EP 23: Jasna Hodžić — Pure Motivation, Practicing Your Anti-Style, and Enduring Setbacks

Jasna Hodžić is part writer, part scientific researcher, and part badass rock climber. We talked about sending her first 5.14a, ‘To Bolt Or Not To Be’ at Smith Rock, about practicing her anti-style to climb a route called ‘Voodoo’ 5.14b, and about her struggles with a misdiagnosed finger injury, compartment syndrome, and RED-S.  

Support on Patreon:

patreon.com/thenuggetclimbing  

Show Notes:  

http://thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/jasna-hodzic  

Nuggets:  

2:18 – Woodstoves, cooking while driving, and leaving an ice cube tray in the oven  

5:46 – Hyper + cute boys, Mr. Buff Man, and getting into rock climbing  

8:35 – Studying abroad in Spain in 2013, climbing at world-class areas, and finding an infectious climbing scene   

11:38 – ‘To Bolt Or Not To Be’, the archetype of hard rock climbing, pure inspiration, and commuting from Seattle to try the route  

18:35 – Advantages of top-roping, skin pain, and progression on To Bolt  

22:23 – “Smedges”, going through six pairs of Muira VSs, punting at the 10th bolt, and bailing on her own birthday party  

27:31 – Taping for warmups, warming up for To Bolt, and the Mike Doyle story  

31:48 – Climbing ‘Peace’ first redpoint try, onsighting the last two bolts, and glacier polish   

40:35 – Tick marks, visualizing, and focusing on the crux  

43:07 – ‘Voodoo’ (Jasna’s first 5.14b), Equinox, and the jump start  

48:34 – Jasna’s fake finger injury  

59:28 – Taking a break from the gym and feeling stronger after a winter of rock climbing  

1:03:13 – Mixing projects and quick ticks, trying hard routes, and anti-style  

1:08:17 – Vertical climbing isn’t type 1 fun, steep climbing during quarantine, and climbing 14a in her anti-style  

1:10:10 – Scuba diving on ‘Papa Legba’  

1:14 14 – The foot story (compartment syndrome)  

1:30:59 – Dealing with injuries and gratitude for health and health care  

1:37:38 – Jasna’s experience with RED-S (formerly know as Female Athlete Triad)  

1:45:43 – How Jasna has changed her diet post-RED-S, cottage cheese, getting DEXA scans, and other takeaways  

1:53:53 – Eating more frequently, calories, calve muscles, and body fat  

1:57:13 – Favorite books  

2:01:37 – Photojournalism, Jasna’s R&I article, blogging, writing to process the gunk in your head, and the importance of publishing  

2:07:11 – Dreams of making a living as a writer, and her PhD  

2:10:20 – Gratitude for health and partnerships  

2:13:23 – Climbing goals, being meticulous with climbing, and falling into projects  

2:18:37 – Not on the Insta-Twitter