EP 280: Stevie Hochbaum — Sending Germany’s First V16, The Toll of Obsessive Projecting, and Transformation Through Climbing

The Nugget Climbing Podcast

Steven Dimmitt

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4.2 • 576 Ratings

🗓️ 4 August 2025

⏱️ 123 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Stevie Hochbaum is an elite boulderer who established the first V16, Obsidian, in Germany. We talked about nearly losing his finger to an infection, how he became obsessed with the project, what it feels like to spend 50+ sessions on a boulder, supportive friends, learning patience, training on the project, how losing weight affected his mental health, pacing and breathing, what’s next for Stevie, and much more.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, friends, and welcome to the Nugget Climbing Podcast.
0:04.6	My Eternal Search for Insights, Wisdom, Advice, Nuggets, if you will, that we can use to become the best
0:12.0	versions of ourselves and the best climbers we can possibly be.
0:16.6	My guest today is a dark horse, one of those people you probably haven't heard of who is climbing
0:22.6	at an insanely high level. Stevie Hochbaum is my guest today. Stevie recently did the first
0:29.6	ascent of the first V-16 in Germany, a boulder that he named Obsidian, which he climbed back in February. It took him three years and an
0:40.7	estimated 55 sessions to get to the top of this boulder. And as you can imagine, with that came a
0:47.8	ton of dedication and also a lot of sacrifice. We had a very honest chat about the toll that this project took on him.
0:57.0	He followed a very strict diet and lost a lot of weight to send this boulder. His mental health suffered from that.
1:04.0	He was miserable for a lot of the process, and there were parts of this process that he says he will never do again.
1:11.6	But like most difficult things in life, it was also transformative and taught him a new level of patience,
1:18.2	which has carried over into his relationship and his family life.
1:22.7	He's got a little boy.
1:24.4	And Stevie feels more patient as a dad after going through this journey. He also has a short film
1:31.3	out about his process on Obsidian. It's called Inheritance. It's about 15 minutes long and is
1:37.9	available to watch for free on YouTube. I'll be sure to link to it for you guys. So check it out
1:43.4	after listening to this episode.
1:46.0	Please enjoy Stevie Hochbaum.
1:48.0	Caz, Cascass. No one can do it like we do it, like we do it, like we do it, like we do it, like we do it.
2:00.0	It must be late there.
2:03.1	As your little kiddo in bed and all tucked away and...
2:07.1	Yeah, it's my girlfriend or my wife.
	...

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