occasionally we do get some really
good dynamic boulders, but compared to some other
nations, maybe we don't get enough of them. Or
we'll get one a month and it'll be really good,
but then we won't get another one for another
month. But I think it's changing a lot now, which
is really nice to see. Yeah, I think it's just
from the videos. I feel like you guys have a
lot of fun comp style setting. But it's hard
to tell just from videos. Yeah. Speaking of which,
I feel like British people have always been killing
it in the YouTube scene. I don't know why. Yeah,
there is a lot of British YouTubers, I think.
Back in the day, like, there was a whole, like,
vlog squad on YouTube. Oh, like Zamala? Yeah.
Oh, really? No, I'm talking about that too, yeah.
Oh, okay. Oh, I love it. Do you watch her videos
now? No, I just saw that she started, like, posting
videos again. Yeah, oh, I've started watching
them again. I love them. I don't know, it, like,
brings me right back to 2016. Yeah. Yeah, it's
so interesting. It's just, like, I don't know,
ever since YouTube started, it's been very, like...
british focus yeah there are a lot of british
youtubers to be fair it's interesting did she
just start posting again or was she posting the
whole time but people weren't watching i'm not
sure maybe she was i hadn't watched her since
like 2016 um but then a couple years ago when
she had otty or otterly uh one of her kids wait
what is that Oh my god, she has kids now? Yeah,
she has two children. It's insane. Oh my god,
I had no idea. And her dog is still around, Nala.
Oh yeah, wow. I've been watching her recently.
She posted like Christmas and her kids are so
cute. I'll have to take a look. Yeah, they were
so cute. It was wholesome times. Yeah, no, 2016
was a good year. But anyway, I guess back to
the climbing portion. Yeah, a lot of British
YouTube climbers as well. So that's interesting
to see. Another audience question that came through,
it felt like you also burst onto the climbing
scene. Do you have a similar feeling about that?
Like, do you kind of feel like it was a slow
build or did you feel like you did a lot better
than you expected this season? No, I think I
did do... um better than expected this season
um because obviously and obviously I didn't do
world cups the previous season um because we
didn't have that many spots and I wasn't at the
level to get one of the like two spots we had
I think um but I think definitely like over the
years I've um improved but this year was definitely
my biggest like jump I think Yeah, I guess from
the audience perspective, it was kind of like
you just showed up in semis and no one had heard
of you before because most people don't watch
like youth climbing. Yeah. A lot of people don't
watch like the European cups either. And so you
kind of just like showed up and did pretty well.
And so I'm assuming people are probably kind
of wondering, like, did you. kind of know that
your level was up there or did you feel like
um you were competing at a different level the
previous season um i'd started to get like good
youth results um and i won the european youth
championships at the end of that year um and
then i really wanted to make it to the world
cup team for the 2025 season um and then before
the season we had um the British Championships
where I came second but I didn't know like I
knew that Erin was at a really high level but
she was like she's yeah she was really strong
and I didn't really have like a gauge of what
level I was at but yeah and I think um yeah i
found it like going into kachow i found it hard
not really knowing where i was at um i don't
know like i got a lot stronger and i felt a lot
stronger but yeah yeah so i guess going back
into climbing in the commercial gym scene in
the uk um what is the uk like climbing culture
like since i feel like you guys also have a lot
of gyms around yeah yeah i think on the whole
it's really good and i really like going to like
my local gym and seeing everyone there there's
like a bit of a crew on the wooden board and
they're like all so supportive and yeah i think
on the whole the culture is nice but definitely
um there's definitely negative sides to it and
sometimes uh like I find a lot of the gyms are
still quite male dominated or like the training
spaces can be quite male dominated um and I find
it okay I think now because I'm like confident
within myself and yeah but I definitely found
it kind of hard growing up sometimes with that
male dominated space hmm interesting I guess
like what like i don't know what do you feel
like that came with um just sometimes like when
i was younger i mean it happens now but um i
just don't let it bother me really but it's just
like i would go on a climb and let's say some
guy was on the climb as well and i would like
flash the climb and then they'll just like make
