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Truc Allen
OfficeDirector of RetailTruc started climbing 31 years ago and started climbing at EW when it was SG back in 2008. Whenever he's asked the question about what he loves about climbing, he likes to think that he loves the process, or a specific list of climbs, but it's the places it takes him that always truly comes to mind. When Trus isn't climbing, he's either surfing, spending time with the family, working on his photography, or doing a variety of different backcountry and mountain things.
When he first started climbing, his fear of heights was pretty intense. But over the decades, while the fear is still there, he sees it as a pretty big part of what makes the experience (would it be boring if it wasn't scary/exciting?). Focusing on breathing, believing in himself (no matter how much he may be lying to himself) and understanding/trusting the the gear he uses helps too. Truc's favorite place to climb in all of the world would be his home country of Vietnam, with a pretty close second in Fontainebleau, FR. As far as favorite sending snacks? Salami, tin can fish, or good old fashioned trail mix!
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Owner, General Manager, IFMGA Guide
Tod Bloxham was born and raised in Washington State, spending his adolescence exploring the mountains of the North Cascades. By the age of 18 Tod had logged well over 500 miles of North Cascades trails and backcountry and had hiked 2,700 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail, becoming the youngest solo through-hiker to travel the entire PCT from Canada to Mexico. As a climber, Tod has been climbing and skiing the backcountry since 1991, logging hundreds of ascents of rock, ice and ski routes in North America and abroad.Life in the outdoors and work must coexist for Tod; professionally, Tod has been guiding since 1999, is an IFMGA Mountain Guide, and as the owner of Edgeworks Climbing, Tod is either helping his beautiful wife show the wonders of the outdoors to their two girls, sharpening his skills on the alpine and trad climbs he pursues, or helping people discover that the outdoors and climbing can be a lifelong pursuit that is inspiring and invigorating.
Certifications / Qualifications:
IFMGA / AMGA Licensed Mountain Guide
AMGA Alpine Guide
AMGA Ski Guide
AMGA Rock Guide
AMGA Rock Instructor
Wilderness First Responder
AIARE L1/L2 Avalanche Course Leader
AIARE L3 Avalanche Forecaster -
Nate Clark
OfficeYouth Programs DirectorNate grew up in Connecticut, but didn't discover climbing until 25, when he was a grad student at UC Santa Cruz. He quickly fell in love with the problem solving and physicality of climbing, and when he and his wife moved to Washington in 2014, he started working in the gym a few months later.
Besides climbing, he loves dogs, cycling, backpacking, and cooking for friends and family.
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Front Desk, InstructorMatt is a Tacoma native and has been climbing since 18, although he's been around the Edgeworks community for much longer. As a child-wrangler at the gym, he enjoys nothing more than sharing his knowledge of climbing with others and watching them grow as climbers.
When he's not in the gym, he can be found making art, making music, or doing research on the things he enjoys. Come up and say hi!
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Youth Programs ManagerLily Fisher is a long time coach and climber who's worked in the Seattle gym since 2014. She has extensive experience teaching climbing technique and helping people learn to train in our Technique Series and Dawn Patrol classes. She loves learning about the science of training, which lead her to become a Certified Personal Trainer through the National Academy of Sports Medicine. Now she's pursuing a specialization in corrective exercise to enhance her professional development. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, climbing, foraging for mushrooms, and otherwise enjoying the outdoors.
Lily aims to create an encouraging and welcoming environment for people of all abilities to learn and grow in their climbing journey and discover the joy of training!
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Mike Fong
OfficeOperations ManagerMike came to Edgeworks through Stone Gardens Seattle in 2016 where he quickly found his home away from home. He first transitioned to the vertical life over six years ago in Rhode Island and has pursued this passion ever since. Climbing has given Mike a sense of community, identity, and empowerment and this has motivated him to create and support truly inclusive climbing spaces for others. When not pulling on plastic, Mike can be found falling off the real stuff at his favorite bouldering locations which include Squamish, Leavenworth, and Joe’s Valley.
Outside of climbing, Mike has spent time as an oceanographer, outreach educator, and pie baker. He received his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of Utah and a master’s degree in oceanography from the University of Rhode Island, but is always eager learn something new. On his rest days, Mike may be found playing video games, on a backpacking trip, sipping a boba drink, or simply jamming out to the most guilt-inducing, Top 40 hits.
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Jazzmin Fragiacomo
FitnessYoga InstructorJazzmin began her yoga journey about 7 years ago. Though she came to the practice as a way to mend an injury, she quickly fell in love with yoga as a spiritual practice. Yoga as a whole (the physical and spiritual practice) allowed Jazzmin to develop emotional, mental, spiritual, and physical reliance. As she practiced, Jazzmin believed that everyone should be able to reap the benefits of this practice. After working and practicing in studio spaces, she quickly realized that yoga spaces are highly exclusive and leave many communities out of the practice. Jazzmin went into her first 200-hour teacher training with the intention of making yoga accessible to all.
