Favorite place to live/climb

I haven't traveled that much for climbing but I’ll climb anywhere with good conditions. I love visiting new gyms cause there’s so much to do and outdoors I’ve only been once, but I loved the Grampians got to visit a couple of years ago for my 12th birthday but id love to go again.

Favorite type:

I love all disciplines Lead and Boulder more than Speed, but my favorite is constantly changing between Boulder and Lead. Speed is just for fun.

Career Highlights:

There are too many Australian career highlights to mention them some examples include 2022 Boulder National Champion (Youth A) and 4th in the open’s national boulder selection and 6th in the open lead selections. At the start of the year I had an opportunity to compete in my first boulder opens comp in Singapore called SMU Gravical where I managed to make finals overall it was a mad experience cool comp and I was happy with the result.

Interview

  • Climbing

    What most people don’t know about me:

    I am coeliac, gluten intolerant.

    When and how did you get into climbing? What keeps you interested? What fascinates you?

    I got into climbing through my brother's birthday party and I kept to it because it was something different and fun.

    Who were your childhood heroes?

    When I started climbing, I never really watched any climbing, so I didn’t have a childhood hero, I have been lucky to meet Chris Sharma, and train with Neil Gresham and Anna Taylor in the UK but at the moment I think Tomoa is sick. I don’t exactly consider myself a role model, but knowing that people are watching me is a little exciting and motivating.

    What have been the most important milestones in your life so far, both in climbing and in everyday life? And did you recognize them immediately as such or only later on?

    I don’t have any major climbing milestones since I haven’t really focused on grades indoors or out but being able to consistently send hard in and outdoors is something that took me a while to recognize but it’s important to me to stay consistent.

    What were your greatest failures / setbacks / injuries? How did you cope with them and how did you come back from them?

    Every climber experience foot slips or bad days and I've had a fair few on comp days which probably contributed to my greatest failures and mental setbacks, but supportive people and continuous climbing helped me overcome them. In terms of injuries, I've had more than a few non-climbing related. I've had messed up fingers, and arms as well as broken ribs, hands, and knee, overall, I’ve always bounced back pretty quick and it just fuels training but staying motivated isn't easy honestly having clear goals made it easier to be patient.

    What is your favourite climbing-related story / experience?

    Very old but one of the first proper boulder comps I believe was NSW State Titles I wasn’t doing too good I’d topped all my boulders except one in way too many attempts but I managed to flash the last climb and get the first send with a cheeky knee bar and I ended up winning it taught me to just keep climbing you never know what might happen but I clearly remember the hype of being the first one to top.

  • Training

    Do you have a strict training schedule for when and how you train throughout the year?

    I do have a schedule and I try my best to stick to it currently coached by Chew from Grit Climbing and Alex from First Ascent Climbing

     

    What advice can you give to others looking to improve their training routine?

    Make it achievable and consistently aligned to your goals and remember to think about the future and your growth but you have to enjoy it or it won’t last or be as effective.

  • Psychology

    What do you think about indoor climbing gyms in relation to climbing on the actual rock?

    They are both very different and amazing, but they are fun in their own ways personally I love both. Indoors you get to try the newer moves like quadruple dynos and whatnot and outdoors is a more chilled traditional experience which id say provides more satisfaction after each send.

    Is it possible for anybody to eventually perform a one-arm pull-up or get to the top of Eiger/Matterhorn, or do you really have to be born for it?

    Anyone can with enough effort.

    How important is it to set goals in professional sports? What are your goals/ targets?

    It’s vital to set goals and my big one is to constantly improve and become the best climber in Australia while still loving my climbing

    How important is it to set goals in professional sports? What are your goals? What targets are you working towards for your climbing and in life?

    It’s vital to set goals and my big one is to constantly improve and become the best climber in Australia while still loving my climbing

    How do you deal with extremely hard climbing problems? Do you ever get frustrated and give up on them or do they motivate you even more?

    Everybody gets frustrated but the easiest thing is to remember why you climb, for me, it's fun so I take a breather and I just keep trying till it goes

    How much of the success as a pro climber is due to show and how much is due to actual climbing skill?

    A pro climber as in comps is majorly climbing skill whereas outdoor sends need to be publicized to “succeed” but both require high levels of climbing skill.

  • Future of climbing

    Is there anything you would like to change about current developments in climbing?

    Overall, I'm not deeply educated in all aspects of climbing so I can't say but it's not like I'm unhappy with climbing’s development.

    Where do you think sport will go in the next few years? What will change? And what role will you play in it?

    After its first Olympic appearance I think the sport will only grow with more participants and viewers and my role will hopefully be competing and climbing all over the world.