a comment or say like oh, like if I was as light
as you, I'd do that climb. And I was just like,
no, no, no. I remember one time I was doing like
one arm of training and then a guy said to me
like, oh, like how light do you have to be to
be able to do that? And I was just like, no,
like, no. I don't know. Just like, yeah. I've
heard people like talk about that on like Reddit
before, but it's never actually happened to me
before. No, yeah. And I'm like very, like stickly
so I guess I'm surprised that no one's ever said
it to me but yeah did you have like a response
for that or did you just walk away I think I
just kind of ignored it like didn't give it the
time of day yeah I'm just trying to think if
like anything weird has happened to me I know
people have mentioned like or sometimes I kind
of get the feeling that I'll come off of a climb
and then they'll like try it oh my gosh they
got when the guys see you on the climb and they
yeah that's the most annoying thing yeah i get
it all the time like i'll be on like v i don't
know like v9 or v10 or whatever and they'll be
on like a v3 and then they'll suddenly i don't
know i'm all for like people coming to train
with me and like trying the same climbs as me
like i think that's great like and like pushing
yourself on climbs that are like too hard for
you um But when they're on like a V3 and they
see a female on a hard climb and then try to
pull on, it's just like, oh my gosh. Yeah. Yeah.
But I mean, at least they can try it and then
see that it's not so simple. Yeah. Yeah. Have
you ever had them like... I don't know the other
day I was on this board climb and this guy came
over from another area of the board because he
saw me on this climb and he like tried to pull
on like couldn't pull on tried to do the first
move couldn't do the first two and then he like
walked away like holding his back and I was like
oh okay okay that doesn't happen to me as often
because I don't think I'm climbing things that
are as hard um but well actually I don't know
maybe the culture is pretty good because if that
does happen a lot of times i mean i feel like
a lot of times they'll just be watching from
afar and then if i send it or don't they'll just
talk about like how hard it looked or that or
like a lot of times they'll be like oh i could
like never do that so yeah maybe the culture
here is just a bit more nice at least vocally
i don't know what they're thinking inside their
heads um but yeah that's unfortunate that it's
still kind of like that but hopefully maybe it'll
shift yeah I think like recently I think we're
seeing a lot more women in the gym and I think
like 90 % of the guys you meet in a carnival
are lovely and are so supportive um but there's
definitely still a bit of that around yeah um
so then outside of climbing or like uh competition
climbing a bit um do you get much time to climb
outside or does it interest you at all uh I yeah
I've I do have a lot of time now to be fair because
I'm not in uni anymore um but just with training
uh I don't have so much time or like skin I guess
to climb outside but I really enjoy it and I
would love to get out more do you have any like
projects in mind or is it just like you really
don't have the time to even think about it right
now I've not thought about it like properly but
um i do want to go try i don't know if you've
heard of the joker or and the ace they're like
it's an 8a and an 8b at stanage uh in the peak
district of that area oh i i guess in the peak
district yeah but i'm like very not outdoor climbing
yeah no no don't worry um no there's there's
a couple like peak district classics that i want
to try um but Other than that, I've not, yeah,
I've not really thought about it, but I would
love to go outdoors more. I mean, fine by me.
I love competitions. That's all I want to talk
about. You mentioned that you aren't doing university
this year, but I guess, were you doing it before?
Yeah. So I did my end of school exams and then
I took a gap year. And then I started uni in
Leeds and I was studying biology. And then that
was until I was in first year. And then earlier
on this year, I decided to drop out. And I want
to go back, but I just want to focus solely on
the climbing for now, I think. I think in the
UK, it's quite hard to do both or do both well,
in my opinion. yeah that makes sense and I guess
you can always go back at some point yeah I think
my thing I don't know it was hard because I've
always been like really academic and really liked
school but my thinking was that I can go to uni
anytime and you can only be a comp climber at
like one time in your life really I don't know
or not only but I don't know like there's a limit
on comp climbing and you can go to uni anytime
Yeah, you got to take advantage of your working
body when you're young, I guess, is what I think.
