aka "thebrad"
How I found the Mountains:
Shortly after I moved to Seattle in '94, my boss asked me if I wanted to climb Mt. Rainier. I said, "Hell no!" it was really tall and intimidating. I was a smoker, out of shape and up to that point only a hiking enthusiast. As clear days allowed peaks of the mountain I started leaning towards doing the climb. In July of '95 I summited. It was the hardest thing I had ever done. It was also life changing.
I joined the Mountaineers around '98 and took the snowshoe course as a starter to get into the mountains. In '00 I did the basic climbing class but failed to get my summits. 2 years later took it again, got the summits and then some. As a basic I had a great mentor group, some of whom I still climb with. I blasted my way through the Intermediate course with many great times and summits. Soon after that I became a climb leader.
Preferred Pace:
I am on the faster side of moderate and tend to go faster as my conditioning improves throughout the season. On many of my climbs I make it very clear the expectations for the conditioning requirements. I don't hold a stop watch and time individuals but do require certain climbs/hikes as prerequisites to the more adventurous climbs. I won't jeopardize a climb by setting too fast or too slow a pace. There are many faster, stronger, better looking, funnier climbers to be sure.
Climbing Philosophy:
Kinda big words for an intro to me and my climbing style. I like to plan the climb out well before hand so on the day of I can participate as a peer on the climb. I can bark orders if it becomes necessary, but rarely is it necessary. I preach the benefits of conditioning over and over only because I know the pain and discomfort of being out of shape and suffering through a climb. The better shape you are in, the more you can enjoy the climb while you're there, not just with the pictures emailed out a week later.
Fav Climbs:
While I want to make this a moving target, here are my "do every year cause I love them climbs"...
Intermediate Rock - Cutthroat, Basic Rock - Ingalls, Intermediate Glacier - Adams Glacier, Mt. Adams, Basic Glacier - Glacier Peak from the South, Basic Alpine - Whitehorse...The list can go on.
