Ep. 5 - Hitting Reset: The Power of Being a Beginner with Ryan McCauley

This week we chat with Ryan McCauley, a member of the USA Ice Climbing Team. Ryan has had a rapid rise, fitting for her speciality in speed.

In fact, within two years of starting to dry-tool, Ryan went from falling off the second hold of rec team tryouts to finishing 6th overall in Women's Speed Climbing during last year's World Cups.

According to Ryan, this wouldn't have been possible just a few years ago. The idea of trying something new was uncomfortable, messy and fraught with vulnerability. Rather, she was accustomed to risk mitigation and results-driven enjoyment... not of spontaneously signing up for an unknown sport with strangers.

Dry-tooling allowed her to be a beginner again. And that has changed everything.

Listen as we talk about the ways we hold ourselves back, expectations vs. intentions, and defining our own success.

Resources and links:

You can connect with Ryan about coaching for dry-tooling on Instagram @ryane_mccauley and for professional coaching you can reach out to her on Linkedin at linkedin.com/in/ryan-mccauley.

In the episode, you'll hear us reference an article by Corey Buhay about competition ice climbing in Russia, which you can find here. Ryan also wrote an article about her own experience during last year's World Cup season (also discussed in the episode).

If you'd like to donate to the USA Ice Climbing Team here is the link and you can learn more about The Ice Coop here. 

Credits:

Original photo used in cover image by Robert Hendriksen (@thatcrazydutchguy).

Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).

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