Since graduating in winter of 2020, Jazzmin has taught outdoor community classes in both California and Washington. She has undergone a Mindful Trauma Informed Yoga training and is currently in a 75-hour training focusing on Yoga and Social Justice. Jazzmin is dedicated to the health and well-being of all living things and is passionate about helping others explore their mind and body through the practice of yoga.
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Director of Climbing School + Guiding, IFMGA GuideKurt grew up in Oregon, started backpacking at age four, and began climbing when he was eight. Since then, he has climbed, skied, and guided throughout the Cascades, Alaska Range, Sierra, Rockies, and the mountains of New England, Canada, Norway, and the Alps. He loves exploring and putting up new routes the Cascades in all seasons.Kurt is an IFMGA Mountain Guide and has been guiding since 2003. He is an instructor for the American Mountain Guides Association (AMGA) and has served on their Board of Directors. Kurt has also worked as a climbing ranger at Mount Rainier National Park. He founded the Washington Anchor Replacement Project, which replaces aging climbing hardware across the state. Kurt is the author of the climbing guidebook Snoqualmie Rock and a co-author of Backcountry Skiing: Washington.
Kurt loves helping people along their own paths in their outdoor adventures. Whether it’s sharing key beta, technical skills, or teaching his children how to ski, he loves seeing people expand their skill sets, gain self-confidence, and have fun in the outdoors.
Certifications / Qualifications:
IFMGA / AMGA Licensed Mountain Guide
AMGA Alpine Guide
AMGA Ski Guide
AMGA Rock Guide
Wilderness EMT
AIARE L1/L2 Avalanche Course Leader
AIARE L3 Avalanche Forecaster
Leave No Trace Master Educator -
Christian Horton
OfficeFinance & HR ManagerOriginally from Massachusetts, Christian moved to Seattle in 1998 and has been climbing and skiing throughout the Northwest ever since. From ski descents of Mt. Rainier to long slab climbs in Darrington, he has always looked for new adventures and new places to explore. His favorite place to climb is Index.
Christian started at Stone Gardens back in 2001 and managed the Seattle gym for the last decade before moving into his current role. He remains committed to making the gym an open space where everyone from brand new to experienced climbers can have fun, challenge themselves and learn new skills.
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Abbie Madlem
OfficeDirector of OperationsAbbie was raised in the Puget Sound, where she was instilled with a love of the outdoors. She spent her days backpacking, snowshoeing, kayaking - you name it. She first came into contact with climbing as a kid at the pinnacle in REI. It looked super high and super scary, but she got over that fast and once on the wall she didn't want to come back down.
When not climbing, Abbie can be found hiking, biking, crafting, finding new places to explore, or curled up on the couch with a good book.
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Vincent Mollicone
SetterRoute SetterI'm Vincent, and I've been climbing for 10+ years, and haven't taken much of a break from it since when I started. I mostly boulder, but enjoy all styles! The most memorable climbing areas I've been to include, Bishop, Joe's valley, Rocklands (South Africa), Indian Creek, and Vedauwoo.
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Keller Morrison
SetterRoute Setter
Keller was born and raised in Seattle, but it was in Portland, OR during his college days that he discovered his passion for climbing on rocks. Keller has been climbing since 2012 and has been setting since 2016. His favorite type of climbing is bouldering but enjoys sport climbing as well.Keller likes to eat standing up, is allergic to cats, and his favorite color is purple. When Keller is not eating or climbing, he likes to sit down.
Certifications:
USAC Level 1 Route Setter
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Tay Nick
SetterRoute SetterTay started climbing in a small Midwestern gym in March 2020. Shortly after, the pandemic hit and the gym was shut down. To cope with living in a place with little outdoor climbing, Tay climbed trees around her grad school campus. After finishing her PhD, she moved to Seattle to work as a postdoctoral scientist. She specifically moved as close to Edgeworks as possible to feed her climbing obsession. Things escalated quickly, and Tay found herself first working at the gym as a Route Removal Tech then as a Route Setter.
Tay loves climbing on the Kilter Board, which has influenced her climbing and setting style. However, she tries to use setting to explore other movement styles and train her weaknesses. Being relatively new at climbing, she is currently focused on gaining as much outdoor climbing experience as possible. Outside of climbing, Tay enjoys fashion, science, mushroom hunting, and hanging out with her pets.
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Front Desk, Yoga InstructorNell was exposed to yoga almost 15 years ago and has practiced on and off since. In the past few years, she has felt a desire to cultivate a deeper connection with the world and with herself. She sought transformation as many do on their yogic journey. After dancing professionally for 12 years, Nell adapted to the physical practice of yoga quickly and it inspired her to complete her RYT-200 certification with the RASA Yoga school taught by Greta Hill.
Nell’s curious heart continually draws her toward the ancient tradition of yoga and how to honor its roots. She finds interest in shadow work (learning about and working through our inner most vulnerabilities) and how yoga can heal and transform those suffering. Nell is a true believer that yoga is for all. She is devoted to being a forever student of the yoga tradition and is honored to have the opportunity to step into the seat of the teacher. Nell’s teachings focus on strong alignment and foundation, creative and energetic flow in the body, and cultivating courage and empowerment to help students step into the world with a greater sense of Self.
