Will Jana Švecová be the first woman to boulder 9A/V17?

Join us for an inspiring podcast with Jana Švecová, an accomplished climber who is currently pushing her limits on the boulder problem Terranova, which was established by Adam Ondra in the Czech Republic back in 2011, it’s currently graded 8C+/V16, and with no repeats, it’s rumoured it could be  9A/V17. Jana's dedication and goal-oriented mindset have propelled her to become one of the strongest female boulderers in the world. In this episode, she shares valuable insights on setting and achieving goals, dealing with pressure and criticism, and finding joy in the process.

Topics include:

• Setting and achieving goals in climbing: Jana discusses the significance of setting goals and how it has fueled her progress.
• Trusting yourself and overcoming doubts: How Jana has dealt with doubts and criticism from others throughout her climbing journey. She shares her strategies for staying focused, trusting her abilities, and not letting external opinions hinder her.
• Finding your own fun in climbing: She shares her perspective on what brings joy in climbing and the variety of challenges it offers. 
• Challenges and rewards of climbing in cold weather: Her experiences climbing in different weather conditions and insights on preparing and adapting to these challenges.
• Embracing adaptability during climbing trips: Climbing trips don't always go the way you expect, Jana explores the importance of adaptability, maintaining a positive mindset, and finding opportunities for growth even when faced with obstacles.
• Exploring the climbing opportunities in the Czech Republic: It’s hidden gems!

Join us in today's episode where Jana Švecová shares her passion for climbing, her personal insights, and her excitement for future climbing projects. 

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

Transcript

Teresa (00:01)
Welcome to the Lattice Training Podcast. Today's special guest is Jana Švecová She's an absolute boulder machine having climbed up to 8C and is currently trying Terra Nova, which is an 8C plus that could potentially be a 9A. Being such a beast, it's no wonder we had to get her on the podcast. We're going to dive deep into her background and competition climbing, why she took such a long break before coming into outdoor bouldering, and obviously,

all the training behind the amazing sense she's gone up to now. So make sure to sit down and have a listen because this is a podcast you do not want to miss.

Teresa (00:43)
So welcome to the podcast, Jana. How are you?

I'm very good. So before we start, would you like to introduce yourself and let people know who you are?

Okay. Let's take this in parts, because I feel like you just told me a lot at once.

not a lot of people know about you and how you are just an incredible climber and powerhouse. So instead of starting with your past and how your love for climbing began, I would love to start talking to you about what you're doing now, because a lot of people are not aware that you are literally projecting Terra Nova, which is one of the world's hardest AT pluses.

with the possibility of maybe being harder. We don't know. We have to wait for someone strong to go in and confirm. But yeah, tell us a bit about that.

Damn, that is very impressive. I definitely would say having goals when you're doing a sport like climbing every year definitely helps, but I love how your mental game is like, okay, I have these goals, but I don't have to do them. They're just what I'd like to achieve, you know, because at the same time, when you have such big goals, it must be hard feeling the pressure to do them or feeling the pressure to almost perform at a certain level.

Like, I see it with my partner who climbs really hard. I see it with my friends. Like, sometimes you get so close to do something so epic, right? Because you're, you know, it's such a hard climb on itself that it must be hard when you go home and, you know, the session went well, but not as well as you wanted. So how do you deal with that mental side when you're projecting on your limit? Because...

On your limit, not everybody climbs 8c +, or 8b, or 8a, right? Like I personally do like a 7c on a rare occasion. But just climbing on the limit for any grade can be hard on the mental side. So how do you deal with it?

Yeah.

No, it makes complete sense and I see where you're coming from. Even if people sometimes don't want to admit it, you do feel the pressure if you think you might be the first one to do something. Because you do want to send it just because you think it's a cool climb. But when you feel people around you go, oh my god, you might be the first one to climb this 8B +, or 8C, or 8C +, or even 9A. Imagine the day that somebody goes, oh my god, you might be the first woman to climb 9A.

Like that's a lot of pressure on your shoulders because suddenly like, do I, like now I have to do this. Like it's, so it's good that you take a step back and you still enjoy the process and you, you, you know, you take the moment as it comes.

Yeah, like exactly, like it's not about being the first, it's just doing something that impressive is like really cool. And so you said you were the first female, so woman in the Czech Republic to do 8B? Was it? Was this was this Nova?

No, Nova was Zate B+.

I bet that was so satisfying.

Yeah, like having like having all those people just leave you comments, which in hindsight, they weren't that nice. Just saying, oh, you can crimp harder because you've got small fingers or you use different feet or whatever. It's like you did the line. You probably could have texted Adam and asked what the line was because you guys know each other. So you probably did the right line. There was no questions. But all these people are like, no.

because like Jana shouldn't be able to do it because of whatever reason. So it must have been really satisfying when they downgrade the boulder you just do and then you go and in a short time you just send these next eight B's and go, how about now? Am I an eight B climber now?

