Hello! My name is Rex and I have always been an active person who enjoys camping, hiking, canoeing, kayaking and countless other outdoor activities. It never crossed my mind that climbing, a sport I had never tried before college, would be the sport I fell in love with.
The first week of college, a few of the students on my dorm room floor and I went to check out the university’s climbing gym. It was here where I fell in love with climbing. Although the gym was not huge by any means, it didn’t matter to me. I loved the experience. The experienced climbers there were all fun and welcoming. It seemed like everyone was there to have a good time and help each other out.
Over the next four years of my college life I was climbing every chance I got. During the week I was popping into the gym between classes. I was constantly showing up chalky and barely able to grip a pencil at my next class (the initial forearm pumps were killer). On the weekends, my climbing friends and I would head out to Devils Lake and Governor Dodge in Wisconsin for outdoor bouldering.
Also during this time, I picked up a part-time job at Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI) – an outdoors sporting equipment company. It was at REI that I was able to familiarize myself with all of the different climbing equipment. It allowed me to hear first hand reviews about how the gear was performing and what the climbers did and didn’t like about it. (On top of this, I also got a pretty sweet discount!)
Since graduating, I have not been able to get out climbing as much as I would like. However, I am still obsessed with the sport and community. I continue to learn new things about climbing every day. I hope to share all of my information with you as a way to give back to the community for all it has done for me.
