Climbing Business Journal • 4th November 2022

The Career Path of a Professional Setter (Chapter 3)

After teaching at a USAC Level 2 clinic several months ago, I sat down to dinner surrounded by 20 young setters chomping at the bit to work their way up the ladder. The big questions at dinner were: How do I make a name for myself? How do I make a name for myself? How do I make more money? What is the path of the professional routesetter that wants to make a salary with health care and paid time off, own a house, and have a family? And how long can you really do this for?

Climbing Business Journal • 16th September 2022

Selling Movement: Routesetting Is a Product (Chapter 2)

This story is the second chapter of a five-chapter series on Professional Routesetting: The Truth Behind the Trade. On May 30th, 2021, Natalia Grossman and Sean Bailey swept Gold at Salt Lake City’s Bouldering World Cup finale. Tens of thousands of people that night were enraptured by the mesmerizing performances of these two historic champions. But at the venue and online, I know most viewers were transfixed on how painstakingl

Climbing Business Journal • 12th August 2022

Professional Routesetting: The Truth Behind the Trade (Chapter 1)

This story is the first chapter of a five-chapter series on Professional Routesetting: The Truth Behind the Trade. In the spring of 2018, after nearly two decades of full-time commercial and competition routesetting, Carlo Traversi offered me the Head Setter position―an absolute dream job―at his new facility, The Boulder Field, in Sacramento, California. I stepped into the role more excited than a kid at a candy store.

Climbing • 2nd August 2022

A Longtime Climber on Losing His Home to the Oak Fire

“Overwhelmed with thoughts of death and my newly balding head, on July 22, I went back to Mount Bullion and pulled up to the summit. There, I watched flames devouring my old neighborhood. Under the blackness of night, burning red lit up the hillsides. It looked like I was peering into the gates of Hell. “Early reports said the blaze charred 10 homes, which was later updated to 41. The flames took out every inch of terrain I’d e-biked this year. My Strava report says I have spent 150 hours since

Climbing • 1st July 2022

Are Young Climbers Better?

Last weekend, the final IFSC Bouldering World Cup of the 2022 season took place in Innsbruck, Austria. As usual, the athletes put on quite the show. Each round tested an array of athletic prowess, climbing acumen, brute strength, balance, and power.

Climbing • 7th January 2022

The Path To Enlightenment: How To Enjoy Climbing More

Somewhere along the way for Andrea Brennen—a dedicated climber who has spent decades sharpening her craft—climbing started to feel like work. Today, with the help of a sports psychologist, Andrea is working on reconnecting with a time when climbing was simple and free. How do we go on enjoying the sport like we did when we started while also pushing ourselves?

Gym Climber • 29th September 2021

A Lesson Learned The Hard Way: Lowered Off The Wrong Side of The Mountain

When Kyle McCabe and I climbed the classic Red Dihedral (5.10b) last summer on the Hulk: a 1,200-foot wall that reaches 11,200-feet atop a Sierra ridge, we figured the hard part was over. However, due to a botched descent, what began as a casual outing turned into a 24-hour ordeal.

Gym Climber • 24th August 2021

“I was ready to not be able to climb for the rest of my life": Jessie Tan, MD, Finds New Perspective

Sacramento Emergency Medicine Doctor, Jessie Tan, finds a new perspective on life and climbing after facing unexpected challenges during the height of the pandemic: He was suicidal six out of seven days a week. If the air temperature went above 72 degrees, his body flared with hives and the sensation of being burned alive. “I was ready to not be able to climb for the rest of my life,” Jessie said.

Gym Climber Print Issue • 13th June 2021

Josh Larson: Team USA Head Coach

Initially a full-time electrician from Massachusetts, this East-Coast climber escaped the grueling monotony of his day job for a life less traveled and never looked back.

Climbing Magazine Online • 24th April 2021

Pros and Posers: How Social Media Has Changed Our Climbing Experience

“The ultimate alpine climb would be a spectacular line up a virgin face, no one nearby, with a good partner—and there wouldn’t ever be a word uttered about it. Stripping away all desires except the pure experience of the climb. Escaping all expectations and our own egos. These are the real achievements. We should all dream of this. Maybe one day it will become a reality.”

Gym Climber • 10th February 2021

Route Setters of the Tokyo Olympics: The silent architects in a game of choreographed skill and chance.

While nervously fumbling with my tool belt, I watched the World Cup setting ace, Frenchman Romain Cabessut, take a light drag from his hand-rolled cigarette and begin to systematically gather materials for an intricate problem.

Wolverine Publishing • 5th September 2020

New England Bouldering Guide

The orange glow from the fading sun had dissipated and for the hundredth time in about a week, I rocketed to the pads below Halcyon's sloping lip. I was about as psyched as a 6-year-old at the dentist.

Jiminy Magazine • 2nd September 2020

School's in Session

When James Hasselbeck first started freestyle skiing in the late 1990's, the idea of joining a team to compete in terrain-park events throughout New England was as distant as the concept of twin tips at the time.

Climbing Magazine Online • 2nd September 2020

MetroRock's Dark Horse Series

Little rock-star kids of the future threw themselves at micro-crimps like they were handle bars, an older crowd of masters proved to everyone that their steel-reinforced fingers still somehow worked, and a few ridiculous mutant-ding-dongs pulled their way into Finals.

The Boulder Field Blog • 2nd September 2020

The Greatest Flasher

“I’m not sure I can fully express what runs through your mind when you have one shot,” said Meagan Martin. “I don’t think in a competition I’ve ever looked at the start of a boulder problem for such a long time. I’ve also never felt so present with my climbing.”

The Boulder Field Blog • 2nd September 2020

The Infamous Route Setting Question of the Decade

After a certain number of years, any full-time setter will inevitably face the infamous question: “Hey broski! How do you come up with them rock paths? Do you have a lil’ program that tells you where to plug in all the bits?”

Cranmore Magazine • 2nd September 2020

Cranmore Essentials

With 50 classic New England trails and glades, spectacular Mount Washington views, and family fun around the clock, Cranmore has helped make winter memories for 70 years.

Urban Climber Magazine • 2nd September 2020

Drive: Vasya Vorotnikov

"I'm not a fan of superheroes," said Vasya Vorotnikov. "Superman can fly. Spiderman has the webbing skills, Batman just uses high-tech schwag, and don't even get me started on all the X-Men. Whoopie-do! But seriously, it'd be fun to set someone's hair on fire without anyone knowing it was you.

Loon Magazine • 2nd September 2020

Inside Edge: Tanner McCarty

Ever since he was old enough to balance on a board, Tanner McCarty has ripped up the slopes at Loon Mountain. Nowadays, as a member of the Loon Snowboard Team, he can be seen launching off cliffs in the glades or flying out of the 450-foot-long superpipe.

University of New Hampshire Magazine • 2nd September 2020

Energy Captains

Each and every single unit of heat used in more than 40 buildings by over 10,00 student, faculty, and visitors from across the entire campus of UNH is meticulously monitored and controlled within one office of one building by three men.