Employee Spotlight - Adam Kittell

I spent my early years growing up in Tennessee and then in Ohio for the greater portion of my life. My dad was the leader of my Cub Scout troop when I was little, and he taught me about camping and enjoying the outdoors. During my angsty teenage years my interests were elsewhere, but at the end of high school my friend introduced me to mountain biking!

I grew up taking art classes and loved to draw, so I went to ITT Tech for an AAS in Multimedia and then to The Ohio State University for my BFA in Art & Technology. At OSU I started climbing at the campus gym and took to it quickly. I found out about a group called The Mountaineers Club and signed up for a Spring Break trip to Moab, Utah with them. They taught me to lead climb on Wall St and I fell in love with bouldering at the Big Bend boulders. I spent the remainder of college going on climbing trips with them to the Red River Gorge and the New River Gorge, and made a few return trips to Moab.

After college I started doing some freelance design work but wasn't very into it and started reevaluating how I wanted to spend my time. I decided Ohio was too flat and boring and I needed to be out in nature more. I heard that Asheville, NC was a cool place for nature lovers, so on a whim I packed up all I could fit in my car and head there with no real plan. I got a seasonal job as an instructor for a Wilderness Therapy company called Trails Carolina and had some fun playing in the Blue Ridge Mountains for a few months. After the gig was up I determined that Asheville just wasn't the place for me long term and head back to Columbus to reevaluate. I spent the winter there working at Gander Mountain while I figured out my next move. My heart was in Utah so I lined up a job at another Wilderness Therapy place called Aspiro. This time the gig was permanent and based out of central Utah! During my off-time from guiding I did tons of climbing and biking, lived out of my car for a while, traveled a bunch, and made great friends.

When I got burnt out on guiding I wanted to stay in Salt Lake City, so I lined up a job in the warehouse at Backcountry.com with the intent of working my way up in a career in the outdoor industry. I worked there a couple of years and moved up the ranks some. I learned enough from my various roles there to land a job as a Buyer at Liberty Mountain. I have been enjoying everything there so far and look forward to the future!

During my time in SLC I met a wonderful woman that I am now engaged to, and we have a boxer/pit mix dog that is a lovable doofus. I am more of a weekend warrior these days and try to take every chance I get to head out on a short trip to one of the amazing destinations nearby. Between those trips I retreat into the local mountains for the amazing climbing and biking that the area has to offer.

Name: Adam Kittell

Time working for Liberty Mountain: Since July 2017

Job title: Buyer

Short description of what you do at Liberty Mountain: I buy products for- water sports, winter sports, electronics, biking, fitness, clothing accessories, and k9 to make sure our inventory is filled and relevant. 

What do you like most about your job? Playing with the gear!

Active in the following activities: climbing, mountain biking, slacklining, hiking, drawing, and making things

Favorite activity: bouldering

Favorite outdoor areas: Moab, UT and New River Gorge, WV

Piece of outdoor gear you most wish you had: a whitewater kayak

Most interesting place ever lived: Out of my SUV

Top-five favorite movies: I like too many movies to pick.

Top-five favorite books: Harry Potter series minus 2 of them, but which….

First memory spending time Outdoors: Playing in the woods behind my house in Tennessee with the neighbor kids.

Inspirational Hero: Kyle Maynard

Dream vacation: deep water soloing and relaxing in Mallorca, Spain

Favorite food to eat outside: Burritos

Cake or pie: Cake

Dogs or Cats: Cats as a species. But my stepdog is better.

Anything else that the world should know… I workout-danced on stage with Richard Simmons in one of his videos. 

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TRIP REPORT- Zermatt, Rifflehorn and Chamonix

Jonny Wilson, a product designer at Liberty Mountain, shares some photos and stories from his recent trip to Italy and Switzerland.

