Ep 29: Sofya Yokoyama - How Puberty and Eating Changes Climbing - That's Not Real Climbing

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Yeah, I try looking a bit to the side to kind of see what the boulders look like and to see

(00:07):
potential methods.
I mean, this is only for like these next couple of years, but we might need to pay ourselves
because the budget has been reduced.
Around me, I heard a lot of, be careful, you don't want to put on too much weight, it's
going to affect your climbing.
That's when I was like, oh my gosh, I'm putting on weight.

(00:29):
I loved One Direction, loved them.
And someone commented, Harry Styles was in One Direction?
I was like, excuse me?
How do you not know that?
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, Sofya Yokoyama.

(00:53):
Sofya is a boulder on Team Switzerland and she's part of the wave of OG climbing YouTubers.
In this episode, she gives us a debrief on her last comp of the 2024 season in Prague.
We get some insight into Team Switzerland and their potential upcoming funding issues.
And she opens up about her past struggles with disordered eating and how she overcame

(01:15):
it.
So, I hope you enjoy this episode with Sofya.
We'll start slowly into it.
You just got back from Prague, so that's probably fresh in your mind.
So any thoughts about how the Prague World Cup went?

(01:38):
Yeah, no, so Prague was really fun.
The semis round didn't really go as I had hoped.
So I guess the general coming out of the comp was a bit frustrating, a bit sad.
But now that I've had a couple of days to just reflect and think about it, now I'm like,

(02:04):
okay, well, it's been a good season.
I've had fun training and traveling with the team.
It's been cool.
And this has been the best season of my career.
So it's a lot more positive than just unfortunately this bad semis.
Well, you still have another chance to.
Yep.
Yep.

(02:24):
I leave for Seoul tomorrow.
Exciting.
Yeah, the semis boulders looked really hard.
Did you have an idea going into or not going into it, but while you were climbing that
it was a low scoring round?
Or did you kind of feel like you were the only one who was struggling and then it like
kind of got in your head?
Yeah, you can already kind of guess how the round is going when you're in ISO because

(02:49):
you know, like if athletes come back early, then you're like, okay, this boulder they've
done.
And then if a lot of people are coming back early, then you're like, okay, so there's
quite a lot of tops.
And when I was in ISO, there weren't that many people coming back.
So I was like, okay, this is a hard round, but just anything is possible.

(03:09):
Just stay focused, try hard.
And then unfortunately, when I got out onto the first boulder, I just had the wrong method.
And I knew that this was possible and I knew that I could do it.
So already the fact that I didn't, it was kind of like, okay, another three hard boulders
to come.

(03:31):
And so it's kind of hard to then tell yourself, okay, but I can do it.
It's possible.
Just stay focused and try as hard as you can on these boulders.
So I feel like I did manage that quite well until after the third boulder where I didn't
get the zone, I was like, okay, no one's doing the slab.
So I think this is over anyways.

(03:53):
Okay.
So you kind of felt like defeated going into it after the first one a bit?
Yeah, after the first boulder, I was like, this is not the great start to a semis round
or semis I would have hoped.
But things can still change.
So for now, stay focused and stay in it.

(04:15):
So do you kind of sneak a peek at how other people are doing on the climbs before or after
you?
Yeah, I try looking a bit to the side to kind of see what the boulders look like and to
see potential methods.
Since now they kind of spread the boulders out quite a bit, you can't really look too

(04:37):
far ahead, but yeah, every now and then when I'm like resting between attempts on a boulder,
I just like step back and look up into the side.
Yeah, do you ever look like back at boulders you've done to see if other people are doing

(04:58):
them or is that like too mentally terrible?
Yeah, so usually I don't, but when I was on the second boulder in the semis round in Prague,
my teammate was climbing on the first boulder.
And so she was doing so well.
So I was like looking at her and I'm like, come on, like getting like psyched for her

(05:20):
at the same time.
Like, oh, shoot, I need to focus on my boulder and climb on my boulder.
But usually I can separate but since it was just my teammate and she was doing well, I
was like, yes.
So it was more excitement for her rather than, oh, that was how I was supposed to do it.
I mean, there was also a bit of that.
I'm like, oh, I just spent five minutes trying one method and if I had just changed hands,

(05:46):
things could have gone differently, but yeah.
Okay.
Well, I hope that soul goes well for you.
It's still great that you made semis again.
That's it.
Yeah.
Very consistent in that, which is good.
Yeah.
I think the years before, at least consistency is here this year.
Yeah.
Consistency is great.
Okay.

(06:07):
So let's get into how you started climbing and competing.
Yeah.
So I started when I was around seven.
My parents always were like, oh yeah, maybe either if you want to do a sport or an instrument,
but they always wanted me and my brother to have another activity besides school.

(06:29):
And so I was trying many different sports when I was younger and it was really climbing
that for some reason stuck and I enjoyed it the most.
And so it got a bit more serious when I came back to Switzerland.
I joined the competition team and then just gradually started training a bit more and
did more comps, joined the Swiss team and still doing it now.

(06:55):
When was your first competition, if you remember?
Officially, it was when I was living in Singapore.
Oh, I didn't know you were living in Singapore.
Yeah.
I lived there between nine and 12.
Wow.
Yeah.
I had three years in Singapore and at school they had like this crazy cool climbing wall

(07:18):
and the coach there, he was like, oh, you should do comps.
There's some cool fun comps in Singapore going on.
And so that's where I started.
And then I was, yeah, I think I was like, yeah, 10, 11-ish.
It was just for fun at that time.
But it was when I came back to Switzerland where it got more serious and I joined the
national team and did national comps, international comps.

(07:40):
Cool.
Well, I mean, we've got some Singapore viewers and I had also just interviewed a couple other
people from Singapore.
Oh, cool.
So I'm sure they'll be glad to know that.
So you moved around like a bunch then, I guess.
Yeah.
I've moved quite a bit.
Was there anywhere else that you had lived?

(08:00):
I was also in England for a couple of years.
I didn't compete.
I mean, I was born in Switzerland and then around three I moved to England, so I wasn't
climbing at that time.
And then came back to Switzerland, but in the French pot and then moved to Singapore

(08:20):
and then came back to Switzerland since.
But there was a phase, I think when I got back to Switzerland around 14, 15, where I
was like doing comps in England and in Switzerland to see which national team I could join.
Oh, really?
But yeah, since I was living in Switzerland, I ended up staying with the Swiss team.

(08:45):
Okay.
So you were like trying out for, or I guess it's not tryouts, but maybe like trials or
something like that to join a national team?
Yeah, I think you do the national comps and then depending on your results, you get a
team offer.
Okay.
So the Switzerland one came first.
Yeah.
So yeah, you moved around a bunch.

(09:06):
So I know you mentioned people always wonder where your accent is from.
Is that how it came about?
It's just a mix of a bunch of different places.
Yeah.
When I was younger, I had my mum's British accent.
But then, yeah, with moving around so much, there was a phase where I just had a full-on
American accent.

(09:26):
And now, yeah, I don't know, it just switched so much.
And then now it kind of went back to just normal British, but then with also some American
towns.

(09:46):
In Singapore, it was the French school, but it was international.
So a lot of it was like American.
And that's where the American accent came out.
So I think it was just hanging around with a lot of American English speakers.
And I got influenced.
Yeah, makes sense.
No, I recently learned I got fed a bunch of TikToks that was like, oh, there's an international

(10:12):
school accent.
So I was wondering if that's kind of what it was.
But maybe it's a little different.
Yeah, I think it's more like the people who I'm hanging out with.
Our coach on the Swiss team is Australian, and we hang out with Oceana Mackenzie a lot.
So sometimes I feel like I've got an Australian wang to real world.

