EP 273: Brendan Baars — Developing ‘The Nooks’, How His Big Toe Saved His Life, & Choosing Adventure Over Grades

Brendan Baars is a boulderer from Grand Rapids, MI, who has spent the past seven years developing a new bouldering area called The Nooks in Ontario, Canada. We talked about what a day of developing looks like, his go-to gear, how his big toe saved his life, the untapped potential in Canada, the reward of establishing and sharing new climbs, undone projects, the logistics of visiting The Nooks, his upcoming film The Developer, and much more.

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Show Notes:  

thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/brendan-baars

Nuggets:

(00:00:00) – Intro

(00:02:10) – Capentry

(00:05:52) – Steven’s cabin

(00:07:06) – Intro to climbing

(00:10:03) – Weekend warrior

(00:17:14) – Discovering The Nooks

(00:20:51) – Goldmine

(00:23:12) – “This is sick”

(00:28:50) – Years of potential

(00:34:47) – Summer & bugs

(00:38:22) – Weather

(00:40:01) – A new avenue & a sacrifice

(00:50:02) – Sharing The Nooks

(00:55:10) – A day of developing

(00:57:01) – Custom backpack

(01:01:51) – Big Toe

(01:09:07) – Rope systems & ladders

(01:12:30) – The Developer film

(01:18:25) – Rock type & style

(01:20:47) – Elliot Lake

(01:33:39) – Logistics & amenities

(01:36:42) – Guidebook & KAYA

(01:39:06) – The Croc Block

(01:41:54) – Top Nooks Boulders

(01:47:56) – Hard projects

(01:51:31) – More Nooks info

(01:54:38) – The Canadian frontier

(01:57:43) – Wrap up + EXTRA teaser