My girlfriend Rosemary watches for cheap flights religiously and last spring $460 roundtrip flights to Milan popped up for September. We weren’t too sure what we would do out there but we weren’t about to let the opportunity pass, so we bought our tickets and procrastinated planning until the month before. Neither one of us was too psyched on Milan, but the Swiss and French Alps were in striking distance so Milan seemed like a good launch pad. We originally had some plans to climb a peak in western Switzerland and then head over into Chamonix, but had to change plans on the fly due to weather. Zermatt had the only good weather for the first 3 days so we drove up (and then drove back down to Tasch since Zermatt is a no drive zone, whoops) and found a place to crash on Airbnb. Zermatt is a beautiful mountain town situated near the base of the Matterhorn. It looks a lot like how you might expect Europe to be. Beautiful old huts, green hills, jagged exaggerated peaks, with the Matterhorn ruling the skyline high above any of it’s neighbors. If you can, get a place with a kitchen and save yourself $40 or $50 a day on eating out. 

The matterhorn was usually hidden behind clouds, but we got a couple of good views throughout the next 3 days.

We found some climbs on the Rifflehorn and set out to do them. The Rifflehorn really isn’t that spectacular looking in comparison to it’s neighbors but it’s accessible (20 or 30 minutes of easy hiking to the base of the climb from the train station), offers some great views of the area, and has some spectacular quality rock on it.

This isn’t the actual approach, we hiked up this canyon with a glacier at the bottom after the climb. The approach comes from the right side and circles around the left side to the base of the climbing.

Looks like we’re going the right way.

We did the thermometer Couloir mostly 5.4-5.6 with a brief 5.8 crux. The top had some 9 or 10 pitches on it, but I quickly realized that I could link two at a time with some 10 or 15 meters of my 70 meter rope to spare. The higher up the climb we got, the better the climbing was. The last 2 pitches shoot up an easy crack system in a dihedral. Good stuff.

Some hoofed little buddies on the wall above me.

Climbing through the 5.8 crux. 

This is a pretty tame climb. Perfect for a beginner or if you’re just looking for an Alp warmup climb. Given that the topo I had showed some 9 or 10 pitches, I was expecting the route to take 6 hours or so. We ended up finishing it in under 3. Weather was perfect and we didn’t see any other climbers the whole time. I was sure there would be a crowd given the weather and proximity to town. I guess most climbers probably go to Zermatt for one of the bigger alpine/mountaineering goals and not so much for these easy multi-pitches.

Rose’s selfie with the Matterhorn.

Walking over to the true summit marked by a 7 ft tall cross.

Mmmmm, European dirtbag lunch. My favorite.

Descent was pretty easy. You can usually down climb around the rappels if desired. We did two rappels and down climbed another one.

A few shots from our time in Chamonix:

GEAR: 

Beal Opera 8.5mm 70 meter Rope: I love this rope. Super smooth to belay with, a lot lighter and less drag on those long pitches than the 9.7mm I usually use. This is my go to for alpine climbing.

Grivel Zen 30L: Good burly bag, a bit big for the Rifflehorn, better in true alpine environments where you may need space for boots and extra layers.

Singing Rock Onyx Harness: Works but the right side gear loop is too far back, I may have sized it too tight.

Set of Ceres II alpine draws: Love these draws, good for reducing rope drag.

Cypher Huevos: I think I place my Huevos more than cams on these types or routes.

BD Camalots: you don’t need a lot on this route since the Euros put bolts everywhere, even next to cracks. You could bring a set of .75-3 cams and be totally set on this climb.

BD Vapor Helmet: Damn thing cracked in transit and now I have to replace it. It’s light, but too fragile for my liking, will have a more durable helmet in the future.

Swiss dried salami: Mind your nutrition.

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Employee Spotlight: Chelsey Whyte

Half of my life I grew up on the beach and the other half in the mountains. From California to Idaho, and now Utah, I have always loved to be outside. I graduated from the University of Idaho with a degree in Recreation, exploring new outdoor adventures along the way. My last year of college I worked at a ropes course and rental shop exposing myself to working and fixing gear. After college I headed to Alaska to work for a glacier guiding company where trips included ice climbing, trekking, exploring, and zip lining. Alaska got really cold so I moved to Utah for the great access, awesome mountains, and new adventures. I had been a Liberty Mountain customer working for previous employers, when I noticed that Liberty was hiring I jumped for the opportunity.

