For those of you who follow international competition climbing, Sean McColl needs no introduction. Sean is a professional rock climber from North Vancouver, BC with deep roots to the North Shore climbing scene. Over the past few years, Sean’s focus has been on competition climbing, as Sean lives and trains in Chambery, France for most of the year. Sean may be best known for his ascent of Dreamcatcher, where rumour has it that Sean did the route a second time for the camera, but Sean continues to push himself outside, with ascents of Meadowlark Leon Sit (v14), Top Sirloin (v14), and Too Many Martinis (v14) this year as well as onsighting his first 5.14a. During the recent 2014 World Cup season, Sean ended up on the podium eight times and ended the season 2nd overall. Squamish Climbing Magazine had a chance to catch up with Sean before he takes a well deserved break from his training regime.

Now that the season is over, what does your schedule look like?

I’m basically in full blown off-season. I will continue to climb for two weeks then head back to Vancouver Canada where my real break will start. I’ll take one month off training, climbing for fun with my friends, before starting back up mid January.

What are you looking forward to the most coming home?

Seeing my friends, my family, and going to all the Christmas parties! It’s the best time of year to be at home because everyone is getting together and generally very happy.

How long will you break from training and when will you start looking towards the next season?

Normally, I take about a month off training. I use that time to just forget about training and go climbing with my friends. I have no pressure of what I’m supposed to do and I try to climb outdoors if I can as well.

This year it seemed you were on the podium more often than not. Was there anything this season that contributed to your success this year? Anything you focused on that was different than last season?

Not at all. I even felt a bit weaker at the beginning of the lead season because I didn’t have the time to train my circuits and get my endurance up. I made small changes but overall my training was the same as 2013 and will continue to be the same in 2015.

What do you mean by ‘circuits’?

I set them myself or create them on the spot. They range from 25-60 moves depending on my endurance level and it’s the most efficient way of building endurance that works for me.

Does feeling mentally strong on the day of a competition or leading up to a comp play a role?

It helps but isn’t a must. It always helps to feel mentally strong leading up to a competition but it’s important to know your own body. Leading up to the final world cup this year in Kranj, I didn’t feel super strong 7 days prior, but I never do. I don’t do full trainings the week leading up to a competition but I know that the 2 days of the competition I should feel strong again. In Kranj, during the qualifiers I felt like an animal, unstoppable. It carried through the semi finals and finals as well. In the end I was beat by Adam Ondra, but one can’t complain too much…

Any outdoor goals for the off season? (There are a fair few boulders in Squamish looking for repeats!)

If it’s dry, then yes! I still have “The Deep End” which is my longest standing project but I’d really just like to get a few days in before the snow and wet rain comes. I won’t have any big projects as I’ll be staying close to Vancouver and not traveling over the break.

As with any individual team, there are a lot of people involved behind the scenes. Do you have a team behind you that strategizes for next year and analyses changes for the next season?

Not really. I plan out myself which competitions I’ll do and how my training will be structured. I try to leave as much time to climb outside if I can as well. I obviously have great sponsors that make my climbing lifestyle possible, my family, my girlfriend and all my friends. The biggest thing that people do for me is support me. Every time I am at a competition, I always check my messages. I have lots of support from the climbing community which strives me to push it further. It sounds cliche, but I have to say I love it

Last question from one of our readers, Did your short stint on American Ninja warrior make you more famous walking down the street?

Not at all… The only people that everyone talk about Ninja Warrior are mostly climbers I see at the gym anyways! We’ll see if they run the show again and if I’m invited back 🙂

Well, I hope you do get invited back because I think you changed the show forever with such a strong performance! (see Sean’s ANW performance here)



Thanks again Sean and enjoy the break! – Squamish Climbing Magazine

Sean is currently sponsored by Mammut, La Sportiva, Walltopia, Joe Rockheads, Clif Bar, and Scratch Labs.