For me now, I feel that climbing is a part of who I am. It's my way of life. It's my way of expressing myself. My way of being in the world. In the past, I questioned it a lot. Now it's obvious. This is who I am. This is what I do.

I would like to be myself in life - my real self. My ego, though, is powerful and not necessarily working in my best interest all the time. Even when climbing I can't escape the clutches of my ego. The reason why I started climbing was because I could be free from myself.

They kind of go hand-in-hand. Following your motivation, resting when you need to rest, and going for it when you feel inspired.

We search out the most perfect pieces of rock. It's so amazing that these formations are so perfect for climbing on. It's almost as if they were created for climbing. You're taking these random rock formations and you're bringing to it this interaction. It transforms it from being this random rock into almost this piece of art. It's almost like a sculpture or something. Just by finding the handholds, finding that line up the rock. Every climb is different, has its own unique set of movements and body positions. Climbing and my appreciation for nature are totally intertwined.

Climbing is an amazing, unique sport, and I want to share that with as many people as possible. I want to be an ambassador for the sport and raise the profile. I try to take advantage of any opportunity to share climbing with the world.

I had a bad knee injury when I was about seventeen. I wasn't able to climb for about six months. It was kind of like a transformative time for me, because it was really hard for me not to be able to climb. It forced me to appreciate things without just climbing.

When I was 17, I blew out my knee bouldering, and I wasn't able to climb for a year. It was hard for me to have to stay away from what I love and what makes me happy. But it was a wake-up call to take care of my body and not be too reckless.