Name: Chelsey Whyte

Time working for Liberty Mountain: 9 months

Job title: Sales Representative

Short description of what you do at Liberty Mountain: Work with Brick and Mortar shops in Colorado and the Midwest. Process ASAP and preseason orders, represent our house and exclusive brands, chat directly with our customers, answer all the questions I can, and provide outstanding customer service.

What do you like most about your job? The people I work with both in and out of the office, constantly learning about new products, and being in the outdoor industry.

Active in the following sports/activities/hobbies: Hiking, camping, fishing, snowboarding, climbing, paddle boarding, wake boarding, dirt biking, and snorkeling when available.

Favorite activity: Snowboarding and snorkeling.

Favorite outdoor areas: Prince William Sound



Piece of outdoor gear you most wish you had: Inflatable SUP

Most interesting place ever lived: Glacier View, Alaska

Top-five favorite movies: Blue Crush, Point Break (old and new), The Grinch, Star Wars, and Grease

Top-five favorite books: Meditation on the Mat, The Alchemist, Let My People Go Surfing, The Iliad, and The Odyssey.

First memory spending time Outdoors: My first memory was swimming in the Pacific Ocean. I grew up in Orange County, CA so the beach was my playground. I would body board (boogie board) all day until the waves threw me around enough to call it quits. I never learned how to surf though; it’s on my list of to dos!

Inspirational Hero: My grandfather

Dream vacation: Being a beach bum in Costa Rica

Favorite food to eat outside: Coffee

Cake or pie: Cookies

Dogs or Cats: Dogs, especially the extra fluffy ones.

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Employee Spotlight: Michael Shaw

My dad was a school teacher before he retired, so when I was younger my family would spend summers taking road trips to different national parks.  By the time I was 16 I had traveled to 48 of the 50 states, and I had seen more than half of the U.S. national parks. The family trips that I took as a kid instilled in me a respect for the scenery across the country and a love for the outdoors. I enjoy a wide variety of outdoor activities, and I’ve always dreamed of working in the outdoor industry. When I got the chance to work for Liberty Mountain, I jumped at the opportunity.

Name: Michael Shaw

Time working for Liberty Mountain: 2 years

Job title: Buyer

Short description of what you do at Liberty Mountain:  I’m the buyer for books, knives, and non-climbing imports. The main responsibility of my job is to maintain proper inventory levels through forecasting, reorder points, and purchase orders.

What do you like most about your job?  Forecasting sales for the year based on relevant information is one of the better parts of my job.

Active in the following sports/activities/hobbies: Hiking, Canyoneering, Biking, Skiing, Snowshoeing, Climbing, Unicycling

Favorite activity: I really enjoy most outdoor activities, so asking me to choose one is like asking a parent which child is their favorite, but if I have to pick just one it is probably hiking. My family traveled to a lot of national parks when I was younger, so hiking has always been a big part of my life.

Favorite outdoor areas: Glacier National Park and Banff National Park are two of my favorite places to visit. It’s hard to beat glacial lakes with a backdrop of snow covered peaks.

Piece of outdoor gear you most wish you had: At this point I have most of the outdoor gear that I need, but I wouldn’t mind upgrading my mountain bike in the near future.

Most interesting place ever lived:  I’ve really only lived in Salt Lake City, Utah and South Bend, Indiana. I can tell you with certainty that Salt Lake City is more interesting than South Bend in almost every measure imaginable.

Top-five favorite movies: The Princess Bride, Shawshank Redemption, Guardians of the Galaxy, You’ve Got Mail, Lord of the Rings

Top-five favorite books: Ender’s Game, The Count of Monte Cristo, The Princess Bride, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Harry Potter

First memory spending time Outdoors: Yellowstone is one of the first trips I remember.  My family went there just after the big fire, and I distinctly remember looking out and seeing the charred landscape. Every time I go back I’m reminded that even the most devastating events can create positive opportunities for growth.

