Robert – El Presidente

“Trail? We don’t need no stinkin’ trail!”

Rob constructed GRG in 1999. When he’s not busy welding steel to expand Gainesville’s rock climbing universe, he enjoys riding his bike, drinking coffee and teaching people to tie the figure-of-eight knot.

Rob started climbing during high school in Virginia and West Virginia. After university, he moved to Florida to bring vertical

opportunities to woefully flat terrain-bound adventure-seekers.

After over a dozen years, sharing rock climbing with new people still gives him a thrill.

Outside the gym, Rob has a keen knack for finding the most challenging (albethey beautiful) approach routes, see the nearby picture.

Ken – General Manager

“Great achievement is usually born of great sacrifice and is never the result of selfishness.” – Napoleon Hill

Ken’s first climbing experience was in the mid 80s at Shawnee National Forest located in the Ozarks and Shawnee Hills of Southern Illinois. His favorite climbs were in the Garden of the Gods Wilderness; unfortunately they are no longer accessible to climbers. He also enjoys climbing at the Red River Gorge in Kentucky. Sport climbing is his favorite form of climbing.

Ken has skydived at least 6 times and will continue into the future. He has raced cars and dirt bikes on dirt tracks in the Midwest. He has hiked and hitchhiked all over the country and has some great stories.

Ken has been the General Manager at GRG for the last 3 years. He has developed many relationships with local groups such as University of Florida, Sante Fe Community College, Sebastian Ferrero Foundation, Climb for Cancer Foundation, and many Alachua County Schools in an effort to introduce climbing to our local community.

Kimberly – Shift Manager

“Civilization is the limitless multiplication of unnecessary necessities.” – Mark Twain

Kimberly spends her extra time drawing, hiking, reading and climbing. Her goal in life is to backcountry hike in all 59 national parks in the US and she’s almost halfway there.

Previously, she’s taught fine art and computer coding to Alachua and Marion County students. She graduated from UF in 2004 with a Master’s Degree and her studies focused on Education, Fine Art, and Zoology. She loves building websites using coding and teaching students how to draw to document their worlds. She likes endeavors that stem from hard work and creativity.

She is addicted to top rope climbing at GRG. Right now she is focusing on improving her technique and strength so she can hike and climb on her upcoming road trips in the Spring. Her favorite place to climb at GRG is the newest route on the wall and she likes balancy/stretchy routes. Her focus for the future is getting more involved with the tactical/arbor/industrial side of climbing to help local businesses and organizations improve their gear and saftey.

Patrick – BHS Climbing Coach, Shift Manager

“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”- Thomas A. Edison

Patrick teaches AP English Language at Buchholz High School. He married his college sweetheart, Kat, and they have two children: Eliana and Sam. He coaches two competition climbers and is the coordinator for the GRG Summer Climbing Camp. He is also the sponsor for the BHS Rock Climbing Club, which currently has 35 members for this school year.

Patrick started climbing while visiting a friend in Atlanta. She asked him if he wanted to go bouldering. He wasn’t sure what she meant and he reminded her of his fear of heights. They went to Boat Rock and by the end of the day his hands were raw and he was hooked. His favorite place to climb outside is Stone Fort (LRC) in Chattanooga, TN. Bouldering is his favorite type of climbing and at GRG he likes the Slab Wall and the Tunnel. And, as he mentioned before, “I have a clinical fear of heights and I rock climb!”

Besides climbing, he has interests in running, fitness, nutrition, computers, guitar and bass guitar. He likes mostly rock music (classic, alternative and some industrial). When asked if he any favorite authors or books, he reply’s “That would be a long list!” His favorite author is Kurt Vonnegut, although Cormac McCarthy and Christopher Moore are way up there.

He lived in Paraguay for seven years and would like to visit Southeast Asia someday. The one thing that he’s wanted to do since he was a child is to become a teacher. Luckily that worked out =). He has a BA in Secondary Education and English with Masters Degree at the University of Alabama and The George Washington University. He has over 13 years teaching experience ranging from 6th-12th grade. He’s also taught in Asunción, Paraguay for 7 years in a bilingual college preparatory school. He’s fluent in Spanish.

Fred – Portable Wall Manager

“Feed a man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime.” -Lao Tzu

“I live for the moments I won’t remember with the friends I’ll never forget.” -Unknown

Fred’s favorite place to climb outside is Horse Pens 40 in Alabama. He likes bouldering most and his favorite place to climb in GRG is The Tunnel. Anyone that inspirers him to push himself and that he enjoys climbing with is his favorite climber. The 5.10 Anasazi Moccasyms is his favorite shoe for all around climbing, but for steep bouldering he likes La Sportiva’s Solutions.

When asked what is one interesting thing about him, he answers: “It would easier to ask the people around me. I’ve been told I’m odd. I think the thing that gets brought up the most is that I paint my toenails.” He thinks there is something good in every genre of music and he listens to everything from Hank Williams to Lady Gaga, the Dillinger Escape Plan to Billie Holiday and everything in between. His favorite artists would probably be Tool, Portishead and Mike Patton. As for books, he likes dark satires and comic books. His favorite authors are Chuck Palahniuk and Garth Ennis.