No, I think I follow a similar thing. Like I
should do all of the crazy sports that I can
now and then save. No, definitely. Yeah, save
the sedentary hobbies for later. Like I have
a whole plan of like what I'm going to do once
I can't move anymore. I feel like a lot of my
hobbies are the... when you can't move hobbies
to be fair like I love like a crossword or something
but okay yeah well what what else do you like
to do without using your body uh I really like
baking uh bake quite a lot uh yeah baking crosswords
crosswords interesting well what do you like
to bake one of my favorite bakes is like this
passion fruitcake I've made that's really good
um and then I think just a lot of cakes, to be
honest. I make a good chocolate and strawberry
cake too. Do you also do the decorating or just
the cake making part? Yeah, both. Cake decorating
is going to be one of my sedentary hobbies one
day in the future. Yeah, it's a good one. Do
you do extravagant decorations? No, I'm not that
good. I'm just like, let's do it for fun. Yeah,
no, that's a fun one. I'm excited to do that.
Back when you were still studying and doing climbing
at the same time, what did that balance look
like? I think it was quite hard, especially so
when I was doing my end of school exams in my
school, we do like A -levels in the UK in your
last two years of school. so you pick three subjects
and you do them i was doing maths chemistry biology
um and in my school we had to be in school full
time and um like nine till four or whatever and
then i had training as well and i found that
hard but also i wasn't training as much as i
do now um and then during the gap year obviously
it was fine and then when i went back to uni
or when i went to uni I found it like really
really hard because I was training to try to
get on world cup team like six days a week and
then yeah I was in uni like four days a week
and it was hard with like some lectures would
just be timed so badly and yeah it was not like
sustainable I was like so tired all the time
and I was like missing lectures like missing
parts of training and it was like not good how
many hours a day were you doing training uh maybe
like six I would say um I very much like prioritized
the training over the uni like um i would do
my lectures but a lot of them were online and
i would i was on like the sports scholarship
thing so i could do i like spoke to my um supervisor
and whatnot and i could do a lot online but it
was still just like so much to do all that i
think and i yeah didn't want to do both badly
I guess, were you also living at home at that
time? I don't really know what the school experience
is like in the UK, but I guess like in the US,
you're like living in dorms on campus and then
it's kind of like the whole experience. Yeah,
yeah. No, so I moved into like student halls
and there was like four of us in a flat and we
shared a kitchen. But then since then. Since
I dropped out of uni, I've moved back home and
now I'm looking for apartments in Leeds because
I want to move over there for training. Is that
like where the better gyms are? Yeah, I think
Leeds, Sheffield, Manchester is like the UK climbing
triangle at the moment. I think for comp climbing,
the better gyms are in Leeds and Sheffield and
I think also the scene over there. is better
at the moment and training with uh other strong
comp climbers is really good yeah it always seems
like that helps um okay cool so let's move into
some of the other grab bag audience submitted
questions now um the first one from kaito102
how do you decide which teams to train at locally
or internationally um locally i think it depends
what's on my training plan um i try to like Look
at the focus of the day and pick the best gym
possible for that. But obviously some days I'll
be able to go to Leeds or Sheffield on the train
and some days I'll have to stick to, because
I'm currently based in Manchester. So I think
I just kind of pick the best day for the plan
and what I can do. I think during training camps,
like we go to Paris a decent amount for training
camps. um and you just go to the gyms with the
best boulders i think like maybe we'll ask someone
on the french team like oh like what what gyms
are good and then similarly uh during the season
um the coaches will talk to other coaches and
it'll be like oh this gym's good they've got
good con boulders up or something And then I
guess like when you're traveling for competitions,
do you have like a method of picking gyms to
train at? People just ask around and we talk
to our coaches or we'll talk to other athletes
and be like, oh, this gym wasn't very good. This
gym was good. Honestly, you can see a lot on
Instagram, I think. Like I always like go on
the gym's page, look what they've been tagged
in and then see if the bowl does look any good.
