Staff Spotlight: The Rock Climber

Puzzle-solving plus a physical and mental challenge wrapped into one, that’s where rock climbing comes in. Meet Claudio, Software Engineer at BHFCU.

You wouldn’t know it from watching him project routes, but Claudio’s journey with rock climbing began less than three years ago. He’d always been active, so when his volleyball teammate invited him to a rock climbing festival called Pumpfest in the Black Hills, he agreed. A $70 harness he begrudgingly purchased and a 120-foot send later, he was hooked. (For all you non-climbers out there, a send is when you complete a route without falling.)
 

“I was expecting the festival to be a boring presentation about climbing history and safety. Boy, was I wrong,” Claudio smiled. “I’m so glad I went because that one decision essentially changed my life.”

From that moment forward, Claudio was on a mission to learn everything he could about rock climbing. Problem-solving, an integral part of his day job, translates perfectly to rock climbing. To Claudio, each climbing route is essentially a puzzle needing to be solved using his energy as efficiently as possible. While he enjoys most types of climbing, lead sport climbing is his favorite. (Quick definitions! Sport climbing follows an existing bolted route. Lead climbing is when a climber clips into protections along a set route, eventually taking the rope to the top. Now, back to Claudio!)
 

“Unlike other types of climbing, leading sport is less about protecting yourself and more about climbing,” explained Claudio. “The exposure, the feeling of adventure, and the sense of urgency mixed with the immediate consequence of free falling give it something that not a lot of other sports seem to have.” 

To date, he’s most proud of sending a route in Victoria Canyon called Buckets Overhead, a ‘pumpy overhung 80-foot route composed of a tricky and tiring bottom crux section on awkward holds’, not to be outdone by a second crux of ‘a big throw to a sloppy pocket from bad holds when you’re tired and pumped.’ Feel like we just spoke a different language? Us, too! Roughly translated, Claudio is a skilled climber who loves challenging routes. He estimates he fell on crux two more than 30 times, which made the send even sweeter.
 
This year, Claudio’s gearing up for a new challenge. He plans to project a route near Buckets Overhead, but a grade harder. (Another definition break! Project means to work on a route over time, revisiting it to get familiar with the moves and how to do them efficiently. And grades measure the difficulty of the climb.) As you might expect, Claudio’s not just ready, he’s stoked for this new challenge, despite knowing it’ll be some of the hardest climbing he’s ever done.
 

“Thinking back to Pumpfest, one of the most memorable moments of that day was seeing experienced climbers get on these unbelievably blank-looking routes. I couldn’t fathom how the human body could do something so grueling and athletic,” Claudio said with a smile. “I knew in that moment that my $70 harness was well worth all the climbs it would support me on.”