OUR STAFF
Dave Elmore – Executive Director
Dave Elmore - Executive Director
Dave Elmore – Executive Director
As Executive Director, Dave works collaboratively with the board of directors and staff to achieve the overall strategic and operational goals of the organization.
Dave was introduced to Paradox Sports as a volunteer on a local climbing program. Inspired by the mission and community, Dave joined the board of directors. After four years of serving as board chair, Dave joins the Paradox Sports team with decades of non-profit leadership experience.
Dave began his career with Outward Bound, ultimately working for fourteen years as an educator, staff trainer and program leader. Dave has served as Patagonia Program Director, Environmental Resource Director, Director of Programs and Safety and is a co-founder of Mountain Professionals, where he has served as lead guide for international expeditions around the globe. Most recently Dave served as an experiential education school leader and volunteer for local non-profits.
As a true believer in the transformative power of being outside, you can find Dave climbing, biking, hiking or skiing on as many days as possible!
You can contact Dave directly at dave@paradoxsports.org
Becky Lindstrom – Development & Communications Manager
Becky Lindstrom - Development Manager
Becky Lindstrom – Development Manager
Born and raised in San Jose, CA, Becky moved to Colorado in 2004 to attend University of Colorado – Boulder. While in college, she met her future husband and upon graduation moved to Philadelphia where she worked as a preschool teacher and then a house manager for six years. The pull of Boulder proved to be too strong and in 2016, she moved back and got involved with Paradox Sports playing a key role in the first annual Base Camp Breakfast in 2016.
Together with her husband, Becky has a daughter, Rose, a golden retriever, Charlie, and two cats, Eliko and Rasputin. In her spare time she enjoys running, listening to true crime podcasts, and photography.
You can contact Becky directly at becky@paradoxsports.org
Brittany Spiegelberg – Operations & Marketing Manager
Brittany Spiegelberg-Operations & Marketing Manager
Brittany Spiegelberg- Operations & Marketing Manager
As someone who was raised in Colorado, Brittany has developed a deep appreciation for the outdoors and the positive impact time spent outdoors can have on people. Having worked in the outdoor industry, Brittany enjoys sharing her love of the outdoors with others at every opportunity. While attending CU Boulder, she volunteered with the National Sports Center for the Disabled, where she developed an interest in adaptive sports. Upon graduating, Brittany has held jobs as outdoor programs director, high school English teacher in rural Thailand and as a paraeducator. As an educator and climber for ten years, Brittany has a strong mission connection and currently serves as Operations & Marketing Manager for Paradox Sports. While not climbing, you can find her playing soccer, hiking 14ers and traveling.
You can contact Brittany directly at brittany@paradoxsports.org
Sam Sala – Program Manager
Sam Sala - Local Program Coordinator
Sam Sala- Local Program Coordinator
Born in northern Idaho and raised in the Reno / Lake Tahoe area of Nevada, Sam has always had a love for playing outdoors, particularly in the mountains. He grew up snowboarding and racing mountain bikes, and after moving to Colorado in 2006, began hiking and climbing CO’s 14ers which eventually led to him finding his ultimate love of rock, ice and alpine climbing in 2013. When he isn’t guiding rock and ice in the Front Range, you can likely find him romping in the mountains around the western United States. Some of his favorite areas include the peaks of the Alaska Range, Pacific Northwest, Grand Teton and Rocky Mountain National Parks, Red Rock NV, Ouray CO, and our hometown playground of Eldorado Canyon State Park.
After stumbling across a Front Range Adaptive Climbing Club (FRACC) night at a local climbing gym, Sam began volunteering with Paradox Sports in 2015, and has been a passionate supporter of the organization, and adaptive climbing in general, since. He is a co-host of the annual fundraising party, Unleashed, which has raised nearly $10,000 for Paradox Sports and other climbing based non-profits over its lifetime. Sam has received training and certifications as an AMGA Single Pitch Instructor, as well as NOLS Wilderness First Aid and he is looking forward to furthering his education and earning more credentials in both the climbing and wilderness medical fields.
