I had just led the first pitch of some undocumented, sandy three pitch crack line in Grand Junction, CO. There were some slippery slab sequences to begin the pitch as I moved past the lone quarter inch bolt onto better holds and the crack above. At the ledge belay, I yelled “off” and quickly pulled the ropes up so that my partner could begin. After the gear exchange, he led led the slightly overhanging dihedral, using stems jams and smears. The pitch took my partner about two hours. He was beginning his journey into traditional climbing and adventuring, ultimately wanting to learn how to establish multi pitch climbs. My mentee and friend took what felt like an eternity to lead that pitch, but eventually made it to the anchor and routinely yelled “off” and brought me up. I recall the pitch not being too difficult (to my more experienced standards) and contemplating the difficulties that he had. I questioned what his strengths were and what I could do to help when we roped up or chatted again. It was a process that took a few years of me being the willing mentor and him being the willing mentee. In the end, he became what he wanted to be, a big wall free climber and first ascensionist. I was happy to watch from afar his accomplishments and tales as he globe-trotted around the world seeking adventure, fame and first ascents.

I had been training climbers remotely for about ten years when I took on this client who wanted one particular route more than anything. It was a classic “life route” in Yosemite National Park for most climbers called The Rostrum. Taking on an athlete to train is similar to taking on a mentee. I am the athletic coach, but if teaching high school for the past 16 years and training climbers for 10 of those years has taught me anything, it is that when you take on someone to train…you are becoming their mentor.

My mentee had drive and will power. Those are two characteristics that I look for when I work with an athlete or mentee. Without drive, they won’t take the time to follow through with all the lessons and without will power they will be enticed to follow the sirens of other adventures/trips/travels/people. Mentoring is tough business. You offer a wealth of knowledge and life experience to someone without it. You have to be patient and a good listener. You have to be humble, yet confident. You have to become attached and still be free. My client took on my suggestions with a full heart and head and within a few weeks was ready to attempt his dream climb. As I talked with him though the process, I knew that he was physically ready to accomplish his goal. Unfortunately, he came home at the end of the day one pitch shy of the send. What had gone wrong? Was he too weak, were the conditions too challenging, was his partner the problem, was there something that I missed in preparing him? It turned out that he was fit mentally and physically but that one pitch on the climb required a technique that he hadn’t learned. Fortunately, he was a quick student and learned on the fly how to maneuver through the slippery and wide crack. It only took one more trip on the climb for him to taste success and accomplish his dream.

Being a mentor is not about every mentee accomplishing everything they dream on their first try, it’s about being there throughout the process. It’s fun getting those texts, phone calls or emails with ups and downs and surprises that were totally unexpected while helping guide that person through with calmness and positivity.

As I live on western slope of Colorado with few extremely experienced climbers, I find myself living in a constant state of mentoring. It is really fun to share my experience and knowledge with other climbers who want to take their climbing into unknown directions. I find that I normally take on one climber at a time for the process. I throw them in headfirst and engage them in the whole process from finding new lines, to using a static line to scope a wall, to placing and drilling anchors. I have found that everyone learns at their own pace and some take everything that they have learned and I am left in the dust while others appreciate the process and choose to be happy with that.

My most recent mentees were found on the internet. I placed an ad to see who of my instagram followers were willing and able to help establish a new climb in Zion National Park over Thanksgiving week. I was excited to see that I had many climbers willing to participate. After some phone interviews I chose two men. One recently out of the military and an engineer. They were excited for high adventure and the learning process.

We arrived in Zion after our first night in St. George, Utah and headed into the Zion Narrows (a 100 ft or less wide winding slot canyon in between red towering sandstone walls up to 1000 ft + with the Virgin River cutting through at a steady pace). The Narrows are one of my favorite places to climb, hike and establish new climbs. It is harsh in the winter because it gets no sun and when the wind whips through it is icy and cold. What better place to take two rookies.

After riding the bus to our stop, hiking one mile through the bone chilling cold, we stopped and put on our waders. My students immediately needed to learn how to navigate the many river crossings with heavy packs, in addition to orienting themselves in their new home. After some team building and exploring, we settled on a new route to establish. The process is more difficult than you think. You have to decide whether or not it is safe to climb (with respect to the tourists that are directly below), and whether or not it will actually be climbable. These two factors drive many decisions when establishing a new climb in a highly visited national park and if are taken lightly, accidents may occur.

After discussing the plan of attack, we began our journey up the wall at what became a snail’s pace. Each foot up and pitch completed gave us a bounty to talk about and learn from. This is the meat and potatoes of mentoring. My voice grew faded and harsh as I tried to speak loud enough over the river, wind and tourists “oohing and ahhing” below. With a little luck, we completed and sent the climb in five days. It was a wild experience of mentoring because it condensed what could have been months of climbing days together into five consecutive days of back breaking labor, lessons and learning. We aided, placed bolts, trundled loose rock, short fixed, jugged, cleaned and worked our climb.

The experience was as rewarding as it was difficult. Both of my new friends were psyched at not only the route that they established, but also at the amount of knowledge that they just took in in such a short amount of time. Our mentoring conversations occurred on every hike in and out of the narrows, during the bus rides, while we cooked dinner on the back of a tailgate and as we brushed our teeth in the parking lot. I look forward to what all of my mentees accomplish and especially look forward to hearing the stories about them helping others in the future.