EP 96: Joe Kinder — The Love of Projecting, Leaving a Legacy, and the Other Side of Cancellation
Joe Kinder is one of the hardest-working route developers in North America. We talked about his recent ascent of ‘Kinder Cakes’ 5.15a in Rifle, CO, putting up routes in mediocre rock, leaving a legacy through route development, his love of projecting, current training approach, fashion influences, creating LOV, and his experience with cancellation and rebuilding a new life.
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Show Notes:
thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/joe-kinder
Nuggets:
6:50 – Clipping chains, Joe’s goals for his trip to Rifle, and the Wicked Cave
11:01 – Putting up routes in mediocre rock
14:54 – The responsibility and reward of putting up routes, and leaving a legacy
18:16 – Establishing vs. FAing a route, and keeping routes open vs. red-tagging
22:14 – “It’s a case-to-case scenario.”
24:55 – Putting up hard vs. moderate routes, giving back, and being surprised by the difficulty of new lines
27:33 – The emotional rollercoaster of projecting, how Joe and I met, and his love of climbing
33:04 – Climbing as a drug addiction
34:57 – My “addicty” behavior, and why Joe finds Jonathan Siegrist fascinating
38:31 – The ebbs and flows, breaks, and comebacks
43:59 – Embracing the plan B’s of life
44:56 – Lessons from finger injuries
49:18 – The Skull Cave, and how ‘Diarrhea Mouth’ got its name
52:29 – ‘Kinder Cakes’, proposing grades, and picking limit projects in your style
58:20 – Breakdown of ‘Kinder Cakes’, the send, and those special moments
1:03:46 – The days after ‘Kinder Cakes’, and needing to work
1:06:16 – Sushi celebration
1:07:25 – How ‘Kinder Cakes’ stacks up against Joe’s other hardest routes, and “we do what we can”
1:09:05 – Joe’s early climbing in New England, and the project-focused approach
1:11:18 – Joe’s first experience with training, and planning his year around the Rifle project
1:13:39 – Getting training ideas from Eric Horst, Patxi Usobiaga, and developing his own program
1:16:37 – ‘Activator’, watching Cam repeat ‘Bone Tomahawk’, and Joe’s year leading up to ‘Kinder Cakes’
1:23:47 – Purchasing strength, Joe’s outdoor vs. indoor balance, and more about the ‘Goonies’ project
1:28:29 – The ‘Bone Tomahawk’ extension project
1:31:47 – How Joe trained for ‘Kinder Cakes’ (month 1)
1:41:31 – Training as a callus, and taking your time to build it up
1:41:46 – How Joe trained for ‘Kinder Cakes’ (month 2)
1:44:55 – Thoughts about in-season strength maintenance
1:46:37 – Keeping an open mind, dropping the ego, and lessons from the Spaniards
1:50:10 – “Always try shit.”
1:50:39 – Who Joe looks up to in climbing
1:53:38 – The current era of pro climbing, and how pro climbing has evolved
1:57:01 – Stories, podcasting, and creating balance
2:00:25 – Joe’s movies, LOV as a creative outlet
1:04:55 – How LOV (Life of Villains) got its name, and rooting for the villains in movies
2:07:25 – More about LOV (the brand), and collaborations with non-profits
2:12:07 – Patron Question from Devon: How do you pick athletes for the LOV shirts, and can you make a replica of the Bruce Lee shirt that Josune is wearing in her photo?
2:14:57 – Fashion influences, confidence, my bleached hair, and Joe’s nicknames for me
2:20:42 – Patron Question from Ben: How does Joe’s experience climbing on established routes differ from FA’s?
2:23:02 – Patron Question from Simon: Who has Joe drawn inspiration from outside of the sport of climbing?
2:25:05 – Graffiti
2:28:03 – Joe’s experience with cancelation
2:42:09 – My thoughts about Joe and him rebuilding a new life
2:47:45 – Thanks and an apology
2:48:07 – Gratitude and appreciation
2:50:01 – Support mode, then on to the next