You can contact Sam at sam@paradoxsports.org
Nate McKenzie – Program Manager
Nate McKenzie
Nate McKenzie
Nate McKenzie is a climbing guide based in Connecticut where he runs a monthly adaptive climbing night. Nate served on the Paradox Sports Board of Directors from 2014 to 2019 and has been Paradox Sports’ Lead Guide, helping to coordinate and guide Paradox Sports rock and ice climbing trips since 2009, including in the Gunks, North Conway, Joshua Tree and Red River Gorge. Nate contributed his expertise to Paradox’s Adaptive Climbing handbook and now leads Adaptive Climbing Initiative courses from coast to coast.
OUR INSTRUCTOR+GUIDE TEAM
Maureen Beck
Maureen “Mo” Beck
Maureen (Whalley) Beck was lucky to grow up in the Maine woods scrambling and playing in the dirt. She roped up for the first time at age 12 and hasn’t stopped since. Cragging her way through New England, she developed her potential as a one-handed climber.
Prior to the advent of social media and the Internet, Maureen believed that she was the only differently abled person in the world that climbed. She and her friends invented techniques using a trial and error process, slowly (and sometimes painfully) learning out how to climb one-handed. Just because Maureen went to the school of hard knocks and just because she thought she was the only one-handed climber, doesn’t mean others have to have the same experience. She loves introducing differently abled people to climbing.
Now based in the Colorado Front Range, Mo spends her nights training at Evo Rock Lousiville and her weekends climbing all over the American southwest. She works closely with the adaptive climbing community through Paradox Sports and the Paraclimbing section of USA Climbing and helps manage the Front Range Adaptive Climbing Team. As a competitive climber, she has won four national titles, a gold medal at the 2014 Paraclimbing World Championships in Spain, and defended that title with a gold medal at the 2016 World Championships in Paris.
In addition to climbing, Mo loves gardening, her chickens and dogs, sleeping in cars, and fine Scotch whiskey.
Check out her personal blog here: http://www.moinmountains.com/
Quinn Brett
Quinn Brett
Quinn Brett
Quinn was introduced by chance to rock climbing at a young age and completely embraced the physical and mental aspects of the sport. For 20 years she has traveled the planet, exploring summits and valleys, and climbing, hiking, practicing yoga, and laughing throughout the beautiful nooks of the world. Among her many accomplishments as a climber are first ascents in Patagonia and women’s speed records on El Cap in Yosemite. In 2017, Quinn fell on El Capitan and is now paralyzed below the waist. She continues to adventure and inspire others to do the same.
Quinn is a certified Wilderness EMT, holds a Master’s Degree in Educational Psychology as well as a Colorado teaching certificate, and works for the National Parks Service. She snorts when she laughs and loves doing handstands on outrageous mountain summits worldwide.
Gary Dunn
Gary Dunn - Program Lead
Gary Dunn – Program Lead
Gary began sharing his passion for adventure as a guide over 20 years ago. Guiding throughout North and South America, he has taught rock climbing, ice climbing, mountaineering, tree climbing, caving, mountain biking, kayaking, and leadership development to a wide variety of audiences ranging from at-risk youth, people with disabilities, veterans, and business leaders.
Gary is an advocate for equal access for all and enjoys working with participants regardless of whether it is their first time climbing or they are climbing El Capitan in Yosemite. In his free time, he enjoys designing and innovating technique and gear to improve access as well as planning expeditions for people with disabilities. Gary truly believe what he does, while not therapy, is therapeutic. His favorite weekend of the year is the annual Paradox North Conway Ice Climbing trip.
When not in the field, he enjoys traveling with his wife and twin toddlers, as they learn all of the benefits of leading an active outdoor lifestyle.
Adam Fisher
Adam Fisher - Program Lead
Adam Fisher – Program Lead
Adam hails from Ann Arbor, Michigan. He first learned to climb at the Red River Gorge in Kentucky while earning a degree in Environmental and Public Policy at the University of Michigan. Since then he has climbed and skied across the US and abroad, including significant time in the Tetons, North Cascades, Colorado Rockies, Patagonia, the Alaska Range, and the Wrangell-St. Elias. Adam has been teaching climbing since 2007 and guiding since 2009 with organizations such as the Colorado Outward Bound School, World Challenge Expeditions, and the Colorado Mountain School. In September 2016 he successfully completed his Rock Guide certification through the American Mountain Guides Association – there are less than 250 Certified Rock Guides in the whole country! Adam served as the Paradox Sports Program Director for over three years from 2015 to 2018, and continues to work as an ACI Course Instructor and Program Leader with Paradox.
