Mission
Hey there! I'm Trevor, a passionate rock climber on a mission to empower and inspire fellow climbers. My love for the outdoors and for climbing started at an early age and has been a transformative journey ever since. With my extensive qualifications, experience, and notable achievements, I'm excited to share my knowledge and insights with you.
With Tiptop Climbing, I aim to foster empathy, autonomy, and critical thinking within the climbing community, empowering climbers of all skill levels to push their limits and reach new heights.
Background
My experiences in the woods began when my dad started taking us on group camping trips. I quickly figured out that I preferred living and learning outside of the traditional classroom. My passion led me to the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) in 2011 where I learned to appreciate the difference between backcountry living and backcountry thriving. I began working in the outdoor industry field in 2012 in the roles of an educator, leader, and mentor for students in North Carolina, New York, Connecticut, and Ecuador.
I am trained as both a climbing instructor as well as science teacher. I have a Single Pitch Instructor certification from the American Mountain Guides Association, over 160 hours of wilderness medical training as well as a Wildnerness First Responder certification. I have a degree in writing curriculum and instruction and am certified to teach Biology, Physics, and Earth Science for grades 7-12. I aim to incorporate innate curiousity with solid pedagogy in everything I teach.
Empathy
We’re all out here to have some fun while climbing. Beyond that, it’s all semantics. It’s important to take the present moment at face value and understand that each one of us has felt the same feelings at one point or another. We’ve all felt afraid or frustrated before, and we’ve all been in stressful situations before. Let’s treat each other and ourselves with patience and kindness to maximize our fun.
Autonomy
I prefer to know the ins and outs of the mechanisms that I trust my life to when I’m putting myself in vertical terrain. I think it’s important to have a self-preservation instinct, as well as the humility to appreciate human error. Redundancy in gear and partner checks helps to mitigate risk. In order to know the potential errors, we must know the risks and how to properly mitigate them. Minimize complacency, maximize fun.
Critical Thinking
It’s important to acquire the toolbox of skills and knowledge, but more important is the application of the tools in real life. As we progress in climbing, we will continually be presented with new challenges where it will come down to our own judgment to apply the correct tool for the job at hand.