[Photo] Christian Beckwith
In 1987 Steve abandoned a career as a rock ‘n roll roadie to chase his dreams up the crags and mountains of North America. A “quick trip” to Yosemite stretched to most of a decade, in which time he bagged about a dozen walls and many of the best free climbs the Valley offers.
Feeling claustrophobic in the shinning ditch, by the late 1990s Steve had broadened his horizons to include Squamish, the High Sierra, The Wind River Range, the Black Canyon and the desert southwest, where he has climbed over a hundred desert towers while still maintaining an impressive twenty-percent first ascent ratio.
When asked to describe his climbing career, Steve explains: “I’m an above-average free climber, but a far cry from great. If I’m remembered for anything, I hope it will be for a strict, ground-up ethic and a willingness to fall. That and a habit of saying what I really think.”
Steve now splits his time between Jackson, Wyoming, where he works as a tree trimmer, and the desert southwest, where he’s always on the lookout for unclimbed rock.