2024 KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

CAT RUNNER | MADALEINE SORKIN | RUSS CLUNE

CAT RUNNER

Pronouns: he/him

Cat Runner is a transgender photographer, athlete, and community leader. Raised in Kentucky, he primarily focuses on rock climbing, which led to success on HBO's The Climb - the first televised outdoor climbing competition of its kind. In 2022, he founded the Queer Climber's Network, an organization and database focused on helping queer climbers connect with each other, instructors, educational programs, and professionals within the climbing industry. He serves on the Board of Directors for the Red River Gorge Climbers' Coalition and works with other community organizers to implement programming that makes climbing more inclusive and accessible to affinity identities. He is supported by prAna, Rhino Skin Solutions, and Organic Climbing.

MADALEINE SORKIN

Pronouns: she/they

Madaleine Sorkin is a rock climber living creatively with her wife in an off-grid home near the Black Canyon National Park in Colorado.  Mad has traveled to climb long, difficult rock walls from the Rockies to Yosemite, and internationally has completed first free ascents as far as Kyrgyzstan, Patagonia and Jordan. Mad climbs up to 5.14, has freed up to 5.13+ on El Capitan and in 2022 freed the Dunn-Westbay Direct a 5.14 above 13,000 feet on the Diamond of Longs Peak. 

Mad is a certified AMGA Rock Guide and enjoys working with climbers to engage their performance edge.  

RUSS CLUNE

Pronouns: he/him

Russ Clune is a rock climber living in the Shawangunk Mountains of New York. Clune has been climbing for almost 50 years and was one of America’s best rock climbers during his peak in the 1980s and remains one of the world’s most well-traveled climbers. His recently published memoir, The Lifer: Rock Climbing Adventures in the Gunks and Beyond depicts the rich history Clune has lived through in the sport, with rollicking tales of climbs and epics shared with many of the best climbers of his day. He remains active and continues to travel the globe seeking new cliffs, adventures and friends.

2024 ATHLETES AND CLINICIANS

hayden jamieson | kitty calhoun | greg troutman | dr. jared vagy | tammy wilson | genevive walker | cat runner | sylvan rocks climbing guides | Chuck & maggie Odette | Matt Pincus | marcus garcia | gokul gopal | Devils tower climbing guides | carissa SCHWINGHAMMER | andrew megas-russell | cheyenne smith | callan cooper | josie mckee | xavier bravo | Karly Rager | shingo ohkawa | jackson hole mountain guides | Mark evans | and more!


PAST KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

  • 2010 – Jason Kehl

  • 2009 – Joe Kinder

  • 2008 – Dave Macleod / Chris Lindner

  • 2007 – Todd Skinner Tribute

  • 2006 – Sonnie Trotter / Mike Anderson

  • 2005 – Lynn Hill

  • 2004 – Timmy O’Neil

  • 2003 – Todd Skinner and Paul Piana

  • 2002 – Steph Davis

  • 2001 – Dean Potter

  • 2000 – Barry Blanchard

  • 1999 – Galen Rowell / Conrad Anker

  • 1998 – Randy Leavitt / Greg Child

  • 1997 – Alex Lowe / Lynn Hill

  • 1996 – Jerry Moffatt / Doug Robinson

  • 1995 – Royal Robbins

  • 1994 – Todd Skinner and Paul Piana / Bobbi Bensman

  • 2023 — Katie Brown, Kai Lightner, Alex Johnson, Alan Watts

  • 2022 — Chris Kalous, James “KG” Kagambi, Brittany Goris, Hayden Jamieson

  • 2021 — Shingo Ohkawa, Chris Kalman, Nikkia Smith

  • 2019 — Volker Schoffl, Craig DeMartino, Kitty Calhoun, James Edward Mills

  • 2018 – Peter Croft, Nina Williams, Paul Piana, Angie Payne

  • 2017 – Tommy Caldwell, Joe Kinder, Hazel Findlay, Nathaniel Coleman, Matty Hong, Pamela Shanti-Pack

  • 2016 – Steph Davis, Sonnie Trotter, Matt Segal, Chelsea Rude

  • 2015 – Ethan Pringle, Hayden Kennedy, Alex Johnson, Hans Florine, Elad Omer, Carlo Traversi

  • 2014 – Lynn Hill, Sasha Diguilian, John Long, Angie Payne, Alex Honnold, Conrad Anker, Paige Claassen, Timmy O'Neill

  • 2013 – Tommy Caldwell, Timmy O’Neil, Emily Harrington, Cedar Wright, Erica Wynn, and Henry Barber

  • 2012 – Royal Robbins, Kevin Jorgeson, and Kate Rutherford

  • 2011 – Jonathan Siegrist