Reflecting the Rendezvous’ rising national profile (!!) more of our sponsors are sending athletes to the event.These athletes will be on hand to give slide shows, teach clinics, and just hang out and schmooze with you all. We thank our awesome sponsors and we thank the athletes for coming and contributing their time and energy to make our event better.
Stay tuned for the announcement of which athletes will be coming from:
Mountain Hardwear Freddie Wilkinson
Patagonia Brittany Griffith
Petzl Chris Lindner
prAna Chris Sierzant, Ben Schmitt
La Sportiva Will Mayo
Asolo Andres Marin
American Alpine Club Brittany Griffith
Warrior's Way Arno Ilgner
Mammut Dean Lords, Brian Williams, Pete Kamitses
Trango and Evolv Lizzy Scully
Chris Lindner
We have been reading about Chris Lindner in the mags for years. You know, the kid who climbed his first 5.10 at 4 (trad, mind you), 5.12 at 6, 5.13 at 9 and 5.14 at 14. How does that work? Maybe we will get the secret at this year's Rendezvous. We welcome Chris and look forward to seeing his new movie, Spray, on Friday night. Check out thetrailer. Lots of stuff to read on his website. as well, which is where we gleaned this insight into his mission: "I think that the more people in the world that get out and rock climb while appreciating nature, the better the world will be". Amen. We knew we liked this fella.
Chris would like to thank his sponsors: Evolv, prAna, Petzl, Sanuk, New England MAXIM Ropes, Asana, and Smith. We would like to thank Petzl for footing the bill to bring Chris out.
Freddie Wilkinson
Freddie
Wilkinson believes that a climbing adventure is only as good as the
stories you bring home. Wilkinson grew up in the flatlands of suburban
Connecticut and climbed his first mountain, New Hampshire's Mount
Washington, at age thirteen. By the time he turned 21, Wilkinson had
climbed Denali via the Cassin Ridge and Nepal's Cholatse via the West
Rib. Since then, he has spent three to four months of every year on
expeditions around the globe. In between traveling, Wilkinson earned a
degree in history from Dartmouth College and worked as a climbing guide
in New England and Alaska.
In 2007, Wilkinson established new routes on
three different mountains on three different continents: Patagonia's
Cerro Poincinot, The Fin in Alaska, and Mount Mahindra in the Indian
Himalaya. That's pretty good but Wilkinson still considers himself to
be better at telling stories than he is at climbing mountains, so you
musn't believe everything he says. He lives in Madison, New Hampshire
with his girlfriend, Janet Bergman, in a 12 x 12 cabin with a view of
the White Mountains.
Freddie, who submitted the previous
bio, apparently is a humble guy because a routine google search
unearthed the following nugget: He was the 2007 recipient of the
American Alpine Club's Robert Hicks Bates Award for outstanding
accomplishment by a young climber. It is to recognize a young climber
who in the judgment of the selection committee has demonstrated
exceptional skill and character in the climbing or mountaineering arts
and has outstanding promise for future accomplishment. Congrats! Check out the list of past winners
We would like to thank Mountain Hardwear for sending Freddie down.Check out Freddie's Pro Blog. The dude can write...
This is Rendezvous #5 for Brittany Griffith. She has become such a major part of our team that we have decided to put her in charge next year. (Just kidding, Brittany, but we'd like to.) We've gotten to know her over the years, so we are now less impressed by her amazing array of accomplishments on the rock, in the mountains, on TV, online (check out her terrific blog), on a bike, than by her no bullshit attitude, down-to-earth sense of humor, energy, competence and sheer unadulterated talent for taking care of business. Mainly, she is a blast to hang out with and doesn't have a poseur bone in her body. In short she is a terrific ambassador for our sport. No wonder American Alpine Club hired her to be their events coordinator. She is sure to fire that organization up. She is here representing Patagonia and the American Alpine Club. Thanks to them both for sending this vital cog in the Rendezvous machine.
Brittany Griffith
Will Mayo- Psyched!
Look at this picture of Will Mayo for a minute and the sheer energy it exudes at least provides some sort of clue about how someone can have a climbing resume that is so...complete? Well-rounded? Impressive? You pick the word, but the guy does it all: rock (all categories of course), alpine, solo ice, hard ice, link ups, mixed, and comps (with time on the podium of course). You better have a two thumbs up attitude if you are going to knock out all of that. What really impressed us however was that when this Vermont native is not climbing he hangs out with his two daughters, sometimes reading philosophy. Now that is brave.
We thank La Sportiva For sending Will down.
