Hi Steph, I seen a commercial where two people climb a rock formation and went on You Tube to see climbing videos and came across some of your climbs. I admire all you climber’s that do what you love doing and your free spirit attitudes. I’m going out to Las Vegas and wanted to jump [...]

Steph, My name is Megan and I’m a 19 year old female climber. I began climbing at the rec center rock wall this past Fall semester and haven’t looked back. I love the feeling, the excitement, the rush and the peace that only comes from climbing. I love lead climbing and crack climbing the best! [...]

Yes, it is that most awesome time of year, crack season!!! Most of us have a preferred racking style, even down to which way we clip the draws on gear loops (I always clip mine with gate facing out). When climbing cracks, having a consistent, good racking system can make the difference between cruising and [...]

Hello Steph, I just read your book and I like it a lot. I am not a climber myself yet, but will treat myself with this new hobby when I quit my job in October. Anyway, I wonder how you can climb for 24-30 hours? Are you resting anything during such monster-climbs? Kind regards Caroline [...]

As you may know, I’m working on my second book right now. It’s called Learning to Fly, and it will be published by Touchstone/Simon and Schuster. My first book, High Infatuation, was kind of an experiment, in fact, I would call it a confidence builder. Obviously I had no idea how a person writes a [...]

Hi Steph, I’m a girl from italy who started climbing a year ago. I really enjoy climbing, and one of my dreams is to improve my style, so I decided to write your a letter: maybe you could give me some advices, maybe just some words..I do not know!… Now I’m able to climb in [...]

Hi Steph– Just looking for a little advice. I’ve been climbing quite a bit lately, a lot indoors, though I’d rather be outdoors more and I’m hoping to work through a flat spot in my climbing, at least in terms of numbers. I learned to climb many years ago on granite slabs and faces, and [...]

Hi Steph, I want to pick your brain about training techniques, if I may. I started climbing about 6 months ago in Minnesota and recently moved to Turkey, so while most of my climbing experience has been indoors due to snow overload, it won’t be for long. I’m so new at climbing but I really [...]

Steph, is it too late for a 52 year old guy, in good shape, to begin to climb? What are the limitations? Charles Hi Charles, My friend Lee Sheftel is one of my greatest climbing inspirations. He’s over 60, and he has been climbing at Rifle for over twenty years. Lee redpointed his first 14a [...]

Last month Dave Furman, Mammut USA’s hardgood expert, answered my question about sheath thickness of ropes. Usually when leading with two thin ropes, I just call them double or twin ropes. This is a good idea when alpine climbing, since you want a second rope anyway for descending, so you may as well reduce the [...]