Paige Claassen

ABOUT:

I love technical face climbing, but won't limit myself to a particular style of climbing. If I walk up to a route and it looks incredible, I want to climb it, no matter the style.

I've been climbing for 16 years and part of the La Sportiva team for 8. That means I've spent half of my climbing life as a La Sportiva athlete! My very first pair of shoes when I was 9 years old were Mythos, and the thought of wearing anything other than a fine, leather, handmade Italian shoe is inconceivable. Fits like a glove, performs like a delicate surgical instrument.

For ten months between 2013 and 2014, I traveled around the world on the Lead Now Tour, climbing seven 5.14s and creating a video series to raise $20,000 for non profit organizations. I'm very fortunate to have found climbing - it has become an integral part of my life - and I believe everyone deserves the opportunity to pursue something they care about, have an education, and support their loved ones. I believe education is the only lasting solution to poverty, and for that reason I'm working to help support and develop a rural kindergarten and orphanage in Aussenkehr, Namibia.

I live part time between Colorado and South Africa, taking advantage of the perfect climbing seasons in both places.

PROUDEST ACCOMPLISHMENTS:

1. “Just Do It” (5.14c) Smith Rock, Oregon, June 2013
2. “Grand Ole Opry” (5.14b) The Monastery, Colorado, September 2010
3. “The Bleeding” (5.14a)…The hardest thing I've ever climbed. A five year project, ticked off September 2015 in Mill Creek, Utah
4. “Art Attack” (5.14b) slab, Val Masino, Italy, September 2013

Banner photo: © Arjan De Kock