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          • The Migrant Pom on Rysavy Ridge
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          • Fast Forward - Rysavy Ridge Revisited
        • The Three Sisters
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        • ARTIST: Shawn Lee
        • A Shift on Moonlight Buttress
        • Claiming a Space on the Mountain
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        • Feature Photographer: Bryan Sillorequez
        • Is Diversity in America Diverse?
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        • Profile - Favia Dubyk
        • The Lineage
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      • Overcoming Adversity >
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        • Failure is Part of the Price: Rand Abbott Attempts the First Adaptive Lead Ascent of The Nose
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        • Rock Type 1
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        • In Praise of Mustang Coffee
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        • A Chamonix Initiation
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      • Facebook Feature >
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  • Photographers & Artists
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Overcoming Boundaries Profile:
Shawn Axelrod

Q: You have a heart condition, can you tell us more about it?
 
It’s a congenital heart condition called Wolff-Parkinson-White (WPW) syndrome. I have a 2-leaf valve instead of a3-leaf valve. It required open-heart surgery at the age of 19. During that surgery, they basically put a clip in the wrong place, which has lead to early congestive heart failure and cardio myopathy.
 
As a result I have really low blood pressure. If I stand up to quickly I pass out. Any aerobic activity I get severely out of breath - a quarter mile walk or a flight of stairs.
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Q: How has this condition impacted your climbing?
 
I started climbing at the age of 18. I got hooked and then had the open-heart surgery. My friends thought they wouldn’t see me climbing again, but I got right back to it.
 
I’m now 51. Climbing, along with bike riding, has been an ongoing staple of my life. For most of my adult life I lived to climb and worked to climb. I would compress a 40 hour work week into three days so I could climb.
 
Eventually I had kids. When they were younger I took a short break, but when they got a little older I was back at it and taking them climbing with me. Some people drink or watch football for their entertainment, but being active was my temple.
 
If I had a million dollars to make or climb would choose climbing.
The last time I climbed was about 3 weeks ago. I climbed for half a day. It was just too much. My condition has reached the point where I can’t function. I climb a route or two and have to sleep. I’m having to face that if my body’s reaction is that extreme, then that type of exercise can’t be healthy. I am at the point where I will have to stop climbing.
 
I have gone from being able to ride my bike 5 hours in the heat or go on big 18-hour car-to-car climbing trips to this. But I’m trying to find ways I can stay outside and get to the places I love. I recently bought a 4-wheel-drive vehicle to fill this need – if I can’t hike, climb, or ride there, I will drive there.
Q: You own a climbing-related business, tell us about it. Why did you start it?
 
In 2015 I started Climbing Addicts, where we make colored climbing chalk.
 
There are a few reasons I started the business. Part of being a father is paying attention to your legacy in terms of things that are created. I’m in the construction industry, so to me homes that are built are a legacy. Children themselves are a legacy. A business is a legacy. Taking care of our world, especially the places we love to climb, is a legacy.
 
With respect to climbing, I’m a strong desert trad rat. The first time I climbed in the desert in the early 1990s, it was pure and beautiful. But when I returned years later, you could clearly, visibly see the impact of climbing – the foot print was outward and upward. Walls were covered in chalk graffiti. I wanted to do something that also left a positive legacy in climbing, so I decided to make colored chalk.
 
The beauty of colored chalk is it doesn’t require volunteers, trail crew, hammers, picks, or a shit-load of time and money to make a difference.  It’s so fucking simple. Use red chalk on red rock, grey chalk on grey rock. Imagine if every climber took that one simple step? How fucking hard is it to have a baggie of chalk with different colors or even two different chalk bags for different walls?
 
You’d think it would be simple, but people just don’t seem to be doing it. It seems we are advocates for things as long as it is convenient. Or we need the government to step in and tell us how to behave. I wish that wasn't true. I wish we could behave ourselves on our own fucking terms. 

​Even though I’m based in the U.S. and my chalk is made in the U.S., most of my chalk orders come from Australia because the government has stepped in. They are protecting their rock by requiring colored chalk in certain areas.
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Q: What are some boundaries you have had to overcome or are overcoming?
 
One is the reality of health care in the U.S. Health insurance requires specific labels and more testing outside of previous diagnoses for them to pay for care. Otherwise it’s all pay out of pocket. I’ve been through cardiac rehab and it works, but based on their labels and strict definitions, I don’t qualify now for insurance to cover it. So, as a result, I’m in so much medical debt.
 