(10:32):
Yeah, sometimes I'm worried when I talk to someone with an accent that I'll start imitating
them but in like, not a cool way.
Yeah, I don't know why it switches.
Yeah, thankfully it doesn't happen to me too much.

(10:52):
So I think I saw you post, I forget if it was like a story or a post, but it looks like
you've been doing a little bit more lead lately.
Why did you not get into it before?
And why are you doing it now?
So yeah, I guess the big question two years ago was to try for the Olympics and whether

(11:14):
I wanted to focus also on the lead discipline, considering that like my main and favorite
discipline is bouldering.
And I had like a long talk with the coaches.
And since my, at least last year, my bouldering was really not at the level I wanted it to

(11:34):
be at.
If I like taking some of my bordering energy, moving it into lead and losing like a bit
more focus on like losing that bordering focus to put onto lead, it, yeah, I wouldn't have
progressed as much in bouldering and then I might not have even gotten that good in lead.

(11:56):
So it would have been like a lot of training, a lot of trying mix match, see what works
best and potentially not like gaining in anything.
So the final conclusion was like, okay, I'm just going to focus this year on bordering,
really to get as strong as I can.

(12:16):
Especially like now you need to be so good in bordering and lead to just like get a decent
ish result, so I'm happy I stuck to my like focus on bordering decision.
But yeah, recently we had the Swiss lead cup and in our Swiss contract, we need to participate

(12:36):
in two disciplines, even though I'm just a boarder.
And so I was like, okay, well, I'm home.
There's a lead comp this weekend.
May as well go for it.
And it went so well.
Like honestly, I don't think I've climbed that good in lead my whole life.
And so I was like, you know, maybe I will come back doing some lead.

(13:00):
Who knows?
Okay.
Well, I mean, as far as like the Olympics, I guess they might split it out.
So do you want to just do lead comps or like, this is still like an Olympic hopeful kind
of thing?
I guess in LA they don't split it.

(13:21):
I will probably try now that I saw lead didn't go too bad.
But if they do split it, I don't think I'll really focus on lead.
Yeah, that makes sense.
Yeah, I think I'll just do bordering unless like I have maybe an outdoor lead project,
but there's enough bordering projects I have to focus on before going to lead.

(13:46):
Why do you think you did well in lead?
Like you weren't training it at all?
No, so I have a really good theory.
I remember when I was training lead, I was like, yeah, I was focused.
I knew I was training lead.
I knew that I could do well.

(14:06):
And I guess the stress of the comp, I couldn't really handle it as well because I'm like,
there's only one attempt.
I need to climb perfectly.
I need to really focus and like there were a lot of things that I was thinking of for
it to go well.
And now this comp, I was like, okay, look, I haven't done lead in a long time.

(14:29):
I feel great in bordering.
I guess the moves in lead aren't as hard.
So I could technically do all the moves on the lead wall.
And so all I need to do since I don't have endurance is climb fast and efficiently.
And so I was like, okay, well, let's see how fast I can climb.

(14:50):
And I was just like really in a chill mood, here to have fun, confident in my bordering
skills that I could like hold all the holds and do all the moves.
So then all I just needed to do was hold on long enough to get as high as possible.
Yeah, I hear a lot of boulders do that.
Just like go up as fast as they can.
Not even rest really.

(15:11):
Yeah, like there's no point of me really shaking out because my other arm gets pumped anyways.
So I'm just like, okay, talk.
Okay, fast talk.
Okay, fast talk.
I don't know if that'll work when you actually want to get into lead competitions, but.

(15:31):
I received a lot of messages afterwards.
It's like, it's just the first comp always goes well.
And then once you start training it, it's downhill from there.
I feel like there's also a lot of, so like I've talked to a few people now.
I've interviewed like a few athletes.
It seems like a lot of times they have like a great comp and they say it's because they

(15:54):
went in with no expectations.
And then I guess they had a good result.
And so then it's like in their head about it.
And then it just goes downhill from there.
Do you feel like that's kind of the case?
Yeah, there's many times when I've been sick before a comp or like I got a cold and I wasn't

(16:16):
necessarily feeling in the best shape.
And then like this was national level and then I came out winning the comp or doing
like a really good result and climbing great.
And I think it's yeah, heading into the competition where you're like, okay, there's no expectations
here.
I've been sick the past week.
It's just really to go out and climb as good as I can.

(16:39):
And that's it.
But yeah, once you start getting the results and you're like, okay, I can do this.
It goes well.
That's when in your head, it's like, it's not like I can do this, but it's like, I have
to do this.
And the like that switch in I can to I have where like you're, you have to force yourself

(17:03):
to do something.
And then when it's a bit of a downhill drop.
Yeah.
How do you?
I don't know.
How do you like artificially create a lack of expectations?
So what I've been doing recently or like this past year is more like not necessarily having

(17:23):
like lowering my expectations, but just like it's so hard to explain.
Like heading into the comp, I guess, partly feeling confident in the training that you've
done.
And at the same time, like Prague, Prague, I guess, is one of the conflict didn't go

(17:45):
as well because for me, I was like heading into Prague.
I'm like, okay, I can definitely make finals.
But in my head is like, okay, I'm here to make finals.
And it's not like I was already thinking of the next step instead of like staying in semis
like, okay, I'm in semis now.
Let's focus on each border one at a time.

(18:06):
I was like, okay, finals is doable.
I can get into this.
I can do this.
Sometimes it through some people.
It does work.
But for me, I think it was more like, ah, okay, since I screwed up the first border,
I'm like, ah, that's it.
Like my round is over.
Okay.
Even though you don't know what's going to happen.
Yeah.
So I guess for Seoul, I'm just going to like qualities have been going well.

(18:33):
So I just go into qualities, climb hard.
There's a few things that I like think of, like, try to think of new methods, try new
things.
Don't be scared to like do crazy stuff.
And try to just continue in that path with semis.
Yeah, I think that makes sense.

(18:55):
So kind of like not really going into it with a specific goal, maybe to like make finals
or semis.
Not focused too much on results, but more focused on like small things that you can
work on.
So like for me, it's trying new things in borders instead of like trying one method.

(19:17):
If you're hesitating on another method, just try it.
Also like, of course, try hard because yeah, the borders aren't easy.
So you need to like commit.
And usually my first attempts are a bit like, I'm just going to climb and see how it feels.
So here it's more like first attempt, it's send or change method.

(19:41):
And then also for me, it's like I get very, not anxious, but like wanting to give a lot
of attempts and try a lot of things.
So it's more like patience, breathe, especially on slabs.
Do you dislike slabs?
Slabs dislike me.

(20:02):
Okay, gotcha.
I really try to like slabs, but I can never, no, not never, because I have sent slabs and
cons, but I just as even, I train them and I don't feel like I'm getting anywhere compared
to like if I train strength, I can do a one on pull ups.

(20:22):
I can see I'm progressing, but on slabs, you can train slabs as much as you like, but foot
slip, can't do this, can't do that.
Have you done the thing?
Well, so I was also really bad at slab.
I mean, I'm certainly still like not great at slab, especially compared to like pro athletes.

(20:43):
But the one thing that actually worked for me that I thought was like some woo woo bullshit
was like before getting on the slab, instead of saying I'm bad at slab, I would just be
like, I'm really good at slab, I can do this.
And then it actually kept working.
And so I was like, oh, maybe this works.

