Who is Behind Vector Climbing?

Climbing has shaped nearly every chapter of my life. From my teenage years to present adulthood, it’s taken me across five continents, through every discipline, and into full-time coaching. I’ve worked with climbers projecting 5.9 and 5.14, balancing performance with school, work, and life.

For the last four years, I’ve been Head Coach at The Climbing Academy—a school focused on cultural immersion and outdoor climbing performance. I also taught Calculus, Spanish, SAT Prep, and P.E. (which usually meant climbing on world class projects). Each year, I sensed I was building toward something.

Photo: Marcus Fulton

I have always thrived in “all-consuming” tasks - writing a thesis, working a laborious contract, projecting my hardest route. But juggling coaching, teaching, and being a stand-in parent, mentor, chef, and nurse? It was all consuming in a multidimensional way - and it was a constant struggle to give each piece the energy it deserved.

In quiet moments, I realized: what I really love is helping others understand and deepen their relationship with climbing.

“The meaning of life is to find your gift.

The purpose of life is to give it away.”

-Pablo Picasso

Photo: Henry Carter

As a young climber, I anguished over watching others fall short - never for lack of strength, but for lack of planning, rest, intention, understanding.

Regarding training, the number one rule - to be consistent in anything - is often followed in the most ironic way:

The only consistency in most people’s training

is how consistently they change their training.

That’s why I’m creating Vector Climbing - to help people become consistent in the right ways. This is the first of a series of blogs exploring all things climbing: some scientific, some philosophical, all rooted in practice. Some blogs will focus on a physical stimulus (e.g.. hangboarding on the road), while others will focus on more subtle topics (e.g. why is intuition a skill). I will speak from personal experience and cite my ideas.

I’m psyched you’re here.

If you have thoughts, questions, or reflections—hit reply. Conversation is indeed our greatest tool.

-Lohan Lizin