Hello again!

Its been pretty quiet on the Fernweh front of late but we are back and raring to go! We are just back from spending 3 weeks in South Africa to rest and recharge and are back at Fernweh HQ truly inspired by our travels and excited for the coming months.

There will be posts of our African Adventure heading online soon, but in the meantime we thought we would share a great interview with Fernweh Adventurer Steve Gaspar, who took the time to answer a few questions we put to him about all things climbing!

Fernweh has been lucky enough to have some amazing followers and supporters from the very beginning of our journey, and we are proud to say that Steve has been there right from the start and we were delighted that he became our first sponsored athlete and the first ever Fernweh Adventurer!

We caught up with Steve before we went to South Africa, and chatted all things climbing and fitness, including his passion for route setting and hopes for the future.

We hope you enjoy! 🙂

(Pictured: Steve wears the Fernweh ‘NESS’ Backpack, and holds the Original Wax Cotton Boulder Bag, available online.)

Name: Steve Gaspar Hometown/Current Location: Los Angeles, California Career: Competition / Commercial Routesetter & Competitive Climbing Coach Instagram:@stevegaspar

How did you get into climbing? I started mountaineering when I lived on the East Coast of the USA. I never really ever considered the idea of climbing for “difficulty” or grade when I was growing up, rather the adventure and experience. I loved going on multi day trips that would take me far above tree line. I constantly found myself on exposed ridges and places that required all of the traditional climbing skills that I use today such as building anchors and belays, however I was never pushing my physical limits at this time.

What draws you to the sport? The sense of adventure, the beautiful places you find yourself, and especially the people you meet along the way. Climbing is one giant around the world family that you are a part of as soon as you start climbing. You can meet someone from across the world, but if you have climbing in common you could talk for days. Pushing yourself beyond what you thought your physical limits were is a pretty powerful feeling too.

Favourite thing about Fernweh? The quality of Fernweh products are unlike anything else on the market. Every single item is made by hand, and this shows in every stitch. Nowhere else can you find such unique, beautiful, durable products. /div> Where is your favourite place to climb? Bishop, CA – you can spend a lifetime exploring the boulders that Bishop has to offer, and when you want to tie in to a rope you have Owen’s River Gorge right in town. Plus, you are so close to Yosemite, and Tahoe. Joshua Tree National Park has some of the most spiritual energy that I have ever felt – it is pretty magnetic. The possibility for development in Colorado is pretty cool too. Just from a little bit of time spent exploring I have found world class granite that nobody had ever touched before! Tell us about a climbing adventure? I will tell you two. My first climbing “epic” was on Mount Washington about 10 years ago. Mount Washington is the tallest mountain in New Hampshire, however isn’t what any true peak bagger would consider to be a “big” mountain – at only 1,916 meters. What people note is the fact that Mount Washington is home to literally the world’s worst weather. Temperatures have reached minus 46C (only colder temperatures have been recorded on the south pole), and the world’s strongest wind gust of 372km/h have been recorded on this mountain. My partner and I were hoping to put up a new route in winter that would take an unclimbed gully north of the ravine bowl to the summit. Conditions were ideal, however 200 feet or so from the summit a snow storm blew in within about 15 minutes. We hunkered down for an hour or so before deciding to bail. We descended in a white out until we found a suitable place to set up camp. The storm stayed on us for two more days before we were able to descend (at this point the snow had lightened up and turned more into a freezing rain). It took us an entire day to make it back to our car where we then had to make the 6 hour drive back to Boston. I wasn’t able to feel warm again for two weeks, however we survived and I learned a lot about myself, and about the mountain. OK, next climbing story – one day I was drinking cold beers while laying in the sun on a crash pad in Bishop. End of story… 😉 If you aren’t climbing, what can you usually be found doing? I have a passion for fitness so if I am not climbing or in the gym lifting weights or doing some other form of cross training, I can usually be found working on my nutrition. I love shopping for healthy food, and trying new recipes in the kitchen – lately I have been experimenting with a vegetarian diet so I am preparing all sorts of different meat alternatives to ensure that I am getting at least 150 grams of protein each day on a plant based diet. Trying out these new recipes are what allow me to stay on such a healthy diet while not getting bored eating the same food every day. Tell us a random fact about you! I have a degree in guitar performance from Berklee College of Music in Boston. If I wasn’t setting and coaching I would be on tour with a band somewhere. I find route setting to be a BETTER expression of my art that playing music. Hopes for the future? I want to continue to travel and set at gyms and competitions around the WORLD! I hope that climbing becomes an olympic sport so I have the opportunity to apply to be an olympic route setter. Oh, and climbing 8b+ would be nice too. 🙂 We hope you enjoyed our interview with Steve, and be sure to follow him on Instagram to keep up to date with his fantastic content and his journey within the climbing community! 🙂 If anyone has any questions they would like to put to Steve in later interviews, let us know in the comments! 😀 Until next time! Laura Fernweh UK Follow the adventure on social media : www.fernwehuk.com www.facebook.com/FernwehUK | @FernwehUK Go Further. Stay Curious.

Photography Credit goes to Zac Stamper and Katie Bay Woodbury.