EP 195: Matt Segal Returns — The Recipe for a Peak Year, Cooking Tips, and High Summits and Higher Grades

The Nugget Climbing Podcast

Matt Segal is back on the podcast! Matt is one of the boldest trad climbers of his generation and just had his best climbing year ever at age 39. We talked about his new YouTube channel cooking show, his top cooking tips and the key to making delicious food, how he prepared to send Kryptonite 9a, and his ascent along with teammates Jesse Huey and Jordan Cannon of the famous Todd Skinner route ‘Cowboy Direct’ on the Nameless Tower in Pakistan.

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We are supported by these amazing BIG GIVERS:

• Michael Roy, Craig Lee, Mark and Julie Calhoun, Yinan Liu, Zach Emery, Alex Pluta, and Matt Walter

Show Notes:

thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/matt-segal-returns

Nuggets:

0:00:00 – Intro/Ads

0:06:37 – Jet lag and a whirlwind of travel

0:08:14 – What Matt has been in the three years since our last episode, his FA on Mt Hooker with Jesse Huey, and getting engaged

0:11:38 – Short recap of Matt’s paragliding accident in 2017

0:12:15 – Matt’s new YouTube channel, his magazine Brine, and his traveling + climbing + cooking idea

0:15:05 – Getting deeper into cooking during the pandemic, and the vision for the YouTube channel

0:18:44 – Upcoming guests on Matt’s channel, and my impression of the show

0:22:16 – Matt’s #1 cooking tip, and the key to making delicious food

0:27:40 – Matt’s go-to meals

0:29:56 – Balancing nutrition with his love for cooking and enjoying life, traveling with his portable Traeger Grill, and his YouTube giveaway

0:32:52 – Why Matt added protein shakes to his routine when he was trying Kryptonite

0:37:23 – How Matt eats when he travels internationally, and his go-to bars for expeditions

0:40:37 – Wanting to climb 9a, and what he learned from trying Kryptonite

0:46:18 – His fiance’s accident at The Fortress the day he sent Kryptonite

0:51:38 – Matt’s training leading up to trying Kryptonite, and setting mini-sub-goals

0:57:10 – Try hard

0:58:31 – The difference between sport climbing and hard dangerous trad climbing (headpointing)

0:59:17 – Cutting edge trad routes worldwide

1:01:05 – Going to Pakistan to try the famous route Cowboy Direct on Nameless Tower

1:06:47 – What it feels like to climb 5.12 and 5.13 at 20,000 feet, the logistics involved to prep the route, and necessary suffering

1:13:55 – How Matt felt after coming back from Pakistan, pivoting to hard trad, and moving away from dangerous climbing

1:16:53 – Closing this chapter for Micah Dash

1:20:18 – Astrisks in big wall and alpine climbing, the bond created between Matt, Jesse, and Jordan

1:22:02 – Tough gainer

1:25:23 – Patron question from Connor: Any cool Micah Dash stories?

1:27:55 – New products from Alpine Start

1:29:50 – Upcoming stuff for Matt

1:31:02 – The enjoyment of food and what that means, and being more deliberate about who you spend your time with

1:32:47 – Wrap up