Career Highlights

  • Dawn Wall: 1000m 9a, El Capitan, Yosemite
  • Fitz Traverse: A four day enchainment of the entire Chalten Massif Ridgeline. Patagonia, Argentina.
  • The Nose: Speedrecord, 2018 with Alex Honnold,

    Interview

    • Climbing

      What most people don't know about me

      In Elementary school I was that special Ed kid with Bifocals and such bad coordination that when someone threw me a ball, it would hit me in the face.

      When and how did you get into climbing? What keeps you interested? What fascinates you?

      My dad was a Mountain guide who started me climbing at the age if 3 (1981). Climbing is my venue to explore myself as well as our beautiful planet. I love the challenge and the lifelong relationships that are formed.

      Who were your childhood heroes?

      My dad as well as the dirtbag climbers that were hanging out in Camp 4 and climbing big walls.

      Do you consider yourself a role model now? Does it influence you at all that other people look up to you?

      From an external perspective I understand that I might be a role model. So I try to live my life in a way to meet that expectation. But inside, I am still that same awkward kid full of wonder and uncertainty.

      What have been the most important milestones in your life so far, both in climbing and in everyday life? And did you recognize them immediately as such or only later on?

      While climbing is my identity and my passion. I tend to think of milestones as life changing events. Meeting my Wife Becca, Birth of my son Fitz and Daughter Ingrid, Joining Team Edelrid.

      What were your greatest failures / setbacks / injuries? How did you cope with them and how did you come back from them?

      I chopped off my left index finger with a table saw in 2001. Kind of a bummer for a climber. I soon realized that pain is just weakness leaving the body. Somehow the injury made me stronger.

      What is your favourite climbing-related story / experience?

      So dude, there was this one time when I was bouldering in Hueco, I was reaching up to this wicked sloaping under cling, I had my feet smeared on this snot smooth rail. I was about to huck this massive dyno when no shit, Chris Sharma walked around the corner. Just seeing the dude made me fly like superman. I stuck this half pad crimper. My legs went full horizontal. Chris was like... nice dyno! It was so cool.

    • Training

      Do you have a strict training schedule for when and how you train throughout the year?

      For most of my life I figured that climbing as much as possible, and trying as hard as possible, was the path to most rapid improvement. These days, as is the fashion, I am dialing in my program a little. I spend more time on the hang board and campus board loosely following the science of training manuals like Rock Prodigy and Gimme Kraft.

      What advice can you give to others looking to improve their training routine?

      I still feel like the foundation of very aspiring climber is the fire of desire. If climbing rules your life and ambition, the details work themselves out

       

      What do you think of indoor climbing gyms in relation to climbing on actual rock?

      Gyms are a great social venue as well as the most effective training tool. What they usually lack is the grandiose inspiration. Like everything else in life you have to find the right balance of each.

      How much of success as a pro climber is due to self-marketing and how much due to actual climbing skill?

      There is no one-size-fits-all formula. To be a professional climber you have to want it real bad. I think the key is to do what feels genuine and real to you.

    • Psychology

      Can anyone train to be able to do a one-armed pull-up or reach the summit of the Eiger/Matterhorn? Or do you have to be born for it?

      I think most anyone could train to get to the summit of the Eiger or Matterhorn, as long as they find the right people to show them how. One arm pull-ups however....That's more of a matter of genetic makeup and lifestyle. I have met 9a climbers that can't do one-arm pull-ups.

      How important is it to set goals in professional sports? What are your goals? What targets are you working towards for your climbing and in life?

      For me, Goals are absolutely central to aspiration and therefore motivation. It helps me to have a beacon on the night to focus on. My main challenge these days is finding that family-work-climbing balance. I want to be intentional with my kids every day as well as show them what hard work is all about. I have a constant climbing specific goal matrix orbiting the inner workings of my brain. Everything from a ten second one arm hang on the single pad crimper on the Beastmaker hang board to first alpine style free ascent of Bla Bla Bla on Bla Bla Bla mountain. I am in the final stages of writing my Memoir. My goal for the last 18 months has been to make that as great as I can.

      How do you deal with extremely hard climbing problems? Do you ever get frustrated and give up on them? Or do they motivate you even more?

      I am the most motivated by the climbing problems that challenge me to grow beyond what I have known in the past. Of course I get frustrated at times. I have learned to use those moments of frustration to force me to stand back and take the long view.

    • Future of climbing

      Is there anything you would like to change about current developments in climbing?

      I do feel like the world of climbing is becoming increasingly externally focused. Less about the heart and more about media impressions and instagram followings. At the end of the day everyone connects with true genuine life experience. I would love to see those long form stories to be brought back to the front of our consciousness.

      Where do you see the sport going in coming years? What will change? And what will your role be in it?

      Today, more than ever, climbing holds a mass appeal. The sport is becoming more main stream. With crowds comes increased impact. I want to see a day where every climber feels a duty to respect and protect our climbing areas. As climbers we have a more intimate relationship with the Natural world. We see the changes. We need to show that we care and therefore become an example of a better cleaner way to live. Climbing has the power to inspire and as climbers we have the ability to shape that narrative. Lets use that to do some good in this world.