The Coaching Company
Steve Bechtel founded Climb Strong in 2007 as a blog, writing to document the interesting strength and conditioning ideas he saw in use in other sports. Today, he heads a coaching team dedicated to providing expertise and support tailored to your climbing training goals, with a strong focus on the continuous growth and education of the coaches to ensure exceptional experiences for our athletes.
The way you do one thing is the way you do everything.
We believe:
Everyone is an athlete.
The fundamentals are the answer, almost all the time.
In the value of teamwork among our coaches.
In adopting the mindset of a lifelong learner.
A good coach listens more than they talk.
In taking ownership.
In maintaining the highest degree of professionalism in the sport of climbing.
Coaching is the heart of all we do at Climb Strong. Our team is dedicated to personal growth in climbing, professional development in coaching, and enhancing our education to improve our coaching effectiveness and resources.
Carter Smith is a climbing coach based in Durham, North Carolina, serving as the Head Coach at Triangle Rock Club. In this role, he coaches and oversees the Club and Competition Team cohorts across multiple gym locations. Carter earned his Master’s degree in Experiential and Outdoor Education from Western Carolina University in 2022. His passion is helping both adults and children use climbing as a means of self-discovery through challenge. An experienced all-around climber, Carter enjoys a variety of climbing disciplines, from bouldering competitions to alpine trad climbing. He lives in North Carolina with his partner, Molly, and their two dogs.
Climbing is my passion, but I grew up as an athlete. I started cycling at age 12, and raced internationally for years in both Belgium and Australia. As a member of the US National Team, I had the opportunity to compete at Worlds. After leaving the world of cycling, I developed my love for climbing. I graduated from Liberty University with a Masters in interdisciplinary studies with focuses in Exercise Science and Outdoor Leadership. Through my years at university, I also designed and managed the climbing facility, as well as coached the University Team. After graduating, I started taking on more clients to help them effectively reach their goals. All of this experience has helped me become the coach I am today. I have worked with people at every level of climbing and strength, and have seen great success in helping them achieve their goals.
Graham is a dedicated climber and skier currently residing on the Eastside of the Sierra in Bishop, CA. He has been enthusiastically climbing, instructing, guiding, and traveling to climb for over 20 years. Graham came to Lander in 2009 to work for NOLS as a climbing instructor and quickly found a mentor in Steve. As part of the inaugural class of Climb Strong lunchtime workouts, Graham has a long history with CS. Climb Strong has aided him throughout the different facets of his career as a sport climber, trad climber, and ultimately, a boulderer. Graham continues to work hard to progress his own climbing and send world class boulders. Whether your goals are to have an awesome trip to Rocklands or Fontainbleau, Kalymnos or Red Rock, some dream destination or your local crag, Graham is psyched for you to send your next project and hopes he can be part of that journey alongside you!
Sara is a queer climber, coach, and NSCA Certified Personal Trainer based in Western Massachusetts. With over a decade of climbing experience—much of it spent on the road—Sara has shifted from trad climbing to sport climbing and now primarily bouldering, claiming she's just getting strong for an eventual return to routes. These transitions have taught her how to adapt training for high performance and continuous improvement into her 40s. Active in her community, Sara serves on the Board and Justice, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee of the Western Mass Climbers’ Coalition. She is passionate about making climbing and strength training more approachable for a greater diversity of bodies and identities. Sara’s own training began as a way to get stronger for climbing and recover from injuries but led to greater bodily acceptance and a fulfilling career as a coach and trainer.
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Joel is an all-around climber who splits his time between Lander, WY, and Flagstaff, AZ. Passionate about exploring and establishing new routes, he has spent the past decade training for a wide range of challenges—from roof boulders to thin trad lines and multi-pitch routes. Joel holds a Performance Climbing Coach certification and has trained as an athlete with Climb Strong for two years. Joel has embraced training as a means to progress in climbing, combining physical preparation, mental techniques, and high-level tactics to maximize his potential. Inspired by the energy and drive of the climbing community, he is excited to help others improve and pursue their goals through effective training.