With my business a boundary is it’s difficult to find what makes climber’s click. Someone will pay $5 for a cup of coffee but they get upset about paying $10 for a bag of chalk. A major boundary is around things like perceived value. In my perspective you base the price of an item on how much it costs to make. But costs are often determined based upon perceived value – say something costs 5 cents to make, but people charge $5k and people will pay – that is not morally right.

​But the opposite is also true, if people place a low value on something, they won’t pay what it really costs to make a high quality product.

 
Most people approach business as a way to make money. I approach it as a way to contribute to climbing and make a high quality product. China can come in and make cheap, shitty chalk, toxic chalk, where you don’t really know the ingredients and the consistency varies from batch to batch and people will buy it because it’s $2 less.
 
I get my chalk from France where they have to test their product. My chalk is not chunky. I make the colorization myself, here in the U.S. I package and I ship. I touch every batch of chalk that goes out. I have an intimate connection with the end user and I take pride in that.
 
Most manufacturers never even see the chalk or the bag it’s in, much less touch it. It comes out of a box from China.
 
How do I overcome those boundaries? Hell if I know. One thing feeds the other which feeds the other which feeds the other. Overcoming boundaries isn’t just one step, one action, it’s a culmination of actions.
 
Overcoming boundaries is also related to “success.” Success is you gotta get up everyday and show the fuck up, because tomorrow might not happen. So many get hung up on making mistakes, doing it wrong. We want the quick and easy hack on how to do things. But, if you know how to do it wrong than you know how to do it correctly. ​​

