Greg Child

Bio:

During Greg's 30-year climbing career, he's conquered 5.13 routes, A5 big walls and the highest peaks in the Himalaya, namely Everest and K2. Greg's climbing roots lead back to his native Australia, where he was a teenage collector of snakes. When a deadly tiger snake bit him, he turned to safer activities- such as rock climbing. As a teenager he did many first ascents of free climbs on the notoriously difficult cliffs on Mount Arapiles, and even today he maintains a high level of free climbing. In 2002, he established a spectacular multi-pitch 5.13 first ascent called "Excommunication" on a desert tower called the Priest. After taking up residence in America in 1980, he made his mark in Yosemite with two new routes on El Capitan. Big walls led to travels to the Himalaya, to which he has made 13 mountaineering expeditions. More recently he has turned to exploratory mountaineering. In 1999, he trekked through a remote jungle in Northeast India to seek out unclimbed peaks on the Indo-Tibet border, and his team became the first Westerners to encounter the Bungaroo people of the upper Kurung Valley. His most recent adventure was a 120-mile lightweight backpacking traverse of Comb Ridge, a stretch of the Arizona-Utah desert that encompasses the heartlands of the ancient, and vanished, Anasazi Indian culture. He has recorded his career in books, photographs, TV documentaries and articles for magazines such as Outside,National Geographic, and Climbing.

Birthdate:

4/12/1957

Favorite Destination:

Indian Creek, UT

Favorite The North Face Product:

The no longer inline flashflood waterproof pack was EXCELLENT in the rain forest in Guyana. Outrider pack - can be imprived and lightened up but its large and comfy

Proudest Moment:

I like to recall the day I summited K2 in 1990.

Cause(s):

Since we are depleting everything natural on earth, I have a soft spot for ecoterrorism.

Words To Live By:

Try not to take life to seriously.

Favorite Movie:

Sexy Beast

Most Recent Epic:

Slogging through the jungle of Guyana to get to Mt. Roraima.

Weakness:

So many choices….

Inspiration Within the Sport:

Honesty

Funniest Story:

Have you heard the one about sleeping in a tent on Malcala at 25,000 and spilling the pee bottle thus forming a urine skating rink on the tent floor?

Career Highlights:

• Winner of an Emmy for video in Hitting the Wall, 1998
• First ascent of Great Snail Peak in Baffin Island, 1998
• Winner of Banff Mountain Festival Book Award for Postcards From the Ledge, 1997
• Ascent of North Ridge of Everest, 1995
• First ascent of "Wall of Shadows" on Mount Hunter in Alaska, 1994
• New route on Trango Tower (20,500 ft.) in Pakistan, 1992
• Oxygenless ascent of K2 North Ridge, 1990
• First ascent of Northwest Ridge of Gasherbrum IV (26,000 ft.) in Pakistan, 1986
• Himalayan successes include a new route on Shivling (21,500 ft.) in India, 1981
• Two first ascents on El Capitan: "Aurora" and "Lost in America"

Selected Books by Greg Child:

• Over the Edge, 2001
• Postcards from the Ledge, 1997
• Mixed Emotions, 1994
• Thin Air: Encounters in the Himalaya, 1988

Film Highlights:

• African Ascent, National Geographic, a first ascent in Cameroon, Africa, 1999
• Hitting the Wall, National Geographic, a first ascent in Baffin Island, 1998
• First Ascent, National Geographic, a first ascent in Pakistan, 1997
• The Face, BBC, about climbing in Vietnam, 1996
• One Foot on the Road to Everest, Everest ascent, 1995