BRITTANY GORIS

Professional climber and unprofessional dirtbag

Brittany is a professional climber and unprofessional dirtbag, living on the road full-time in an endless pursuit of impossible dreams. She can be found climbing wherever the season allows for short shorts and long pitches, or at the mechanic fixing her not-so-trusty Econoline van. In between adventures, she enjoys working remotely as a graphic designer, collecting bones, dumpster diving, writing, and beating you at Settlers of Catan.

Birthday: December 31, 1992
Home town: Fort Collins, CO
Current home: My van. It's extremely rare that I am anywhere for more than three months at a time
Favorite MAXIM rope: not defined yet

“Keep dreamin', stay hungry, and remember that there is no finish line.”

Todd Skinner

“To all you anonymous internet cowards
Who are cluelessly perched on your ivory tower
You avoided the chance
Futuristically blind
See this sport will advance
And it will leave you behind
You’ll be bitter and washed up, peakin’ at 5.10
Lurkin’ on 8a and dreamin’ of my sends
Haters, but do I attack ‘em? Nope.
They’re easy to handle, like a Maxim rope. "

Kris ‘Odub’ Hampton, ‘Haters’

Get to know Brittany ...

Tell us how you and when you got into climbing?
When I was in fifth grade, my sister had to learn how to rappel for a school trip. The moment we walked into a climbing gym for the first time I felt a calling; one I have been following ever since.

What do you think was the highlight of your climbing carreer s(so far)?
Knowing that my climbing inspires others to try harder or dream bigger means more to me than any particular ascent.

What are you doing when you are not climbing?
Working (I am a graphic designer), writing, going to breweries, playing games, dumpster diving, collecting bones, watching TV…

What is the soundtrack of your life (favorite song)?
Whatever it Takes by Imagine Dragons has been getting me fired up for years.

Do you have any peculiar eating habits?
I buy bulk lots of expired protein bars off eBay, and dumpster dive whenever I can.

What stokes you most?
Splitter cracks and a rich history of a route are the things that inspire me the most.

If you could choose a super power, what would it be?
To never have campfire smoke blow towards me. Any real superpower would take all the challenge out of climbing.

What was your favorite climbing adventure?
The Salathe!

What would you be doing if you weren't a pro climber?
The exact same thing I’m doing now; I have a job as a graphic designer, and I’d still be living out of a van chasing my dreams.

Find out more about Brittany here:
BrittanyGoris.com
Instagram: @gorisb

Brittany Goris climbing City Park, 5.13+

Career Highlights

City Park

Country/City: Index, WA
Grade: 5.13+
Length: 350 ft

It’s impossible to describe my journey with City Park in less than multiple pages of exposition, but in short, it will always be the route that changed my life. It was what got me into trad climbing, crack climbing, and climbing history. The richness of my experience on that route was eventually what gave me the courage to leave Washington and hit the road, because I knew after City Park that more was out there.

Stingray

Country/City: Joshua Tree National Park, CA
Grade: 5.13+
Length: 90 ft

Stingray remains the deepest I’ve ever had to dig for a project; I failed on it nearly fifty times including falling on the very last move, but it taught me just what is possible with enough heart, and when one can find the courage to really dream big, and to never give up. It remains the physically and mentally hardest route I have done to date, despite having climbed harder grades and bigger walls elsewhere since.

Salathe

Country/City: Yosemite National Park, CA
Grade: 5.13b VI
Lenght: 3500 ft

The Salathe was perhaps my magnum opus of meaningful climbing experiences. Never before did I feel so much a part of something bigger than me, than when I finally went to Yosemite to immerse myself in history, follow in the footsteps of my biggest heroes, completely abandon my comfort zone, and see just how big of an adventure I could have.

Up to the top!