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        • Aleo Manali, India
        • A Light Through the Cracks Review
        • France - Adventures of Jorge
        • Freiheit - Book Review
        • Light Weight Baby - The Coming of Age of Ben Cossey
        • M - Alex Mauss Design
        • Mirage - Profile of a Climb and Photograph
        • Pen Llŷn: The Most Dangerous Book in the World
        • Tonga - Tropical Rock
        • Whitewater Crocks
      • Belaytionships Edition >
        • Featured Photographer: Charlie OlGrady-Kessner
        • Belaytionships: Maggie and Charlie Odette
        • Zac the Interloper
        • Book Review: Uncoiling the Ropes
        • Belaytionships: Drew-and-Sarah
        • This page has been removed
        • I Am My Father's Son: Layton Bridwell
      • Big Wall Edition >
        • Book Review: Paul Preuss: Lord of the Abyss
        • Featured Photographer: Matt Spohn
        • Grading Commitment
        • Hanging with the Monkeys, and Getting the Monkey Off My Back
        • It Was His Time: Brad Gobright Interview May 2019
        • John Middendorf : A Big Man for a Big Stone
        • Sébastien Berthe Free Climbs the Nose From the Ground Up
        • Shit Happens – Or, Why You Need a Walkie Talkie
      • Developers and Guidebook Authors >
        • Developer - Mitch Lehman
        • Andrew Penny - A Blue Mountaineer
        • Kevin Powell
        • Rock Star Groupie
        • Tony Calderone
      • Exploring Our World >
        • AUSTRALIA - Photographer - Diego Perez
        • AUSTRALIA - Profile - Julie Anderson
        • Book Review - Climbing Rock
        • CHINA - From Yangshuo, to Getu, to Liming
        • FRANCE - Verdon in Winter
        • GREECE - Meteora
        • ITALY - Dolomites
        • MEXICO - La Huasteca
        • SPAIN - Artist - Karmelo Onate
        • UTAH - Maple Canyon: This One Makes You Taller
      • Farewell Edition >
        • D-Monica Dalmasso Photographer
        • Don't Fall
        • Gorge Country
        • Matheson Brown - There's a Bear in There
        • Piqued by Peaks
        • Progress
        • Remembering Common Climber
        • The Journey is Everything
      • Firsts... and Last >
        • A Tale of Oso Madre
        • Clayton Herrmann - Featured Photographer
        • Rysavy Ridge >
          • The Migrant Pom on Rysavy Ridge
          • Throng of Roland
          • Fast Forward - Rysavy Ridge Revisited
        • The Three Sisters
      • Honoring Diversity >
        • ARTIST: Shawn Lee
        • A Shift on Moonlight Buttress
        • Claiming a Space on the Mountain
        • Colorblind
        • Feature Photographer: Bryan Sillorequez
        • Is Diversity in America Diverse?
        • MOVIE: People of Climbing:
        • Profile - Favia Dubyk
        • The Lineage
      • Humor
      • Joshua Tree >
        • Bouldering: JTree Made Me Do It
        • Improv at JTree: Bad Bolts
        • JTree: Bolting Pressure Cooker
        • Joshua Tree: Heinous Approaches
      • Old and New >
        • Climb Harder Book Review
        • Night Cap - The Plan
        • A Grand Night Cap
        • Fiasco on the Grand Cap - 1969
        • Jusant - Climbing Video Game
        • S - Mike Stone
        • Vietnam - Yen Thinh
        • 2023 - Reflection
      • Overcoming Adversity >
        • Acopa Outdoors
        • Anoushe Husain
        • Failure is Part of the Price: Rand Abbott Attempts the First Adaptive Lead Ascent of The Nose
        • Overcoming a Brain Tumor: WeighMyRack Founder Interview: Alison Dennis
        • Rising
        • The Mountain Path Book Review
      • Overcoming Boundaries >
        • Photographer - Brook Anderson
        • Profile - Louise Shepherd
        • Profile - Megan Banker
        • Profile - Shawn Axelrod
        • Rock Type 1
        • The Tape Job
      • Strength Edition >
        • Effective Training: Are You Getting Stronger or Just Getting Tired?
        • In Praise of Mustang Coffee
        • More: Life on the Edge of Adventure and Motherhood
        • Mother Earth: One of Australia's Hardest Natural Lines
        • My Husband Climbs Stronger than Me
        • She has a Name: Mary Catherine Eden
        • Train the Mind: Mental Toughness Tips
      • Women's Edition >
        • Editorial - Women's Edition
        • Climbing is My Art
        • Mt. Logan Solo
        • Photographer - Michelle Ranee Johnson
        • Profile - Caitlin Schokker
  • Writing
    • All Writings (List)
    • Topics >
      • Adaptive Climbing >
        • Adaptive Climbing Edition
