Join us this fall in Waterbury, VT and on the cliffs of Bolton for the fifth annual Vermont Climbing Festival. We’re planning a weekend of camping, climbing, workshops, clinics, competitions, speakers, music & more! All proceeds support the work of CRAG-VT to protect and preserve Vermont Climbing.
If you’re interested in getting involved in this year’s festival, contact Lauren and director@cragvt.org.
Welcome Statement & Festival Values
The goal of the Vermont Climbing Festival is to have fun, share knowledge and build community. Regardless of intention, climbers can perpetuate an exclusive climbing culture that curtails accessibility. Many people feel unsafe or unwelcome in the climbing community due to racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia and other forms of bigotry. We believe in the Vermont climbing community’s ability to resist these forces and are committed to working to make the climbing community available to everyone. Please help us foster an inclusive experience at the Climbing Festival, we offer some ideas below:
- Welcome folks with a smile and openness to making new connections!
- Help nurture an inclusive and encouraging atmosphere.
- Be respectful and supportive of everyone’s level of experience and skill.
- Ask questions and share what you know — everyone can be a student and a mentor.
- Don’t be afraid to seek help. The CRAG-VT area on the deck is a resource for you.
- Stay on designated roads & trails.
- Respect wildlife and natural resources.
- Follow land manager rules and closures, respect our neighbors.
- Reach out to us if you have questions or ideas to support these efforts.
Schedule
*Schedule still subject to change! Check back for more details.
Friday, September 27th
- 9 AM – 3 PM: Climbing Clinics
- 5 – 8 PM: Festival Registration
- 7:00 – 8:30 PM: Climber Social with CRAG-VT
- 8:30 PM: Climber Story Hour & Campfire Hosted by Bill Patt0n
Saturday, September 28th
- 7:30 – 9AM: Festival Check-In
- 7:30 – 9AM: Pancake Breakfast Hosted by CRAG-VT
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7:30 - 10AM: DEMO Gear -
8 - 9 AM: Yoga -
9:30 AM - 3PM: Member Meet-up -
9 AM - 3PM: Climbing Clinics -
9 AM - 4 PM: Black Barn Farm Bouldering Competition - 4 PM + Base Camp Workshops
- Tree ID & LNT for climbers
- Vermont Climbing Geology
- How to build a medkit
- carabiner jewelry making
- Story TellinG
- Risk Mitigation
- Crack Climbing Primer
- Using strength, technique and emotion to climb your best
- gear swap
- Trail Design, Construction and Maintenance
- 4 PM + Vendor Village
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7 PM: Keynote Speaker mark Synnott, Presented by the North Face -
8 PM: Dyno Comp & Crack Wrestling Machine with DJ Kang AnAde
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Raffle, Silent Auction, Games + More!
Sunday, September 28th
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7:30 - 8:30 AM: Yoga -
9 AM - 1 PM: CRAG-VT Stewardship Project -
9 AM - 3 PM: Climbing Clinics
Registration
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Pre-Sale Weekend Passes are $48 for CRAG-VT Members and $55 for Non-Members. Prices Increase to $70 on September 1st, so get yours early!
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Weekend Pass: $70 for participants ages 18+; This includes access to climbing competitions, workshops, The North Face Athlete Presentation, Music, revelry, story telling, & more! 10% off For CRAG-VT Members. Clinics sold separately.
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children under 12 are free, Passes are $25 for kids 12 – 18 years old.
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Camping at farr’s field Basecamp is BY DONATION
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Clinics are not included in the weekend pass; prices range from $80 – $195; CRAG-VT members Receive a 10% Discount. Clinic participation requires purchase of a Festival Pass.
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Clinics run Friday,Saturday and Sunday from 9am to 3pm, details are listed on the festival website.
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Volunteers receive 100% off festival entrance for 4 hours during the fest! If you’re interested in helping out, FILL OUT THIS FORM !
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COVID-19 Update: We are committed to a safe festival. Please do not attend if you are sick. we reserve the right to change our COVID policy if the state of the pandemic changes as we approach the event.
VOLUNTEER
Volunteers help bring the festival to life! If you’re interested in helping out during the festival, FILL OUT THIS FORM. Folks who give 4 hours of time during the festival get 100% off their registration, and folks who give 2 hours get 50% off. Registration costs will be reimbursed after volunteer shifts are complete.
vendors, partners & sponsors
Do I need to register to attend?