Yeah, that makes sense. Next one from ADHD climber
one. What's your advice for making climbing shoes
last? Making climbing shoes last? Yeah. I don't
know if I'm the best to answer this question
because I feel like mine don't last very long.
How long does it usually last for you? Gosh,
I mean, I'll use a different pair for unless
there's like a comp back to back. I think I'll
use a different pair for every comp. Oh, really?
But in training. uh like not even like four weeks
I don't like maybe like three weeks or something
I don't know it depends how much salve I'm doing
if I'm doing loads of salve oh seriously yeah
I mean and it depends how long I wear them like
if I wear them till they die and get holes in
or if I don't but I think yeah I really don't
think shoes last me oh my gosh I think I'm training
wrong because mine lasts for like a year and
a half at least and I thought that was short
yeah what holy crap wait so and for every comp
you usually do a new pair I think yeah like for
comps I like them to be broken in like a specific
amount yeah what's your like timeline I don't
really have a timeline but I wear dragos and
sometimes I like when There's like the branding
on the bottom of the shoe. When that's gone,
I think that's a good indicator for me. That's
like the perfect shoe level. Yeah. Oh, that's
so specific. But yeah, that helps because I have
noticed that too. Yeah. But if the comps like
between Prague and Bern this year, I think I
wore the same pair. But I didn't like training
them in between. So I had a different pair with
me to train in. so i'll like do that sometimes
but if yeah i'll yeah use different shoes for
every comp and then but like recently i've been
just using old comp shoes like getting through
all ben um so i don't let them go to waste but
wow so i mean that's like how many boulder comps
in a year seven pairs of shoes during the season
wow and I can't believe you go through it in
four weeks I think I'm not climbing slab properly
or you are and I'm climbing slab badly and just
like going through the shoes yeah no I don't
know about that although I think sometimes I
am a little too careful with my shoes like sometimes
I think I'm not committing to a move specifically
because I'm like oh my gosh I want to use a lot
of rubber like if I mess this up yeah wow okay
no that's interesting to to hear so no advice
for making climbing shoes last I don't think
so no I'm so sorry yeah I have advice for breaking
them in um yeah yeah what's that yeah I recently
um I actually I got this advice from Quinn who's
on the US team so I can't like claim to have
come up with it but I've been bringing a hair
dryer to the wall um so when it's cold I like
blast the shoes with the hair dryer and it makes
breaking them in so much easier and then I also
wear like plastic bags to break them in because
otherwise it's too painful but yeah but the hair
dryer is such a good hack especially for the
winter I think Yeah, I bet. I don't really experience
that much winter here in California. Oh, in California.
Yeah, but it does still get cold, in my opinion.
Yeah. And I usually just kind of like sit on
my shoes for a while. Yeah, that probably works
too, to be fair. Maybe you don't need to carry
around the big hedge right with you. It seems
nice, though. I think that would be more comfortable.
okay cool next question from daniel strucker
um what was your favorite boulder from the brussels
european cup oh where you got first so congrats
on that thank you um my favorite boulder was
definitely the last boulder in finals it was
this paddle dino um and it was so good i didn't
top it actually i fell off the last move but
i really really liked that boulder that was really
good was that like the competition winner for
you or like the what's the word I like the comp
the boulder which won me the comp or yeah yeah
no actually it was the only one I didn't top
in the finals it was the last one um but yeah
I don't know I really really enjoyed that comp
it was maybe one of my or that round it was maybe
my favorite round or one of my favorite rounds
of the season um and I think like i don't know
the crowd was just like so good in brussels and
the music was so good and my round was going
really well um and i it was like the last boulder
of the final and it was a coordination i love
coordination and like the music was good the
crowd were cheering i just had so much fun on
that boulder even though i didn't do the last
move but yeah it was really good what's good
music for you at a comp i think just like upbeat
music i think yeah okay next one from john ford
19 what's the intensity between tc and world
cups i don't really know what tc is like training
center maybe training camps maybe yeah i mean
during training camps you're training so you're
pushing yourself obviously really hard um And
obviously in a World Cup round, you're pushing
yourself hard. But before the World Cup round,
you're resting and recovering and making sure
you feel good for the World Cup. So I guess there's,
I don't know, I think they're very different
things, like training and then competing. I guess,
are the boulders set for training camps harder
or easier or about the same as World Cups? Oh,
like during a mock comp round or something. Yeah.