Adam loves sharing climbing with friends – both old and new. His other interests include reading, cooking, music, and adventuring with friends.
Andy Hershey
Andy Hershey
Andy Hershey
Andy began his involvement with Paradox Sports in 2013 with a fundraising initiative. Since then, Andy has volunteered each year at the Paradox Rocks program in the Gunks and the Paradox Ice program in New Hampshire, coordinated the first adaptive climbing academic course at Garrett College and joined the Adaptive Climbing Initiative as a course instructor in 2018.
A former professor at the Adventuresports Institute of Garrett College, Andy is now Program Coordinator and Lecturer in the Adventure Sports Management program at nearby Frostburg State University in Western Maryland. Andy’s career has included field, classroom and administrative positions working with a variety of populations in the outdoor industry and he has spent time as a backcountry ranger in Yosemite National Park, as a Program Coordinator at the Yellow Breeches Educational Center and as a guide and instructor at a variety of outdoor programs and guide services. In addition to his role at Frostburg, Andy is also a partner at North Fork Adventures LLC and Seneca Rocks Mountain Guides.
Andy resides with his wife and two children in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and the family spends their summers living and working in Seneca Rocks, WV.
Steve Levin
Steve Levin
Steve Levin
Steve started climbing with a guided ascent of the Upper Exum on the Grand Teton at age 13. Since then he has travelled and climbed widely throughout the U.S. and abroad, and is author of Eldorado Canyon: A Climbing Guide, the definitive guidebook to the climbing in Eldorado Canyon. He loves all types of rock climbing, from bouldering to big walls, and gets out climbing and guiding 200+ days a year. Steve is a Paradox Sports Instructor, visiting climbing gyms to teach and support adaptive climbing. In addition, he has been a guide on Paradox Sports rock climbing trips in Joshua Tree, Yosemite, Eldorado Canyon and Shelf Road. He is an AMGA Certified Rock Guide and AMGA Single Pitch Instructor Provider, and a Wilderness First Responder. He is a Senior Guide at Colorado Mountain School in Boulder, Colorado.
“Climbing can offer vital life experiences by placing unique demands on our bodies and minds. And it’s a lot of fun! I’m involved with Paradox Sports because I feel that everyone should have the opportunity for self-discovery that the vertical world offers.” – Steve Levin
Kris Norbraten
Kris Norbraten
Kris Norbraten
Kris first fell in love with the outdoors on family camping trips to the Texas Hill Country and the Arkansas Ozarks when she was small. After her first backpacking trip in Colorado’s San Juan Mountains during high school, she returned to guide in the Weminuche Wilderness Area. Those formative years drew Kris back to Colorado, and eventually to Paradox Sports.
With a deep belief that anyone who wants to climb should, she now instructs the Adaptive Climbing Initiative courses in gyms across the country and a joint pilot program in Boulder with Paradox and Imagine!, a non-profit serving people with developmental, cognitive, and physical challenges in Colorado.
Kris is also a climbing instructor at the Boulder Rock Club, a backpacking guide with Women’s Wilderness, a Wilderness First Responder, and author. She climbs locally around Boulder, but her heart has always been split between the Texas Hill Country and the San Juans.
Ryan Pedersen
Ryan Pedersen
Ryan Pedersen
Ryan was born in Massachusetts where he grew up tromping around New England’s dense forests and rivers. As he got a little older, this naturally progressed into climbing in the mountains. Following his desire to pursue a career in the outdoors, he studied Outdoor Education and Psychology at Johnson State College in northern Vermont. He began his formal mountain guide training with the American Mountain Guides Association in 2011 and began guiding single pitch rock climbing. In 2012 Ryan moved to Boulder, Colorado where he has worked as a climbing guide and a youth climbing team coach.
Ryan has climbed extensively all over the United States in places such as Yosemite Valley, the Colorado Rockies, the Tetons, Red Rock canyon, and all over the Northeast. He has also been fortunate enough to travel abroad to experience new places and cultures that offer a variety of climbing opportunities. Most recently, Ryan traveled to climb in the Peruvian Andes, the jungles of Cambodia, and the tall granite walls in Canada. When Ryan is not climbing for work or pleasure, he loves growing veggies in his garden and hanging out with his awesome border collie Lula!