Sure do! Registration is required to attend and the number of participants is limited. We expect that the festival will sell out, so be sure to register early!
Are there scholarships or discounts?
Volunteers receive 100% off of their festival pass after completing 4 hours of volunteer (or 50% off for 2 hours) — plus, it’s fun to be a part of the show! If you’re interested in volunteering, fill out this form.
What isn’t included in the cost of registration?
Clinics, transportation, food and climbing equipment rentals are not included in the cost of registration.
Do I need to sign up separately for clinics?
Yes. Clinics are not included in the weekend pass; prices range from $80 – $195 and are discounted for CRAG-VT members. Clinic participation requires purchase of a Festival Pass. Clinics run Saturday and Sunday from 9am to 3pm, more details are listed on the festival website below!
What is the refund policy?
This is a rain or shine event and festival passes are non-refundable. Clinic tickets are 75% refundable through September 1st. Clinic refunds are not available after September 1st. Should you be unable to attend your clinic and wish to sell your non-refundable clinic ticket, your ticket is transferable (transfer will not be complete until reviewed and approved by CRAG Vermont). If you do not show up for your clinic, you will not be given a refund. No refund once you have attended a clinic. To request a refund or transfer, email festival@cragvt.org and festival organizers will give an initial response within 5 business days. Festival organizers may cancel a clinic for any reason. If the Festival cancels a clinic, your payment will be fully refunded. If clinic does not reach minimum participants required to take place the festival will cancel the clinic and give registrants the option for a full refund or to transfer into another clinic of equal value during the festival weekend (subject to availability). Clinics run rain or shine, unless otherwise decided by the guide.
What if it rains?
We get wet! (Probably). This is a rain or shine event, so dress appropriately and come with a great attitude to party down in the sun or the sprinkles.
Camping is Free!
Camping is free for attendees at our festival basecamp at Farr Field in Waterbury, Vermont. Donations are very appreciated and support CRAG-VT’s work protecting VT rock climbing.
Kids 12 and Under are Free!
Festival entrance for children 12 and under is free!
Do I have to be an experience climber to attend?
Nope! We welcome to all abilities and skill levels and offer clinics that range from introduction to climbing and gym to crag, to more advanced classes for those with more experience!
Dogs - please leave them at home!
Unfortunately there are no dogs allowed at the festival; please leave the furry friends at home!
Is this a fundraiser?
It sure is! This is CRAG-VT’s largest annual fundraiser, and provides critical financial support for our work throughout the year. Learn more about what we do here.
What are your COVID precautions?
Safety and risk management are our priority, the guidelines below have been developed to help keep our community safe. Please understand that we are doing our best to balance the desire to hold a joyful community gathering with the continuously evolving challenge of COVID-19. Foremost, we ask all attendees to support one another’s decisions pertaining to personal safety. We retain the right to change our COVID policy if we deem it necessary per the state of the Pandemic.
Here are the guidelines that we ask all attendees to follow. Of course, we cannot guarantee anyone’s complete safety, and these are our attempts to reasonably mitigate risk. If the best course of action for you is to stay home, please do so.
- Please stay home if you’re feeling sick or if you may have been exposed.
- Mask up outdoors depending on your own comfort levels.
- Full refunds are available for those who test positive for COVID-19 (this is the only instance where a refund will be issued)
Mark Synnott, 49, is a pioneering big wall climber, writer and prolific adventurer. His search for unclimbed and unexplored rock walls has taken him on more than 30 expeditions to places like Alaska, Baffin Island, Greenland, Iceland, Newfoundland, Patagonia, Guyana, Venezuela, Pakistan, Nepal, India, China, Tibet, Uzbekistan, Russia, Cameroon, Chad, Borneo, Oman and Pitcairn Island. One of the first climbers to explore Baffin Island’s remote east coast, Mark has been on five trips to the island, and has pioneered four big wall first ascents on the east coast, including a grade VII on the 4700-foot north face of Polar Sun Spire — an epic wall that required the team to spend 36 nights in portaledges. In Auyuittuq National Park, Mark completed the first ski descent of the South Face of Mt. Odin via a 5000′ couloir. In Pakistan’s Karakoram Mountains, Mark established two grade VII big wall first ascents — The Ship of Fools on Shipton Spire and Parallel Worlds on Great Trango Tower. The latter, a 6000-foot wall topping out over 20,000 feet is one of the longest rock climbs in the world. Closer to home, Mark has climbed Yosemite’s El Capitan 22 times, including the second ascent of El Cap’s hardest line, the Reticent Wall.
