GRADY BAGWELL

From Urban Climber Magazine #21

Age: 17

Height: Doctor said I’m 5-foot-10, but I thought I was taller than that.

Where you from? Dayton, Ohio

Where you going? Out West

Sponsors: Five Ten

Proudest send: Hueco’s The Flame (V12) in 30 minutes.

What got you started?
Started the summer I turned eight. One day I went to the gym in Estes, Colorado. Then my cousin came from Connecticut and took me to a [Dayton] gym called Urban Krag; I got a season pass the second day. For my parents, it was kind of like a cheap form of baby-sitting.

Favorite crag food: Chex Mix or Cheez-Its.

Least favorite food experience:
In Beijing [for the UIAA Youth World Cup], I ate a silk worm the size of my thumb. It was pretty disgusting. I swallowed the shell and all that. It was pretty crunchy.

If you were a climb, how would you describe yourself?
I’m a 45-degree overhang for like 30 feet, with a slopey top out and a spicy landing.

Longest gone without climbing: Never taken more than a month off, but recently went to the doctor and he said I have tendonitis in both elbows and both shoulders, so…

Climbing style of choice: Bouldering. I like tall boulder problems.

Favorite crags: Hueco Tanks, Squamish and the Red River Gorge.

You lived on a portaledge for a while. What’s the story?
I slept, ate and lived on one for a week to support good climbing causes. We raised over $1,200 for the Access Fund and the Red River Climber’s Coalition. It was one of the best/craziest/most boring experiences I can remember in a while. I couldn’t really climb and settled for counting T-nuts on the lead wall.