Colorful Chris

Words and photos by Andrew Kornylak

The stone forehead of the Concave protrudes freakishly from the rim of Little River Canyon in Alabama. In a region known for its steep, hard climbing, this sweeping crest of sandstone is one of the crown jewels of sport climbing in the Deep South. The easiest way out to the lip registers 5.12d, and the hardest way, dubbed Southern Comfort, at 5.14. Like any seriously strong climber, Chris Sierzant moves smoothly and confidently over this steep rock, starting the day on a warm-up, a grade down from So'Co. Unlike most serious climbers, he stops at the crux to ask, "Which way do you want me to look for this move?" and poses down for the camera.

About this aspect of self-promotion, Chris is unapologetic. "It's good for business," he says, "I run a climbing gym. People get motivated when they see hard climbing, and they want to get better, and train more in the gym." At 25, Chris is intimately aware of the motivation it takes to train for hard climbing. As a teenager, he joined a youth climbing team at gym in Atlanta, Georgia. The Team was a phenomenon that produced a half-dozen top climbers in a matter of years, and even then, Chris was a standout. Not only for his relentless focus on hard climbs but also for his audaciousness, climbing barefoot, chalkless, and at times, free-solo. Chris also has a creative drive. When he and his family embarked on a climbing gym business in nearby Kennesaw, he built the walls and created the surfaces from scratch. He is constantly designing and redesigning his gym, Escalade, which is filled with both unique family-friendly structures and cutting edge training tools. It is Chris's motivation and creativity that sets him apart as both a climber and an entrepreneur. I sat down with Chris at Escalade to talk to him about his climbing, the gym, and the Cosmic Monkeybar Tunnel.

How did you start climbing?
When I was four years old I was abducted by monkeys.

I heard about that.
[Laughs] All kids climb naturally. I was always climbing around the trees in the backyard, and one day a neighbor told me I should try rock climbing. The first time I actually climbed, I was 14. It was at Mount Yonah [A granite dome in north Georgia].

Army routes?
Yeah. It sucked, now that I look back on it, but while I was there I was loving every second of it. After that, Greg Scott took me out to Sand Rock [Alabama]. That's when I knew, this is it, this is what I want to do.

Then you joined the Team.
That was really the thing that pushed me. I've never seen a group of kids with so much talent and drive before. There was an amazing amount of energy. I think it's just a coincidence, but everyone just got sick strong. Also, I think we climbed outside a lot, and had goals to shoot for. We would all train hard in the gym so we could whoop ass outside on the weekends. [Coaches] Forrest and Brad would get pissed off because we always climbed too hard on the weekends, and we couldn't do shit on Monday. Today you see teams all over the place, but nothing like that.

You coach a team now?
I started three teams before and none of them have had nearly the drive we had. Finally, now I have a team where I can see determination, and I push them hard.

Do you see youth teams as...
As the future of climbing? Yeah. But I think the gyms are going about it the wrong way. There are probably one or two really good ropeguns at any given gym, but you have to have more than just one team [for them]. You should be developing climbing through classes and clinics. Your employees should each be instructors with a group of kids they teach, rather than just hourly workers. It's hard to find people that motivated to step up.

You are a sponsored climber, and you also own a gym and a retail shop. The outdoor industry can be pretty brutal. Was it hard getting business at first? Lots of birthday parties?

The other gyms figured we would go under right when we started. We had no intention of going under...it was war. In and out of the red zone...climbing is a hard industry. It's getting better. The weakness of the climbing industry is that there are no real icons in the sport. No one is creating a bigger market. There is no market, you have to create it yourself. That's what we learned the day we opened the gym, it was like, oops shouldn't have relied on fake demographics. It's also important to have a group of strong climbers in the gym. When I first started the gym, I had a scene of about 10 climbers. Now there is a huge range of about 60 kids who come in, some of whom could be top climbers. People need icons to motivate them. You need to create more. Not one icon, you need 30, 50, 1000.

How has the gym changed your life? Has it helped your climbing?

I went from complete freedom to total lockdown. What a trip, man. I love my gym to death and I've worked real hard to get it, but I'd sell it in a heartbeat. Physically and mentally I think it's hurt me as much as it's helped me. People don't really choose exactly what they want to do in life. We are victims of circumstance...