Who are your female role models in climbing?
Taylor: “Tori Allen & Lynn Hill.”

How did you start climbing?
Taylor: “At AZR, 4 years ago with my dad.”

What do you like most about climbing?
Taylor: “All the people are amazing.”

What do you like least about climbing?
Taylor: “The chalk”

What do you like most about competition?
Taylor: “Pushing yourself as far as you can go.”

What do you like least about competition?
Taylor: “The pressure”

Describe your coach, Joe Czerwinski as a person:
Taylor: “Joe is enthusiastic and very supportive. He is a very good trainer and a beastly climber. He helps push us all very far and gets us to where we are now.”

Do you feel that strength and conditioning training are crucial to your level of success in speed climbing?
Taylor: “Yes, because you need to have very strong legs and arms, and quick reaction times. You also need stamina for tall walls.”

What other aspects of training do you feel are crucial to your performance?
Taylor: “Just climbing a lot so you can get your technique and style down.”

What do you like most about training?
Taylor: “Knowing that it makes you stronger.”

What do you like least about training?
Taylor: “It is very time consuming, so I don’t get as much time to be climbing or with my friends or family.”

How often do you climb outside of structured team training with the Ascenders?
“About 3 more days a week for about 2-4 hours.”

Did you expect to perform so well at the ’08 youth world championships?
Taylor: “No, my goal was to make the top 8, which I thought would be difficult but i could do it. It never occurred to me that I could do any better than that.”

How did you train for the event?
Taylor: “I did lots of laps on the speed routes at AZR. I also did loads of frog jumps, pull ups, and start drills.”

How did you prepare yourself mentally for the event?
Taylor: “I just told myself that I was just as good as anyone else there, and that all I could do was my best. I also was constantly listening to songs on my Ipod to get me pumped up.”