Ryan has been and involved with Paradox sports since 2016 when he first volunteered on a Shelf Road climbing trip. He now works as both an ACI Course Instructor and climbing guide on Paradox Sports trips. He is a Wilderness First Responder, an AMGA Apprentice Rock and Alpine Guide, a Certified USA Climbing Coach and a NOLS graduate. He currently works for The Colorado Mountain School.
“I really believe that people from all different backgrounds can have life changing experiences in the mountains and the shared adventures between partners creates unique bonds. I’m very excited to share my passion and experiences with others who are searching for change in their life or simply wishing to learn and progress as a climber.”
Jillian Yatsko
Jillian Yatsko
Jillian Yatsko
Jillian is a competitive rock climber and coach based out of San Diego, California. Growing up at the base of the Appalachian mountains she has always used outdoor recreation as a means for personal growth and exploration. After moving to California she narrowed her focus in on climbing. With San Diego’s large medical needs community, Jillian found it important to provide access to climbing for those with chronic medical conditions. Shortly thereafter, she began an adaptive rock climbing program at San Diego based climbing center Mesa Rim. A few months after program inception, Jillian was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. Following a year of aggressive medical treatment Jillian saw how destructive the western approach to disease can be. She then set out to work with the medical community to embrace athletics and the outdoors as a supplement to traditional treatment modalities. Throughout this process, Jillian has traveled throughout the US and Europe advocating for the importance of inclusive climbing.
Jillian now works with individuals, groups, and organizations to put together athletic programming to serve the specific needs of their community. She presented at the Climbing Wall Summit in May 2018 on Adaptive Climbing and joined the Paradox ACI Course Instructor team in August 2018 to continue to educate and expand the climbing community nationally.
Peter Thomas
Peter Thomas
Peter Thomas
Peter is a Colorado based climbing instructor who spends much of his personal and professional time sharing the outdoors with others. Peter found climbing early in life while growing up in Colorado. He has seen how the skills, relationships and attitudes learned while on the rock have enriched his life, and can be transferred to help navigate life’s challenges. These experiences have led to a passion for fostering equity and belonging in outdoor and vertical spaces. Peter graduated from Prescott College in 2011 with a BA in Adventure Education. He is a certified Single Pitch Instructor, Apprentice Rock Guide and Wilderness First Responder. Outside his professional roles, Peter spends much of his time volunteering with organizations committed to building and preserving equitable access to the outdoors.
Parker Schiffer
Parker Schiffer
Parker Schiffer
Born in Houston, Texas, Parker (he/him) first learned to rock climb and first heard about Paradox Sports while attending Colorado College in Colorado Springs, CO. Graduate school took Parker to California for a couple of years, yet Parker was able to move back to the Front Range with his now wife in the summer of 2018 and started volunteering for community nights.
Even though Parker enjoys spending his days trying to build 6th graders into decent human beings as an English Language Arts teacher, it was the 2019 trips to Ouray and Shelf Road with Paradox that inspired Parker to recertify his then expired NOLS Wilderness First Responder and pursue his AMGA Single Pitch Instructor certification. When not teaching in the classroom, guiding or instructing for Paradox, or eating breakfast burritos, Parker most enjoys long dog walks around Denver’s City Park with his wife.
Azissa Singh
Azissa Singh
Azissa Singh
Informed by her roots in the Southeast, an appreciation of her identity as a mixed race woman of color, and nearly a decade of work in climbing, Azissa endeavors to use the transformative power of the outdoors and climbing to inspire curiosity and community. Azissa is an AMGA-certified Climbing Wall and Single Pitch Instructor, as well as Rock Guide. She is also an Assistant Provider for the Single Pitch Instructor Program.
