Margo Hayes La Rambla 9a+ training interview

Margo Hayes, with a background in gymnastics, started climbing at ten and directly joined Robyn Erbesfield-Raboutou's Team ABC in Boulder. At 14, Margo did her first 8A boulder and was #8 in the Youth World Championship. Her progress has been continuous, beside a compression fracture in her spine two years ago which made her stop climbing for three months. In 2016, she did 14 routes 8b+ and harder including her first 9a and got three golds at the Youth World Championship, as well as Climbing's Golden Sport Climbing Piton. Now she is on a one year off before attending University, and focusing on climbing, art, and learning French. Follow her on Instagram or at MargoHayes.com What made you try La Rambla and when did you start thinking you could actually do it? I tried La Rambla because of the beauty, history, and challenge! I really liked the route when I first tried it. I knew that I could send it after my first attempt, because I made all of the moves. It was just a matter of putting the puzzle together. The weeks before you started working on La Rambla you had been focusing on indoor bouldering preparing for the USA Nationals. By training for bouldering, I increased my power. This helped me get through the powerful moves. How has it emotionally been getting all the positive feedback from the climbing community living in the social media era? The positive feedback from the climbing community has been fantastic! People are generous with their support and I appreciate them taking the time to congratulate me. (c) Greg Mionske What is it you like most with rock and competition climbing? Climbing outside gives me a sense of freedom and calm. The mountains keep me grounded and keep life in perspective. I have also been a competitor my entire life. I thrive on that energy and excitement, and I can't imagine not competing. I value both experiences. What is your next plan and ambition? I want to continue climbing beautiful routes outdoors and compete on the World Cup Circuit. There is still so much that I want to learn in both arenas. Traditionally, I train for competition on plastic, but do try and combine that with some climbing at the cliffs. If an outdoor opportunity arises, I jump on it! Any complimentary training? Most of my training is climbing. I do try to run 1-4 miles a few times a week. On top of that, I fit in some strength training and flexibility work where I can. My routine is always changing, but these things stay constant. When I have the opportunity, I jump on the trampoline and swing on the bars! This is my favorite type of cross training.