Andreas Schmidt

USA

I was born in the suburbs of Seattle. Like most Germans, my parents were devout hikers and took us hiking and skiing before we could even walk. My brother, Wolfie, and I started scrambling ahead to tag summits along the way.  According to my parents, Wolf went through the Mountaineers' basic climbing course so that he could rappel into caves (spelunking was another aberrant family activity that presaged my future status as a social outcast.) I never shared such aspirations, but luckily my brother took me climbing and I was hooked. Soon I became the default leader (I was the stupid/bold one) as we worked our way through the classic alpine routes and rock climbs of the Cascades. At 13, I made my first volcano ski descent (Mt. Baker) and a few years later got my first Tele setup (Kazama Mountain Highs with 3-pin bindings and Merrell leather boots), clinching my status as a misfit.  Swept up by the energy of the nascent sport climbing movement, I dutifully shunned the Mountaineers' shorts-over-long-underwear uniform, donned my pink lycra and started hanging from bolts. Luckily, the schism between sport and trad resolved itself and I returned to more conservative climbing attire and embraced a more all-round approach to the sport. I am grateful for all the experiences and friendships climbing and its attendant culture have brought to me. I am also grateful for plastic boots and fat skis.

Birthday?

3/30 1968

Year you first started at Black Diamond?

2008

Memory/story of your first week at Black Diamond?

Classic midlife crisis story: Turned 40, moved to Salt Lake, started doing my dream job amid lovely mountains and a bunch of like-minded weirdos.

What does working at Black Diamond mean to you?

Being a part of feeding the stoke and building up the mythology that surrounds our sports.

If you weren't working at Black Diamond, what would you be doing?

Maybe working in an ad agency 80 hours a week and never being able to go climbing or skiing. Or trying to save the world.

Worst job you've ever had?

Testing auto emissions for WA state.

Do you have any pets?

A kitty named Jasmine.

Favorite sports/activities?

Rock/alpine/ice climbing, backcountry skiing (mostly tele), urban cycling, motorcycling, tinkering in the garage, holding up traffic in my '88 Toyota van.

Favorite climbing/skiing area and why?

Squamish, BC, for the sheer awesomeness and diversity of the rock climbing; The Ghost River, Alberta, for incredible ambiance and endless ice lines; and the North Cascades for adventuresome, alpine ski mountaineering. The snow in the Wasatch isn't too bad either.

Best climbing/skiing experience?

Spent a year travelling with my sweetie, Kasi, climbing in amazing places like Patagonia, New Zealand, Arapiles, Thailand, Nepal, Kenya, Croatia & Slovenia...

What's your dream trip? With who?

The aforementioned trip all over again...

Guilty pleasure?

Burning fossil fuels.

BD gear you use every time you go climbing/skiing?

ATC Guide on a Vaporlock 'biner, Camalots, O1 Bindings.

What/who inspires you?

Lines of elegance and beauty that beg to be skied or climbed . Acts of selfless generosity.

What's in your iPod?

Johnny Cash, Tool, Floyd, Cure, Decemberists, Big Business, Kyuss, PJ Harvey, etc...

Strangest place you've ever woken up?

Paharganj, a tourist ghetto in Delhi, India. That place is a trip.

Strangest person you've ever woken up with?

Funny, I can't remember...

Three things you never travel without?

Toothbrush, glasses, a book.

Superstitions?

That the universe gives a shit about my existence.

What's your dream job?

Being an artist in some rustic yet civil place with great skiing and climbing out the door. Is that a job?

If you could steal one thing and not get caught, what would it be?

The UW rock.

If you could have dinner with three people (dead or alive) who would they be?

Heinrich Harrer. Neil Young. Barack Obama.

Do you have any tattoos or piercings?

Just a couple holes in my left ear.