EP 98: Kyra Condie — The Olympic Experience, Training With a Fused Spine, and Thriving in Organized Chaos

Kyra Condie is a 25-year-old professional climber based out of Salt Lake City, UT, and was one of four climbers to represent the US at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. We talked about whistling, dream broadway roles, training with a fused spine, pursuing the Olympic dream, separating self-worth from results, new tattoos, her cats, cleaning quirks, and thriving in organized chaos.

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Show Notes:  

thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/kyra-condie

Nuggets:

5:24 – Competitive whistling, and comparing her brother to Mozart

10:13 – Musical theater, piano, and flute

11:12 – Kyra’s dream broadway roll, and Les Miserables

13:04 – Allison’s (Vest) role in the broadway scenario

13:42 – Trying other sports, and discovering climbing

15:52 – Patron question from Atlin: If you were to do an Olympic sport besides climbing, what would you want it to be?

17:32 – The variety of climbing as a double edge sword

19:22 – Interest in comps vs. outdoor climbing

23:24 – An X-ray description of Kyra’s back

25:06 – Severe idiopathic scoliosis, getting surgery shortly after finding climbing, and growing 2” overnight

28:27 – Seatbelts and toilet paper

29:39 – How Kyra trains around her back limitation, and how the changes in setting style have forced her to face it head-on

33:30 – Shifting her focus more toward lead, and a recap of Nationals

37:28 – Separating self-worth from results

40:18 – How Kyra feels about her Tokyo experience

46:17 – First Olympian with a spinal fusion (at least as large as hers)

48:12 – The Olympics as a goal 

50:23 – Enjoying not having a goal after Tokyo, and star chasing

52:41 – Plans for a non-climbing vacation, and a slight burnout on competitions 

53:58 – Being more open about her back as a disability, and being more relatable to others

56:24 – 2024 Olympics?

58:26 – How Kyra’s training changed leading up to the Olympics, and thriving in organized chaos

1:01:40 – How Kyra’s climbing changed from the prep for the Olympics

1:03:28 – Thoughts on speed climbing and psicobloc, and deep water soloing in Vietnam with Tim Emmett

1:07:18 – Patron question from Liam: Have you always tried to climb fast in lead? Have you tried other styles?

1:09:28 – Training your strengths, and supplementing to address weaknesses

1:12:59 – Adopting Pepper and Pika (Kyra’s cats)

1:15:30 – Martha the robot-vacuum

1:17:08 – Skin and dishwashing gloves, and Kyra’s detergent sponsor

1:19:22 – Cleaning/tidiness quarks

1:21:23 – Sad movies, and looking for movies on Reddit

1:25:08 – Marvel movies, and superheroes

1:26:02 – Other favorite movies

1:27:21 – Going blonde, and new tattoos

1:31:47 – Patron question from Eli: What is your favorite part about your being so deeply ingrained or intertwined with climbing? What is the worst part?

1:36:58 – Patron question from Eli: What do you hope the Olympic experience will bring to the broader climbing community?

1:38:15 – Olympic memories

1:39:14 – What Kyra is most proud of in her climbing career so far, and giving her best

1:41:44 – What’s good

1:43:07 – What’s next, where to find Kyra, and sharing advice on Reddit

1:45:24 – Present focus