Inspirational Hero: My Grandpa. He was a World War II veteran, and one of the most spectacular people I’ve ever met. He lost his eyesight in his 60’s, but he remained active into his 90’s.

Dream vacation: I would love to take a summertime trip to the Swiss Alps.

Favorite food to eat outside: I rarely go on outdoor adventures without having beef jerky in my pack. It’s my outdoor staple food.

Cake or pie:  Neither. I’m a cookie person.

Dogs or Cats:  Dogs

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Employee Spotlight - Abbie Brothers

I grew up on the East bench in Ogden, Utah, with miles of hiking trails literally right outside my front door. As young as 6-7 years old, I would walk across the street to the trailhead by myself and explore the hillside, camp out in a grove of trees for the day, or boulder my way up to some of the hidden caves. My family frequently hiked up to Waterfall Canyon on the weekends, and my parents even bravely tried to summit some of the taller peaks with us 4 young kids in tow. Our summer vacations were always spent either going down to southern Utah, or somewhere up in the Uintahs. Some of my best childhood memories are from camping in our pop-up trailer. 

When I moved to Salt Lake to attend the U, I was excited to explore a whole new set of hiking trails. Shortly after graduating from college, my husband and I decided to move to Seattle, and one of the things that drove our decision was the opportunity to explore an entirely different type of terrain. Hiking the rainforest and exploring the rocky beaches was definitely cool and new, but we quickly realized that nothing really compares to the Wasatch front. After 4 years (and twins!), we decided it was time to come back home. We now live at the base of Little Cottonwood Canyon, so I feel almost like I’ve come back to my roots of having access to hiking trails right outside my front door. I love that working at Liberty gives me the opportunity to combine my work and my personal passions in a way I’ve never really been able to before!    

Name: Abbie Brothers

Time working for Liberty Mountain: 8 months

Job title: Executive Assistant/Human Resources

Short description of what you do at Liberty Mountain: In short, help hire people, pay people, and help Gary!

What do you like most about your job? I love that both as HR and as Gary’s assistant I get the opportunity to interact with each department and employee in one way or another.

Active in the following sports/activities/hobbies: Hiking, running/trail-running, yoga, camping

Favorite activity: Hiking

Favorite outdoor areas: Little Cottonwood Canyon, and Lake Washington (Seattle)

Piece of outdoor gear you most wish you had: I’d love a SUP, but don’t think that I live near enough to a body of water to justify the purchase. If not that, one of those old school silver bullet campers!

Most interesting place ever lived: In college I lived in a very old, creepy, run-down, tiny house with a roommate. It had zero insulation, one tiny heater, and an empty room with just a stove and a fridge for a kitchen. But we loved it!

Top-five favorite movies: The Labyrinth, Love Actually, Titanic, Mean Girls, Old School

Top-five favorite books: Pride and Prejudice, Animal Dreams, The Great Gatsby, Harry Potter series, Bossypants

First memory spending time Outdoors: Not necessarily the first, but the most memorable is being maybe 10 or so and being swept down a river while swimming in Yellowstone. Obviously, I survived, but I now have a healthy fear of swimming across deep rivers. 

What or who inspires you: My parents successfully instilled their love of nature and being outside in their kids, which inspires me to try to do the same for my own children.

Dream vacation: I have never been to Europe, but really hope to go someday.

Favorite food to eat outside: Peanut butter and honey sandwiches

Cake or pie: Cookies

Dogs or Cats: Dogs (but I like cats, too…)

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Lessons Learned on Mt. Russell

I got a call from my long-time alpine partner with the news that he was going to be in California for spring break and – in between engagement plans – he had some free time.  He then asked me if I would be down to drive 10 hours to Lone Pine for a shot at a cool summit. This was a no-brainer question for me; of course I was!

Nathan and I have climbed all over together. We have climbed scrappy multi-pitch routes in the City of Rocks, ID, sat in our tent for days at the Cirque of the Towers hoping for good weather, and practiced our drytooling game on the loosest choss pile I’ve ever seen down in Provo Canyon.  Now that Nathan was getting engaged, we wanted to do a last hurrah with the newly discovered free time.  As soon as I left work, I drove 700 miles down to Lone Pine, CA where we planned to meet.

