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.

Eric Hörst is an internationally renowned author, researcher, climbing coach, and accomplished climber of 40+ years. He is author of the best-selling Training for Climbing which has, along with his seven other books (and many foreign translations), sold more than 400,000 copies worldwide. Hörst has written hundreds of magazine articles and appeared on numerous TV broadcasts; his training techniques and photos have appeared in countless publications around the world. He has co-authored one research paper: “Behavior Analysis and Sport Climbing”, Journal of Behavioral Health and Medicine, 2010, with Dr. Richard Fleming, and has been a keynote presenter for the International Rock Climbing Researchers Association. Hörst maintains the popular TrainingForClimbing.com web site and YouTube channel, and he broadcasts a monthly climbing science and training podcast available on iTunes, Spotify, and elsewhere (search for “Eric Hörst’s Training for Climbing podcast”). In December 2018, Hörst founded PhysiVantage performance nutrition for climbers. 

Dr Tyler is the owner of Camp4 Human Performance (@c4hp). He spends most of his time researching and writing rehabilitation and strength training programs for climbers around the globe. In graduate school, Tyler pursued a dual degree in exercise science. This interest has led him to challenge the status quo with climbing training. He hopes to help climbers and coaches better understand the rationale behind their training interventions. In addition to work, Tyler enjoys playing the guitar, skateboarding with his boys, and trad climbing with his daughter. 

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.

AJ Sobrilsky is a Doctor of Physical Therapy and Orthopedic 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.

Jared Vagy is a Doctor of Physical Therapy who specializes in treating climbing injuries. In addition to his doctoral degree, he has completed a one-year residency in orthopedics and a one-year fellowship in movement science, totaling nine years of concentrated study. He is the author of the Amazon #1 best-seller “Climb Injury-Free,” has published numerous articles on injury prevention and lectures on the topic internationally. Dr. Vagy is on the teaching faculty at the University of Southern California, one of the top Doctor of Physical Therapy programs in the United States. He is a board-certified orthopedic clinical specialist and a certified strength and conditioning specialist. He is passionate about climbing and enjoys working with climbers of all ability levels, ranging from novice climbers to the top professional climbers in the world. Jared Vagy has over 17 years of climbing experience and has climbed all over the world. He is an accomplished rock climber, ice climber and alpinist, and continues to explore the wonders of adventure that these pursuits afford.

Charlie has been with Climb Strong since 2013 and has been a presenter at the PCC since it’s humble beginnings in May 2016. Charlie coaches climbers from around the world with Climb Strong and still manages to work full time at Elemental Performance+Fitness in Lander, Wyoming, where it all began for him in 2011. Elemental is where he gets to have lots of one-on-one athlete time, coach the youth climbing team, and fine tune his craft as a coach through the wonderful community that takes their training seriously. Charlie is a frequent contributor to the Climb Strong site and is the co-author of two Climb Strong publications: The Deadlifting Manual and Unstoppable Force: Strength Training For Climbers. Charlie climbs and trains with one goal in mind—get better and don’t let go.

Leif Gasch is the owner of SUBSTR8 Climbing Performance and has been involved in climbing training for almost a decade. Having spent much of his professional career working in the trades as a home builder and electrician, he approaches climbing training from a practical viewpoint focused on building a solid foundation of climbing fundamentals. Utilizing a steady and methodical approach to training, he often works with athletes in the “blue collar” sector that require a carefully cultivated balance of effective training days coupled with critical rest periods.

Mercedes Pollmeier is a strength and conditioning coach focused on helping climbers achieve their best strength, flexibility, and nutrition to climb harder. She is the author of two books, award-winning title Peak Nutrition, and self-published title Simple Strength. She owns her own online training business, Modus Athletica, and holds a Master’s in Human Movement. She loves nerding out on sci-fi and fantasy novels, movies and animation.

Alex Bridgewater (SFB) is a strength coach and rock climber, coaching with and running the coach management program for Climb Strong. Alex believes that every person can achieve progress towards their goals through focused mental, physical, and emotional coaching. That in combination with habit changes that use simple reminders and daily systems to improve our body awareness and intentionality around physical well being, nutrition and performance. Alex specializes in strength development and performance climbing in all disciplines.

Lor is the Training Leader for the Warrior’s Way, an organization that uses climbing-based mental training to optimize human performance and mental health. Lor believes that climbers learn best through experience, so they love to convert “big picture” mental training concepts into tangible drills and activities that athletes can practice in their training sessions and everyday lives. Lor’s work is trauma-informed and explores how an athlete’s life outside of climbing can influence their ability to stay committed to the stresses of the sport and focus during key moments. Lor is currently pursuing a Masters degree in mental health counseling with an emphasis on somatic therapy and adventure-based counseling. In addition to their work in the climbing industry, Lor also volunteers with LGBTQ+ youth in crisis. When they are not coaching, Lor can be found exploring steep desert splitters and limestone roofs in the desert Southwest.

