About Our Coaching

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.

AJ is a Doctor of Physical Therapy and Orthopaedic Clinical Specialist who currently lives and works in Bozeman, MT. With a comprehensive background in biomechanics, sports performance, and exercise physiology, he is able to provide a unique perspective and comprehensive coaching and training packages for climbing athletes.

As a Wisconsin native who made his way to Flagstaff, AZ to pursue altitude training as a competitive runner, he soon shifted away from running to pursue the never-ending climbing opportunities in the southwest and around the country.

Living and climbing in the desert southwest allowed AJ to understand and experience what it means to have a year-round climbing season and learn the kinds of programming required to perform at a high level consistently. In contrast, Montana has provided a seasonal climbing trend and the distinct training months/seasons that can be programmed for planned road trips or extended periods of desired peak climbing performance during an athlete’s local “climbing season”.

AJ fully believes in the Climb Strong philosophy – supporting and guiding climbing athletes by providing simple, effective, and individualized programming.

Micah has cultivated his climbing practice for more than twenty years. Based in Eugene, Oregon he coaches local athletes through his business Good Stone, and offers remote coaching as a part of the team at Climb Strong. Micah has climbed all over the world including dozens of first ascents on the Central Coast of California and Oregon’s Willamette Valley. Despite entering his fourth decade in 2021, he continues to slowly, yet steadily, improve.

As a coach, Micah draws on a variety of experiences to support his athletes. He is well versed in climbing specific training modalities and holds multiple Performance Climbing Coach Certificates. He spent the first half of his twenties deeply committed to Ashtanga yoga practicing under the guidance of Steve Dwelley and Michele Nichols. He also spent 3 months at Shri K. Pattabhi Jois Ashtanga Yoga Institute in Mysore, India. As a former professional chef, Micah has extensive culinary experience and holds Nutrition Educator and Natural Chef’s certificates from Bauman College. He’s also earned an MBA in Entrepreneurship from University of Oregon and a BA in Philosophy from University of California at Santa Barbara.

Rachel discovered rock climbing 14 years ago. She immediately fell in love with the sport and the way it pushed her both physically and mentally. Since that time, Rachel’s climbing career has taken her all over the country with experience in everything from multi-pitch trad climbing in Arizona – to the wondrous sport climbing at Shelf Road in Colorado – to endurance climbing in the annual 24 Hours of Horseshoe Hell in Arkansas (24HHH). She is currently pursuing the NASM personal trainer and AMGA Single Pitch Instructor certifications.

After struggling early on with plateaus and overuse injuries early in her own climbing career, Rachel began researching solutions and discovered the many benefits of climbing specific training. An intensive regimen of self-study, research, and coursework on the subject allowed Rachel to begin rehabilitating her injuries and pushing past her plateaus. Seeing other climbers also struggling with similar issues, Rachel realized that she could help them too and this developed into a passion for assisting others with maintaining balance in the body while pushing ever higher for gains in strength and technique. Rachel put her passion into practice, opening a business in her local area to build training plans and offer coaching services to local athletes. In this position, she helped multiple clients of various ability levels to safely build strength and reach new heights in their climbing.

As Rachel’s coaching career developed, she realized that her passion for climbing training aligns directly with Climb Strong’s mission, energy, and approach for helping climbers improve performance while avoiding injury. Working now with Climb Strong as a coach Rachel is excited to continue pursuing her passion to help climbers progress through individualized training. Her favorite thing in the world is seeing people get stronger and crush their projects!

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.

Joel is an all-around climber who splits his time between Lander, WY and Flagstaff, AZ.  Exploring and establishing new routes and boulders is his passion, and training has become an essential part of this pursuit.  With projects ranging from roof boulders to thin trad lines and multi-pitch routes, he has learned to train for a diverse set of climbing challenges over the past decade. Joel has been training as an athlete with Climb Strong for two years and holds a Performance Climbing Coach certification.

Training has become one of his passions, and he is driven to fulfill his highest potential as a climbing athlete. Joel is self-admittedly un-athletic, and all sports have been difficult for him.  He has leaned into training as a means to progress in climbing.  From physical preparation to high-level tactics to mental techniques, Joel has utilized many aspects of training for climbing.  The energy of climbers and their desire to improve is contagious, and Joel is excited to work with others who seek to improve and pursue their potential.

Sara is very active in her local community, serving the Western Mass Climbers’ Coalition as a Board member and a member of their Justice, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. She is passionate about making both climbing and strength training more approachable and accessible to a greater diversity of bodies and identities. Sara’s own training journey was initially undertaken to get strong for climbing and to repair/build resilience from injury. Those first steps unexpectedly expanded outward and led to greater personal bodily acceptance and an eventual career as a coach and trainer that gives her purpose.