        • El Capitan: Enock Glidden
        • Failure is Part of the Price: Rand Abbott Attempts the First Adaptive Lead Ascent of The Nose
        • Jean
        • Quinn Brett Interview
        • My Journey to Adaptive Rock Climbing
        • Planning for Mt. Rainier: Adaptive Climbing
        • Resources - Adaptive Climbing
        • Adaptive Climbing: It's About Climbing Independence
      • Alpine & Ice >
        • A Chamonix Initiation
        • California Still Has Untouched Climbing Wilderness
        • Double Sevens
        • Elusive Ice - A Rare Tasmanian Treat
        • Ice Solo
        • Mt. Logan Solo
        • Mt. Ogden Spanking
        • Mt. Whitney Whipping
        • My Common Alpine Epic
        • Nick Would
        • The Dru Derby >
          • Horses for Courses - The Dru Derby 1971
          • My Dru Derby
          • The North Face of the Dru - Chris Baxter
        • Vertical Ice Climbing in Ontario, Canada, eh?
      • Profiles
      • Comics >
        • Master and his Apprentice
        • Totem Pole 2082
        • The Video - Comic
      • CoVID and Climbing >
        • COVID Climbing Memes
        • CoVID-19 Remakes Our Lives
        • Dear Memory
        • From Couch to Lifting Couches
        • How to Climb and Avoid the Corona Virus
        • The 5.10 Commandments
        • Trying to Send this Route
      • Equipment (writings) >
        • Aliens!
        • A Rack Retrospective
        • Cam Ranges (+ Big Bros)
        • Carabiner Strength Ratings
        • Climbing Shoes Fit
        • Guide Book Follies
        • Rope Buying 101
        • Shit Happens – Or, Why You Need a Walkie Talkie
        • The One Item to Stockpile
        • Which Way Should I Carry My Trad Rack?
        • Why GriGris Suck
        • 8 Reasons I Carry a Full Rack on Every Trad Climb
      • Facebook Feature >
        • FF: Big Walls
        • FF: Butt Shots
        • FF: Exploring Our World
        • FF: Overcoming Boundaries
        • FF: Trees & Climbing
        • FF: Welcome New Climbers
      • Fiction >
        • GOD
        • Red Curtain: Prologue & Chapter 1 Excerpt
      • Gift Ideas >
        • Climbing Goods
        • Climbing Stocking Stuffers
        • Rock Stack Card Game
        • Safety Gifts
      • Grades, Styles, & Types >
        • Absolutely Hypothetical: Introducing the Graham Scale
        • Bouldering-Falling
        • Bouldering Grade Advancements
        • Grading Climbs at the Gym
        • It's a F-ing Chimney
        • Onsight vs Flash vs Etc...
        • Top 10: Increase the Climbing Grade When...
        • Trad Climbing is for Chicken Sh*#s
        • WTF 5.7?
        • 18 Climber Types: Which Are You?
      • Kids >
        • Family Stages
        • The Guidebook
      • Legends & Tributes >
        • A - Bryden Allen
        • B - The Bell's Line: The Keith Bell Story
        • B - John Brailsford Tribute - The Immaculate MOAC
        • B - Joe Brown
        • C - Cutcliffe - The Boy from Bothwell – A Tribute to Max Cutcliffe, an Australian Legend
        • F - Doug Fife
        • G - Brad Gobright
        • G - Todd Gordon
        • H - Hugh Herr
        • H - Thomas Huber - In Another World - A Personal Climbing Journey
        • J - Saxon Johns
        • M - Tim Macartney-Snape: ​A Legend from Sea to Summit
        • M - John Middendorf
        • R - Early to Rock: David Roots
        • S- Paul Seddon - From a Nut to a Harness: A Tribute to Paul Seddon, The Third Troll
        • W - Alan Watts: A Smith Rock Legacy
      • Mental-Physical >
        • Climbing Training Series >
          • Climbing Warm-Up: Shoulders & Fingers
          • Effective Training: Are You Getting Stronger or Just Getting Tired?
          • Improving Hip Mobility
          • Rock Climber Mobility
          • Train the Mind: Mental Toughness Tips
      • Other/Misc
      • Places & Climbs >
        • Climbs >
          • Consolation Prize
          • Echo Crack and Cracked Egos
          • Email From Italy
          • Flakes and Shakes: Flake Crack Revisited
          • From Yorkshire to Eternity
          • I Like Fake Cracks (And I Cannot Lie)
          • Le Temps Suspendu - Suspended in Time
          • Lost Boys Meets Hard Boys >
            • The Lost Boys: The Epic First Ascent of Mount Warning's Wollumbin Shield
          • Mont Blanc: Climbing the Best Granite Cracks in Europe
          • Ozymandias Direct - Fifty Years of Fun and Games
          • Sierra's Volcanic Plug: Da-ek dow Go-et
          • Supreme Jumbo Love
          • The Fourth Bolt of Texas Radio
