The Nugget Climbing Podcast EP 192: Alex Biale — Bootlegging Wine, Training With Ollie Torr, and the Keys to a Balanced Life
Alex Biale is an elite boulderer based in CO. We talked about his family legacy of bootlegging wine in Napa Valley, how he got into climbing, his legendary training with Jon Glassberg, pushing himself to the breaking point to send V14, seriously injuring his knee, working with Ollie Torr to overhaul his style and become stronger than ever, the keys to a balanced and happy life, and much more!
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We are supported by these amazing BIG GIVERS:
- Michael Roy, Craig Lee, Mark and Julie Calhoun, Yinan Liu, Zach Emery, and Alex Pluta
Show Notes:
thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/alex-biale
Nuggets:
0:00:00 – Intro/Ads
0:05:34 – Steak and wine
0:06:16 – Alex’s connection to the Jon Glassberg and Ollie Torr episodes
0:07:37 – Alex’s upbringing in Napa, his family legacy of bootlegging wine, and the origin story of Black Chicken
0:12:21 – Working in the vineyard as a kid, and growing up surrounded by family
0:15:36 – Alex’s dad, and doing family backpacking trips to Tahoe
0:20:02 – Getting into climbing
0:21:59 – Parallels to the Josh Champion episode, looking up to CA climbers, getting into highballing, and putting V13 and V1 4 on a pedestal
0:31:01 – Training with Jon Glassberg
0:35:11 – Sending Mind to Motion V14, breaking from the training, and feeling lost after achieving his goal
0:39:59 – Climbing classic V8s in Leavenworth, rediscovering his love for climbing, and adopting a beginners mindset
0:47:58 – History, aesthetics, the amount of climbing in CO, and redefining challenge
0:51:56 – Desiring to become a well-rounded climber
0:58:23 – What gets people stuck, and being honest about what you want from climbing
1:03:20 – Combining strengths and weaknesses
1:09:32 – The perfect storm of training with Jon
1:13:20 – Playing the long game, and drawing inspiration from Martin Keller
1:17:33 – Why you shouldn’t train like a pro climber (unless you’re a pro climber)
1:22:50 – The advice Alex got from Will Anglin, and climbing with rules
1:34:42 – Why Alex hired Ollie Torr to coach him
1:45:43 – What’s different about training with Ollie on a principle level
1:52:24 – Injurying his knee, and transforming his climbing style
2:00:26 – The keys to staying consistent with climbing and training, and the value of a spray wall
2:16:12 – The keys to staying on top of things at work, and Alex’s business ventures
2:23:47 – Carrying a load, hitting rock bottom, and adding value
2:31:26 – The keys to maintaining a healthy relationship
2:37:59 – Wrap up, and very kind words from Alex about the podcast