EP 08: Kristin Yurdin — Building a Restaurant, Redpointing 5.14a at age 42, and Advice for Shorter Climbers
Kristin Yurdin is a restaurant owner and chef who has balanced a successful career with hard climbing and genuine enjoyment of life. She and her husband Ian opened The Terrebonne Depot, a very successful restaurant near Smith Rock. We talked about her transition from podiatric surgeon to restaurant owner, about her climbing progression and training, and about redpointing her first 5.14a at 42-years-old.
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Show notes:
http://thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/kristin-yurdin
Nuggets:
1:28 – “I’ll try not to get pumped.”
2:09 – Walk the Casbah
4:30 – The spouse vs. the dog, kids
5:20 – Kristin’s residency in Portland, practicing podiatric surgery in Hood River, and the path to starting a restaurant
12:12 – Working in restaurants to get experience
13:58 – Setting aside climbing to build and run the restaurant, learning to grill, and why you need to be able to do all of the roles if you are running a small business
18:00 – Being to busy to miss climbing, hiring people to manage parts of the business, and deciding not to do breakfast
20:12 – Success from day 1, and serving a wide variety of customers and food
21:28 – October at the restaurant, the pumpkin patch, and sending ‘Vicious Fish’
23:38 – Kristin’s restaurant training plan
25:15 – The one thing Kristin wish she had known and weathering the recession
26:38 – Kristin’s thoughts and advice for someone thinking about starting a business, a restaurant, or taking a leap
28:32 – Kristin’s decision—“this can’t fail”
29:21 – “If you want your business to stay or course you have to be present.”
30:14 – Climbing ‘White Wedding’, and what drew Kristin to ‘Chemical Ali’
33:22 – How Kristin trained for ‘Chemical Ali’, stretching, doing weighted pullups with 47.5 lbs added, Paige’s advice, learning to move her foot faster, and trying hard
38:16 – Adopting Paige, climbing in Waterfall Boven (South Africa), and the best part of the trip (seeing the animals)
40:30 – Kalymnos
41:30 – Selling The Depot business and the current owners who are climbers
43:30 – Adding a food cart, volunteering with Dog Pack, and plans for future animal advocacy work
46:00 – Following passion, learning new things, and the decision to sell the restaurant
47:14 – What climbing looks like now for Kristin, Ian’s recent injuries, and prioritizing her remaining time with Casbah
49:30 – Kristin’s recent and current mini-projects, ‘Churning in the Ozone’ and ‘Waste Case’
52:28 – Hangboarding, campusing, moonbarding, why Kristin avoids monos now, and listening to her body to plan training days
56:59 – Kristin’s advice for shorter climbers (she’s 5’2”)
58:29 – How Kristin got started in climbing, her progression, and climbing her first 5.14 at age 42
1:01:44 – Kristin’s thoughts on whether or not she will project another 5.14, running, and what a training week looks like now
1:04:18 – How Kristin thinks about food and weight for climbing
1:05:10 – Kristin’s best decision
1:05:55 – Taking care of the planet, doing little things to help, and thinking about bigger things that might help
1:07:23 – Gratitude for health
1:08:46 – Kristin’s advice for anyone thinking about starting a business or taking a big leap, and balancing listening to others vs. trusting your gut
1:13:22 – “It’s all about the ingredients.”