          • The Matterhorn
          • Thumbing The Nose at Mr. CF Jingus
          • Tiptoeing Through Some Bungles
          • Tombstone Territory
          • Yosemite - What We Came For
        • Location Reviews
        • My Home Crag >
          • Climbing in the Upper Cumberland Valley, Kentucky
          • Colors of the Climb
          • Copen Hill Climbing Wall
          • Donegal Sea Stacks
          • Drytooling in the Rain - Wayne's World, WA
          • New River Gorge, West Virgina
          • My Home Crag: Nowra, NSW, Australia
          • The Kenyan Climber
        • Travel Stories
      • Poetry/Prose >
        • A Bard of Yosemite
        • Anti-Social Climbers
        • Feeding the Rat
        • Finding Poetry
        • Ice is Nice
        • Sojourn at Dyuritte
        • The Space Between
      • Puzzles, Games, & Fun! >
        • Climbing Drinking Games
        • Crossword - Strength Edition
        • Memes by Bad Beta Bouldering
        • The OG Aussie Klimber
        • 12-Weeks to Onsighting a 5.8
      • Safety and Skills >
        • Bolting and Ground-Fall Potential
        • Euro-Death Knot is NOT
        • Multi-Pitch Tips: Two ATCs
        • Sketchy Anchor Bolts
        • Sliding-X Anchor
        • Three Ways to Use a Stick Clip
        • Top 10: Climbing Best Practices
      • Social, Social Media, & Social Issues
  • Marketplace
    • Acopa Outdoors
    • Butora
    • Climbing Addicts Colored Chalk >
      • Climbing Addicts Chalk Has New Owners - 2023 Interview
    • Climb-On Maps
    • Dynamite Starfish
    • Elira - No Need to Strip, Just Unzip
    • FIXEhardware
    • Furnace Industries
    • Heroclip
    • Lacaida Ropes
    • Mountain Drifter
    • MoveWell with McGee
    • Mystery Ranch
    • Neilico
    • NW Alpine
    • Rockytalkies
    • SLAPCHALKS
    • Tension Climbing
    • Tera Kaia
  • Reviews
    • Book Reviews >
      • A-H Book Reviews >
        • A Light Through the Cracks Review
        • Advanced Rock Climbing Book Review
        • Adventures at the Edge of the World
        • Climb - Book Review
        • Climb Harder Book Review
        • Climbing Glass Book Review
        • Climbing Rock: Vertical Explorations Across North America
        • Climbing Wild - Book Review
        • Freiheit - Book Review
        • Hangdog Days Book Review
        • HOOKING UP: The Ultimate Big Wall and Aid Climbing Manual
      • M-Y Book Reviews >
        • More: Life on the Edge of Adventure and Motherhood
        • Paul Preuss: Lord of the Abyss
        • Pen Llŷn: The Most Dangerous Book in the World
        • Red Curtain - Book Review
        • Royal Robbins - The American Climber Book Review
        • States of Adventure Review
        • Sydney Climbing - Book Review
        • The Art of Climbing - Review
        • The Greater Fool - Brad Gobright and the Blinding Shine of Originality
        • The Mountain Path Book Review
        • The Sharp End of Life: A Mother's Story - Book Review
        • Uncoiling the Ropes
        • Valley of Giants
        • Yosemite Bigwalls: The Ultimate Guide Review
    • Equipment/Gear Reviews >
      • Belay Device Review >
        • Edelrid Mega Jul
      • Harness Reviews >
        • ArcTeryx-FL-365
        • Misty Mountain Cadillac
      • Packs and Bags >
        • Sukoa Chalk Bag Review
        • Trango Crag Pack
      • Personal Anchor Systems >
        • Camp-Daisy-Twist
        • Petzl-Dual-Adjust
      • Other Gear Reviews >
        • D4 Delta2P Portaledge
        • Skyhook Stick Clip Review
    • Location Reviews >
      • Australia >
        • Queensland, Australia >
          • Kangaroo Point Photos and Beta
          • Kangaroo Point Review
        • New South Wales Australia >
          • Blue Mountains >
            • Blue Mountains Photos and Beta
            • Blue Mountains Review
          • Nowra >
            • Nowra Review >
              • Nowra Photos and Beta
      • Mexico >
        • Potrero Chico Photos and Beta
        • Potrero Chico Review
      • United States >
        • Climbing Area Check List - U.S. >
          • Climbing Area Check List Part 1: Alabama to California
          • Climbing Area Checklist Part 2: Colorado to Michigan
          • Climbing Area Checklist Part 3: Minnesota to New Mexico
          • Climbing Area Checklist Part 4: New York to Wyoming
        • Arizona >
          • Queen Creek Canyon
        • California >
          • Joshua Tree >
            • Joshua Tree Tips
          • Mount Whitney >
            • Mount Whitney Photos and Beta
        • Idaho
