Years of Movement: Jeff Tan’s Takeaways From Nearly Two Decades in the NYC Comp Scene

By Amalia Wompa

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Jeff Tan is a repeat finalist in the Movement Bouldering Series’ ‘Feats of Strength’ and other seasonal competition circuits. Since 2009, he’s become a well-respected and recognized figure of the New York City metro bouldering scene, climbing through shifting styles, rising talent, and a growing community. His observations of the changing environment of competition climbing make him a consistent presence, where his insight carries as much weight as the dynamic moves he’s known for. 

A quick look on Instagram reveals photos of him competing in final rounds that range across every discipline and format, even including the recent North Face Climb Festival which featured deep-water soloing in the East River. Tan often podiums alongside local, national and even international stars, a notable example being his second place finish behind Carlo Traversi in 2019, who was flown in to compete at the Gotham Citizen competition hosted by The Cliffs LIC before its acquisition. 

Throughout his years of competing, Tan claims to have fully participated in almost all of the Tristate Bouldering Series competitions since they began in 2015 across New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, as well as almost all of the annual Feats of Strength competitions which celebrated their 19th anniversary this year. Though Tan now primarily climbs at Movement gyms, Brooklyn Boulders flagship location was his first ‘home gym,’ where he tested the waters through early dyno competitions. It was there that he discovered his self-described “affinity for jumping.” 

“I wasn’t really a well-versed climber,” remarked Tan when asked to think back to the earlier days of his career. Today, he’s well known for his precisely calculated throws and impressive dynamic moves, which earned him the username “@jeffdamonkey.” Now, with nearly 16 more years of experience under his belt, that nickname carries a lot more weight. This much experience comes with the price of injuries and burnout—which Tan is a veteran at dealing with. At the same time, a lot has changed in the competition world since Tan’s first competition, as well as the age of those he competes against. 

“Things are more jumpy now and geared towards what kids are competing in,” Tan said. “I feel like it’s definitely gone more towards the realm of parkour. Whereas before, it would be a really hard climb or two that wouldn’t look really cool or appealing to an audience.” 

His favorite event to compete in and watch is the annual Feats of Strength competition held at its original location at Movement in Valhalla, New York. “It is kind of a show at the end of day, or, that’s what it seems to be going towards,” Tan said as he recalled his more recent performances pulling off moves that had him facing the audience, often flexing a lache or a run-and-jump whenever possible. Although this surge in dynamic route setting certainly fits Tan’s unique style, he maintains the stance of being unsure if it’s for the better. 

“It’s definitely turned itself into its own sport,” Tan said. 

Tan remembers how he was introduced to climbing, which may resemble a different origin story than younger climbers today, who may not recognize that indoor bouldering was originally just an outlet to train for outdoor projects. 

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“I kind of kept that near and dear to me for a while. We would train really hard and then climb outside. I was a weekend-warrior for quite some years, always having like five crash pads in my car–it was a good time.” Tan said. 

When competitions became more mainstream, they provided him with a place to go when he couldn’t make it out of the city, and a community to rely on, which was appealing in a different way. His training changed as the scene did, with most of his weeks involving two or three days of gym climbing, topped off with a competition every weekend as opposed to going outdoors. Still, he gets outside as much as possible, boasting a history of trips to Colorado with some impressive sends in the V10-V13 range.

Tan has witnessed major changes in the competitive landscape, managing to adapt his style and find happiness in what he does. His biggest advice for battling burnout–and for competitions in general–is to remember why you do it. On top of resting when you need it, Tan has worked through injuries that forced him to take breaks that lasted multiple months. 

"You just have to have fun with what you’re doing, and you have to remember why you’re doing it,” Tan said, “I see it with climbers where they’re like, ‘there’s no point of getting back into this because I’m gonna climb five grades lower than what I did’, but it’s like–didn’t you enjoy doing that in the beginning?” 

To a degree, Tan admits that personal ego can play a huge role in the enjoyment of competitions, outdoor climbing, and just general gym training. This is only heightened when competing against younger stars, where comparison can be a climber’s biggest mental hurdle to conquer. Injuries, on top of all this, make it even harder to rise from a huge setback like a pulley injury or even just catching a lingering illness due to overwork. 

“Advice I would have for newer climbers is just to take care of your body and try not to get injured. It’s a lot of work, but just have fun with it, you know? Which is, of course, the hard part.” Tan said.