OUR AMBASSADORS
Chad Jukes
Chad Jukes
Chad Jukes
Chad Jukes is an athlete and veteran with disabilities who has overcome adversity through living a life of adventure in the outdoors. After being injured in combat in Northern Iraq in 2006, Chad made the difficult decision to amputate his lower leg in 2007 after connecting with Paradox Sports co-founder and BK amputee Malcolm Daly and knowing this would be the best way to get back into the mountains. He joined one of our first ever Paradox Sports trip in early 2007 to Eldorado Canyon and has been getting after it ever since! Based out of Ridgway, CO, Chad is an avid ice climber and mountaineer. He shares his experiences through mentoring others and speaking to groups about his journey from the hospital bed to the summit of Everest.
Chad’s accomplishments include many notable climbs including Zodiac on El Capitan, Bridal Veil Falls in Telluride, Mt Rainier, The Grand Teton, Lobuche in Nepal, and Everest. He has also taught many people – including climbers and veterans with disabilities – how to climb in the iconic Ouray Ice Park. He is an Athlete Ambassador for Marmot, BlueWater Ropes and Paradox Sports.
For more info check out his website here: www.chadjukes.com
Maureen “Mo” Beck
Maureen “Mo” Beck
Maureen (Whalley) Beck was lucky to grow up in the Maine woods scrambling and playing in the dirt. She roped up for the first time at age 12 and hasn’t stopped since. Cragging her way through New England, she developed her potential as a one-handed climber.
Prior to the advent of social media and the Internet, Maureen believed that she was the only differently abled person in the world that climbed. She and her friends invented techniques using a trial and error process, slowly (and sometimes painfully) learning out how to climb one-handed. Just because Maureen went to the school of hard knocks and just because she thought she was the only one-handed climber, doesn’t mean others have to have the same experience. She loves introducing differently abled people to climbing.
Now based in the Colorado Front Range, Mo spends her nights training at Evo Rock Lousiville and her weekends climbing all over the American southwest. She works closely with the adaptive climbing community through Paradox Sports and the Paraclimbing section of USA Climbing and helps manage the Front Range Adaptive Climbing Team. As a competitive climber, she has won four national titles, a gold medal at the 2014 Paraclimbing World Championships in Spain, and defended that title with a gold medal at the 2016 World Championships in Paris.
In addition to climbing, Mo loves gardening, her chickens and dogs, sleeping in cars, and fine Scotch whiskey.
Check out her personal blog here: http://www.moinmountains.com/
Jess Sporte
Jess Sporte - Program Lead
Jess Sporte – Program Lead
When Jessica was only four months old, she was dropped of at an orphanage in South Korea due to a tumor in her leg, leading its amputation. Sporte had a new beginning when she was adopted by a family in Michigan. Growing up with 8 siblings taught Jessica that, although one could make up many excuses for not doing something, having one leg was not a good enough excuse to get out of chores. And if she could do chores, she could also play sports.
Jessica traveled the U.S. competing in wheelchair tennis, earning a career high of 2nd in the nation and 59th in the world. She also participated in wheelchair basketball, sled hockey, and downhill skiing. In 2012, long ski runs enticed her to move to Colorado. However, it wasn’t until 2015 that she participated in an Adaptive Climbing Club night and was introduced to Paradox Sports. Since that night, Jessica has missed few club nights and instead competed at three paraclimbing Nationals and a World Championship, and is a Paradox Sports Ambassador. Jess has a degree in Recreational Management and began working with Paradox Sports in the summer of 2018 as a Program Lead.
Besides sports, Jessica also enjoys reading, DIY projects and crafts such as knitting, card making, and origami.
Vasu Sojitra
Vasu Sojitra
Vasu Sojitra
When Vasu was only nine months old, he was diagnosed with septicemia, resulting in the amputation of one of his legs. Since then, Vasu has not looked back; with the help of his parents, brother, and friends, Vasu has built up the confidence needed to face new challenges with grace, courage, strength, humor, and unwavering determination.
Vasu witnessed extreme poverty growing up in India, and has been living most of his life with a “dis”ability. He looks at these experiences as a blessing; they have both allowed him to truly hone in on his ability to empathize with others. He continues to strengthen this muscle by pursuing his passion of helping others through his work in advocacy for those who face mental and physical limitations.
