​A student of the mountains for a decade and a half, Derek DeBruin feels most at home in the hills, whether he has climbing shoes, trail runners, crampons, or skis on his feet. He resides in northern Utah with his wife and son, instructing climbing and other outdoor skills at a local university. He ensures he never has free time by doing freelance guiding and writing and serving as assistant team leader for the local mountain rescue team.

​You can connect with him on Facebook (facebook.com/dmdebruin) and read serials about his mountain adventures on Instagram (instagram.com/derekmdebruin).

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Common Climber Articles

• Don't Burn Out (By Derek DeBruin) - TRIGGER WARNING (This articles contains references to rape, sexual abuse, and self-abuse) - A poetic and deeply thoughtful piece that interweaves the call of climbing to calm the mind and the futility of climbing relative to the misogyny and sexual violence in this world. Author and mountain guide Derek Debruin writes: "The headlights cast a pallor, the white and yellow lines glow. The shadows of peaks hulk in the periphery, a darker shade of navy than the night sky, blotting out the stars. It doesn’t matter where I am - the West Slope, northern Utah, fucking Amarillo - or where I’m leaving - the Tetons, Red Rock, the Valley - it’s always the same. But in this case, it’s southern Idaho en route from the Cascades. The road trip is intoxicating, for the same reason climbing has always inebriated me: the flow of the stone quiets all else."