He’s a jack-of-all-trades and master of none and it seems like he gets a new hobby every week. Among them are martial arts, slacklining, traveling, performance art, cuddling with his kitty, playing music, collecting art and neat stuff. His favorite food is sushi and you could visit anywhere in the world it would be Thailand. Great deep water soloing, amazing food, the home of Muay Thai and elephants walking in the streets. What else could you want?

One thing that he’s wanted to do since he was a child is be a superhero and if he had to pick a power it would be all of them. He likes kitties!!! He also like monsters…

“Life is short and it’s filled with stuff.” -The Cramps

Life is pain. You have to scrape the joy out of it every chance you get.” – Rod Kimble

Giuseppe – Youth Climbing Coach

“Many a forenoon have I stolen away, preferring to spend the most valued part of the day; for I was rich, if not in money, in sunny hours and summer days, and spent them lavishly; nor do I regret that I did not waste more of them in the workshop or the teacher’s desk.” – Thoreau

Giuseppe’s favorite outside climb is probably LRC, TN. Europe is incredible, but he hasn’t climbed there much because it’s so far across the pond. Ask him that in a few years and his answer is likely to change. Bouldering is his favorite type of climbing. Sport climbing is a lot of fun too, but bouldering is what he does the most. His friends are his favorite climbers, “They inspire me and make me laugh”.

He’s a second generation Italian with dual citizenship and his father is from Provincia di Campobasso. His real name is Giuseppe, though his parents were convinced to have it legally changed to the americanized ‘Joseph’ to keep ignorant kids from picking on him in grade school. He’s been called Giuseppe, Peppiniello, Peppino, Joseph, Joe, Joey.

Besides climbing he spends his time doing photography (has his own darkroom), painting, surfing, cycling, soccer, cooking, napping, playing the flute. His favorite genres of music: Norwegian death metal, electro-pop, hip hop, classical…. so much more. Genres aren’t specific enough. His favorite reads are philosophical reads: J.L. Mackie, John Stuart Mill, Plato, Peter Singer, Ayn Rand, Henry David Thoreau, J.R.R. Tolkien, Jeanette Winterson. His favorite kind of food: mi preferito Italiano tradizionale!

Giuseppe wants to visit New Zealand and one thing that he’s wanted to do since he was a child is free-dive with a great white shark. He’s currently working on his undergrad curriculum for a B.S. in environmental science with a minor in physics at UF. He wants to work in physical oceanography/ocean geophysics research.

Good footwork is an art form.

Andrew – UF Climbing Team Coach, Climbing Specialist, Birthday Belayer

Andrew started rock climbing at 15 years old when his best friend told him about this cool place where you pay to climb walls in his hometown of Melbourne, FL. He humored him because he was so excited, but he didn’t think he would like it all that much. Now at age 23, he knew his friend was right and he was wrong. Andrew has been climbing almost nonstop since then and has climbed many places (on real rock and plastic). He started competing in 2006 and now he is coaching the UF Climbing Team.

Ian – Climbing Specialist

Ian grew up in Naples and is currently a student at the University of Florida studying finance with a minor in Real Estate. Ian loves to climb outside; his favorite places are Horse Pens 40, L.R.C., The Red River Gorge, and Rocktown.

He started climbing at GRG over 2 years ago when a friend brought him to the gym and now he’s addicted to climbing. His favorite place to climb in the gym is the 30-Degree Wall, and the Walcano. When given a choice on climbing types, he would choose to boulder. He thinks ALL gear is awesome!!!

He completed a thru-hike of the Colorado trail, a 485 mile trail from Denver to Durango, that took 35 days to complete. He would like to visit Thailand and South Africa (Rocklands). One thing that he’s wanted to do since he was a child was to climb Mt. Everest. His favorite climbers are Jason Kehl and Sasha DiGiulian. Gary Paulsen is currently his favorite author. He likes country, rap (Lil Wayne) and rock n’ roll. When he has free time he likes to hunt, fish, and play soccer. When asked what kind of food he likes the most, he answers: “BEEF it’s what’s for dinner”.

“I feel big, ya know what I mean. Like not, not big in the sense of weight.

You know what I mean like gaining weight. Or, nothin’ like that, like, COLOSSAL!

Know what I mean like, uhhh (sigh)… I heard you were lookin’ for me?” – Lil Wayne

Casey – Climbing Specialist

“No matter how much cats fight, there always seem to be plenty of kittens.”

Casey’s favorite place to climb outside is Little Rock City/Stone Fort. Bouldering is his style and in the gym he likes to climb in The Tunnel. When asked what kind of gear he prefers, he answers, “My muscles…….”. He started climbing in high school.

Casey likes DISCO and Kurt Vonnegut. Besides climbing his other hobby is eating and his favorite kind of food is sushi! Since he was a child, one thing that he’s wanted to do is to be a ninja.

He grew up in Gainesville…ACR! He’s currently working on a Business Degree from Santa Fe College.