Keynote: A Celebration of Ogden Climbing

This year our keynote spotlight will shine on the history and development of rock climbing in the Ogden area. Ogden's climbing roots run deep within a rich history of exploration, passion and creativity. Even the roots of this festival itself were a continuation of a community event pioneered by our local legend Jeff Lowe. Over the years the festival has grown and has become an incredible event for getting the Ogden climbing community together once a year. We have had countless athletes and local legends play a role in past festivals.

This year we are hoping to truly do something unique. The climbing history of Ogden is rich and runs deep. Each of our presenters has played a role in this incredible history and development. This year rather than inviting one keynote speaker we have invited multiple local climbers/ legends who have played a key role in Ogden climbing over the years to take 10-20 minutes and showcase aspects of Ogden climbing that inspired their passion. ie: Classics routes or projects they developed, interactions with legends past, history, stories, comedy, photos, videos. Many have written articles or published guide books. These notable folks are coming to share with us what has gone into their labor of love.

--Mikel Vause--

Mikel Vause holds a Ph.D from Bowling Green University. He is author of numerous articles, poems short stories, and book chapters. He’s author and editor of six books including On Mountains and Mountaineers and Rock ‘n Roses Vols. I and II. His poetry collections are: I Knew It Would Come to This; At the Edge of Things; Looking for the Old Crown; The Scent of Juniper; and A Mountain Touched by Fire; and A Home to Strange Animals. In 2016 he was a Pushcart Prize nominee for his poem “What said the Thunder.”

His professional life spans nearly forty years teaching at the university level. He’s a Senior Professor at Weber State University teaching 19th Century British and American Literature, Mountaineering and Exploration Literature, and for twenty years, he taught rock climbing.

His teaching and scholarship has been recognized numerous awards and recognitions:

The Cortez Outstanding Honors Professor; Crystal Crest Master Teacher; The George and Beth Lowe Excellence in Teaching Award; The Lindquist Creative Arts Award; Two Hemingway Awards; The Utah Humanities/Weber Arts Advocate Award; The Henry Aldous Dixon Award.

He’s a member of the American Alpine Club and British Alpine Club and served as the only non-British Chair of the Boardman/Tasker Mountain Literature Award.

Vause has climbed various places in the USA, Arctic Norway, Nepal and Tibet, and extensively in Scotland, England, and Wales.

--Chris Grijalva--

Chris Grijalva was raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He began rock climbing in 1990 at the age of seventeen and within a short time was not only climbing, but also establishing routes at New Mexico climbing areas, The Tunnel and Enchanted Tower, and others. In 2000, he moved to Ogden, Utah and began to establish routes at Schoolroom in Ogden, Blacksmith Fork Canyon, and Maple Canyon. In 2003, he published Utah Bouldering, a guidebook to some of Utah’s most prominent bouldering areas, which also covered the Ogden boulder field. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Physics from Weber State University, and for the past thirteen years he’s been teaching engineering at NUAMES high school. In addition, Chris has two teenage children and a dog.

--Shane Farver--

For most of his adult life, Shane Farver has taken to the outdoors to find his purpose and passion. That purpose crashed to a halt in November of 2018, when he suffered a spinal cord injury as the result of a climbing gym accident. Since then, Shane has come to understand that the lessons learned in the wilderness can indeed be applied to life’s other challenges.