Mark has written about mountaineering (his book “Baffin Island: Climbing, Trekking, Skiing” was published in 2008), the environment, history, disappearing cultures and more, but his new book, “The Impossible Climb: Alex Honnold, El Capitan and the Climbing Life”, tells an insider portrait of the climbing community and the story of his ten-year friendship with Alex Honnold, which climaxes with Honnold’s free solo of El Capitan in Yosemite. Today Mark is one of National Geographic’s go-to writers for adventure-based stories and his work has also appeared in publications such as Outside, Men’s Journal, Rock and Ice, Climbing.
Mark has also worked extensively in the film and television industry, both in front of and behind the camera. His credits include work for National Geographic Television, NBC Sports, Warren Miller Entertainment, Teton Gravity Research and Red Bull Media House. Long regarded as one of the best storytellers in the business, Mark is highly sought after as a motivational speaker. He presents regularly for clients like General Motors, the Bank of New York, Vanity Fair Corporation, the X Prize Foundation and the National Geographic Society.
Mark is also an IFMGA guide, the the owner and director of one of the premier guide services in the east(Synnott Mountain Guides), and a trainer for the pararescuemen of the US Air Force. He is also a longtime member of the Mountain Rescue Service (MRS) and currently serves on the board of MRS and the Friends of Cathedral Ledge. He lives on a dead-end dirt road in the White Mountains of New Hampshire with his wife and four children.
Accomplishments
- First Ascent – The Great and Secret Show, Polar Sun Spire, Baffin Island – 39 days on the wall
- First Ascent – The Ship of Fools, Shipton Spire, Karakoram
- First Ascent – Parallel Worlds, Great Trango Tower, Karakoram – one of the world’s longest rock climbs
- 2 first ascent on Mount Roraima in the Amazon Jungle, Guyana
- First Ascent – The Donkey’s Ears, Borneo – big wall ascending from Low’s Gully
- Led first exploratory expedition to the Ennedi Desert in Chad resulting in 20 or so first ascents
- Led a scientist into a sinkhole inside a tepui in Venezuela which led to the discovery of a new species of frog
- Led an exploratory climbing expedition to the Musandam Peninsula in Oman, documented in a feature article in National Geographic Magazine
- Collaborated with Renan Ozturk as the writer for The Last Honey Hunter story for National Geographic
- Author of five feature articles for National Geographic magazine including a story about the Dark Star cave in Uzbekistan and The Ultimate Climb, about Alex Honnold free soloing El Capitan – the cover story of the February 2019 issue
Competitions
Workshops
Saturday 4PM | Trail Design, Construction & Maintenance with the Green Mountain Club
Saturday 4PM | Crag Swag (Jewelry Making) with Lauren Eicher & Laura O’Malley
Saturday 4PM | Ground School with Antim Constantinescu
Saturday 5PM | Geology of Vermont Climbing Areas with Gene O
Saturday 5PM | Crafting a Story with Bill Patton
Saturday 5PM | Risk Mitigation at the Crag with Evan Kirk
Saturday 6PM | Tree ID & Leave No Trace with Gen O
Saturday 6PM | Build Your Own MedKit with Justin Chuang and Mark Klonicke
Saturday 6PM | Using Strength, Technique & Emotion to Climb Your Best with Travis Peckham
Saturday 6PM | Intro to Crack Climbing Technique Ground School with Sterling Mountain Guides & WideBoyz
Sunday 8AM | Full Send! Bootcamp for People Who Climb with Tracy Lariviere
Climbers’ Story Campfire
Clinics
- Gym to Crag
- Intro to Trad
- Intro to Sport
- Rock Rescue
- Women's Intro to Outdoor Rock
- LGBTQ+ Intro to Outdoor Rock
- Multi-Pitch Transitions
- Multi-Pitch Progression
- Adaptive Climbing Techniques and Paraclimbing
- Women's Multi-Pitch
- Climb A Classic
- Trad is Fab: Queer+ Space for Intermediate Climbers
- Intro to Rock
- Climbing for the Young and Old
- Climbing at Your Limit on Lead
Gym to Crag (Southern VT & Bolton Options)
This clinic is being offered for folks in Southern Vermont. So, you’ve been climbing for a bit and you’re ready to taking your gym skills outside? This clinic will teach you to set up a top-rope anchor and review key communication steps to ensure you and your belayers can feel just as comfortable as you do at the gym. This will include hiking around a cliff, safely building top rope anchors, and descending to get you and your partner on real rock. This clinic will also go over different types of belaying and equipment, outdoor etiquette, breaking down climbs, and moving around the crag safely.
