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Climber Profiles
Feature profiles of the world's best climbers.
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 Young Guns 2012
While sending your age is still an amazing feat (V27, here I come), it’s not the rarity it once was. Take Margo Hayes. This Coloradan has already sent up to 5.13c and onsighted V9, and she’s a mere 13 years old. And little mutants like Margo are pushing standards all over the country, as we quickly discovered in our annual survey of the up-and-comers and already-diesel athletes making their way through the grades and onto podiums. Here, see why today’s youths are more impressive than ever.  Ronnie Dickson
Chances are you can't climb as hard as this guy, and he only has one foot. - In 2001, Ronnie Dickson, only 18 years old, made the decision to have his left leg amputated above the knee because of a crippling illness. What he lost in a limb he gained in perspective. Now he’s climbing V7 and providing other amputees with the methods and encouragement to pursue climbing for themselves.  The Pretty Dang Awesome Life of Alex Puccio
She’s won five of the last six national bouldering championships, is poised to be the first American on the podium for a full-season bouldering World Cup, and has made the cover of Outside. At only 22, Alex Puccio is preparing for a lifetime of professional climbing. When you meet Alex Puccio in person, the first thing you notice is her size. I don’t mean to say she’s large. She’s short, actually, 5 feet 3 inches, but piled on top of her small frame are powerful shoulder and arm muscles. It’s a look she calls “healthy,” and I can’t help but agree.  Ondra: Face to Face with the World's Best Climber
On March 27, in the Spanish hotspot Oliana, Czech wonderboy Adam Ondra did the first ascent of Chaxi Raxi (5.15b) and roughly one hour later onsighted Blanquita—in his own words the hardest of the five 5.14c onsights he had collected within three weeks, plus another first ascent of a 5.15a. When I arrive at 11 a.m. at the boulders of Petrohrad in western Czech Republic, Adam, now 18 years old, is trying a project he thinks to be V15. Early in the morning, he had started the three-hour drive to Petrohrad from his hometown, Brno, together with his father, Miroslav; his sister Kristyna; his girlfriend, Inka; and 14-year-old 5.13d climber Zdenek Ustohal.  The Young Guns of 2010
Ever notice how strong kids just seem to pop out of the woodwork? One day you’ve never heard of ’em, and the next they make finals at a pro event or climb a notoriously difficult V10. All of a sudden, everyone knows their names, and you’re going, “Where did these kids come from?” In this day and age, those kids could have come from almost anywhere.  La Force Tranquille: Daniel Woods
Every half hour, Daniel Woods sneaks away to brush the holds on his project, a swath of gritty, black sandstone at Area 51 in Joe’s Valley, Utah. Daniel examines the problem in solitude with monk-like patience, visualizing how each finger will grab the sun-baked, Cheshire cat crimps. “I love this part,” he says in a low voice, “just waiting for the sun to go away.” He smiles, warms up on Black Lung (V13), then spots his fiancée, Courtney Sanders, on Big Boy (V7).  Real Grit
Photos by Andy Mann - I want to take everyone's portrait before I die, even the ones I've never met. Billions of them. There's something a single frame can tell you about a person when they're stripped away of everything that outwardly defines them. You get to see who they are on the inside. The real grit. The doubts and the anxiety, coupled with the pride and the triumph. The sweet just isn't as sweet without the sour. These photos, a small cross section of the climbing community, represent a glimpse into the heart of what makes us climbers.  The World According to Payne
After an eight-month injury, the Cincinnati-born boulderer became the first woman in the world to climb an undisputed V13, rocketing her back into the climbing spotlight. Here, she expounds on her recent first female ascent of a V13, her thoughts on sexiness in climbing, eating disorders, competing, and more.  The Legend of Litz and the Lilly Boulders
Words by Rob Turan > Photos by Andrew Kornylak / AkornPhoto.com - Let me tell you about the day I met James Litz. For two years, I’d made the Lilly Boulders, a collection of 25 sandstone blocs in Tennessee’s Obed Wild and Scenic River (a national park), my personal playground. I worked there as a National Park Ranger, living in nearby Wartburg. I climbed and put up problems daily. Then one day, a gangly 125-pound high school kid from Kingsport, Tennessee, strolled into the Park Visitor Center while I was on duty and introduced himself.  The Southerner
Words by Abbey Smith > Photos by Brian Solano / bsproductions.us - At first glance, Chris Sierzant isn’t the type of guy you’d bring home to your mother. A true Southern bad boy from Kennesaw, Georgia, he stands proudly and speaks his mind without hesitation in a direct, honest, often abrasive manner. He sports a wiry, ripped frame decorated in finely detailed ink; and Lucifer, his massive Doberman Pincher, is always by his side.  Paul Robinson - Silent Destroyer
Intro and Interview by Andrew Zalewski / Photos by Tim Kemple -My earliest meetings with Paul Robinson, in retrospect, remain my most defining impressions of his character and personality. I first met him as a young teenager. He’d come into Rock and Snow, the New Paltz climbing shop where I work, with his dad and maybe a friend and hang out for a while, talking about climbing and looking at bouldering guidebooks to far-off areas.  Rich Simpson: Englishman in New York
Words and Interview by Joe Iurato / Photos by Alex Messenger and Joe Iurato - 10:00 A.M. on Thursday, April 13th, I received a text message. "We're heading up. Going to try and make it. Cheers. Rich." The rain was already falling steadily from New York City and up through New England. I knew the Gunks wouldn't be climbable in an hour, but failed to remember one thing; in parts of England it rains six days a week. The precipitation in Soho might as well have been an illusion, our visiting friend Rich Simpson was going climbing.  Hangin' With Chris 'Lick' Lindner
Intro, Interview and Photos by Damon Corso - I was heading out to Red Rock Rendezvous with my close friend Cary Carmichael. I was psyched because it was going to be another day of climbing and meeting new friends. Little did I know that Cary was going to introduce me to his long time pal Chris Lindner, a guy whose name I recognized from various climbing mags. After some exhilarating climbing, I got to sit down with Chris and learn about his character. We quickly became friends. |
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