Zahan Billimoria is a coach and athlete based in Jackson, Wyoming. He is the founder of Samsara Experience - an online training company that specializes in strength and movement training for outdoor athletes. The Samsara approach is rooted in the study of Human Locomotion, the natural patterns of movement that we use to cover ground. Zahan has coached elite athletes from across the spectrum of sport from Olympic downhill skiers, to Boston RedSox players, to RedBull Athletes and elite rock climbers - all using the same simple 3 step process Pattern - Load - Accelerate.

The Samsara Method is intertwined with the study of human athleticism, and the study of the fascia system - the integrator and accelerator of all movement. Zahan teaches movement from an integrated perspective, teaching your body to harness its elasticity, coordination and proprioception to transform the way you move on the rock.

Photo © Andrew Burr

Amanda Watts is the founder of Thrive Nutrition & Dietetics. She is one of the worlds leading climbing dietitians, working globally with climbers including members of the Swiss, US, NZ and Australian climbing teams and lots of recreational climbers all over the world. 

She is the nutrition columnist for Vertical Life magazine in Australia and co-host of the Baffle Days climbing podcast. 

Amanda is an accredited practising dietitian, an accredited sports dietitian and ICF accredited coach. She has worked with people now for over 25 years as an outdoor ed instructor, climbing guide, climbing coach, behaviour and health coach and sports dietitian.

Amanda wants to make a difference to people’s lives and is passionate about helping build robust body image, a healthy relationship with food and helping climbers perform and feel the best they can. She takes an in-depth, evidence-based approach to nutrition, health and performance. 

Amanda has been climbing for over 25 years and lives with her daughter and partner Tom in the Blue Mountains in Australia. When she’s not working as a dietitian, Amanda can be found climbing in the Blue Mountains, training or exploring new climbing areas overseas with her little family. Over her 25 year climbing career, she has represented Australia in World Cup sport climbing, podiumed at multiple national and state level bouldering and climbing competitions and has climbed outdoors at a high level across sport and trad climbing and bouldering.

Amanda founded Thrive N&D to help people and athletes of all levels achieve their health goals and sporting dreams and to help non athletes evolve into a healthier and happier version of themselves.

Andrew is a Climb Strong Coach, Certified Performance Climbing Coach, and NSCA-Certified Personal Trainer. He’s been coaching and instructing climbers in gyms and professional settings for over 8 years. He currently resides in Salt Lake City with his wife Abie, where he coaches for Climb Strong remotely. Andrew has grown and learned from many injuries and setbacks during his 13 years of climbing. He has used his experience to forge a sustainable path of progression for his own climbing, and the climbing of his athletes.

Andrew coaches climbers all over the country with varying levels of experience and ability. He has developed systems to ensure that he can continue to provide high-quality coaching while his roster of athletes continues to grow. Each new athlete brings on a unique challenge, which has allowed Andrew to adapt and grow as a coach. He makes it a priority to utilize communication tools to help his athletes create a deeper understanding of what’s really holding them back, and how they can progress to reach their full potential.

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.

Joy is an avid rock climber, kettlebell enthusiast, and trail runner.  She is a Mom of three, and is living the craziness of having a teenager, toddler, and infant all at the same time.  She truly believes that we are all much stronger than we realize, we just need someone to help us tap into that potential.

With over a decade of experience training and coaching, Joy has combined her love of strength training, climbing, and movement with extensive knowledge on training during pregnancy and postpartum.  She is on a mission to equip climbers with knowledge that will empower them during their journey as a pregnant and/or postpartum climber.  

If there was ever anyone that could casually find a way to use the words ‘climbing’, ' pelvic floor’  and ‘breath mechanics’ in the same sentence…it's Joy. 

Hazel is a professional climber and a mental training coach, and she’s been climbing for 27 years since the age of 6. Well-known for bold ascents and strength of mind, she has climbed E10, 9a, font 8a (V11), freed El Capitan 4 times and put up many first ascents. While Hazel admits to still being scared when she climbs, she’s built the tools, skills and practices to manage her mind through mental training. Hazel has been coaching for the past 7 years in the area of performance psychology, stress and fear management. She specialises in helping people manage their fears in climbing and maximising performance using psychological tools. She is a trained coach with Animas coaching and The Flow Centre, and is working on her MSc in Psychology and Neuroscience.