Prerequisites: We recommend this class for experienced indoor climbers.
Availability:
Friday in Southern Vermont 9-3PM with Steven Lulek
Saturday 9-3PM with Paul Brown in Bolton
Size: 1:6 (guide : client) Price: $80 (CRAG members get a 10% discount)
Intro to Trad Climbing
Experience the purity of rock climbing and open up the rock world through learning to use traditional gear. You will learn how to climb cracks, lead belay, identify and place gear, build traditional anchors, and plan and execute a trad route. You’ll take steps into this new realm with a mock lead that will allow you to practice these skills while minimizing risk. This class is designed for climbers wanting to gain the skills necessary to lead trad climbs.
Prerequisites: We recommend this class for experienced sport lead climbers who have earned their Lead Belay status at an indoor climbing gym and a significant amount of climbing experience. Climbers who are very experienced in top-rope (5.9 or higher) may also enroll even if they have not done a sport-lead. Additional pre-req classes in building anchors or other technique classes serve as an excellent primer for this trad leading clinic.
Availability:
Saturday 9-3PM with Jack Templeton
Sunday 9-3PM with Jordan Revis
Size: 1:4 (guide : client) Price: $100 (CRAG members get a 10% discount)
Intro to Sport
Take your climbing to the next level as you gain the skills necessary to lead sport climbs outside! You will learn best practices for managing sport climbing gear, reading the rock to plan your ascent, setting up a sport climb, cleaning and lowering through a sport anchor, and rappelling. You will also be exposed to climbing etiquette and ethics so you can be a part of preserving the climbs you enjoy for generations to come. This will include cleaning and rappelling.
Prerequisites: We recommend this class for experienced gym climbers or anyone interested in taking their climbing outside to the next level.
Availability:
Sunday 9-3PM with Jack Templeton
Size: 1:6 (guide : client) Price: $80 (CRAG members get a 10% discount)
Rock Rescue
What if you need to rappel on a damaged rope? Or your rappel line gets stuck? Or you need to safely bail off a climb and don’t want to lose your whole rack? Worse yet, what if you need to descend with an incapacitated partner? Many climbers advance their climbing skills without considering the need to complement those skills with necessary problem-solving and rescue skills. Make sure you’re taking active steps to advance those skills together through participation in this clinic. Led by an IFMGA-certified guide with experience in rock, ice, and alpine environments, you’ll learn a variety of techniques for handling both common climbing problems and approaches for dealing with more advanced scenarios. The focus will be on building a solid set of rescue skills that you can then transfer across contexts. Climbing involves freedom—but with freedom comes responsibility —make sure you are taking active steps to become educated in self-rescue by participating in this clinic!
Prerequisites: We recommend this class for climbers with a solid base of climbing experience. Must be able to cleanly follow or top-rope a 5.8 outside and a 5.9 at the gym. Experience with belaying is required, as is comfort with rappelling. Basic knowledge of the clove hitch, munter mule overhand, and friction hitches will be useful in maximizing your learning.
Availability:
Friday 9-3PM with Steve Charest
Sunday 9-3PM with Dylan Thomas
Size: 1:4 (guide : client) Price: $100 (CRAG members get a 10% discount)
Women’s Intro to Outdoor Rock
If you’ve only climbed inside or you’re looking to explore rock climbing for the first time, and you identify as a woman, this is your opportunity to practice with a professional female identifying rock climbing instructor. Open to all women of all abilities! Learn tips and techniques that will work for a female body, introduce basic safety concepts and the role of the individual climber within the climbing system, how to climb for personal enjoyment and as a potential lifelong pursuit. This clinic will provide participants with an awareness of how to become a safe and responsible climber.
