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Meet Josh Mausolf, a sixteen-year-old sophomore currently residing in Alabama, and an amazing rock climber whom The Cracked Pot had the honor of interviewing for this month’s Sports Spotlight.

From childhood Josh always loved climbing trees and tying knots. However, his introduction to rock climbing emerged from a very unlikely source, Mission Impossible II. In the beginning of that movie actor Tom Cruise climbs up a massive sandstone face. In Josh’s own words, “… as a little kid who knew nothing about rock climbing, it looked cool. I went to a local rock gym in Virginia Beach, where I lived at the time, and I was hooked from there.”

Since then, climbing has become his passion, and Josh has gone on to rock climb in five styles (top roping, sports, traditional, bouldering, and buildering) in Alabama, Hawaii, South Dakota, Virginia, and Wyoming. These types of climbing require different skills and techniques to overcome particular obstacles.

Two of Josh’s most significant accomplishments, climbs of Devil’s Tower and Shark’s Breath, also serve as his most memorable climbing experiences. Devil’s Tower, a towering monument of approximately 650 feet, ranks as one of the highest and one of the hardest climbs which he has made thus far. Josh said, pertaining to his experience during that climb, “Chipmunks climb up the tower with you, and you have turkey vultures soaring below you. It looks pretty gnarly when you see birds flying a couple hundred feet below you.” In his ascent of Shark’s Breath Josh led his first climb, meaning that he went up first and had the responsibility of affixing anchor points for the climbers behind him to use. Leading a climb also ranks much more difficult than following a climb; the leader risks falling at least ten to twenty feet if he or she makes a mistake.

Josh’s harder lead climbs rank at about an average of 5.7 on the Yosemite Decimal System, the system in the United States for the designating the difficulty of climbs. These rankings incorporate a wide variety of factors, including the angle of the rocks, the availability and location of grips, and the general level of experience needed to identify handholds and footholds. Easier climbs usually have two handholds and footholds for each move, and a person possessing little or no rock climbing skills can climb them easily. However, by level of 5.7 one handhold or foothold usually does not exist for each move, and the climber needs to possess a fair amount of experience and skill in order to identify the remaining grips.

Furthermore, Josh has followed climbs up to the more difficult ranking of 5.10b, which requires excellent rock climbing skills. As he explains the difference in the difficulty levels between the climbs he has led and followed, “Following a climb is when you go up second or later. There is much less stress and you can climb easier. You don’t have the responsibility of being the leader, or have to fall a long ways. Thus you can follow harder climbs then you can lead.”

Through rock climbing, Josh has met three extremely qualified climbers to whom he now looks up: Dawn Glanc, Curt Love, and Frank Sanders. Dawn Glanc, who Josh met through a climbing program, taught him “pretty much all I know about climbing.” She also gave him the opportunity to assist in guiding climbing courses. Frank Sanders owns a lodge near Devil’s Tower and has climbed Devil’s Tower upwards of one thousand times. According to Josh, “He’s quite a character, and almost everyone seems to know him.”

Besides rock climbing, Josh indulges in a fair share of other athletic endeavors. He also engages in ice climbing, a variant of rock climbing which utilizes different tools and techniques, backpacking, bow hunting, duck hunting, football, fishing, orienteering, paintballing, and winter camping. In particular, Josh immensely enjoys winter camping, adding that “the colder, the better; negative temperatures are great.” As evidenced by his many activities, sports play an important role in his life. “It plays a big role; I love sports and just enjoy doing the Whenever I get the chance, I’m out there.”

This fall Josh also plans on taking a Wilderness First Responder course, a strenuous program spanning dozens of hours of class and consisting of challenging outdoor simulations which will train him to handle adverse medical situations that he may encounter in any of his outdoor activities.

Skills he has acquired from rock climbing have also contributed to Josh’s other athletic endeavors. “I know how to set up ropes so I can set up Christmas lights on the roof safel And if a hike is hard or in sketchy terrain, my climbing skills make it easier and safer to navigate through.”

What kind of role does God have in Josh’s climbing?

“Well, he made the rocks, and he’s the one who protects me when I’m up there. It is also really awesome to be scaling such awesome, magnificent forms of God’s creation.”

 

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Coach Weis's Call Josh Mausolf: A Rad Rock Climber