I was lucky to grow up camping throughout Utah with my family and with the Boy Scouts. Our summer trips included camping in places like the Uintas, Nine Mile Canyon, Moab and the Wasatch mountains near my home. A self-proclaimed purist, I often opted to sleep alone in a tent while the rest of my family slept in a camper trailer. Books like My Side of the Mountain left me dreaming of running away and living alone in the mountains – an idea I still haven’t fully abandoned. As I got further in the Scouting organization, my love of the outdoors was further cemented and I began mountain biking near my house almost daily.
Fast forward several years, I applied to work at a local gear shop, and Liberty Mountain customer, as a summer job between semesters of school. I ended up working there for two years, managing the shop for some of that time. It was here that I developed my love of climbing. I started climbing in the gym, but was more drawn to climbing outdoors and mountaineering. A 2015 trip saw me to Mt Rainier, and I began looking at other big mountains to climb. My time at the shop introduced me to Liberty Mountain and I decided to move up the supply chain and get a part-time job there while I finished school. I have since become the Returns Supervisor and currently finagle full-time school and a full-time job.
My main interest now is climbing. Whether bouldering, traditional, ice, or most recently aid climbing, any vertical venture draws me in. If I’m not hanging from a rope, I’m likely mountain biking, ski touring, hiking, fly fishing, or backpacking. My dream adventure is to take a 4 month road trip from Utah to the Bugaboos, over Squamish and back through California and Nevada hitting every iconic climbing location along the way.
Interview Questions
Name: Alex Talbot
Time working for Liberty Mountain: 1.5 years
Job title: Returns Supervisor
Short description of what you do at Liberty Mountain: Oversee all returns and warranty matters and put out fires.
What do you like most about your job? The friendships and access to all the gear I could dream of!
Active in the following sports/activities/hobbies: Climbing, biking, skiing, hiking, backpacking
Favorite activity: Moderate, multi-pitch trad climbing
Favorite outdoor areas: San Rafael Swell, Little Cottonwood Canyon, Custer State Park SD, Point Reyes National Seashore
Piece of outdoor gear you most wish you had: Popup tent for my Honda Element
Most interesting place ever lived: UTAH!
Top-five favorite movies: Meru, Hot Rod, Nacho Libre, anything from Warren Miller
Top-five favorite books: My Side of the Mountain (Jean Craighead George), A Granite Guide (Nate Smith), The Push (Tommy Caldwell), Alone on the Wall (Alex Honnold), For One More Day (Mitch Albom)
First memory spending time outdoors: Looking for petroglyphs in Nine Mile Canyon
Inspirational Hero: Jimmy Chin and Tommy Caldwell
Dream vacation: Four month climbing road trip through Utah, Idaho, Montana, Alberta, British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada and back home.
Favorite food to eat outside: Anything that makes my friends jealous. Gourmet in the backcountry!
Cake or pie: Pumpkin pie
Dogs or Cats: Dogs every day.
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