About Our Coaching

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 taught climbing for six years. 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.

Carly is a high-level climber and holds the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) Certificate, the Performance Climbing Coach (PCC) Certificate, and the American Mountain Guide Association AMGA- RGA Certification.

Guiding and personal climbing have taken her all over the world, from rock to ice to snow, and she enjoys all these various facets of climbing. Carly has been climbing since 2007 and is based in Fort Collins, Colorado. She did her Undergraduate studies in Boulder, Colorado, where she finished her degree between working trips to India and Nepal.

The last expedition she guided was on Denali, in Alaska,  in 2018. Not long after this trip, she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. She threw herself back into rock climbing and found she needed more specific guidance on how to train herself, not only with the disease progression but also as she has naturally aged since the last time she was climbing at a high level.

Training for climbing has since impacted her life tremendously, both as an athlete and as someone with Multiple Sclerosis. Climb Strong has given her the opportunity to keep learning, to keep growing, as a coach and a climber. Her own success with training has influenced her to share Climb Strong’s training with others, and to encourage people: no matter what their body’s limitations are – there is always a way forward.

Ken is a National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) Certified Personal Trainer, Certified Performance Climbing Coach, and Northern Colorado Climber’s Coalition Board Member.  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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Chelsea started rock climbing alongside her dad 24 years ago and it was love at first experience. Within the same month she started climbing, she joined a youth team and began competing. She’s a former National Champion, was a member of the US Team for 13 years, and had the opportunity to travel abroad for World Cup competitions. Outside of competition, her proudest achievements include numerous 5.13c onsights, 5.14 first female ascents, and having the opportunity to climb The Nose of El Cap, Half Dome, and helping to re-establish the Central Pillar of Frenzy Direct in Yosemite.

Eighteen years ago, Chelsea made her coaching debut by becoming the head coach of a youth team in Atlanta, GA. Since then Chelsea worked as the first Female Youth US Team Coach for four years before eventually deciding to focus her coaching career on working primarily with gender minorities within the community. In January of 2020, Chelsea created She Sends Collective where she hosts outdoor educational clinics, coaches individuals in-person at a local gym and outdoors, and hosts online group coaching programs for women and gender queer folks. Her favorite part of her work is empowering women through education, helping her clients feel strong within their bodies, and helping them realize their capability of achieving anything they put their minds to.

Chelsea received her Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder and majored in Integrative Physiology, is a Certified Performance Climbing Coach, AMGA certified Single Pitch Instructor and Wilderness First Responder. She began working with Steve Bechtel as her coach about one year ago and quickly realized that her coaching mission aligned perfectly with his and Climb Strongs and felt working alongside a dedicated and passionate group of coaches would not only help her grow as a coach, but also allow her to work with a variety of athletes across the country.