Okay, that makes sense. Yeah. I think it depends
on the training camp, but I think they try to
make them the right level. I've definitely done
training camps where they've been easier, the
boulders, and definitely in the training camps
where the boulders have been harder than World
Cup boulders. But I think it depends on the round.
But often in a training camp, I think it's better
if they're harder because then you can go back.
and work on the boulders after and that's always
quite good at least from a viewer's perspective
it's hard to think that they would set something
harder than a world cup but i always forget that
during a world cup you only have so many minutes
to actually send it yeah i think if it's not
a simulation uh training boulders are definitely
harder than world cup boulders because there's
only like I don't know, like there's so many
incredible climbers, but also four minutes isn't
that long. So if they're limit boulders, they're
not going to be in a while. Or yeah, they're
going to be harder in the training camp. Okay.
And last question is from Process Physio. So
from Andy, which I think. Oh, he used to coach
me. Yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah. So he says hi, first
of all. And then his question was, does your
brother Luke climb harder than you yet? No, no.
Maybe he will. No, I hope he doesn't. But that
is actually, like, one of my goals. Like, I can't
ever let him climb harder than me. Yeah. I think
he would be better than me on, like, a big campus
move. But everything else, I've still got him.
How old is he? uh he's 17 yeah oh okay and he
started climbing when he was like 14. so he's
not been climbing that long oh my gosh wow yeah
but he got like when guys like go through puberty
and they get so strong he just got so strong
so quickly like he can do more one -armors than
me which does break my heart but um i still climb
harder for now so that's good nice yeah is he
trying to i guess like does he have climbing
goals of like competing or is he just doing it
for fun uh he does comps but i think right now
like he's in school and he just he just loves
climbing he goes climbing all the time um he
doesn't do it as seriously as me he just yeah
but he really enjoys it i think a lot of i think
climbing is quite addictive and a lot of climbers
even if they don't do it like seriously they
still do it seriously i don't know i guess i'm
surprised he actually started so late considering
you were already climbing a lot at that time
yeah I think when I first went climbing we did
take him climbing as well um I remember he like
took a fall or something and then he just decided
he didn't like it and I think also because I
was doing it maybe he didn't want to do it I'm
not sure yeah but then yeah he got into it a
few years ago And now he climbs all the time
as well. But I guess you don't want him to get
too into it because then he might start beating
you. Yeah, I can't even be stronger than me.
That would be terrible. I agree. Okay, well,
that's all the questions I had then. Thanks for
joining me today. Any last -minute shout -outs
or words of wisdom that you have? Tips for coordination
moves or anything like that? Tips for coordination
moves. Do as many as you can. Never avoid them
because it's going to make the problem worse.
And just be confident. Like if you commit, I
don't know, what's the worst that can happen?
True. Well, you could slam into the wall. True,
true. But I think sometimes as well, when you
take the slam into the wall, it's like, well,
that's the worst that can happen. So then you
can commit. I don't know. Yeah. People are going
to go like slam into walls. Yeah. And do you
want to let people know where they can find you?
uh yeah i'm emma .climbing on instagram i'm surprised
you managed to get that handle yeah i've had
it for quite a while to be fair since i was like
13 actually uh yeah there's another girl who
i'm friends with called emma and she used to
have the handle and then she like merged her
accounts or something and she gave me like advanced
notice she was like oh wow you can have the climbing
Wow. Congrats. Thank you. Okay. Awesome. Well,
thank you again. And it was amazing to talk to
you. Thank you so much for making it to the end
of the podcast. Don't forget to like, and subscribe
if you enjoyed, otherwise you are a super fake
climber. If you're listening on a podcasting
platform, I'd appreciate if you rate it five
stars and you can continue the discussion on
the free competition, climbing discord linked
in the description. Thanks again for listening.