        • Oregon >
          • Smith Rock >
            • Smith Rock - Photos and Beta
            • Smith Rock Review
          • Spring Mountain >
            • Spring Mountain Review
            • Spring Mountain - Photos and Beta
          • Trout Creek >
            • Trout Creek Photos and Beta
            • Trout Creek Review
        • Nevada >
          • Gun Club
          • Keyhole Canyon
          • Mt. Charleston, Nevada
          • Red Rock Canyon >
            • Red Rock Canyon Review - Yeahs and Neahs
            • Red Rock Canyon Photos and Beta
        • New Hampshire >
          • North Conway, NH
          • Rumney, NH
        • New York >
          • Gunks Review
        • Utah >
          • Echo Canyon
          • Ferguson Canyon >
            • Ferguson Canyon Photos and Beta
            • Ferguson Canyon Review
          • Ibex >
            • Ibex Photos and Beta
            • Ibex Review
          • Maple Canyon >
            • Maple Canyon, Utah Photos and Beta
            • Maple Canyon Review
          • Moab >
            • Moab - Main - Photos and Beta
            • Moab -Main - Review
          • St. George >
            • St. George - Prophesy Wall- Photos and Beta
            • St. George - Prophesy Wall - Review
        • West Virginia >
          • Seneca Rocks
        • Wyoming >
          • Ten Sleep
  • Photographers & Artists
    • A-F - Photographers and Artists >
      • A - Gustavo Acosta - Photographer
      • A- Brook Anderson
      • B - Florian Beyer
      • B - Michael Blowers
      • B - Phillip Booth
      • B - Guillaume Borga
      • B - Michaël Bortoluzzi
      • B - Michael Bretz
      • C - Karen Chan
      • C - Matt Cunningham
      • D-Monica Dalmasso Photographer
      • D - Daga Dygas
      • E- Mary Catherine Eden
      • F - Eric Fallecker
    • G-N - Photographers and Artists >
      • G - Katherine González
      • G - Max Gordon
      • H - Clayton Herrmann
      • J - Michelle Ranee Johnson
      • K - Jethro Kiernan
      • K - Christine Kuebler
      • L - Jim Lawyer - Everyone Needs a Lawyer: Profile of Climber & Photographer, Jim Lawyer
      • L - Shawn Lee Illustrator
      • L - LieseLotte P
      • L - Jim Lin
      • M - Lindsey Mathewson
      • M - Alex Mauss Design
      • M - Adam McClatchie - Mile High Media House
      • M - Alex Messenger
      • N - Tiffany Nardico
    • O-Z- Photographers and Artists >
      • O - Charlie OlGrady-Kessner
      • O - Karmelo Onate
      • O - Camila Ospina
      • P - Diego Perez
      • S - Charlie S.
      • S - Xavi Sanchez - Climbing Comic
      • S - Helmut Schulze
      • S - Bryan Sillorequez
      • S - Stephen Smithburger
      • S - Matt Spohn
      • V - Laura Vallo
      • W - Joel Wilson
      • Z - Eson Zhao
  • JOIN!
  • Submissions
  • About Common Climber
    • Why I Started Common Climber
    • Advisory Board
    • Welcome Dave Barnes!
  • Authors
    • A-F >
      • B - Stephanie Bahnsen
      • B - Alex Barlow
      • B - Dave Barnes >
        • Dave Barnes Extended Bio
      • B - Austin Beck-Doss
      • B - Keith Bell
      • B - Brianna Boney
      • C - Massimo Cappuccio
      • C - Carrot
      • C - Radek Chalupa
      • C - Lyle Closs
      • C - Erin Collins
      • C - James Crump
      • D - Stefani Dawn
      • D - Derek DeBruin
      • D - Nick Ducker
      • F - Tony Ferrar
    • G-O >
      • G - Joshua G
      • G - Leesa Gallia
      • G - Naomi Gibbs
      • G - Geoffrey Gledhill
      • G - Enock Glidden
      • G - Max Gordon (Contributor)
      • H - Grey Hensley
      • H - Bavali "Megs" Hill
      • H - Michael Hjorth
      • M - Henk Morgans
      • J - Jonathan
      • K - Dylan Kilby
      • K- Melissa Kline
      • K - Christine Kuebler
      • L - Mike Lewis
      • L - Kaybe Loughran
      • M - Collin McGee
      • M - Tony McKenny
      • M - Aaron Mike
      • M - Rick Momsen
      • M - Jesse Montgomery
      • O - Maggie Odette
    • P-Z >
      • P - Jorge Packer
      • P - Emilie Pellerin
      • P - Brice Pollock
      • P - Paul Pritchard
      • R - Monique Richard
      • R - Juan Rodriguez
      • S - Lor Sabourin
      • S - Jess Sanson
      • S - Hendrik Schaal
      • S - Jeff Smoot
      • T- Frothy Thomson
      • T - Wil Treasure
      • T - Matt Tredway
      • T - Natalia (Tal) Tune
      • W - Kirby Walke
      • W - Hugh Ward
      • W - Stuart Williams
      • W - Wayne Willoughby
      • W - Lani Wilson
      • W - Dierdre Wolownick
      • Z - Peter Zabrok
  • Videos
  • Climbing Events 2023