(21:04):
So then I try to do that when I do slab, but it helped for me, I think.
Yeah, I think there's a lot of like trying to gaslight yourself.
Yeah.
Like, yeah, that's something where, and I definitely feel it if I go into an overhang
border, I'm like, confident, I'm like, I'm gonna send this.

(21:26):
And then when you go to the slab, it's like, okay, it's a slab, I gotta be careful, I gotta
think I gotta, and I think it's yeah, trying to erase those thoughts.
It's like, okay, now, this is a slab, I can do a slab.
It's the same thing for me with toe hooks.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I'm not great at toe hooks.
And so every time I see a toe hook, there's like that toe hooks, but now I'm trying to

(21:48):
be like, ah, toe hooks, dang.
Yeah.
Has it helped at all?
No, not really.
Okay.
But I will continue, I will continue trying, especially if you send you feel it, I will.
There's hope.
Yeah, it worked for me.
Maybe I just got lucky, but I'm not gonna think about it until next time.

(22:11):
So being one of the shorter athletes, do you feel like it hinders you during World Cups
or does it help?
Yes, this is a big discussion, especially I've been seeing a few like videos after
the Olympics on iMori.
Yeah, there's a lot.
I think, so I'm like 156, 157, something like that.

(22:36):
So I am like one of the shorter climbers on the circuit, but I do try to take a step back
and be like, okay, yes, if I was maybe five, 10 centimeters taller, this move could be
easier.
But powerful movements, you can work on explosivity, crimps, you can work on finger strength.

(22:59):
You just have to unfortunately be that much stronger than the other climbers.
So I always try to take a step back and be like, okay, well, if I'm short, then I can
compensate by being so much stronger in these areas.
And yes, that's what I've been working on, like finger strength, explosivity, power,

(23:21):
like all those things I can work on because unfortunately height, I can't grow anymore.
Do you ever come across a move where you're like, oh, my height really helps me here?
Yes, a lot of like, it doesn't happen often, but a lot of like tight, box, small, uncomfortable
moves. For me, being short is great because I can just like get in there and be like,

(23:49):
I'm so comfortable.
And then you have my teammates who are a bit taller and they're like, oh, this was really
tight and I couldn't feel good. And I was like, I feel great.
Okay, perfect.
But on the comp circuit, it's rare or like there are sometimes moves like those, but

(24:10):
it's more rare than seeing moves where it's like, okay, if I was a bit taller, that would
have been easier.
Because of just like, is it usually the coordination stuff or like the dinos that you feel like
you're too short?
Yeah, a lot of it is coordination. But I think now, like if it's straight up coordination,
for sure. Like every time I see a straight up jump, I'm like, they have enough experience

(24:37):
to set something other than straight up. But sometimes it's also like, when there's toe
hooks, it's usually like really stretched out positions. And so since toe hooks aren't
my strong suit, I'm also like, if I was just a bit taller, my toe hook would fit in there
so much better. Yeah, so it really depends. But a lot of it is more like, yeah, coordination

(25:01):
and usually toe hooks.
Well, so I feel like I have the opposite issue with toe hooks. So I'm like, if I'm shorter,
then my leg would just be straight and it would be fine and I would reach or not reach.
But like, I wouldn't have to like, twist myself in such a weird way to like, hold the toe

(25:22):
hook.
Yeah, that for sure. Like there's some point sometimes where if you have a toes close,
this toe hook shorter is for sure better. But for me, it's usually like getting into
the toe hook position. Like you usually have to like kind of jump in and then that it's
always like, I'm always limit, like my foot always arrives at the very tip of my toe hook.

(25:45):
And I'm like, I have to squeeze so hard to be able to get the second one and then I have
to like be able to get it a bit higher. And so there's like 20 seconds of work before
actually getting into the stop position, which is kind of that point for me. But yeah, if
the toe hook is close, I'm like, easy.
Okay. Well, we can all just agree that toe hooks are really bad and you can hate them.

(26:09):
Okay. So what does your training look like at the moment? Or I guess not at the moment
because you're in competition season, but last competition or last training season or
like upcoming?
So during the like winter phase, pre-comp pre-season, it's quite, there's a lot going

(26:33):
on. So we kind of like with my coach, we kind of focus on all the things that not necessarily
went wrong in the comp season, but that could go better and how to work on those things.
So if it's yeah, toe hooks, then there's going to be toe hook training, but it's going to
be like, okay, there's going to be more fitness training, maybe some more finger strength

(26:56):
training because I feel like my finger strength could be better. There's also going to be
some like climbing exercises on the wall for like body tension. Also for just like, yeah,
just physical wall exercises. There's a lot going on, a lot of intense stuff. I think

(27:16):
I like climb, yeah, four or five times a week with two gym sessions and two fingerboard
sessions, a bit of camp sing, some hard boulders, some comp boulders, some wall training.
And is this all by yourself or do you train with the Switzerland team much?

(27:37):
So right now I'm between Austria and Switzerland because my boyfriend, he's on the Austrian
team. So I'm in Innsbruck a lot training with them. And then I also, when I head home,
also like train with the Swiss team. So I'm rarely ever alone.

(27:57):
And so like when you're training with teams, is it like a specified thing where they're
like, we want everyone to be together and we all want to train together or is it just
like since you know them, you're friends with them, they like climb at a similar level,
then you just train together.
Yeah. So for the Austrian team, it's like, I really had to, usually it's like the Austrian

(28:23):
team, they train together and they have like these training days. And so I like with my
coach, we like asked them if it was okay if I like train with them, if I joined their
team sessions and all of that. Cause usually they close like the training room for when
they have team sessions. But since I also knew like a lot of the female athletes on

(28:44):
the Austrian team, they were all like welcoming and motivated for me to join. And they were
like, yeah, it'll be great if so if you train with us, we'd love it. And so, yeah, it was
a bit of both. It was me knowing a lot of the athletes on the team and asking if it's
okay if I joined, but at the same time they have these times where they train all together.

(29:09):
It's like kind of not secretive, but like closed off because it's like secret national
team things. Yeah. Yeah. But interesting. Like for our team center, like I guess the
difference is that our team's training center isn't in a public gym. So no one really, other

(29:29):
teams don't really know much about it, where it is, when our team sessions are and stuff
compared to the Austrian team where their team training center isn't the biggest gym
in the world. So for us it's okay, well, if someone does want to join, they have to know
someone in the team and ask. And then we send them the address and then they can join. But

(29:55):
it's also like, yeah, on Mondays we have team training from this time to this time. Let
me know if you want to join and if you can or not. And it's like that three, four times
a week.
How do you feel like the Switzerland team has transformed throughout the years?
So there's been a huge transformation and very much on the positive side. Before our

(30:16):
team training center, I don't know how old our training center is. I think maybe four
years now. But before that, maybe it's older, I don't really remember. But before that everyone
was kind of just like training in different areas in Switzerland. And we'd only ever see

(30:37):
each other when we'd like travel to comps and it comes together. So we weren't as close.
Like yeah, I didn't really know everyone as well. I just saw them at the comps and we'd
just hang out because we were kind of just there. But with the team training center coming

(30:58):
into place and the team organizing team sessions and everyone going there weekly, we kind of
got closer and now it feels much more like a family than just colleagues. And so yeah,
there's been a lot of growth on that side. And I feel like if you have a good environment

(31:20):
with the team, then also comps and training is they just go better in general.
Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah, it seems like having a national training center helps a
lot. And then just having like other strong climbers around to like motivate you helps
a lot. Yeah. Yeah. Climbing with stronger climbers is always as you can do. Yeah, I

