• Bellyful of Bad Berries 5.13+, redpoint
• Over 75 free and aid routes in or near Zion National Park
• One day ascent of Mt. Huntington, Alaska
• Twenty eight-day hat trick ascent of Mt. McKinley, Mt. Hunter, and Mt. Foraker, Alaska
• The Eiger North Face in winter, Switzerland
• First ascent South West Ridge Annapurna III (7555m), Nepal
• New route on the North Buttress of Kalanka (6931m), India
• First ascent North West Face Saf Minal (6911m), India

20 Questions
Describe your climbing background:
I was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, and moved to Colorado about 13 years ago. I have climbed in Peru, Nepal, India, Alaska, France, Switzerland, the UK, Italy and Canada. My passion is alpine climbing and I fuel it by climbing full time in many different spectrums of the sport. I see it all as climbing... whether it’s clipping bolts, bouldering or sitting it out in 40-below temperatures at an open bivy on a remote 7000-meter peak. For me it's putting all of these skills together with the right attitude that allows me to excel in the unforgiving game of alpine-style climbing.

Why climb ice?
Best waste of time ever invented.

Describe a climbing experience when things got out of hand:
3:00 am on Bird Brain Blvd… just me, Kevin Mahoney and a bottle of Wild Turkey 101-style.

What has ice/alpine climbing taught you?
That I should have stayed in school.

What are you up to when you’re not climbing?
Shooting guns and flying small planes.

Any training advice or suggestions?
Climb to train never train to climb!

Who or what inspires you?
Black Sabbath.

How do you see climbing evolving in the next five years?
Alpine-style attempts with a free climbing focus on 7,000 & 8,000 m peaks.

What do you think about the M13+ or WI8 grade?
It’s all 5.9 A2.

How does fear affect your climbing?
Fear=Fuel

Care to comment on: heel spurs, leashes vs. leashless, falling on ice, impact of drytooling?
I have fallen on ice many times. When I started ice climbing, I had trouble trusting screws, so one day I just started jumping off climbs to see if they where worth putting in. They worked great! Heel spurs are fun tool and if you’re so damn strong and want to make something harder, why not say that you have to use leashless straight 70 cm bamboo tools, hobnail boots, three-strand hemp rope and steel carabineers? If Game Over is too easy with heel spurs, find a Game Over at 8000 meters and start a new game over there—new gear makes climbing fun!

Any near death experiences?
A few…

Are you a fan of climbing history? Explain?
Yes. Helps keeps you humble. Style and gear aside cold is cold, hard is hard and exploration of the unknown is the same today as it was 200 years ago. Great adventure is always interesting.

What are your future plans or goals in climbing?
I will be spending most of the winter season attending ice climbing demos and festivals in Ouray, CO, North Conway, NH, Cody, WY and the upper peninsula of Michigan. I will also be doing some slide shows and lectures at various universities and retail stores around the U.S. and Canada. After winter winds down I will be off to Pakistan on a summer expedition to the West Face of Gasherbrum IV and K2 with Ian Parnell and Kenton Cool and of course continuing the pursuit of the offwidth odyssey.