While going to school back on the East Coast at the University of Vermont, Vasu was contacted by Paradox Sports trainer and Board Member Nate McKenzie and invited to join the North Conway ice climbing event. That sparked a new relationship with Paradox. Once Vasu moved from Vermont to Montana, he attended another Paradox Sports trips – to climb the Grand Teton in the Fall of 2014. A short documentary, “A Grand Pursuit” about the trip was produced with the help of Will Strathmann in the Summer of 2015. This depicted the journey and the accomplishment of the group as well as a first ascent on crutches by Vasu.
During the winter following the Grand Teton trip in 2014, Vasu was featured in his first short documentary, “Out on a Limb”, depicting the challenges and innovations needed to follow his passion, skiing. “Out on a Limb” gained major coverage in the outdoor industry by being featured in the 2014-15 Banff Mountain Film Festival, Telluride Mountainfilm, and many more. This gave Vasu the opportunity to voice his mission to thousands of people worldwide. It didn’t stop there though. As the film gained more publicity, Vasu was able to sign on with several outdoor brands as an athlete and ambassador: Darn Tough Socks, Deuter/Ortovox, DPS Skis, Dynafit, Julbo Eyewear, Kate’s Real Food, and Paradox Sports.
With their help and many others, Vasu continues to inspire others to be a positive influence in their own communities by pushing personal limits, putting others first, and encouraging people to believe in themselves and in their own unique abilities!
You can follow Vasu’s journey at www.vasusojitra.com
Dan Boozan
Dan Boozan
Dan Boozan
A native Vermonter and former bike and ski racer, Dan was involved in a bike accident that left him with a paralyzed right arm and other injuries. After moving to Colorado in August of 2013, Dan connected Paradox Sports in June 2014 and joined us for our ascent of the Grand Teton in September 2014, which was featured in the short documentary “A Grand Pursuit”. Always at home in the mountains, Dan can be found skiing, hiking, and climbing with friends when ever possible. Dan has an affinity for multi pitch slab climbing and is a “stalwart” of the Front Range Adaptive Climbing Club. As an ambassador he looks forward to helping introduce and share with other all the great things he has experienced and gained since becoming a member of Paradox Sports.
Aika Yoshida
Aika Yoshida
Aika Yoshida
Aika is a native of Japan and currently resides in Indianapolis, IN. She loves outdoor activities and promotes health/wellness as a physical therapist. She has been rock climbing at Red River Gorge, KY for over 10 years. In summer of 2013, Aika fell on her head while practicing acrobatic yoga, which resulted in incomplete spinal cord injury at C6 with quadriparesis (weakness affecting all four limbs). She has used her love of climbing to re-connect with her body to find her new “normal self”. She has surrounded herself with like-minded people at Paradox Sports during her recovery to remind herself that she does not have to give up on her passion despite her limitations. Aika now has started Indiana’s first official adaptive climbing group to share her love of climbing with ALL people. She is also the 2016 Japanese Paraclimbing Champion and continues to push herself to higher level as an adaptive athlete.
You can watch this short video about Aika and Paradox here!
“Every unexpected change is an opportunity for something wonderful” ~unknown
Enock Glidden
Enock Glidden
Enock Glidden
Enock grew up in Patten, a small town in northern Maine, and now resides in Bethel, Maine. As a child with Spina Bifida, Enock had to learn to do things differently than others but with the use of adaptive equipment and help from friends and family, he has had a very full life.
He has had the opportunity to experience a lot of things that people with two working legs may not even try. Enock is an avid rock climber and skier, as well as active in many other sports including tennis, basketball, paragliding and skydiving. Through an internship related to his studies in computer science he was able to travel across the United States in 2016 and visit some of our most cherished outdoor spaces including many national parks. He culminated his internship experience in California with a 5 day ascent of “Zodiac” on El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, which was filmed by Craig Muderlak for a movie to be released in Spring 2017.
Despite what some may call a setback in life he has made it his mission to inspire others to get out and try things and experience as much in life as they possibly can. All of his adventures can be followed at his blog: www.gobeyondthefence.com
James Scheri
James Scheri
James Scheri
Born and raised in the midwest James is a USMC veteran who moved to Colorado after graduating college to pursue mountain sports including climbing. Shortly after moving he was involved in a train on cycle incident which result in the amputation of his right foot in 2014 .