(31:44):
agree with that. And yeah, I guess another thing that helps, I know a lot of climbers
on the circuit need to take on other jobs to fund their climbing. Does Switzerland give
athletes a stipend? Please excuse this brief intermission, but if you're interested in
deleted scenes from this episode where we talk about the difference between making semis

(32:07):
versus finals, and what her hopes were going into the Seoul World Cup before she unfortunately
had to cancel her trip, do consider helping support this podcast on Patreon. Some other
perks include a membership pin shipped to you, prioritized guest questions, or the ability
to submit video questions and much more to come. The proceeds go back into the podcast

(32:31):
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.
Yeah, so we quite lucky that if we're selected for the comps, the hotel and the flights are

(32:51):
financed. We just have to pay for food once we're at the comp, which I mean, is fine for
me if my flight and hotel is fully paid for.
So you don't get like, general stipend at all? Because I think like some countries do, but

(33:14):
some countries don't.
No, yeah, no, for us it's just if you're selected for the comp, we pay the hotel and the flights
and like that's it. Yeah, no, unfortunately not. But yeah, now some comps depending also
on our team's budget, we might need to, I mean, this is only for like these next couple

(33:36):
of years, but we might need to pay ourselves because the budget has been reduced.
Oh, yeah, World Champs.
World Champs.
Oh, dang, really?
Yeah, there's something wrong with the calculations of the money spent and it kind of...
What? Wow. So they wanted to host World Champs, but then they came out of the athlete budget?

(34:05):
No, so they wanted to host World Champs, which went great and everything. It's just that
the budget they had was overspent. So now to pay back the money that was overspent,
they need to like reduce costs in different areas of the whole team. And like they've
tried to reduce as much as they could outside of just like athletes. But now the tiny little

(34:31):
amount left is just, okay, unfortunately, we can't send everyone to this comp. So you
guys have to finance yourself.
Dang. So that's for like the next couple of years?
Yeah. Next, I think it's over four years.
Oh my gosh. Wow. So do you know if that impacts you, like you won't get your flights and

(34:56):
accommodation paid for anymore?
So this whole season, everything was paid for except for Seoul. So for me going to Seoul,
I paid my flights and hotel, but I already knew that in advance. So I kind of already
anticipated, okay, so this is the amount that I'd need for Seoul and for me to go. So it
wasn't that much of a problem. I think I'm not exactly sure how it's going to be for

(35:18):
next year. We'll see.
Okay. So then, I mean, I know you have like your YouTube channel pretty big on that. Do
you need to take on like other jobs to fund your climbing or do you have like other methods?
Yeah. So YouTube, I'm trying to stay a bit more consistent in YouTube and trying to like

(35:42):
get some money off of that. But it's so up and down. Like if I take a little break, the
views just go down so bad. And so right now the income from YouTube is quite low. I was
also very lucky to get like national funding from like, if you get certain results in Switzerland,

(36:06):
you get this like Olympic card and then you get like national funding. You get like a
certain amount of money per year. So I got that for like five or six years. And last
year was my last year. So I was able to save quite a bit of money from that because I didn't
spend that much. So right now I'm just kind of on my savings from all of that money. Yeah.

(36:31):
And when I have a few like potential ideas, so like YouTube, but then also like maybe
doing some training plans that people could like subscribe to monthly and they'd like
have access to some training plans that I'd put in place. And otherwise, I guess there's

(36:54):
also all this side of like trying to find sponsors. But I think I'd prefer to just like
work on like training plans and count on myself than other people. No, yeah. It's stressful.
But yeah, I'm still like, yeah, looking for sponsors who could help financially, but also

(37:18):
like a brand that I like and enjoy so materially can also be beneficial. If you come out with
training plans, let me know. I'll share it. I'll add in the description. Oh, thank you.
I mean, have you ever considered like coaching or maybe that would be part of the training
plan? Yeah. So I used to work in a climbing gym when I was not moving around as much.

(37:43):
So when I was at university and I was like always in the same spot, I worked at a climbing
gym and gave like courses to kids and to adults. But the reason why like I kind of moved to
like creating training plans on an app is because there isn't that like I can do it
wherever I am in the world compared to if I want to work in a gym and do like one-on-one

(38:06):
coaching or like courses, I need to be in certain places on certain days. And so that
also is a bit like more restrictive. If like, yeah, next week I want to go to Fontainebleau
and climb outside or do a trip to the States and yeah. So is there like already a specific

(38:27):
one in mind or just something you can reveal yet? Okay.
Well, the thing is, no, well, technically everything is in place. Like I do have the
app is called Tribe and it's just that nothing is on it right now and I don't have and like
when it's done, I'll have like a link that people could like click on and then it brings

(38:51):
them to like my page. But for now, I'm still like in the process of writing down all the
training plans, filming everything and putting it online.
Gotcha.
But I don't know how long that will take. I'm a bit slow. So that's why I'm still like
potentially maybe in like a couple months.

(39:13):
Well, we'll see. I'm excited to see it come out. It is really like now that I'm like semi
in it, I do understand the whole like there's no money in climbing thing. Because like I
used to do some like fashion Instagram blogging and it was small. Like I had a very small

(39:38):
like following and like no one gave a shit. But even then, there was still way more money
in it than like climbing.
That's crazy. That. Yeah, it's I mean, that's really cool that it worked for you. And then
unfortunately you came into a non money sport.

(40:00):
Yeah, unfortunately, I started doing this and then I feel like people care about it.
Yeah, I like it more and more people care about it. But there's just like no there's
no opportunities, no brands.
Yeah and it's like I've always been told to try to like go with brands who aren't in climbing.

(40:22):
But then those brands aren't necessarily interested in climbing either. So it's like I can only
really go to climbing brands and then yeah, everyone all climbers are in these climbing
brands.
Same people, same brands.
Same people. Yeah, so it's like
Back in fashion, it was just like they'll just give you money to or they'll like give

(40:44):
you free stuff. And it's so easy. There's so many.
I think also that there's been a long mentality in climbing where you don't need much. So
like all you need are like climbing shoes and a tool bag and then you can maybe get
your car and just drive and like live in your car and all of that. So I think a lot of athletes

(41:08):
back in the days also lived off free stuff. Just receiving like free shoes and now with
like social media coming up and athletes kind of knowing their worth. Like if a brand comes
to you and like, oh, we'll give you free stuff if you post this, you're like, no, pay me.
And then they're like, oh, we don't have budget. I'm like, well, okay.

(41:32):
You're just expected to live off the nature, I guess.
Yeah, which yeah, unfortunately climbing shoes won't pay my rent.
That's the issue. But I mean, I guess so like YouTube should help a little bit, but it is
a lot of work to put out YouTube videos. So how do you balance YouTube and your competition

(41:54):
schedule?
So how I usually do it is like, so now during like the off season, I organize with my friend
of mine who he's a videographer. We like get certain days and then on those days we like
do a whole day of filming. We try to like film four videos with different concepts.

(42:17):
You know, it's crazy. And then we do that like a couple of times and then by like, I
mean, if I do three videos a day of filming, and I do that over two months, like maybe
two times a month, I have like 16 to 18 videos in like, yeah, five days. So that already

(42:46):
is like almost four months worth, five months worth of videos in the future. So I have a
lot of backlog. So like times where I don't have time to film. So like now during the
comp season where I don't have time to like drive all the way to meet my videographer,
find a day to like film all of this. I have like 10 videos in stock to edit before drying

(43:08):
out.
Okay, that makes sense. That's a good idea. Do you like change outfits in between to make
it look like it's not the same?
I think at the beginning, I changed a lot. And now I've just gone to a point where it's
like, I wear the same clothes all the time anyway. So it doesn't matter.

