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

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