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Route Setter, Maintenance Supervisor, Front Desk SupervisorYogi was born and raised in Seattle, WA. He never did a single sport activity until he joined Stone Gardens in 2015. Since then he has been grateful climbing the ranks of the industry as much as he enjoys climbing the boulders. Aside from climbing, he loves sitting on the couch playing video games.
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Michelle Scheele
OfficeMarketing DirectorMichelle has been involved with Edgeworks since the spark and the dream planted itself in Tod’s mind while on their honeymoon in New Zealand in 2002. After spending 10+ years working in non-profit fundraising and adding two beautiful daughters to their family (Hailey and Kayla), Michelle officially joined the Edgeworks staff in 2013.
While you won’t often see her sending routes and pulling plastic in the gym, you will find her in yoga classes or belaying/chasing her kids up and around the wall. On weekends she can be found running around the North End in Tacoma, adventuring with Tod and the kids, skiing, or visiting family in Bellingham. Cooking, photography, and travel top her wish list of “hobbies”.
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Keath Suchy
SetterHead Route SetterKeath grew up in Salt Lake City, where he fell in love with climbing. He has traveled all over the world pursuing his passion of outdoor bouldering. Most notably, Fontainebleau, Frace, Rocklands, South Africa and MagicWood, Switzerland. Route setting was a natural career choice and has taken him across the country setting comps.When Keath isn't setting or climbing you can find him at the park with his two dogs, Tuna and Lola, working on his self-converted campervan or hanging out having a cold beer.
Certifications:
USAC Level 3 Route Setter -
Sam Taglia
OfficeAssistant Operations ManagerI started climbing at Edgeworks after I first moved to Seattle from Columbus, Ohio. I took one of our lead climbing courses and just kept coming back afterwards. My first love was the physical workout of climbing, but the incredible people are what keep me coming back. I love competing in low-pressure community comps, they're always a great way to have fun with friends and to test to see how far I've come as a climber.
I'm a steadfast believer that indoor bouldering and outdoor sport climbing is the best combo. When I'm climbing outside I love a good World Wall day, but my heart is in Red Rock/Kraft Boulders and the infinite number of local bouldering and sport routes in the area. Without fail, I always pack a PB&J and as many fruit snacks as I can fit in my rope bag.
On my days off I can be found helicopter-parenting my cat Milo, taking care of my veggie garden, spending all my money on legos, and reading too much sci-fi and fantasy. As much as I like the occasional day hike, sometimes they can feel like a long approach with no climbing reward at the end (classic climber opinion). I'm also a big fan of trivia and karaoke nights with friends, and my go-to move lately is soloing the entirety of My Shot from Hamilton.
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Pepy Tseng
OfficeGym Marketing ManagerPepy was born in Taiwan and raised in Chile, South America. She began bouldering at a local gym in college, and eventually started working there.
Pepy has climbed all over the US over the past 6 years, and her favorite destinations so far are Squamish & Lower Chaos Canyon in RMNP. Since moving to Seattle 4 years ago, she has been climbing and working at Stone Gardens as a Junior program instructor, Front desk staff, and Route Stripping staff; but most recently her love of photography, filming, graphic design, and the climbing community has led to her most recent role as the Social Media Lead for Seattle.
When not climbing, Pepy can be found skiing, hiking, running, or cooking with her husband and friends.
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Ashley Wallace
FitnessYoga InstructorAshley has used yoga to work through difficult experiences and connect back to body and breath. She is passionate about creating a space where others can ground into the moment and use Asanas and breath to work through whatever comes up for them. She has been practicing yoga since 2012. Through a combination of grounding meditation and Vinyasa flow Ashley works to cultivate a space for healing. Her ultimate goal is to create a space where anyone can practice in community and find grace through the flow.
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Director of Route Setting
Justin began his routesetting journey back in his home state of Massachusetts in 2008. Fast forward 14 years: His passion for climbing evolved into a career. He is a level 4 USAC certified routesetter that has developed routesetting teams across the country and set at high-level climbing competitions all over the US.His focus over the last few years has revolved around the professionalization of route setting and the creation of mentorship and education programs. He strives to constantly push the bounds of commercial and competition style routesetting to expose climbing communities to new styles of movement.
When Justin isn’t setting or climbing, you’ll find him behind the lens of a camera or kiteboarding in the wind.
Certifications / Qualifications:
USAC Level 4 Route Setter -
Jason Zevenbergen
SetterRoute SetterJason started climbing at Stone Gardens in 2016. After a year of college at Montana State, Jason realized he was climbing more than studying, and wanted to pursue a different career path. He started working as an EMT in 2021, but had had enough by the end of the year and started working at Edgeworks Seattle. Jason has been route setting since April 2022, and has never had a better job!
One of Jason's favorite parts of route setting is interacting with the Edgeworks community. He loves creating climbs for others, and hopes his routes are fun and inspiring!