(43:30):
Good to know. You mentioned that in one of the sort of recent videos you had posted,
you got some comments about wearing a weight vest while climbing. Yeah, you said you got
like some weird comments about it.
Yeah, so recently I did a video on climbing with a weight vest. And like the whole purpose

(43:52):
for me on this video was just to like kind of show how my climbing changes. Because also
climbing with a weight vest is a way of training that I used to use back in the day. And so
it was just to like experiment on how I felt with the weight vest again and how it affects
my climbing. And the conclusion was, well, yeah, with putting an extra five kilos on

(44:17):
from one second to another, I wasn't as explosive. I also wasn't as like confident in my climbing
because I mean, I wasn't sure if I could do this move with this weight vest. I was also
a bit more hesitant. And then I got a few comments about like, where we jumped to the
conclusion where, oh, so to be a better climber, I need to lose weight. And it's like, no,

(44:40):
that was not the whole, that was not the point of my video. I would be, that would be the
last thing I would ever try to pass on. Even more so in this video, I did all the same
boulders that I did without a weight vest, except for one. So it's kind of proves that

(45:01):
like I can climb just as strong. It's just that you just need to climb with it more regularly
and then you're probably feel more confident. But yeah, I got a few comments where it's
like, okay, so being lighter is better and you could climb stronger. I'm like, no, to
climb strong, you need to train, you need to eat, you need to build muscle and have

(45:23):
energy to be able to train. I don't know how many hours a week. And I think like that's
the bad mental side that we have in climbing where it's like, oh, if I want to be a better
climber, then I need to be able to pull less weight. If I have less weight, I can pull
more. But it's not like that at all. And I was just, yeah, I want to bring everyone out

(45:49):
of that mental state.
Yeah, that was like a weird conclusion. Cause I mean, like a bunch of people have made those
kinds of videos where they try to like climb with a weight vest on.
Yeah. And it's, I don't know, I talked about like weight and climbing on Instagram one
time and really try to like share my experience, but like I didn't even think a weight, like

(46:17):
that conclusion could come from putting on a weight vest. So maybe, and then I was like
doubting like, oh shit, did I, was this like a bad idea? Was this a bad video? And at the
same time, like, but no, because this is a training method and I'm showing people that
even with extra weight, I can climb hard.
Yeah. Maybe it's just like all the talk about it lately in competition scenes and like most

(46:40):
people who watch your channel also watch competitions. Whereas with like other channels, it's just
like people who like climbing. So they're kind of like primed to think about it in that
way. Or maybe like, I kind of wonder if it's, cause like most of the other people who have
made those videos are like male YouTubers and climbers. And they don't really, I don't

(47:05):
know, people tend to not really care as much about men's bodies, I guess.
Yeah. That's also one thing I thought of. It was like, is it because like I'm a woman
and is it because like you can also like women are judged a bit more about their body types,
their weights. And so like, I don't know if it was women commenting, but it could also

(47:30):
be like, if it was a woman who commented, maybe also like feeling bad because they're
maybe not necessarily like feeling good in their climbing or in their skills and on like
their body image. And so it's like, I, that's why like my response was like very, like I
was trying to be encouraging and be like, no, the climbing you have to eat, like to

(47:56):
get stronger, to build muscles, recuperate. But it's always an interesting, it's always
interesting to compare like comments on men's videos and women's videos.
Yeah. I mean, even within like the whole red-ass discussion, I think a lot of times it's about
people don't really think about it on the men's side as much, even though it does happen.

(48:17):
Yeah. I guess, do you feel like, so I don't know much about this because I never exercised
when I was a kid, but when it comes to like your body changing from puberty, do you feel
like you felt a difference in terms of how you climbed? Like you had to relearn anything?

(48:39):
I wouldn't say I felt a difference in how I climbed. It was more like when I was younger,
I mean, I still can, but when I was younger, I could eat so much food and not put on like
a gram. And it was kind of when I hit that puberty phase where I was continuing to like
eat the same things and I wasn't the healthiest of kids either. Like I ate chips, sweets,

(49:02):
like chop everything. I mean, I still do, but during that puberty phase, like I was
very skinny as a kid because I did a lot of sports. I did so many things. And then once
I hit that puberty phase, I was still doing the same amount of sports, still eating the
same amount, but because you're going through that phase, I was gaining weight. And for

(49:26):
me, since like around me, I heard a lot of, be careful, you don't want to put on too much
weight. It's going to affect your climbing. That's when I was like, oh my gosh, I'm putting
on weight. Like what's wrong? Like this is terrible, da da da. And so that's when the
overthinking on food kind of hit in. But the thing is, is that during puberty, yeah, you're

(49:52):
growing, your body's changing. It's normal that your weight fluctuates. And it's something
that I feel like isn't talked about enough, especially for like younger athletes coming
up. Like they may think, oh, I need to stay the same weight that I was at 12, which unfortunately
is impossible. And that's something that I didn't hear when I was like going through

(50:18):
that phase. And so all I heard was like, got to be careful. You're going to get fat or
you're going to put on weight. You're going to like for climbing, you want to be light.
And so for me, it was like, oh my gosh, yes, I need to stop eating.
Yeah. I just, I have no idea what going through that would kind of feel like. I guess I just

(50:39):
know from like seeing humans that there's a very big difference between what like a
child's body looks like and what an adult's body looks like. And I guess in sports, people
kind of want to keep what they're used to just because they've been with that body for
so long.
It's hard. Yeah. It's so hard to like really understand where it comes from. But I think,

(51:06):
yeah, mostly for me was like, I think, yeah, when I was 14, 15, I was maybe like 42, 46
kilos. And so in a short span of time, like I had gained much more weight and like, I
didn't even necessarily feel the difference when I was climbing. That's the worst part.

(51:28):
It's just that you see the scales. Like you see that change and you're like, it's like,
yeah, climbing is a weight sport. This is going to affect my climbing. And so I'm going
to be worse if I put on more weight, but not at all. Like I was gaining muscle. I was gaining
strength. So it's like, I'm actually feeling stronger than I ever have, even though I've

(51:51):
put on six kilos.
I guess how did you snap out of that mentality?
I had a lot of help from like friends, family, but also like psychologist, nutritionist doctor.
When I was younger, my doctor was like, look, you're very on the limit to red S. I want

(52:12):
you to get into contact with this nutritionist. She's a good friend of mine. She's great.
Which I did, but it happened in two phases. The first phase I went to go talk to her and
she was like, yeah, so of course for energy, for you to, you need food, you can eat bread,
you can carbs is what's going to give you energy. And in my head, I was just like, I

(52:35):
was listening to her, but I was like, I'm never going to eat bread ever again.
Oh my gosh. Nope. No pasta. Okay. You're telling me this, but I'm going to eat as little as
possible. So I wasn't like ready to accept her help, but it was as like years went by
where I kind of like noticed from like, this is not good. I don't have a good relationship

(52:56):
with food. Like I reduce my meals as much as possible to then be starving in the middle
of the night to then go eat. And it's like, that is not how it's supposed to be. So I
think it's also a lot like myself who kind of realized like my frontal lobe maybe developed
a bit more. I was like, this is not normal. And that's when I also recontacted her again

(53:21):
and she's like, okay, look, we're going to work on this. I had to download like an app
and like I'd sent her my meals. And since I was motivated and really wanted to like
work on it and find a good relationship with food, I was like, okay, yeah, this is what
I need to do to get better.
Well, did you like tell your nutritionist that you hadn't actually been doing what she

(53:46):
said?
Yeah, it was, it was a couple years later. Like I think I was wondering two years later
after the first time I saw her, I was like, oh, to be honest, what you were telling me
back in the day, I just was not accepting it. But now I'm ready to like listen and hear
what you have to say and really work on it. And she was like, well, the fact that you

(54:11):
said that shows that you've grown as a person and also as an athlete. So thank you for sharing.
I was like, you're welcome. Yeah. But my psychologist also helped. She was like, you need to share
like what you're thinking and you can never really overshare when it comes to these kinds
of things.