James started at a rehab program before starting to walk and through contacts there he began climbing with the Front Range Adaptive Climbing Club and Paradox Sports. Still fairly new to the adaptive climbing scene, James earned a spot at Nationals in Atlanta to climb on the 2016 US Climbing Team in Paris, his first international competition!
James predominantly climbs in the Golden & Boulder areas of Colorado; however, also enjoys climbing in the Vail and Ouray areas, Utah, Wyoming, and Fontainebleau. His other hobbies include camping, backpacking, cycling, Mtn biking, snowboarding, fishing, and just being in the backcountry in general.
Follow James on Instagram or Facebook!
Shawn Sturges
Shawn Sturges
Shawn Sturges
After graduating from high school in the summer of 2004, Shawn Sturges was experiencing a puzzling sudden decline in vision. Before summer’s end his world turned black – literally black – caused by Leber’s Hereditary Optic Neuropathy. Shawn was now classified as “VI” or a visually impaired individual. It took time to adjust to his new life, and he eventually returned to martial arts and school – earning multiple Bachelor’s degrees in Business Administration. Through Martial Arts and University, he learned the discipline, perseverance, determination, and belief in one’s own abilities that are needed to find success which he later took to rock climbing.
In the fall of 2015 Shawn was introduced to rock climbing by a friend, and he was hooked. Shawn joined the local Adaptive Climbing Group (ACG) to learn climbing techniques at Brooklyn Boulders in Chicago. A year later he joined an adaptive climbing competition team to compete at the USA Climbing Adaptive Nationals in Georgia in the summer of 2016, taking home second place in the visually impaired category, and earning him a spot on team USA to compete in the 2016 IFSC World Para Climbing Championships which were held in Paris, France 2016.
In the Spring of 2017, he joined the Paradox Sports Adaptive Climbing Skills Clinic in Joshua Tree National Park where he learned crack climbing techniques, aid and trad climbing techniques, repelling, anchor building, and many other climbing techniques to be both a safe and more responsible outside climber. Shawn also joined the 2017 Paradox Rocky Mountain National Park trip to climb Long’s Peak, one of the 14,000ft. peaks. Inclement weather altered trip plans, however this resulted in Shawn’s first successful multi-pitch and rappel of “The Bomb” on The Wind Tower in Eldorado Canyon. Shawn has climbed multi-pitch routes on Devils Tower and in Vedauwoo, bouldered in the world-renowned Fountaine Bleu in France, ice climbed in the upper peninsula of Michigan, and again joined Paradox in 2018 at The Red River Gorge. He continues to hone his skills to reach his future goals to climb big walls, multi-pitch climbs, and ice both in the U.S. and around the world.
“The visual limitation that I face is not a hindrance that most believe it to be while climbing. As an adaptive climber and individual in our world I am in a constant state of problem solving. What I have learned as a blind individual is that my world is very tactual, so rock climbing lends itself quite well to my world. I use visualization and flat hand scanning a tremendous amount while I climb which helps me to determine my path of upward ascent. My daily navigation skills that I use to travel around Chicago has also helped me to find success in climbing since I am always aware of my body position and surroundings which is also very important when on the wall. What I have determined is that climbing to me is not that different from my everyday life and that realization will be what helps me to achieve all my climbing goals.” – Shawn Sturges
Trevor Smith
Trevor Smith
Trevor Smith
Trevor Smith has been a Colorado native his whole life. His inspiration to get into rock climbing came with being near the climbing mecca that is Boulder. When Trevor and his family would drive up Boulder Canyon, he would sit there in awe over the massive walls that people were scaling on every corner. This inspired him to push his own limits and start climbing in the Winter of 2015. Soon after, he met Paradox and his adventures began. When he was growing up, he would play soccer and basketball but, Trevor never felt fully satisfied with what he was doing. Trevor wanted to be great at something and climbing gave him the opportunity to achieve his goal. In the 2018 Paraclimbing World Championship, he placed 2nd in his category. This was his 2nd competition, the first being nationals a few months earlier, that he had ever competed in. At age 17, Trevor is the youngest climber to join the Paradox Sports Ambassador Team!