Availability:
Saturday 9-3PM with Andrea Charest
Size: 1:6 (guide : client) Price: $80 (CRAG members get a 10% discount)
Financial Aid: Please fill out this form to apply for financial aid for this clinic
LGBTQ+ Intro to Outdoor Rock
Availability:
Friday 9-3PM with Kristen Fiore
Size: 1:6 (guide : client) Price: $80 (CRAG members get a 10% discount)
Financial Aid: Please fill out this form to apply for financial aid for this clinic
Multipitch Transitions
Already a rock climber, and maybe already climbing multi-pitch, but looking to hone in on those technical skills some more? Come learn ways to improve your efficiency in the multi-pitch setting both at the belay transitions and managing between a single and multi-rope system. From parallel to caterpillar and back to parallel, outside-inside-under at the belays, and stacking and flipping the pancake, or belaying two followers with two different devices are all ways to increase your efficiency while maintaining safety in multi-pitch terrain. Learn what these all mean during our day out on the rock!
Prerequisites: We recommend this course for climbers with a solid base of climbing experience. Must be able to cleanly follow or top-rope a 5.8 outside and a 5.9 at the gym. Experience with belaying is required, as is comfort with rappelling.
Availability:
Friday 9-3PM with Dylan Thomas
Saturday 9-3PM with Steve Charest
Size: 1:2 (guide : client) Price: $195 (CRAG members get a 10% discount)
Multi-Pitch Progression
A 2-day journey starting with climbers practicing the fundamentals of multi-pitch climbing on easier terrain, then taking it up a Notch and putting those skills to use on a harder and more committing climbs. This clinic will prepare you to climb in more complex areas, and push participants to expand your boundaries, while getting to climb on some of Vermont’s best classic routes.
This is a 2-day clinic*
Availability:
Day 1: Saturday 9-3PM with Mischa Tourin
Day 2: Sunday 9-3PM with Mischa Tourin
Size: 1:2 (guide : client) Price: $375
Adaptive Climbing Techniques and Paraclimbing (2 Days)
Guide: Andrea Charest w/ assistance from Maureen (Mo) Beck
Description: Climbing is for everyone, including people with disabilities. This clinic is for disabled people to learn about the systems and techniques available to experience the joys of climbing, including mental and physical strategies for planning and executing a climb and the use of adaptive climbing equipment. The clinic will be tailored to the participants’ access requirements with the goal of employing these techniques in a real outdoor setting. Friends, family, and aids are welcome to join this session to support or accompany adaptive climbers.
Prerequisites: We recommend this clinic for anyone with a disability who is interested in climbing. Equipment will be provided.
Minimum age for participants: 14
Availability:
Saturday 9-3PM: Free / Optional with Julia & Nieve, Petra Cliffs Staff
Sunday 9-3PM with Andrea Charest & Mo Beck
Size: 1:4 (guide:clients) Price: $100 (CRAG members get a 10% discount)
Financial Aid: Please fill out this form to apply for financial aid for this clinic
Women’s Multipitch
In this clinic, professional female rock climbing instructor Andrea Charest will teach women how to safely climb multi-pitch routes. Participants will learn how to set up and break down anchors, belay leaders and followers, and efficiently manage ropes, gear, and people as you climb to the tops of some of Vermont’s best cliffs.
Prerequisites: We recommend this course for climbers with a solid base of climbing experience. Must be able to cleanly follow or top-rope a 5.8 outside and a 5.9 at the gym. Experience with belaying is required, as is comfort with rappelling.
Availability:
Friday 9-3PM with Andrea Charest
Size: 1:2 (guide : client) Price: $195 (CRAG members get a 10% discount)
Climb a Classic
Follow on a classic route with one of our experienced guides. This will be a personalized adventure based on your own skill set and your hopes for climbing a Vermont gem, whether it’s a multi-pitch route or classic single pitches.
Prerequisites: We recommend this class for experienced climbers, top-rope or lead, who would like to experience climbing a long route with a guide. Must be able to follow or top-rope a 5.9 outside or cleanly top-rope a 5.10 at the gym. Must be able to tie a figure-eight knot and must be comfortable rappelling.
Availability:
Friday 9-3PM with Jack Templeton
Saturday 9-3PM with Dylan Thomas
Sunday 9-3PM with Steve Charest
Size: 1:2 (guide : client) Price: $195 (CRAG members get a 10% discount)
Trad is Fab: Queer+ Space for Intermediate Climbers
Let’s be honest, most affinity space clinics tend to focus on 101 skills and introductions to a sport. It makes sense, but this clinic is for climbers who are established in their knowledge as outdoor climbers and are looking to learn more about traditional climbing. We will cover traditional anchor building, how to use the many different kinds of traditional climbing gear, as well as the foundations of leading on traditional gear – both in the movement, belay techniques, and mental considerations.
