20 Questions
Describe your climbing background:
I could have easily remained a boulderer. The simplicity of bouldering was initially very appealing. Reading the rock and learning its passage quickly turned my interest for climbing into a full-time obsession. But living in Telluride, CO with its strong traditional community, it was difficult to ignore the influences of my peers and mentors. I loved climbing so much I wasn't willing to regret missing some aspect of the sport. The local crag is called the Ophir Wall and it’s notoriously difficult to protect. Scared as all hell, I rose to the expectations of leading on traditional gear and I did my very best to onsight whatever I was attempting. And on the weekend’s I would travel to Indian Creek, where I learned to grovel in cracks and accept the tenacity it took to lead them. With two-years of climbing under my belt and a “no stone left unturned sort of philosophy,” I attempted the Salathe in February (if that is any indication of my "greenness"!). The entire time I was up there I thought it was unnatural for humans to be on a wall so monstrous. Cracks were running with water and I was so scared but I managed to swing leads up the Hollow Flake and out the Ear. It really sucked but when I hit the Valley Floor after a successful ascent, something changed for me. The elation was so intoxicating that I was already planning for another big wall adventure before the haul bag was off my back!!

What are you up to when you’re not climbing?
Living on the coast, I enjoy surfing, although I don't spend as much time in the water as I would like. I'm very involved with a strength and conditioning program called Crossfit—equal parts of gymnastics, Olympic Weight Lifting and track and field. It has been a tremendous asset to my climbing.

Who or what inspires you?
Inspiration, for me personally, exists in what I have yet to accomplish—the next logical step in my progression as a climber. And when there's big news like Tommy's two free ascents of El Cap in one day or Yuji's on-sight attempts, then that is also inspiring... personally, but also collectively. Collectively, it's the next logical step in the development of the sport. That will be exactly what the next generation holds in their hearts as possible. It's setting the stage for that natural progression of rising standards.

How do you see climbing evolving in the next five years?
I expect to be blown away at what the emerging generation is going to establish as being physically possible. I also hope to see it manifest in Yosemite by continuing with the standard that Yuji Hirayama has laid down with his tremendous on-sight efforts. The indoor industry is also going to explode! We are in the midst of a quantum growth spurt and fitness and adventure is now trendy making indoor climbing gyms a perfect fit! If you think about it, they're wide reaching talent nets exposing the sport of climbing too more and more of the gene pool. If this, in fact, is how the community continues to grow explosively, it will be more important than it already is for the role of mentors ushering in the new generation. Offering a depth of perspective to the activity they already love satisfies a natural curiosity to know more. In this way it is a gift... not a sermon. Deep water soloing, man-made over Olympic pools could be an avenue for larger and larger corporate investments. Justen Sjong should be credited with the pool idea.

Care to comment on: pre-clipping more than one draw on sport routes or pre-placed gear on trad routes, chipping/comfortizing holds, glue vs. no glue?
Well, pre-placed gear on a trad route can mean a lot of things... especially at a crag like El Cap. Even beyond the realm of pink and redpoint ascents, there are days when fixed gear benefits the freeclimber and days when it makes a route harder or even impossible. Sometimes pre-placed gear will help keep nearby placements free of other fixed gear that inhibits a free climb. What is important is for climbers making free ascent claims, especially on routes that are still climbed with hammer and pitons, to be upfront with an honest disclosure as to the nature of their ascent. This benefits those that follow and helps to improve the standards already established. Standards will always improve, so it is in good style to facilitate this natural progression. Careful omission clouds the reality of the tremendous effort and rehearsal that is put into freeing most every big wall.

Do you have any vices and what are they?
Yes. They are good beer and sarcasm! I sometimes enjoy them simultaneously.

Any near death experiences?
One worth mentioning was that fateful first wall climbing experience on the Salathe. It was the last day of February and the entire route was wet and uncomfortable. We were the only ones on El Cap and as we neared the summit and settled into our bivy, this waterfall appeared out of nowhere. Snowmelt from the summit, in the form of gallons of water, began falling all around us, peppering us with golf ball-sized droplets. We jumped into what little shelter we had, sleeping bags and bivy sacks and let everything else get soaked. With completely inadequate gear, it wasn't an hour into this hellish ordeal that I had to get out of my soggy cocoon and dump quarts of accumulated water out of my bivy sack. Whether it came from where I was tied into the anchor or the six-inch puddle I was laying in, I'm not sure. It became very emotional for me by this time and I was violently upset for the predicament I had gotten myself into. Finally giving away to exhaustion on all levels, I calmed down to a whimper and passed out. Morning broke without temperatures dipping below freezing. It was cold, but we were alive. We summitted later that day and spent the night in wet gear on a snowless patch of ground huddled around a meager pine needle fire.

What are your future plans or goals in climbing?
They're ambitious, and they primarily pertain to El Cap. High on the list is to finish up a project Justen Sjong and I have been working on, The Free Muir. There are new lines to establish on El Cap as well, but one project at a time! I will also be working with the Santa Cruz kids climbing team. They've been climbing with one another for years already and it’s a privilege to be their coach and friend. I hope to spend a little time in Europe absorbing an older climbing culture as well as improving my own abilities and I have never deep water soloed and this is going to change.