(54:31):
Never hide stuff from your doctors or nutritionists.
No, no, never. You should always be honest.
Well, I'm glad you had that support system. I think that always helps a lot.
Yeah, for sure.
I do have a question about, I guess, like weight and climbing. I don't want it to, I

(54:52):
don't know if it's like a bad question, so it might get cut out. But do people do like
bulking and cutting sessions and like with the competition season, like they do in other
sports?
Yeah. So I think there is like a phase before comps where people are like, or athletes can

(55:15):
be like, okay, well, I'm going to try to like get as lean as possible. Which I won't lie
is something that I do, but I don't reduce my meals. I reduce the chips and the chocolate
that I'm eating. So it's more like I try to like during the winter phase, it's more like,

(55:43):
oh, well, season's over. I'm just going to enjoy like eating the foods that I enjoy most,
which is like chocolate, chips, sweets. And I have that a bit more during the winter phase.
And then once it's comps, I kind of like, I don't really know why, because I guess it

(56:07):
doesn't necessarily affect my climbing. But I think also just like thinking that I'm eating
cleaner also like helps. So I'm like, okay, well, I'm just going to, I don't cut everything
out. Like I'm just, I like, I just eat really big amount of chips. So like I had a discussion

(56:29):
with my boyfriend where he was like, it's not by reducing the amount of chips you eat
that you're going to lose weight. I'm like, if I have a pack of chips a day, which is
like 500 calories, of course it is. Like, replace that with something healthier. Exactly.
Replace that with pasta or like it's like, of course you're going to see an influence

(56:52):
on like body weight. And so that's just kind of the shift that I do. Like I just, instead
of having a bag of chips a day, I have maybe one a week. Like that bag of chips last me
the whole week. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. I mean, I guess I was wondering, because I know like
a lot of other sports, people do like a huge bulk where they're like trying to put on as

(57:14):
much muscle as they can, like fat, whatever, it doesn't matter. And then once like the
competition is about to happen, that's when they like cut all of it. And then they sometimes
get into kind of a dangerous zone where they really shouldn't be there, but they're only
going to do that for a little and then it'll like all come back on. So maybe it's fine.

(57:38):
I don't know the nutrition side there. Yeah. I don't totally think that's the best. Okay.
Like, because like I definitely agree to put on muscle, you need to eat more protein. But
I think the idea of like telling yourself to eat as much as possible, to like gain as

(58:00):
much muscle as possible, to then reduce my calories afterwards. I think that's where
like, yeah, the kind of like disordered eating can sometimes come in. Whereas if you just
eat the same amount of calories the whole time, you just like maybe switch things up
where you like eat more protein throughout the day for like muscle building. And then

(58:24):
maybe during the comp phase, just like then reduce protein and have more carbs. That I
find that much more efficient. And then you just have like a normal balance throughout
your whole life of like food intake. Although if it's always like, eat more, now reduce,
eat more, now reduce. It's like you're never really like intuitively eating. It's always

(58:48):
like, you're always counting. You're always watching what you're eating. You're always
like, I need to eat a thousand more calories today, whether it's eating more or less. It's
like, ah, I need to eat a thousand more or I need to eat 300 less. It's like you're always
constantly thinking of food. And so it's like already that I find unhealthy. Although if

(59:11):
you just always have like the same amount of food intake, you just change the proportions
of like protein, carbs. I find that so much more healthier.
Yeah, it's a lot easier mentally for sure. Yeah, because then you're just like, okay,
well I'm hungry. I'm going to make myself a meal. This is my meal. I have, I don't know,

(59:35):
my protein in it. And then when I'm done, I'm full. Although if you're calorie counting,
you're like, okay, let me weigh my pasta that I'm about to make. Let me count the sauce
that I'm putting in. There's just so much to think about.
Yeah. Maybe something I need to ask like a bodybuilder about.

(59:58):
My cousin's boyfriend is in, I think, bodybuilding. And I should actually also ask him how it
is mentally because I see he's always like posting like video because they also like
take pictures of themselves for like progress. Yeah. And it's very like image, body image

(01:00:19):
dependent. So I always wondered like, how does it actually affect them? Because I feel
like that is the perfect way to get into disordered eating and not feel confident at all in your
body. Yeah. Well, I mean, that's kind of like their whole lifestyle. Like that is their
livelihood, like cooking and cutting. So I'm like, it seems it's definitely not for me,

(01:00:44):
but is it fine? Like, I don't know. There must be so much research into it. Maybe it
is fine. So yeah, I'm not sure.
It should be yet really interesting to get into. I'll get into that too.
Okay. Yeah, let me know. Yeah. And yeah, I just wanted to know if any climbers did it.

(01:01:05):
Like do you know if anyone does it like that?
I don't personally know. I just feel like it's a general, like there was like, I even
recently had a discussion with my coach where he was like, also just to like go back onto
training and all of that. I don't want you to feel like when it comes to comp season

(01:01:30):
that you need to cut because I know it's like a general understanding that this is comp
climbers do and not necessarily just climbers, but athletes in general, the athletes before
their big event, they like cut as much as they can. He was like, I don't want you to

(01:01:53):
think that that's what you need to do. But yeah, I don't personally know anyone, but
I think because it just happens so often in so many sports, like for sure in climbing,
it happens. I mean, you can even tell sometimes like you see a climber winter and then you
see them before comp season. It's like they've been cutting. But it could also like, you

(01:02:17):
can do it in a healthy way. That's the thing. Yeah. Yeah. Like this is why I find it's such
a sensitive subject because there's that bad mentality in climbing where it's like, I need
to be lighter to be stronger. But if you're doing it in a healthy way and in a way where
it's like, I'm not going to reduce or like maybe reduced by like 100, 200 calories, but

(01:02:41):
like I'm not going to do this crazy cut or whatever. I'm just going to eat a bit more
healthier and just be careful on certain things that I'm eating. Then it can be just, yeah,
then it's just like more natural law. Yeah. Obvious kind of, and be like, I need to reduce

(01:03:04):
500 calories and this is what my meal is going to be. And this is the amount of grams that
I need to have. I feel like once you start doing that, it's unhealthy. Yeah. That's a
bit dangerous. I guess we'll just say, we'll just wrap it up with maybe there needs to
be more research in terms of bulking cutting and work with a nutritionist. Yeah. I definitely

(01:03:27):
think a nutritionist will help you for sure. If you're doubting on your food intake. And
I think, I think the general thing is just like, if you're in a healthy mindset, then
I guess it's fine. But once it becomes to be obsessive, then you need to take a step
back and be like, something is wrong. All right. Well, we'll wrap that up there. Unless

(01:03:49):
you had anything else that you wanted to touch on with that. No, I think it's all good. Okay.
So, yeah, let's go into a bit more of, I guess, your personal life. You're pretty open about
being in a relationship with another pro comp climber on the circuit. Yes. And so that's

