Chris Schulte is an elite boulderer known for bold first ascents, compression mastery, and a thoughtful approach that prioritizes style over grades. We talked about his evolution as a climber, developing his own style, how Fred Nicole inspired him, redefining progress with age, tips for compression problems and wide cracks, and the state of elite bouldering and cutting-edge grades.

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Show Notes:

thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/chris-schulte

Nuggets:

(00:00:00) – Intro

(00:01:13) – Being an introvert

(00:13:49) – Becoming a boulderer

(00:24:56) – First ascents vs. repeating

(00:37:09) – Climbing in Yosemite

(00:47:00) – How Chris developed his climbing style

(00:51:28) – Fred Nichol's inspiration

(01:11:25) – Putting brakes on grades

(01:33:02) – What drives Chris & what progress looks like

(01:40:20) – How climbing has changed with age

(01:50:37) – The Big Island

(01:51:56) – Pairing projects

(01:55:31) – Compression climbs

(01:59:16) – Elbow tendonitis

(02:03:08) – What makes for a beautiful line

(02:08:51) – Best V10+ compression in the Front Range

(02:14:28) – Tips on wide cracks

(02:18:43) – Where Chris would like to climb next