Adrian Ballinger

Discipline: Climbing Team

ABOUT:

I’m from England originally, grew up and learned to climb and ski in Massachusetts, and have now based in Squaw Valley (Lake Tahoe, CA) for almost 10 years. For the past 20 years I’ve averaged 7 months or more each year in a tent on the side of big mountains on climbing and skiing expeditions…so “home” is a bit of a funny concept.

La Sportiva has been with me almost since the beginning, when a rep back east gave me a pair of shoes (Thanks Bill!). Since that day I’ve never climbed in anything else. I aim to excel in all disciplines of mountain life - rock, ice, high altitude and ski - and this means I never get bored in the mountains. Our ways of playing in the mountains are so varied, and I have way more than a lifetime’s goals between the disciplines. Yes!

PROUDEST ACCOMPLISHMENTS:

1. Summited Mt. Everest without supplemental oxygen on May 27, 2017 (my 7th summit of the peak)
2. First ski descent from the summit of Manaslu (8th tallest mountain in world)
3. Only American to have skied from three 8000-meter peak summits (Cho Oyu twice, Manaslu once)
4. Became a fully-certified IFMGA/AMGA mountain guide and founded Alpenglow Expeditions
5. Persuaded Emily Harrington to go out with me.