(01:04:10):
great because I feel like there must be a lot more relationships behind the scenes that
we don't hear about. I mean, does it happen a lot? You guys spend a lot of time together.
So I mean, just naturally, I never, I never knew about Tomoa and Akio until they like
got married on Instagram. I was like, I didn't know they were, I think. Oh, like you would

(01:04:35):
see them on the circuit and still not know. Yeah. And still not know. Okay. But I think
they're just very discreet people in general, like the Japanese in general. But yeah, there's
sometimes also then like you see a new relationship come out when you're like, oh, and you'd
see that like before Instagram, you'd see it on the comp scene and be like, oh, okay,
cool. Any like, well, no, I'm not going to ask for like names or anything. But does it,

(01:05:01):
do you feel like it gets messy? I feel like the climbing community is really small. So
there's a lot of gossip and everyone kind of knows everyone, especially on the comp
scene where like you see everyone on the, yeah, comps. I don't personally know much

(01:05:30):
of like the gossip gossip behind the scenes of what really goes on. But I think there's,
yeah, there's quite a lot of things going on. Okay. Did, I mean, did you ever, did you
like consider that before going into your relationship where it's like, maybe I, maybe

(01:05:56):
this isn't a good idea. Like if something bad happened, we would see each other all
the time everywhere. No, that's not, I never really thought of it that way. For me it was
more like, okay, someone at comps, I'm going to be able to see them at every comp too.

(01:06:19):
Also like training wise, we like love the same thing. And so we could go on climbing
trips. We can, that was kind of more like my mental side. I was like, oh my God, this
is great actually. Nice. Yeah. There's so many things that we can do that we both enjoy
instead of like, if someone who doesn't climb be like, well, what do you want to do? Do

(01:06:41):
you not want to go on a climbing trip next summer for three weeks? So no, I was a lot
more like on the positive side than like, oh, if it ends, I'm going to have to see this
person for my rest of the career. Okay. That's good to know. Is it like difficult that you
guys live in different countries? I guess now you're kind of splitting your time. So

(01:07:05):
maybe that was part of the reason. Yeah. No. So now it's really easy because I see him
almost every day. Yeah. Cause I'm like half living here in Innsbruck and then also half
like back at home with my parents. So it's not right now. It's really easy, but once

(01:07:25):
it's kind of like getting into the like more serious side, it was like, okay, well we won't
see each other for two weeks and then I'll see you. Yeah. Well we have time, which was
a bit harder. It's like, oh, I don't like long distance. Yeah. But we sorted that out
quite fast. So that's okay. Yeah. Was that like kind of like the most challenging thing

(01:07:48):
about dating another like comp climber or were there like other challenges there? I
think for me it was like more the long distance, like how will it work potentially? But since
I finished uni and decided to just like focus a hundred percent on climbing, well I had

(01:08:12):
the time to move around and since he like also focuses a hundred percent on climbing,
like we had a lot of flexibility to move around that. I think for me the big question was
like, is it okay if then I'm not in Switzerland as much, if I'm not training with the team
as much, if I don't see my coach as much. But that I had like a huge discussion with

(01:08:34):
my coach. I had a huge discussion with like the also Austrian team coaches to see if I
could like train with them and everyone was so understanding and helpful and we like figured
it all out and now I'm fine. Yeah. So do you spend a lot of time training with him? Yeah.

(01:08:56):
That's yeah. I train with my coach or with my boyfriend? Oh, with your boyfriend. Yeah.
Yeah. Almost every session is like he's there. Sometimes he's like, of course, like training
with the guys on the team because I guess that's one thing for me, training with him
can only bring me positive things because he's just so much stronger than me. I guess

(01:09:20):
him training with me is a bit probably not as beneficial as it is for me because he's
not necessarily, like if it's just us climbing, he sometimes finds it hard to get himself
a bit more motivated to like try hard and just like power it out because I'm not as

(01:09:44):
strong. Because he just, he just doesn't have that person to like also like push him and
be like, oh, this border is possible. Okay, let's do it together. But for me, because
he's stronger and he's like, you could do this. It's just that I'm like, yeah, of course
I can. Yeah. Yeah, I agree with that. Yeah. It's always nice to climb with someone stronger.

(01:10:04):
I also find it really hard to get motivation if I'm the only stronger climber. Because
then, yeah, if you like come across a boulder that you can't do, you're like, well, maybe
it's just not possible. Yeah, exactly. And so it's, it's a big like, not necessarily
battle in your head, but it's like, okay, you can, you can just try hard, like give

(01:10:30):
it all like, maybe, but if someone else is with you where they maybe do a move and you're
like, oh, great, it is possible. And then maybe you do the other move and it's like,
okay, we can definitely work on this. We can definitely get it together. So I have that
24 seven. He doesn't. Well, that is great. I'm glad that it's, I'm glad that it's working
out for you. Thank you. Okay, so outside of climbing then, do you have time for like anything

(01:10:57):
else that you like to do? Did you ever pick up an instrument as a kid when your parents
were having you guys choose something? Yeah, I did the electric guitar for a couple of
years. But put that aside, once I really got more into climbing. I think just like, right

(01:11:20):
now it's whenever I have like after training, it'd be just more like, yeah, reading. When
I went to reading, like I also enjoy running, doing like other activities. Like if I had
the money, I do escape games every day, pilates, escape games, like escape rooms. Yeah, escape

(01:11:43):
rooms. Yeah. Oh, that's so interesting. They're so good. I just, yeah, I enjoy just love that.
I enjoy like everything. Yeah, YouTube takes up so much time. Like, so then I've gotten
a lot more into like videography and photography. Like I really enjoy like taking pictures.
Like if we ever go on a trip, I always have like my camera and then I'm like editing a

(01:12:05):
bit. So there's yeah, a lot of small things, but if I had more money, I definitely do much
more. Interesting. I feel like escape rooms is kind of different. I don't really hear
people gush about escape rooms too much anymore these days. Yeah. There was a Harry Potter
one that I did recently, which also just got me back into it. I was like, wow, Harry Potter.

(01:12:28):
And this was great. Interesting. Okay. It was like, it was a big thing a few years ago
and then it kind of like died down a bit. So I don't hear people talk about it so much
anymore. I think also my parents, you know, my parents are into it too, or like my mom,
every time we're all together as a family, she's like, I'm working as an escape room

(01:12:48):
friend. Oh, wow. Fun. Okay. Good to know. If anyone wants to take you anywhere, it's
the escape room. Escape room. Yep. Any goals for the future that you can think of? I've
actually thought quite a bit recently because I just turned 26. I like I turned 26 two months

(01:13:11):
ago now. And I was like, what am I going to do with my life? Thank you. How long am I
going to continue doing comps for? What am I going to do when I stop? Like there's been
a lot of, for some reason hitting the 26 and realizing I'm closer to 30 was kind of like
a shock. Yeah, I know. I'm closer to 30 than 20. And I think also, yeah, with sports, I

(01:13:41):
just like people consider, would consider me old in climbing compared to like the average
age of like all the youth coming up now and they're born in like 2006. And yeah, so you're
born before 2000, right? Yes. You were born in the 1900s, as people say. I'm still the

(01:14:04):
cool generation. Imagine being born in 2000s. I know. I can't, I can't imagine. But no,
so I have actually been thinking quite a bit of like my future and stuff. And I think for
like the close future, I might head back to school. Like maybe do an online course on

(01:14:30):
like cybersecurity, something like that. Cause that's something I find really interesting
and could be really motivated to work in in the future. And otherwise maybe, yeah, like
this coaching app and depending on how it goes, maybe like develop something more into

(01:14:52):
coaching. I was also talking to my coach about maybe in the future coaching the Swiss team
and all of that. And so there's a few options, few ideas, but for now, I think for the closer
future is like this online training app and online school.

