What were your best years of comp performance?
Well, nationally, I got to where I was ranked No. 1 in the United States by ’95, and I moved to Europe and that didn’t mean anything. That’s when your passion has to come through, because you realize that as good as you are, it isn’t good enough. You have to dig inside and go, ‘What else is there — what else can I give of myself?’

So the first couple of years in Europe were hard, going over there and placing 60^th or 70^th in the World Cup. I came back and started performing more consistently in the US, and then went back to Europe ranked No. 1 and still placed 35^th at the world championship. That told me I had to get over there and start working on things and surrounding myself with people I didn’t have access to here. After a couple of years, I started to win international bouldering comps, like Clemency in ’97, and I won a speed-climbing world cup in ‘95 in Birmingham, as well as an international open in France in ‘97. Then in ‘99 I got third in bouldering in Arco, which is the highest place for an American male at Arco. I guess you could look at those results and say those were my best years of competition.

I think as far as athletic performance and ability, I could have performed well for a few more years, but it was a funding issue, because being in Europe got more and more expensive and the sport didn’t really return. I came home and bought a house in 2000 and my priorities had to shift. Now I can earn more from a company without going to a World Cup.

There’s obviously a physical peak that also goes along with the technical peak, and you want to combine those when you’re competing. Do you think that’s a lot of what was going on when you were in Europe?
I think it was a lot of proximity. I know my friends from other countries still perform really well into their 30s, and physically I feel really good now. I have to stay more on top of my training to feel good, but I know more about training than I did 10 years ago. I wish I would have known then what I know now. Honestly, I feel like I climb better now, but I had more access to the competitions and the dollar was stronger then. It didn’t really align as when I was training the best, had the funding, and had the technical ability and the experience all together to get the best results possible. If you live in Europe, you get to that pinnacle, and then you experience more consistent results than I had. I think that’s the problem with most Americans: they don’t have funding to stay there and to train and compete for long enough to reap the consistent benefits. Robin Erbesfield is one of the only ones who have.

Why do you think the energy in Europe is so different?
It’s part of their culture. The sport is supported by federations with public funding. So the athlete’s development and visibility in competitions is emphasized. They’re trying to provide more structure to the sport, to achieve Olympic status, or possible mainstreamize it in some type of rigid format that every sport needs. Whereas here, the freerider phenomenon is taking place. There’s tons of guys who don’t compete, and then build a whole career out of it. What happens is that it dilutes the available funding for the true athletes. Sort of like a pro cyclist. If you were racing and going to Europe, you’d be getting more complete sponsorships and support from companies that were in your industry. You wouldn’t be worried about money going to the guy who sits on a corner bouncing tricks on a bike, because there’s enough of a developed industry around racing.