Climber, Software Developer, New Route Developer, Setter, & Photographer.
After finishing undergrad in Chicago, Nathan moved back to his hometown of Indianapolis, Indiana, started setting, and making regular trips to the Red River Gorge again. The forested hills and abundant sandstone walls of Kentucky began to renew his psych for climbing.
A significant and needed shift occurred when Nathan moved to Seattle, Washington, in 2015. The wildness of the Cascade Range became the perfect canvas for him to pursue creative expression in the mountains, through climbing, new route development and photography. Seattle was also an epicenter for the craft of setting, and Nathan felt lucky to have fallen into working at the Seattle Bouldering Project, one of the premier bouldering gyms in the world.
After setting at SBP for nearly 7 years, with 2 years managing and leading the program, Nathan has since moved on to software development, a field he believes carries many similarities to setting.
Nathan aspires to be a well-rounded climber, growing his climbing in both directions – from bouldering to alpine climbing – but knows he will always love the free movement over rock the most. With lessons learned from setting, he has found a passion for creating and sharing climbing on the big walls of the Cascades by discovering and developing new routes.
Tom first started climbing as a way of dealing with his fear of heights, but this quickly developed into enjoying it for its own sake and training regimes from a background in other sports came into play. Climbing extensively on the gritstone around Sheffield, Tom has picked off numerous hard and bold unclimbed lines in the Peak District.
A love for first ascents has also taken him around the UK and the world, with hard trad routes in Orco and Red Rocks to his name. With an appetite for suffering, a good sense of humour and endless enthusiasm, Tom has also pushed the boundaries closer to home with a string of creative challenges – some hard, some odd, but usually both.
Tom has also pushed climbing in unusual directions. After an injury forced Tom into avoiding crimps, he focused on developing crack climbing skills and eventually an offwidth obsession. After ticking everything in the UK and some of the hardest routes in Europe, there was only one place left to visit. A trip to the south-west of the US, the offwidth capital of the world, resulted in the first ascent of Century Crack (5.14b) – the hardest of its kind. From the widest of cracks, the obvious challenge was then the thinnest. After spending months in his now famous training basement, a trip to Squamish resulted in an ascent of Cobra Crack (5.14).
"I was born in South Africa and spent the following 20 years living in lots of different places due to my parents. I think the regular moving around gave me an appetite for change and ever since leaving school, I’ve never quite been satisfied with staying in one place for more than a few months.
In recent years I’ve specialised in trad and in particular, crack climbing. This has taken me from the depths of my basement in Sheffield (training on wooden cracks) to some of the world’s best hard cracks. My main passion lies in new routing and exploring new places, so as my climbing progresses I naturally look for first ascents and ones that include hard crack climbing."
Notable Climbs
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Hagakure (V12), Index, WA
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Freedom is a Battle (5.13c), Geyikbayiri, Turkey – onsight
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Cobalt Gecko (5.14b), Canmore, Canada
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Lost Horizons (5.14b), Little Si, WA
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The Path (5.14a R, trad), Lake Louise, Canadian Rockies – in-a-day
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En Passant aka Ten Percent Direct (5.14), Index, WA – FFA, Index’s first 5.14
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The Honeymoon is Over (5.13c, 300m, 9 pitches), Long’s Peak Diamond, CO
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Gambler’s Fallacy (5.13-, 300m, 9 pitches), Long’s Peak Diamond, CO – flash
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Dark Side of Liberty (5.13d, 400m, 11 pitches), Liberty Bell, Washington Pass, WA
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The Canadian Alpine Trilogy – three multipitch 5.14s in the Canadian Rockies
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Backseat Driver (5.13, 200m, 7 pitches), South Early Winter Spire, Washington Pass, WA – FA
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Deep Blue (5.13, 410m, 15 pitches), Dolomite Tower, WA – FA
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Pilar Rojo (5.12a, 600m), Mermoz, Patagonia
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West Buttress (AK Grade 2, 50°, 4000m), Denali, AK