And they shouldn't doubt you because, Jana, like, you're freaking strong. These people need to, like, realize that, you know, you're strong. You've got the willpower. You've got the muscle power. You've got it all. Like, with training, you're going to, like, keep climbing so hard. But it's good that, like, you managed to talk to Adam and internalize that, you know, I did it, no matter what these people say. And I think it's a topic that actually has come up a lot.

when I'm at home is the whole climbing subjective, right? Like, yes, there are grades, but grades are given by people who climb these boulders. So technically, something that you do, you could think it's an 8A or 8A +, and I can go do it and be like, for me, it felt harder. So different people are gonna give different grades, and there is going to be like a conclusion of what's the main.

great of it is, but it can still feel harder or easier for others. So I think it's a bit negative, like having a crowd of people just come in and say, no, we're downgrading it now. Like after all those years of it always being AB, of Adam Ondra saying it's AB, you send it and now it's not. Like I think people need to like really take things into perspective and realize that grades are sort of subjective.

But going on the grades front, so you had the season of doing a bunch of 8Bs and really settling in as an 8B climber. What was your first 8B plus and how did you find it and put yourself into projecting and training mode?

That's pretty cool. Like, after a whole season of doing 8Bs in eight or nine sessions, bow, you go on 8B +, or 8B slash 8B +, but still, really impressive. So when did, when did Terra Nova come into play? When did you go, okay, I've done all of these 8B, 8B pluses, like, when did you go? I'm gonna try Terra Nova. And then within that story, tell me a bit more about Nova.

Now that's a big goal. But that must've been really exciting and not just any 8c plus, right? We're talking about an 8c plus called Terra Nova that Adam Ondra took like 11 days to do. I think there's an old climbing video that shows him trying it. But even though he took 11 days.

He did go to the crag a lot, right? Because he got really used to the moves because in that crag, I mean, I've been there, I've climbed with you. So hopefully we can explain these to the people listening. But the crag is sort of like a inclined board -like structure that has climbs going upwards, but also traverses and then linkups, right? There's a lot of linkups. So if Adam Ondra was there trying all these linkups,

um, and was doing all these climbs in like, was it like an eight year period more or less? Then he got really good at the holds. So 11 days to do an 8C plus for Adam Ondra after he's used to be in that crag. He might've not realized how hard Terra Nova really was because I mean, I'm, I'm nowhere near your level of climbing, but I couldn't get my bum off the floor when I try to pull on most of the holds.

I remember when I was there with you and will and will was having such a hard time like will Bosi Was like Debating it being harder than 8C plus, you know, we'll leave it for him to conclude what he thinks about it so knowing that this is such a hard project now like he must like Really psych you up. He must really get you being like damn. I'm trying such a hard project that Adam like

is done, so it's a classic. Then you've got Will Bosi coming in and being like, whoa, this is really hard. Like some of the moves you were doing them before Will Bosi could do them. Like how crazy cool is that?

That does sound quite cool. But let's go backwards a bit because I feel like I did a tangent when I was getting really psyched about talking about Terra Nova. Because I think I first was asking was sort of when you first discovered Terra Nova because your friends wanted to also go there, it felt hard, right? What made you keep trying it? And then when did it click?

for you to do the link that is now Nova.

I'm going to go to

Yeah, and I mean You've mentioned before when you were saying this how you with Terra Nova you decided to start training a bit more did you feel like you needed to train for Terra Nova because your training before it wasn't Going or getting you strong enough, or did you suddenly go, huh?

I really need to up my training game for this climb.

It's a work in progress.

Exactly. So you've upped your game so that you can get stronger to get Terra Nova done. You've done a link up in Terra Nova called Nova. That was 8B +, and now it's been upgraded to 8C. Like you're on a rampage. You're like trying hard things. You've started training with Lattice, with us. I think you're with Coach Cam, if I'm correct. Like you're really upping the game. Like your training has gone insane.

I like the other day we were chatting and you're talking about how you've done a year's worth of improvement in a lattice training plan in like eight weeks, was it?

Like that is crazy how you know, you have like, you find the weakness with the coach and they just get you up to just being strong on it and like actually adding weights to that exercise now. Like how has your time with Lattice been like? Run me through how the testing went and how you've spoken or talked or even just got your training, I guess.

I think that happens to a lot of people who are like, oh, I'm really strong, say, on my fingers. And then they test and they're like, this is my weakness? But keep going.

you get this training plan and you're expecting it to be like intense as always. And you're always like training really hard. And then you're like, Oh, I don't have as much intense exercises to do or as much volume. Like what's going on? And obviously you've got to trust the process. You've got to trust that the coach has your best intentions in play.

And obviously the coach has all of the knowledge, like your coach, Cam, for example, has so much background in exercise fatigue. He's literally doing a PhD on it. So once you trust the process, it starts working out, right? Like it's crazy, the improvements once you get on a plan.

Yeah, like training does end up looking like a miracle when you see the results. But I'm glad that Kem has got you sorted and he's actually listening to you as a coach and as a person. Because I feel like a lot of people sometimes question like how personal the performance coaching plans can be. And it's great to hear the like, you know, you have doubts, you can text your coach, you're not sure if training is going as well as you want, you can text your coach. Like that one -on -one support is really important.