This clinic is open to all people who identity as lgbtq+.
Prerequisites: Participants should come with an ability to lead moderate sport climbing terrain as well as lead belay competency. For questions about pre-requisite knowledge or curriculum, please feel free to email KristenFiore64@gmail.com!
Size: 1:6 (guide : client) Price: $80 (CRAG members get a 10% discount)
Financial Aid: Please fill out this form to apply for financial aid for this clinic
Intro To Rock
The perfect course for beginner climbers with little or no outdoor experience that are looking to lay down the foundation needed for a lifetime of safe climbing adventures. You will learn the use of modern climbing equipment, how to belay, the ethics of climbing outdoors, as
well as climbing techniques to put into practice on real rock!
Prerequisites: Folks new to rock climbing
Availability:
Saturday 9-3PM with Jordan Revis
Size: 1:6 (guide : client) Price: $80 (CRAG members get a 10% discount)
Climbing for the Young and Old
For young climbers who want to climb for decades to come, and older climbers who want to keep enjoying the sport.
The focus of this clinic is on learning and engaging in a range of skills that will allow climbers to be active and enjoy a long life of climbing! Emphasis will be on a variety of techniques related to moving on rock with efficiency and engaging in different methods of training that will help support the physical demands of climbing as a person ages. The discussion and demonstration of various technical skills and gear related to risk management and climbing in a single-pitch setting will be a significant focus throughout this learning opportunity.
Prerequisites: A passion for climbing!
Availability:
Sunday 9-3PM with Paul Brown
Size: 1:6 (guide : client) Price: $80 (CRAG members get a 10% discount)
Climbing at your Limit on the Sharp End with Mark Synnott!
Guide: Mark Synnott
Description: This clinic is for those looking to start pushing it on the sharp end. We will offer an in-depth exploration of essential skills related to safely pushing yourself on lead. Content will range from an overview of belaying, including how to choose a baleyer, how to catch falls, body positioning, and soft catches, to ensuring that your gear and anchors are bomber, developing the essential body awareness on the climb, taking safe whips, and communicating with your partner. The focus of the clinic will be tailored to the skills of the participants.
Prerequisites: Experience climbing outdoor and some sport leading experience
Minimum age for participants: 18
Availability:
Saturday 9am – 3pm
Size: 1:4 (guide:clients) Price: $100 (CRAG members get a 10% discount)
Clinic Guides
Andrea Charest is a co-owner of Petra Cliffs, a guide, mother, and partner. She is an AMGA Certified Single Pitch Instructor, Certified Ice Instructor, Assistant Rock Guide, and Apprentice Alpine Guide. Andrea loves all forms of climbing, but especially long, moderate multi-pitch climbs. She loves teaching, mentoring and guiding on rock and ice, and especially enjoys helping women to feel more self-sufficient and confident as climbers, leaders and partners. In her limited spare time, Andrea keeps an ever-expanding garden, dabbles in jewelry-making, and chases her daughter, husband, and Swiss Mountain Dog around!
Dylan lives in Burlington and works as a guide for Petra Cliffs Mountaineering School. He has been an AMGA Certified Single Pitch Instructor for 3 years and is currently taking the AMGA Apprentice Rock Guide Course, which will open up his scope of practice to multipitch terrain. Hard friction slab, thin face, and crack are Dylan’s favorite climbing styles, and he also loves to climb long moderate multipitch/alpine routes in venues like Cannon Cliff, Red Rocks, and the Adirondacks.
Dylan is openly gay and has a strong awareness of societal dynamics that impact people of marginalized identities, and makes an active effort to foster a caring, mutual, and welcoming learning environment when he guides and teaches. He is often described as “very chill.” Ultimately Dylan thinks of himself as a teacher more than a guide, and he wants his guests develop the skills they need to move freely through the mountains on their own.
Outside of climbing Dylan likes cats, trailrunning, music composition, reading, and scrolling on his phone on the couch for hours on end. His climbing goals are to send harder friction slabs, climb El Cap, and not break his foot in a slab fall again.
