EP 151: Anna Hazelnutt — Toe Training for the World’s Hardest Slabs, and Giving Others Permission to Be Real

Anna Hazelnutt is a professional climber who specializes in difficult single-pitch trad and slab climbing. But don’t let her specialization fool you—she’s an all-around badass! We talked about two of her biggest climbing achievements to date, leaning into her superpowers, top training exercises for slabs, dealing with negative comments online, embracing empathy, comedy as a mechanism for change, and much more!

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Show Notes:  

thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/anna-hazelnutt

Nuggets:

(00:00:00) – Intro

(00:08:20) – Anna’s childhood room

(00:10:00) – Plans for Austria

(00:11:21) – What we would talk about if we were doing a 6-hour podcast

(00:12:50) – Switching places, and the names of our Subarus

(00:14:35) – What is Anna’s last name? (Hazelnutt? Hazlett?)

(00:17:39) – Lynn Hill gave a shoutout to Anna on The Nugget

(00:19:41) – How Anna got started in climbing, and how she found her slab/trad niche

(00:24:40) – Anna’s climbing identity, not letting herself grow comfortable, and her competitive side

(00:28:57) – Balancing intensity and comedy

(00:30:10) – What Anna does to relax (reading books, writing poetry, art), and having trouble sitting still

(00:33:30) – Getting an overuse injury from too much slab climbing, and sending ‘Once Upon a Time’ E9 6c in the UK

(00:35:53) – Anna’s “belaytioship” with Tom Randall

(00:39:29) – Going back for ‘Walk of Life’ E9

(00:41:33) – More context about Once Upon a Time and Walk of Life, using skyhooks as trad climbing gear, and taking an hour to lead a 50-meter slab

(00:45:38) – Anna’s approach to projecting, and breaking down the climb into chapters

(00:50:14) – The chapter names of ‘Walk of Life’ E9

(00:55:32) – Teasing more about toe training, and Anna’s thoughts on hangboard tests

(01:01:01) – Some context about the 9c test

(01:02:53) – Toe training!

(01:07:11) – How Anna inspired Tom to work on flexibility

(01:09:15) – Leaning into our superpowers

(01:14:53) – Anna’s dreamboard, and seeking out hard climbs that fit her style

(01:19:30) – How and when Anna did her toe training, and nighttime training at Tom’s house

(01:24:09) – How hard are the hardest slabs in the world, and what will it take for Anna to climb them

(01:28:45) – Why vertical bouldering is so different from steep bouldering when it comes to pushing y