MBC2015: A Brief Chat with Christine Sjoquist

Christine grazing the finish of Womens Final #3 at MBC2014

To lead off with this year's "Brief Chat's" I want to introduce everyone to Christine Sjoquist.  She's been climbing for the past 15 years, traveled the world, picks up her mail in Bozeman, and took 2nd place in last years MBC2014.  She and her husband were recently featured on Mammut's Athlete Blog.

Joel: Favorite boulder problem and climbing route in Montana?

Christine: Hard to pinpoint a particular favorite, Bowling for Buicks? (5.12a, Gallatin Canyon)

Joel:  Ok, why not broaden our scope a little more? given your travels.  What's your favorite boulder problem and climbing route in the world?

Christine: Any number of boulder problems in the Buttermilks, Joes, or Vegas! Or the super devious "warmups" in Font.  Thinking of routes there's so much fun stuff with French names in Ceuse, also Shune's Buttress in Zion

Joel: Both you and your husband are based out of Bozeman, what brought you to this place and time?

Christine: Neither of us are MSU grads; I went to Dartmouth College with degree in German. However, I did a post-baccalaureate pre-medicine year at MSU recently (because I was a silly, silly goose and got a college degree in German) and my husband went to school briefly in Denmark to train parkour. David (aka Dervin) is a crew leader for Harbour Hardwood Floors, and I'm drowning in med school applications, while also taking a few more classes at MSU and TA'ing some lab sections of biology.

Joel: Is it correct that you spent time with the Bozeman Climbing Team? How did the program help your climbing?

Christine (blue with fleece hoody) along, with the other female finalists, previewing the finals routes.

Christine: I did spend a bit of time with the BCT in 1999 when I very first started climbing; however, this was when the team was early in it's inception process, and being "on the team" actually meant just being able to climb with my friends during "practice" hours.  It helped my climbing a lot in the sense that these hooligans got me hooked on the sport!

Joel:  Sounds like you and your husband are on a big road trip right now, where are you visiting? and what's the goal of the trip?

Christine: We are on a two-week bouldering trip to Vegas. Our sole purpose for this trip is to train for the Montana Bouldering Championships 2015. No other reason, and no fun allowed.

Joel:  A serious trip to Vegas with the sole purpose of training for an indoor competition, sounds die hard.  What's been your most valuable piece of gear on this road trip?

Christine: That would be the latest addition to our family, Rodney the van. He's a 2010 GMC Savanna whose very few windows are tinted. David did an awesome job of converting him to a camper-type rig.

Joel:  Do you still train on the road? What's your routine been like?

Christine: On the road, David is really good about doing lots of warming up with Theraband-type exercises. When we used to climb on the road all the time, we would sometimes try to get gym memberships, half to train antagonist muscle groups, do some weight training and stretch, and half to be able to take a shower once in a while.

Joel:  Showers and pushing the antagonist muscles keep the body in balance!  Any sponsor shoutouts that are helping make this trip possible?

Christine: A big ol' thanks to Mammut North America for all the support, which truly made our travels possible whilst road tripping and living on a measly writers income!