Jack is a guide for Petra Cliffs. He started climbing during his time studying Environmental Science at UVM and has been dedicated to the sport ever since. His favorite thing to do is climb multi-pitch rock with friends. He is passionate about showing people how climbing outdoors can be an engaging and rewarding experience. He also enjoys teaching people rope and anchor systems and how to be efficient when traveling vertically. Rock climbing is his bread and butter, but he also enjoys ice climbing, winter camping, splitboarding, mountaineering, and mountain biking.
Kristen is a trans climber and guide, Wilderness EMT, president of CRAG-VT, and has been an activist and educator LGBTQ+ circles for nearly 20 years. She believes that cliffs, boulders, and the outdoors are incredible spaces for belonging. Simultaneously, it’s the work of all in a community to proactively challenge the barriers that stand in the way of people feeling included and celebrated in outdoor spaces. She is a climbing coach at Petra Cliffs Mountaineering Center, and a full-time summer camp operator who is based in Burlington, VT.
Mischa (he/him) found his love for climbing 25 years ago when the Burlington Rock Gym opened in Essex and his father took him to climb Thin Air on Cathedral Ledge. Since then, Mischa has pursued a career in outdoor education and continued to climb in Vermont, out West and around the world. Mischa is certified as a AMGA Single Pitch Instructor, Apprentice Rock Guide, and the Owner and Lead Instructor of Sterling Mountain Guides. He is a Wilderness First Responder and a NOLS Outdoor Educator. When he’s not guiding climbers, Mischa serves as the Outdoor Program Director at a small alternative high school. Mischa’s favorite climbing memories include breaking into trad in Red Rock Canyon, traversing granite alpine ridges in the Wind River Range, hand jamming in Indian Creek, projecting routes in Catalunya, Spain, and exploring alongside the wonderful community of climbers in Vermont.
Paul has been climbing for 40 years, and guiding / instructing for the past 30 years in New England and the Adirondacks. During his extended time in negotiating the vertical environment, Paul has had the good fortune to climb rock and ice in many corners of the U.S. including such places as the Tetons, Yosemite, and the granite cracks and sandstone spires of Utah, Arizona, and Colorado, amongst many others. Most of his climbing time has been spent thoroughly exploring the endless number of cliffs and mountains found all over New England and the Northeast.
He is an AMGA Certified Single Pitch Instructor, and Wilderness First Responder.
Paul spends much of his time when he is not climbing and guiding as a high school science teacher and outdoor educator. Some of his other interests include hiking, biking, skiing, paddling, gardening, fishing, and the endless tasks of working on a century-old farmhouse in northern Vermont.
Jordan is a Certified Single Pitch Instructor dedicated to expanding the diversity of climbing and the outdoors in New England. Fresh off his AMGA Rock Guide Course at the beginning of September he is ready to bring those skills to the climbing community of Vermont.
Steve is Petra Cliffs’ co-owner, and Head Guide. He has been professionally guiding rock, ice, mountaineering, and ski mountaineering programs since 2001. Steve has a degree in Outdoor Education from Northern Vermont University and completed a NOLS Outdoor Educators Course for Mountaineering & Rock to kickstart his career as a mountain guide and educator. Steve is involved with the following organizations:
IFMGA Aspirant (International Federation of Mountain Guides Associations)
AMGA (American Mountain Guides Association)
Certified Rock Guide
Certified Ski Guide
Certified Guides Co-Op Member
Climbing Wall Instructor Provider
Single Pitch Instructor
Rock Guide Course
Advanced Rock Guide Course & Aspirant Exam
Alpine Guide Course
Ice Instructor Course
Advance Alpine Guide Course & Aspirant Exam
Ski Guide Course
Ski Mountaineering Guide Course & Aspirant Exam
AIARE (American Institute for Avalanche Research & Education)
Pro II Certified Avalanche Practitioner
Level I & II Lead Course Instructor
American Avalanche Association Pro Member
Steve has climbed extensively throughout the US, Canada and the Alps, including Red Rocks, Yosemite, Mt Baker, Mt Shuksan, Grand Teton, Devil’s Tower, Indian Creek, Rocky Mountain National Park, Joshua Tree, Squamish B.C., Acadia Nat’l Park, Pemberton and locally in the Green Mts., White Mts., and Adirondacks.
GMRCC is a small guide service in Rutland County Vermont that focuses on experiential learning and personal growth from outdoor experiences!
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