(01:15:13):
Exciting. Sorry, you had to go through the getting closer to 30.
Yeah. Realize certain things. It's rough. Yeah. It's weird. Well, for, yeah, I'm 27
and for me, I do hang around a lot of like, there are a lot of like younger climbing people

(01:15:37):
as well. So when I hear someone's 22, especially because of COVID, I think, especially because
of COVID, I feel like I lost a few years. And so when I meet someone who's like 22,
I'm like, okay, cool. We're like the same. And then I think in their mind, I'm like grandma.
So that always hurts.

(01:15:59):
For sure. Like I try to tell myself, look, COVID took two years of my life. So I'm not
26. I'm 24. Exactly. But then like my boyfriend's two years younger than me. My brother is three
years younger than me. Like everyone on the team and Dre, my teammate is a year older,
but she is taking a year out to travel. So like now everyone on the team is like 2001

(01:16:25):
and before. So I'm like, oh my gosh, I'm so old. But then I talked to my coach and he's
like, look, once you hit 30, you'll realize that there's actually so much more in life
than being in your twenties. Don't worry about it. I'm like, I will definitely agree. But

(01:16:47):
right now it does not feel that way. Right now I feel like it's the end of my life.
Yeah, I get that. Especially when I see all the posts about people being like, people
are born in the 1900s.
Yeah. And one post that I recently saw also where it's like, I grew up in the One Direction

(01:17:10):
group. You know, I loved One Direction, loved them. And someone commented, Harry Styles
was in One Direction. I was like, excuse me? How do you not know that?
Or getting to that point in life.
I feel like also, yeah, in sports, because people are always like, oh, you're getting

(01:17:33):
old. What are you going to do? And it's like, I'm only 26. Like, maybe I'm a bit older
on the older side in the sports, but people are climbing into like Yakup Shuler. He's
32. Like Jane Kim. She had a kid and came back.
Yeah, she has a huge inspiration.

(01:17:54):
Huge inspiration. Like, let's stop making me feel old. Thank you. And with my Asian
jeans, maybe I can go in time 40. Who knows?
Yeah. The thing is, like, well, I don't really know when peak is, but then you still have
the experience. So you gain experience. Maybe. Exactly.
Physical peak. I don't know when that is, but you have the experience.

(01:18:17):
Yeah. And I think, or at least up until now, I haven't felt a difference, I feel like,
in anything. But sometimes I'm like, oh, my back hurts. And then you've got the younger
one who's like, aren't you a grandma? I'm like, fuck that. You'll see. It will come.
You're just young and haven't gone through puberty yet. You'll see.

(01:18:38):
Yeah, you'll see in a few years. Everyone goes through it. It's the circle
of life. Yeah. Okay. That's enough depressing talk.
I think those were all the questions I had. We have a couple Discord questions or it was
more like one question I want to go over and then a couple statements that people had.

(01:19:05):
Not bad statements. So one was Tom Greenall, GB coach, said that he's a big fan and he
was really happy that you're on. I didn't know you guys knew each other, so that was
good to know. Yeah. So when I was doing comps in England
and all that, he was the coach at that time. And so I got to know him really well.
I feel that makes sense. And I used to see him at every comp and we'd

(01:19:28):
always have a little chat and stuff. So, oh, that's so sweet.
Yeah. Awesome. This other one from a person in the Discord, she said, I once called Sophia
by the wrong name a year and a half ago and I still think about that at least weekly.
So do you remember any occurrence of this? No.

(01:19:49):
Okay, good. So then it's all good. No, no, no. It didn't. So, yep.
No problem about that. No hard feelings. Okay. And then last question,
who's your favorite YouTuber? That's a very good question.
I don't really watch YouTube though. Okay. No, actually, no, I have a good answer for

(01:20:12):
that. Natasha Osean. Oh, okay.
And she recently did a video on how she's stopping YouTube, which made me so sad. That
was the first person ever where I'm like, no, you're going to be like her presence.
Like I loved her presence, her energy. And also everything was like scientific base and

(01:20:35):
it was like proven things and not just like random people who are on YouTube and be like
doing it for the clickbait and for the fame kind of. She was like here on to really pass
on a message and I really love that. So yeah, I would say her.
That's a good one. I agree. I don't hear many people talk about her because I mean, she's,

(01:20:57):
she doesn't really do like climbing stuff generally, except for that one video with
Yanya, which I was very surprised to see. Me too. I was like, oh my God, she's in climbing.
This is so great. Yeah. I was like, I didn't even know she knew
climbers. I didn't know that Yanya, I don't know how they got in contact, but I was so
excited to see. I think everyone should watch that video. I think so too. And her videos

(01:21:21):
in general, because I mean, that's one thing I don't do. I do not watch other YouTube climbers
videos on YouTube. Like I, I watch my, I like, I have to watch mine because I edit them and
that's already enough. I'm like, oh, that's enough climbing, enough climbing videos for
now. Um, so I kind of try to like go out of YouTube.

(01:21:44):
I was just watching these day in the life of some other YouTubers, which I enjoy, but
not much more than that. Yeah. I really like her aesthetic as well.
But so you never like watch other like strong climbers to try to get motivation to climb
or train? No, I only watch like videos of boulders that

(01:22:12):
I'm potentially interested in, like to get the methods, but otherwise motivation, I have
it in my apartment. Yeah, that's true.
Like with my boyfriend, like we both go, we're like, okay, let's go training. Okay, let's
go. True. Okay. Yeah. I think for me, sometimes it
helps. I try to like, before I know I'm about to go climbing, I try to watch a video of

(01:22:36):
someone just doing hard boulders. That's it.
So that I can get that motivation. Sometimes it doesn't work though.
So I did back in the days, listen to motivational speeches though.
Really? Like there was a time where I really, like I
didn't have, cause I was still at like obligatory school. So I didn't have much time and I really

(01:22:59):
had to like find ways. Like I'd wake up sometimes a bit earlier before school to train and then
I'd have to train quite late in the evening. So to just like really boost that, I'd like
listen to those motivational speeches like daily.
Wow. Yeah, no, but I would believe those videos.
Like I knew the lyrics by heart. Wait, lyrics?

(01:23:21):
Well not lyrics, like what they were saying. Just the speech. Okay. Yeah. Just the speech.
Don't need it anymore. Don't need it anymore.
Luckily or luckily, I don't know. It was fun. I love their voices. It is really like, oh
yes. Interesting. I've never tried that. Maybe
I'll try something to give it a try. Is it?
Cool. Well, I think that's all the questions then. Thanks for joining me today.

(01:23:45):
Thanks for having me. I want to let people know where they can find
you, your Instagram, YouTube, stuff like that. Yeah, you can Sophia Yokoyama, Instagram, YouTube.
And I'll keep you guys updated on the training app.
I was on Facebook, but I mean, I still am on Facebook, but no one uses Facebook anymore.
So I don't need Facebook. Okay. Okay. Cool. Awesome. And yeah, hopefully

(01:24:10):
the training plan stuff works out. Thank you.
Okay. Thank you. It was amazing to talk to you.
Likewise. 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
big 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

(01:24:35):
in the description. Thanks again for listening.

All Episodes

Ep 29: Sofya Yokoyama - How Puberty and Eating Changes Climbing

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

Stuff You Should Know

Dateline NBC

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

.css-15opob5{left:0;position:absolute;top:0.8rem;} All Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Ep 29: Sofya Yokoyama - How Puberty and Eating Changes Climbing