Member Spotlight: Sept 2017

Alex Nall

Member since 2016

How did you start climbing? 

Alex: I started climbing when I was a kid.  The most memorable summer of my life was after a hurricane hit my hometown in Alabama.  I  would visit my cousin and we would go into the woods and climb all the fallen trees.  Our parents probably would have killed us if  they knew how much fun we were-I mean-how dangerous it was.

Why do you climb at Edgeworks? 

Alex: What other gym helps you celebrate your first peeler?  The sense of community is fantastic, whether it’s the staff, regulars, or  people trying climbing for the first time; the encouragement and shared enthusiasm of this weird, beautiful, BA thing we do is as  inspiring as watching Meru (or The Sharp End) for the fifth time.  Also, the route-setting is baller. I’ve been to a few gyms, and I have  to say that the routes here are some of the most creative (and sometimes sadistic) I’ve encountered.  (Now hand over my five dollars.)

Where is your favorite place to climb outside? 

Alex: I’m new to falling outside, but I particularly like falling in North Bend due to its proximity to my bed.  Strip Clip was my first slab and  I still love it the most.  A Girl’s Best Friend is both aesthetically beautiful and wonderfully challenging; that’s the first climb I looked  back on and was like, “Oh, shit!  I did that!”

What do you do when you’re not climbing?

Alex:  When I’m not climbing, I’m probably thinking about climbing.  Or girls.  Or wizards.  Or inequality.  The order kind of changes  depending on the day.  I bartend at DOA and find myself in awe of the fact that I get paid to make craft cocktails and basically throw  parties.  I love reading/writing/watching fantasy, physics, and solving puzzles.  I always thought my number one love would be  running until climbing topped out over that priority center in my brain.  It seemingly uses every aspect of the body, and although  fleeting because I’m still a beginner, the sense of flow is unparalleled whenever I’m lucky enough to have it.

Which do you prefer: top rope, lead, or bouldering?

Alex: That’s kind of a personal question.  I like top-roping because I can go all out.  I like bouldering because it scares and challenges  me.  I would probably have to go with lead though; there’s a very real sense of danger and calculation.  I sort of like the masochistic  cycle of “YUSSSSS, I GOT TO THE QUICKDRAW!!!!” to “I’M ABOVE THE QUICK DRAW I’M GONNA DIE”.

What are some interesting facts that you’d like to share with the Edgeworks community?

Alex: Fact: I can beatbox the Super Mario theme like whoa.  I love music and was in a few bands in East Nashville (one of which had over  20 people in it, and no, it was not the Polyphonic Spree).  Fact: Our solar system contains one star.  There are 100,000 MILLION  stars in our Milky Way Galaxy alone.  Lastly there’s an estimable one hundred BILLION galaxies in the observable universe (which is  technically expanding faster than the speed of light).  How cool is that?

What’s your go-to route grade?

Alex: The one that shuts me down, at the very least, temporarily.  That could be a 10+, 11, 12-, V3 or V4.  Anything that forces me to  learn a move or see the wall differently makes me very satisfied.