Yeah, so hopefully your training keeps going amazing but You told me once that if you weren't climbing you might have gotten hooked into Jiu -Jitsu or volleyball or some sport so now that we know a lot about what you're doing at the moment and Not just the hard climbs you're getting on but how you're doing amazing in your training. Tell me about the before who is

Jana and how did you get into climbing and why not another sport? What was it about climbing, you know?

Yeah.

Well, it's almost like you reminded yourself why the seven -year -old Jana started climbing, right? Like for you, like you said, everybody has different perception on what fun is. But for you, fun is like being competitive with yourself and not just trying your best, but trying to overachieve for yourself. So in a way, you try these other sports and they're fun, but they're not your fun.

You know, like he didn't really like feed that little need you have inside. So it's cool that you went from being a competition climber, you know, then you take a break because you're like, this is not exactly what I want to do. And you try these sports and it's almost like they bring back that love for the sport, which is, which is incredible because I feel like that sort of weirdly happened to me because when...

I came to university five years ago. God, it feels like ages away now. I was competitive climber in the Portuguese national team and I was like, oh yeah, routes indoors every day all day, you know? And then I get to university and I just didn't want to climb. I think I brought one pair of shoes just in case. And he was my flatmate and very good friend who ended up taking me outdoors bouldering.

So not sport climbing and not indoors, outdoors bouldering. And I'm kind of scared of like falling on mats and pads. And that just like brought my love because I think for me, fun is like just being outdoors. I try hard, but you know me, I need you in like will to be like screaming at me for me to try really hard. But it's sort of that, isn't it? Like you almost have to take a tiny break and then try variation to realize how much you love climbing. Like it's just such a...

a varied sport and there's so many things you can do. But it's great that you got hooked into climbing and look how far you've come. Like, it's incredible.

But anyways, how did you start climbing though? Like we keep going backwards, almost like a slow flashback. So who was that friend that brought you into climbing when you were seven? Like how did you even get hooked in the first place?

Yeah.

Yeah. That's pretty incredible story, isn't it? Basically, like this friend without realizing really influenced your future and showed you this sport. That's just been amazing. So now that you're an outdoors climber, I'm aware that you do not like climbing in the cold. I personally don't like climbing the cold either.

I just don't get any feeling in my little fingertips. And I think you agree because every time I was in the Czech with Will and you and Martin, Will has a fan, you had the heater. Let's just start there, right? So has it improved? Like have you gone better at climbing in the cold? And then after that, like how has it been dealing with weather conditions? Because I know you've also...

gone a few trips that have gone a bit south because of the weather.

And then when you went on trips with your husband Martin and you guys were in Switzerland and Italy, how did you deal with the weather conditions and when things got a bit not great, how did you deal when you take all this time off to go on a trip and then you can't really climb because the weather just doesn't let you or you fall ill? What happens when...

You know, you can't go indoors because your projects are outdoors. Like, what is your mental game around that?

Well that makes sense doesn't it? Once you know what the best conditions are to climb you really just have to put some time aside and really just aim to go when the conditions are the best. Like something I see Will Bosi deal with a lot is there's only like four months of winter or if that and from those four, three, four months half of it's rain.

So Will's like, I've got all these projects and I only have this time. So you might have to deal with that soon. Hopefully you have more luck than him because the rain seems to follow him. But also, even if you are sort of more at home during the hot time of summer, like you said, you've got crags all around you. Like the Czech Republic has so much climbing.

from trad to sport climbing to bouldering and how do people not know about this? How is it that there's such amazing climbing and you barely see any like climbers going? Like, I haven't seen anybody obviously other than you or Adam really post about it but you guys are from the Czech like, you know.

Yeah, maybe one day. One day. But I think more people should give the Czech Republic a chance and actually go and climb there.

Ha!

Yeah, maybe people are just not super used to like the different styles of limestone because like where I grew up, the outdoor sport climbing crags or sea cliff limestone, they're like super slippy. Like if you think Moravian Karst is slippy, like the Portuguese sea cliffs, like who was it? That French climber who, what's his

I think that's how you pronounce his name. Hopefully I'm correct. He went to the sea cliffs, right? And he had an amazing time and he like put up some really cool climbs in the various crags. But I bet you he used so much chalk.

Because whenever you go there, it's just so slippy and it's not even slippy like what you're used to. It's a different, it's like a tacky feeling on the rock because you've got the sea just going against it all day. You've got to wait for the tide to go low for you to even climb there. So I just find that, yes, the quality of limestones can be different in different countries and different crags, but the climbs are good. When the climbs are good in my head, I get psyched.

Right? And it's always going to be different. There's always going to be people who prefer granite or grit or sandstone or limestone. I mean, I really like

But is that your style or what is your favorite rock type and hole type and just inclined slab? Like, what are we talking about?

Well, that is fair enough. You're in my sort of game then, going for like hard, crimpy things. Well, thank you so much for coming today and for having a chat with me. This has been absolutely amazing. I hope that for all our listeners, they've enjoyed going and just talking about you really, because you're just...

Absolutely incredible. I still can't believe we got you to come to the podcast today. And yeah, thanks so much for coming and I'll hopefully see you

Yeah, thank you.