FAIR PLAY //

In it: 3 years

Proudest sends: Chunky Monkey (V7), Joe’s Valley; Bring the Heatwohl (V8), Joe’s Valley; Side Dish (V3 highball), somewhere, CA

Kelsey Fair, 21, hails from Toronto, but spent much of her early life moving around: New York, Oregon, California, Switzerland . . . Most recently, she landed in Los Angeles, but has been on the road for the past year or so with her boyfriend and fellow climber, Ryan Held. Together, the two tour the United States with their dog, Sharka, in a big red sprinter van, looking for the endless climbing season…and maybe the meaning of life.

How’d you get into climbing?
I started three years ago, with another girl named Kelsey, actually. She climbed, and we were good friends in school. Eventually, I started skipping my last two classes and we’d go climb for six hours at the gym. When I met Ryan two years ago, he knew so much stuff — he coached a kids’ team in LA and studied physiology. He said, “This is what you need to do to be a good climber . . . .” You’ve been on the road for some time now — what do you do to make ends meet? I saved up a bunch of money a year ago and that’s how we’ve been able to pay for most of the trip so far. Ryan is on unemployment and we don’t have any rent, ‘cause of the van. We pretty much have to pay for food and gas. But it’s only going to last so long . . . .I might end up working as a waitress at a pancake house in LA called Uncle Bill’s.

Would you say you’re dirtbags?
Definitely. We’re on the road, living with only weekly showers or dunks in the river. I’m definitely more dirtbaggy that Ryan is.

Give us a good road story:
We went to Ibex on the way back from Joe’s Valley. We were told that the wind there could get really bad. On the morning of our first day, it was beautiful, it was cold, but the area was totally still. Midday, after we’d done some warm-ups, we felt this warm wind come through. We looked up, and there were huge walls of alkaline dust closing in on us from both sides . . . .Everything disappeared beneath the dust. We ended up hiding beneath one of the boulders and it blocked the wind. It was so cool. I just looked at Ryan and was like, there’s no way I’m going back to school this summer. Giving up the road is really hard.

Any tips for the aspiring road tripper?
If you’re going to do it, really commit. The fewer expenses you have, the better — rent, car insurance on a car you don’t you use, etc. Schedule things so you can stay in places for long stretches of time, ‘cause it cuts down on gas. Buy bulk local food and plastic bins for your food. We had mice in our food six times. We’ve probably lost $400 in food from them getting in and leaving their little turds all over the place.

What’s your favorite food?
Dried, organic, unsweetened mangos.

Did you go to college? If so, what for?
I went to UC-Santa Barbara and studied literature. I really want to write a book on all the travels we’ve been doing, and on the spiritual work I’ve been trying to do while on the road, ‘cause it’s such a good place to sit and be quiet and not do anything. Just to get the noise out of my head — just the erroneous thoughts that go on when you’re trying to climb or anything. Just silence the noise.

Spiritual work?
There’s this guy, David Hawkins . . . he writes just the same stuff that all the great avatars have always said: putting badness out in the universe only ends with badness being directed towards you. I don’t follow any particular religion — I just go with what feels right when I read it. How to get rid of the ego and not attach yourself to what you are . . . .It all comes down to being in the moment, and that’s why rock climbing has become my meditation. I feel like I get the most out of it if I’m 100-percent concentrated in the moment.

What else are you into?
I really like to write. And I like to surf when I can. And probably just like learning how to explore by myself — as a woman, it’s hard to get the guts to go out in nature when you’re miles from anyone else. Anything else? Yeah! You can tell people that I pick up their trash all the time at the climbing areas, and they should do it, too; it makes you feel good. I’m pretty adamant about the ethics of climbing, and where it’s going isn’t really ethically driven at all — just a bunch of people wanting to show off and not really caring about the environment and all that.