Will Gadd

Canada

I've been getting out into the mountains literally my whole life--when my mom was pregnant with me she only stopped climbing when she couldn't see her feet anymore. So I got a head start on climbing, but had to over come a serious BMX addiction before I got back into climbing on my own. I've travelled and climbed all over the world, but always lived in the Rocky Mountains, both in Canada and the US. I like to do the same stuff I did when I was a kid--get outside and have fun. I'm a climber, skier, paraglider pilot, kayaker, mountain biker, whatever, just get outside and do something interesting. I've won a bunch of competitions in climbing (sport, ice, mixed) and paragliding, but I've also placed last. Sometimes you're a rock star, some days you're a rock, you just gotta go out and try. In the end it's not what we did but how many times we just got outside that counts, at least that's how I look at it.

Birthday? 03/08/1967

Year you first started climbing and skiing? My mom climbed with me when she was pregnant. I never really stopped. 

Three climbing achievements you are most proud of? Surviving, having fun, and staying psyched on climbing for more than 30 years. 

Memory/story of the first time you ever went climbing? Getting pulled up Mt. Ahtabasca when I was about 8 years old by my dad.

Favorite climbing area and why? Any new place—each new climbing area fires me up—the possibilities are huge. Time to get going!

Best climbing experience? So many days on a rope, so many good people, so many good mountains, so many bags of chalk, hundreds of ropes, shoes , memories...nah, I can't remember the best. LIfe is good.

Worst climbing experience? Friends dying in the mountains, injuries that keep me from climbing.

What's your dream trip? Where? With who? Top secret, but really any trip. I always go with good people.

Guilty pleasure? Not sharing.

BD gear you use every time you go climbing? Spot headlamp, Cobras, Oz biners, shit, I have pretty much the whole BD catalog in my garage and it all gets used. That's one of the cool things about being a BD athlete, I can get up or down pretty much anything anywhere with the gear in the catalog. I'm a sponsored athlete not because I'm a good climber but because I'm a total gear slut.

Something that annoys you while climbing? Not going up. I f-ing hate that.

What/who inspires you in climbing? Anyone who gets out and goes climbing!

Favorite aprés-climb meal? Whatever I can get my hands on, with beer. Mexican food probably.

Favorite climbing flick? I"m making it right now.

What's in your iPod? A bunch of flash memory, an LCD screen and a phone? I'm not real good on electronic stuff.

Strangest place you've ever woken up? On a boat off the coast of Australia. No idea how I'd gotten there. Don't take sleeping pills and scotch together in large quantities.

Strangest person you've ever woken up with? Myself. Freak show.

Three things you'd never roadtrip without? No excuses about stuff. Get off your ass and go. Nothing but water and food (eventually) are truly necessary.

Superstitions? No. The world is an interesting enough place without a bunch of superstititous BS stacked on it.

What's your dream job? Right here, right now!

How are you training when you are not climbing? Kayaking, mountain biking, scrambling, swimming some cross-fit style stuff for all around fitness.

If you could steal one thing and not get caught, what would it be? Already did it. Not talking about it.

If you could have dinner with three people (dead or alive) who would they be? Me at 18, today, and 80.

Which would you prefer: power of flight or invisibility? I already fly and being invisible would be kinda boring, can I choose something else? Maybe the ability to heal injuries in seconds or something? Just asking, don't want to be ungrateful.

Do you have any tattoos or piercings? I'm cool enough I don't need that poser shit.