Arno Ilgner creator of The Warrior's Way Mental Training
for Climbers will be back at the Rendezvous for the fifth year! If
you've read his book (or maybe you've been wanting to) and want to get
advice directly from the man himself, he'll be there for you. Arno will
be holding three clinics this year and is donating his The Warrior's
Way audio and paperback books for the event. See the clinics page for more info or to sign up for his program!
Arno
Ilgner distinguished himself as a pioneering rock climber in the 1970s
and ‘80s, when the top climbs were bold and dangerous first ascents.
These personal exploits are the foundation for Ilgner’s unique physical
and mental training program--The Warrior’s Way. In 1995, after a
thorough search of the literature and practice of mental training and
the great warrior traditions, Ilgner formalized his methods, founded
the Desiderata Institute, and began teaching his program full time.
Since then, he has helped hundreds of student sharpen their awareness,
focus attention, and understand their athletic (and life) challenges
within a coherent, learning-based philosophy of intelligent
risk-taking. Ilgner considers the joy and satisfaction in the effort –
the “journey” – intimately linked to successful attainment of goals,
the “destination.” Alumni of his courses now include some of the
nation’s most prominent climbers.
Arno Ilgner-The Warrior
Andres Marin
Andres Marin
I'm from Ibague Colombia, I'm
24 years old, and I moved to the USA to do my AMGA/IFMGA career, with
the goal to bring more education to the guides in my country. I work
for SAN JUAN MONTAINS GUIDES, RMI, and MOUNTAIN MADNESS. I spend in the
field about 290 days a year between climbing and guiding. I'm certified
Rock guide. I'm also the first Colombian. In South America we are only
a handful of guides with that certification; I'm the youngest one. I
hope that before I turn 30 I will be able to have finished my
certifications.
Here is a brief bio:
Rock:
Medicine Man 5.12b Colorado National Monument get a life 5.12b/c Colorado
National Monument Taming of the shrew 5.12 c/d OW Colorado National Monument
Brother from another planet 5.12a/b OW Indian creek Monster truck
5.12a/b OW Indian Creek Comic relief 5.12a Indian Creek Liquid Sky
5.11++++ OW Indian creek
Alpine /Ice:
Linea to limense 5.4, 60+ degree snow Tolima volcano 17,300feet MT
Denali west butt 20,320 feet West ridge of MT Hunter 5.8 AI4 14,000 MT
Rainier 5 diferent routes North side of Quandary peak 14, something feet WI3 M scary!!!!!
East face of tyler peak steep snow,5.9 R,AI3 13,???? feet maybe first ascend.
Bird Brain Blv WI5 M5R Ouray Area
The Talisman WI5 M6 Ouray Area
Several M9 Ouray area
Imes Ice Hose
Bridail Vail falls
Cornet Falls in very scary conditions WI5+ X
We would like to thank Asolo for bringing Andres out for his first Rendezvous.
Ben Schmitt
My name is Ben Schmitt and I am currently a Physics Engineer at the University of Colorado at Boulder. I have been climbing for 15 years, been on the USA Climbing team, and have had the privilege of climbing throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, and New Zealand. I love to try things I'm not good at and build up my repertoire of climbing skills so that I can enjoy all disciplines of the sport.
My favorite areas to climb are Shelf Road, Canmore area crags, El Potrero Chico, Red River Gorge, Castle Hills, and Rifle. My other interests include whitewater kayaking, classical guitar, snowboarding, and engineering. I have worked with many groups of climbers, including the therapeutic park and rec community, the Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind, various gym youth teams, and privately coached US team members, and various outdoor leadership groups. My first time at the New was back in 2003, and between the world class climbing, friendly locals, beautiful scenery, and deep water soloing it was definitely a special place to come back too.
Thanks to prAna for sending Ben out here! Ben is also sponsored by Petzl and Evolv--all Rendezvous sponsors!
Lizzy Scully lives and works as a writer/editor/climber from her tiny
abode in Lyons, Colorado, just 1/2 hour from the parking lot for the
Diamond--Longs Peak. A senior contributing editor for Rock & Ice
mag for four years now, she loves to tell stories and laugh as much as
possible. She also runs a nonprofit with BD/La Sportiva/TNF athlete
Heidi Wirtz called Girls Education International. She's equally
passionate about educating girls around the world, climbing and
writing. Thanks to Evolve and Trango she is at the NRR for the first
time. She is psyched!
Lizzy Scully
Chris Sierzant
Chris Sierzant
Current Residence: Atlanta, Georgia
Occupation: Rock Climber, Gym Owner
Years Climbing: 14
Role Model: Anyone that became something from nothing
Sponsors: Revolution, Blue Water, Sportiva, PowerBar, Fusion, prAna
Thoughts & Words
Never, never, never let anyone tell you that you can't do something that you want to do.
