EP 116: Paul Robinson — Coming Back From Injuries, Opening Up About Autism, and Working Boulders Top Down

The Nugget Climbing Podcast

Paul Robinson is one of the top boulderers in the world and has been climbing at a V15 level for more than a decade. We talked about building his new house, recovering from neck surgery, his recent diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder, climbing 1000+ V11s or harder, his analogy of climbing as a book, hardest FAs, trying to climb V16, travel routines, filmmaking, and much more.

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Show Notes:

thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/paul-robinson

Nuggets:

0:06:18 – Designing and building his house

0:10:56 – How Paul got into filmmaking

0:13:10 – Feature films vs. YouTube, and Hueco Dailies

0:15:14 – The Road to Recovery film series

0:17:48 – Paul’s neck injury

0:24:00 – Leg injury

0:26:25 – Being back to 90%, and finding new ways to improve

0:28:09 – Hope, optimism, and a new perspective on finding challenges in climbing

0:32:33 – Going through the stages of grief with an injury, getting older, and hoping to continue climbing at 60 years old

0:35:29 – John Sherman

0:36:32 – Paul’s 8a.nu account, and his goal to climb 1000 boulders 8A (V11) or harder

0:40:38 – Running out of things to climb, and getting psyched on finding new boulders

0:43:14 – What Paul’s drive alive, and his goals for his Hueco trip

0:46:38 – The uniqueness of climbing, being a perfectionist, and seeking mastery

0:49:57 – Climbing as a book, and whether Paul is still getting better at climbing

0:52:24 – Why we don’t often repeat things we’ve done, and Paul’s story about flashing Nagual and repeating it for the Rock Rodeo

0:55:56 – Does V16 feel important?

1:01:41 – How Paul is thinking of training for ‘Box Therapy’ V16, and why Paul tries to maintain a baseline of endurance for bouldering

1:08:36 – Paul’s projecting tactics

1:13:10 – ‘Lucid Dreaming’

1:25:01 – Dave Graham, ’Spectre’, and ’Total Eclipse’

1:30:40 – Patron question from Nick: If you could only climb one boulder for the rest of your life, what would you choose?

1:31:27 – Fontainbleau

1:32:43 – Opening up about being diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and some of the symptoms Paul experiences

1:38:32 – OCD tendencies, Paul’s outfits, touch, social anxiety, and hyper-focus

1:43:34 – Stuck laying on the couch, and opening up conversations

1:50:35 – Routines that help Paul feel grounded

1:53:53 – Challenging the clothing norms, and decision fatigue

1:59:47 – Paul’s go-to climbing shoes

2:02:37 – Toe hooking, and customizing his Solutions for ‘The Story of Two Worlds’

2:04:29 – Patron question from André: Any plans to try ‘Burden of Dreams’ V17?

2:07:13 – The challenge of living in the desert and trying to climb in humid environments

2:09:33 – Bugalisen

2:10:48 – Patron question from André: Which one of your FA’s do you think is the hardest one?

2:11:58 – Paul’s project in the South Platte, CO, and how he names his boulders

2:13:46 – ‘Karoshi’

2:14:28 – Patron question from Ana: What areas does Paul think have the most remaining potential? Where is the next frontier for bouldering?

2:18:30 – Paul’s favorite rock type

2:20:37 – Patron question from Prithipal: How strong are Paul’s fingers?

2:23:51 – Tiny crimps, and why you don’t need to be able to do one-arm pullups to climb V16

2:26:58 – Meeting Paul back in 2013, and what’s next