Jacob started climbing on the beautiful boulders in Chimney Rock, North Carolina and the surrounding area. He believes that simplicity and consistency go a long way in reaching goals in life, especially when it involves training. Along with this, his experience with hard training and high performance in multiple sports gives him the experience to coach athletes across many disciplines and abilities. He has a dual Masters in Strength and Conditioning and Sports Nutrition and is a certified personal trainer through the NSCA. He is grateful to live in Lander, WY where he can climb, mountain bike, and ski with his wife, Taylor.
Ty was fortunate to grow up as a climber in Lander, WY during one of its many “golden eras” and now has more than 30 years of climbing under his belt. Though a sport climber at heart, Ty is a generalist with a myriad of diverse ascents: big wall free climbs in Yosemite and Zion, ice and mixed routes, headpoints, and highball boulder problems. Ty spent 12 years building a successful artisan bakery (460 Bread) while raising two energetic boys and sending the occasional Teton rock climbing project, so he fully understands the challenges of balancing a busy schedule with climbing performance. Since selling his business in 2021, he has been able to focus on his true passion for climbing performance and helping other climbers achieve their potential. Ty is psyched to be a part of the Climb Strong team and is available for monthly coaching programs.
Rachel started climbing in 2007 and fell in love with the sport. Early struggles with plateaus and overuse injuries prompted Rachel to learn about training for strength and injury prevention. She soon became passionate about the process, and put that passion into practice, opening a business in Oklahoma City to build training plans and offer coaching. She has helped multiple clients of various ability levels safely build strength and reach new heights in their climbing. Working now with Climb Strong, Rachel is excited to pursue her passion to help athletes progress through individualized and customized training. Rachel is a certified personal trainer with the National Academy of Sports Medicine. She is also a Performance Enhancement Specialist. She is a Strong First certified Bodyweight Instructor (SFB). Rachel is currently pursuing both Strong First certifications for kettlebell instruction (SFG), and a masters degree in exercise science.
AJ is a Doctor of Physical Therapy and Orthopaedic Clinical Specialist based in Bozeman, MT. With expertise in biomechanics, sports performance, and exercise physiology, he offers unique, comprehensive training packages for climbing athletes. Originally from Wisconsin, AJ moved to Flagstaff, AZ, where his focus shifted from competitive running to climbing. Living in the desert southwest gave him firsthand experience with year-round climbing and the demands of consistent performance. Now in Montana, AJ embraces the seasonal climbing cycles, programming for peak performance during road trips or local climbing seasons. AJ fully believes in the Climb Strong philosophy—providing simple, effective, and individualized training to help athletes achieve their goals.
Micah has been climbing for over 20 years. He coaches athletes locally in Eugene, Oregon, through his business Good Stone, while also offering remote coaching with the Climb Strong team. He’s climbed worldwide, establishing dozens of first ascents across California’s Central Coast and Oregon’s Willamette Valley. Despite entering his fourth decade in 2021, Micah continues to steadily improve. As a coach, Micah combines deep experience in climbing-specific training with a holistic approach. He holds multiple Performance Climbing Coach Certificates and draws from years of Ashtanga yoga practice, including time at the Shri K. Pattabhi Jois Ashtanga Yoga Institute in Mysore, India. A former professional chef, Micah holds Nutrition Educator and Natural Chef certificates from Bauman College. His education includes an MBA in Entrepreneurship from the University of Oregon and a BA in Philosophy from UC Santa Barbara.
Andrew is an NSCA Certified Personal Trainer who currently resides in Salt Lake City, Utah. He has a background in athletic strength training, and has been teaching and coaching climbers professionally for over 6 years. Originally from Colorado Springs, he cut his teeth on the sandstone towers of Garden of the Gods and limestone cliffs of Shelf Road. He has since traveled the country to climb, and is particularly fond of Smith Rock, Bishop, and Chattanooga. Training has tremendously improved Andrew’s performance on the rock for sport, bouldering, and trad. Now as a Climb Strong coach, Andrew is excited to use his knowledge and experience to help others reach their climbing goals.