“Climbing has taught me so much about myself. I’ve learned that anything is possible with the right mindset and determination. I’ve learned that there will always be someone better, faster, and stronger than you so, you have to push yourself if you want to succeed on world level stage. And most importantly, I’ve learned that climbing is a lifestyle. It is more than just an activity that people compete in or do on the weekends. It is a tightly knit community that respects everyone within it and wants to see everyone succeed. I want to be a part of that community. I want to develop our community and show to everyone that our sport is lifelong activity.”
Trevor has been climbing with Paradox since 2016 and plans on many years more to come! You can follow Trevor along his journey on his Instagram account: @trevor_jsmith
Esha Mehta
Esha Mehta
Esha Mehta
Born at 24 weeks, Esha has been blind since birth and doctors were fairly certain she would not survive. Family even came from India to visit her in America because they weren’t sure if they wouldn’t get another chance! She was able to fit in her parents’ hand from head to toe. She likes to say that this was the only time she has been early for anything! As a child, due to being first generation from India, her parents struggled to find resources for her to embrace and function as a blind person. Because of situations out of her control, she was forced to act sighted and hide her blindness. Esha did not embrace her blindness until she was 19, when she sought Independence Training at the Colorado Center for the Blind, where she learned skills to become independent, gained confidence, and learned that she is capable of being a contributing member of society. This was where she met positive blind role-models and realized her dreams were absolutely reachable. This is also where Esha rock climbed for the very first time and fell in love with the sport, though she fell away from the sport due to a college and dealing with mental health issues.
In 2015, Esha’s life was forever changed when a friend told her about Paradox Sports in Boulder, Colorado. She went to a club night and instantly reinvigorated her passion and love for climbing. A friend encouraged her to join the competitive team, so in March of 2015, she did. That July, she was invited to compete at the national level. Since then, competing has been a huge love of hers. “I love climbing, whether it is competitively or leisurely,” she says. Competing has helped her grow her confidence and has helped her tremendously as she begins recovering from her mental illnesses.
“I view climbing as a metaphor for life. On a difficult route, it may take a few tries before you can reach the top. Every time you keep pushing yourself on this route, you get further and further. This is how I view life. I have had tremendous amount of challenges and hardships, but each time I keep pushing forward, I get higher than I did before. Life isn’t about ascending to the top, but about all the holds and moves in between.”
Kaitlin Heatherly
Kaitlin Heatherly
Kaitlin Heatherly
Born and raised in the suburbs of Atlanta, GA, Kaitlin didn’t get introduced to climbing until two years ago and she was hooked right away. She started going to her local gym, and before she knew it she was registered for the National Championships due to the support and encouragement from the adaptive climbing community. Since then, she went on to compete at the world championships in both 2018 and 2019. She is featured in the film REI presents: “Dead Last”, which follows her journey of competing in the 2018 world championship in Innsbruck, Austria. In 2019, she relocated to Lafayette, CO to get closer to the mountains and join the adaptive climbing mecca. She is still getting comfortable climbing outside and recently tried ice climbing, thanks to Paradox Sports! Her future goals in climbing are to climb multi-pitch and to lead 5.10+.
When not climbing, Kaitlin enjoys working as an OT, hiking, crafting, and petting her 20 pound cat.
Adam Payne
Adam Payne
Adam Payne
Officially Adam began climbing in New Jersey back in 1994. He had just graduated university (Boston University) and was working at Campmor Retail in order to get off his parent’s couch and because he loved the outdoor goods they sold. Campmor had a relationship with a startup climbing gym so he bought a harness and shoes, found a partner and went climbing. After a few months his partner was less dependable, he got hired by the AmeriCorps, left Campmor to start this new chapter in life, and put climbing on the back-burner for a while.
In 1997 Adam was temporarily blindsided by a diagnosis of Ataxia – a rare, incurable disease that affects speech, balance and coordination. He says temporarily because by summer 2012 after a fifteen year hiatus he was climbing again with the Adaptive Climbing Group in Brooklyn, NY. He started climbing with Paradox Sports later that year, after meeting Timmy O’Neill on a trip to the Gunks. Since then climbing and competing has become his life. He trains up to 4 days per week. He has also entered into at least 7 judged competitions and been to World’s at least three times. Since 2012, Adam has joined more Paradox Sports trips all over the country than anyone else – to rock climb in the Gunks and Joshua Tree, and ice climb in North Conway and Ouray.
