Heath Christensen

USA

Some people are just born in the wrong state and that’s my story. I was born and raised in Upstate New York until the ripe age of 18. One gateway sport led to another (skateboarding led to snowboarding, snowboarding led to climbing) and before long I was daydreaming of moving out west. As soon as possible when I graduated from high school I quickly conned a couple of friends into moving out to Salt Lake City sight unseen (yes, I work in sales). They’ve since moved back but 15 years later I still live in the best climbing town and I work at the best place for a climber to work at. After graduating from the University of Utah with a degree in Sociology I picked up an entry level job at BD just to figure out the next step plus pick up some climbing gear in the process. Ten years and six job titles later has proved to me that this was the next step and the gear wasn’t a bad perk after all.

Birthday? 10/06/75

Year you first started at Black Diamond? 1999. This August marks my 10-year anniversary.

Memory/story of your first week at Black Diamond? I started in the warehouse picking and packing back when the warehouse was located on 39th. The first memory was cruising through the cam section in our DC. Needless to say it felt like a big all-you-can-buy shopping spree! As you can imagine BD recouped a fair bit of my wages that summer through our employee purchase program.

What does working at Black Diamond mean to you? Having the privilege to work with a bunch of like-minded individuals. The people I work with are quality people that I enjoy climbing with or just hanging out at a BBQ. Not everyone is fortunate enough to come into work on Monday and get beta for the route that bouted them over the weekend.

If you weren't working for Black Diamond, what would you be doing? Professional student. If BD didn’t save me I’m sure I’d be pursuing some sort of graduate degree in Sociology.

Worst job you've ever had? Telemarketing. Sadly I did it for two years so I’m not sure what that says about me. Perhaps I have a high pain threshold.

Do you have any pets? Not at the moment. Unless you count the stray cats in my neighborhood.

Favorite sports/activities? Climbing. What can I say? I’m pretty myopic. Since I was 16 I’ve been pretty stoked on climbing. Although I do go through snowboarding binges and I’ve been trying to rekindle my past relationship with skateboarding. Then there’s the Flowrider….

Favorite climbing/skiing area and why? Kalymnos. The climbing is stellar. Just go do Les Amazones and you’ll see what I mean. You get 5.13 tufa features for the price of 5.11. Then head over to the Grand Grotto for a mind-bending experience. Top that off with awesome weather and a fun scene. It’s a recipe for a great time.

Best climbing/skiing experience? Climbing with my friend Dave in the Winds about 8 years ago. Dave taught me how to climb back in Upstate New York when I was younger so it was rewarding to climb with him years later out west.

What's your dream trip? Where? With who? A year-long trip sport climbing and bouldering in Europe. I’d try to hit places I haven’t been to yet like Gorge du Tarn, Ceuse, Osp, Magic Woods, etc. Ideally I’d hook up with different climbing friends along the way to make it interesting.

Guilty pleasure? Sport climbing in Maple.

BD gear you use every time you go climbing/skiing? LiveWire carabiners. The best biner made, period. I still have some of the very first LiveWires we made and I’m stoked that we’re hot forging them again.

What/who inspires you? Countless people really. If you look hard enough you can find inspiration everywhere whether it’s at the crag, in normal life or on TV.  For example, I love going to the crag and seeing people in their 50s or 60s crushing it. Another time I saw a person in Rodellar working the same steep 12d that we were. Not too inspirational until you take into account the fact that he only had one leg.

What's in your iPod? My music selection is almost schizophrenic. Right now I have everything from Eminem to Moby.

Strangest place you've ever woken up? Cedar Pocket exit near the VRG. It’s a bit sketchy.

Strangest person you've ever woken up with? Fortunately I’ve never had an experience that would warrant a good answer to this question.

Three things you'd never travel without? My wallet, cell phone, and house keys.  With those you can pretty much get anywhere and get back.

Superstitions? Breaking mirrors. No joke. I took down a giant mirror that was in my house when I bought it two years ago. It’s huge (4 feet by 6 feet)! It’s in my garage because if I break it I’ll have way more than 7 years of bad luck.

What's your dream job? Gite owner in the south of France.

If you could steal one thing and not get caught, what would it be? Chris Sharma’s forearm strength.

Do you have any tattoos or piercings? No tattoos. Just pierced ears. I did have my lip pierced but I had to take it out for a job (not BD!).