Chrissy is a high-level and dedicated rock climber originally from New Jersey who now resides in Colorado, and has been sport and trad climbing for over 10 years. She holds a Masters of Science in Physics, an M.A.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction, is a Certified Performance Climbing Coach as well as a Level II USA Climbing Coach. Chrissy’s passion for climbing has led her to travel as far and wide as trad climbing in Arapiles, to sport climbing in Kalymnos and alpine in the Bugaboos. Chrissy has coached all ages of climbers from the competitive youth circuit through accomplished adult athletes, and takes her athlete’s training and success as seriously as she takes her own. Her nerdy past causes her to spend great amounts of time researching strength metrics for climbing, training methodology and movement analysis. Chrissy is available for training consultations and for long-term climbing coaching.
Alex is a high-level rock climber that originally moved to Lander to train at Elemental as part of the Climb Strong Program. He has been climbing for ten years and is well versed in anything from big wall free climbs to hard boulder problems and competition climbing. He has lived in Lander since 2016 and has worked and trained with Climb Strong since day one. In seeing the success of his own climbing Alex has since taken a role in passing on this valuable knowledge to others eager to push their own limits. Alex is available for training consultations and for long-term climbing coaching.
Charlie has been with Climb Strong since 2013. A high-level boulderer and rock climber, he focuses on in-person and remote coaching, and works with climbers from around the world. Charlie started his path to become a coach by accepting a front desk job at Elemental Performance+Fitness in Lander, Wyoming with Steve Bechtel in 2011. Those first two years were spent learning how to train himself and it slowly grew into certifications and a whole lot of athlete time teaching classes and building an athlete roster. He is a frequent contributor to the Climb Strong site and is the co-author of the Climb Strong Deadlifting Manual and Unstoppable Force: Strength Training for Climbers. He is also one of the lead instructors at the Performance Climbing Coach events. He offers single-session consultations and monthly coaching programs.
Kathryn moved to Lander, Wyoming for the Winds and stayed for Sinks Canyon. She started climbing in New England while getting her bachelor’s degree from Harvard. Her climbing has since taken her all over the world— from Spain to France to Yosemite. She is a NSCA Certified Personal Trainer and has been coaching since 2017. She began as an athlete training with Climb Strong, and she has learned that we are all far more capable and powerful than we can imagine. She is thrilled to be a Climb Strong coach and is available for consultations and monthly programming.
Ken is a National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) Certified Personal Trainer and Certified Performance Climbing Coach. His climbing travels have taken him all over the world from the amazing limestone walls of Spain and Mexico to the expansive boulder fields of the Rocklands of South Africa. He has coached and instructed rock climbing in every capacity: from youth teams to accredited college courses. His passion for coaching is matched by his ability to connect with climbers of all levels. Ken is constantly evolving as a climber; whether he is repeating a climb in Rocky Mountain National Park or working on a project 9,000 miles away, he is always learning to look more closely at himself and his own climbing, while consistently trying hard and having fun.
Steve is the founder of Climb Strong. A climber for more than 30 years, Steve has established over 300 new routes across the globe, from grade VI big wall free climbs to 25-foot sport routes on his home crags near Lander, Wyoming. An exercise science graduate of the University of Wyoming, Steve has been studying and experimenting with climbing training methods since his teens. After spending a few years as a full-time climber, Steve opened Elemental Performance + Fitness in 2002. Elemental is a full-service gym in Lander, but was built around the training needs of high-level climbers.
Want to work as a Climb Strong Coach?
Climbing coaching offers flexibility, but it’s also a demanding job that requires focus and dedication. At Climb Strong, we strive to create a great environment for both athletes and coaches. We handle the details, programming, and marketing, allowing our coaches to focus on personalized training. We don’t rely on generic programs—our goal is to identify and address each athlete’s unique challenges to help them reach their full potential.
