EP 301: Matt Samet — Escaping Benzo Addiction, Rifle in the Early ‘90s, and Embracing the Moonboard in His 40s

Matt Samet is the former editor-in-chief of Climbing Magazine, a writer and author, and a sport-climbing pioneer. We talked about his decade-plus battle with benzo addiction, his advice for people who experience anxiety or depression, what Rifle was like in the early ‘90s, how Chris Sharma broke the paradigm, embracing training to send his hardest routes, his new role with the American Alpine Club, and the inaugural American Climbing Journal coming later this year. You can learn more at americanalpineclub.org

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Show Notes:

http://thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/matt-samet

Nuggets:

(00:00:00) – Intro

(00:02:27) – Teasing topics

(00:05:34) – Panic attacks

(00:10:19) – Benzo addiction

(00:26:45) – Setback & self-care

(00:36:32) – Matt’s biggest lesson

(00:43:48) – Matt’s advice for anxiety & depression

(00:48:36) – Rifle in the early '90s

(01:08:07) – Sharma broke the paradigm

(01:14:10) – Embracing the Moonboard

(01:21:46) – Training results

(01:30:24) – Matt’s climbing now

(01:32:28) – Moonboard math

(01:36:52) – An alternative to 4x4s

(01:39:15) – Matt’s route projects

(01:45:49) – Loving climbing more than ever

(01:50:59) – The American Climbing Journal

(02:04:59) – Adam Ondra appreciation riff

(02:08:14) – Wrap up