However – like all good adventures – there was trouble.  Due to significant rockfall during the winter, the roads were closed and under construction, which delayed our plans for a day and added an extra 3 miles to our approach.  Neither of us being great backcountry skiers, we fumbled and guessed for a while before getting into a rhythm. And to top it all off, the sleeping pads we relied on to keep us warm and off the snow decided to rupture.  Carefully-arranged backpacks and coiled ropes are a poor substitute for Thermarest pads, sleep was rare that night as we shivered on top of the snow. 

Originally, we had planned to summit both Mt Whitney and Mt Russel during our 4 day window.
With the reduced timeframe, we opted for Mt Russell’s East Ridge only.  While normally a 3^rd class scramble in the summer, a winter ascent consists of 1,500’of snow and climbing on loose unconsolidated powder, all while facing exposure on the ridge in stiff AT boots, creating a serious outing.  Around 1:00 pm, after a cruxy 5.6 slab, we decided that continuing on the ridge would put us outside of our return window and above our safe climbing threshold, so we made the painful decision to bail.  While frontpointing down bullet-hard snow with loaded packs and ultralight axes, our decision to retreat was reaffirmed. 

After another cold night without pads, Nathan and I were eager to wake up and get an early start on the day.  We jumped the gun a bit in our haste and started skiing down on icy snow.  Although a rough way to start the morning, the snow eventually turned into perfect corn and the views coming down were beautiful.

We ended the trip with a ritual Chile Colorado burrito at Amigos in Bishop, then started the long drive home to Utah.

Gear Used

Vaude Zerum 58: Ultralight, but with a comfy suspension system, the Zerum carried all of my skiing, climbing, and camping gear, even with the lid removed. 

MSR Windburner 1L: We had to melt all of our water from snow, which takes a lot of fuel.  The MSR Windburner is very efficient and works well even in the wind, when you really want hot water quickly.

Grivel Stealth: Superlight helmet with full head coverage; perfect to protect from rock and ice fall while helping to keep pack weight down.

Grivel Haute Route Axe:  The lightest axe that Liberty Mountain carries.  The Ghost or Flame axes from Grivel would have been much better, but they have not arrived yet.

Grivel G12: These are the standard for mountaineering crampons.  I was tempted to use an aluminum crampon like the Air Tech Lights, but the chromolly steel provided better security on the rock scrambles.

Grivel Ares:  Most of the times that we had harnesses on were while walking or scrambling over easy rock.  The open design of the Ares harness allows for a much more comfortable stride.

Edelweiss Discover 8mm: We went with the Discover over the Beal Opera – one of my favorite ropes - as it was slightly thinner and came in a 30m section.  For scrambly ridges like this, 30m was more than sufficient. 

Thule Stir 15L: Comparably light in relation to other summit sacks on the market, but at a much lower price.  I could stuff this in the bottom of my pack and grab it on summit day.

Cypher Logic Approach Shoes: I used these on the hike up to the snow, then stashed them when we switched to skis.  I wish I had brought them up the climb as well, because they would have been perfect on the ridge.

Outdoor Designs Diablo GTT: Perfect gloves for the approach and manipulating tricky ski bindings.

Justin Fisher is a climber, adventurer, and internet sales rep at Liberty Mountain

All photos courtesy of Justin Fisher and Nathan Robinson

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Employee Spotlight - Jessica Powell

I grew up outdoors. My dad is a giant gear head, and I grew up following him around in the mountains on dirt bikes, four wheelers, and snowmobiles. After I moved to Utah for college, I realized there was an entirely different way to enjoy being outside that didn’t have anything to do with engines or gears, and I jumped right in. Since that point, the outdoors has kind of swallowed most aspects of my life; my work, my free time...and most of my paycheck. While I was in school studying recreational therapy, I worked at a local gear shop selling backpacking and climbing gear. I fell in love with the outdoor industry in that shop, and am so grateful to be able to continue being a part of it here at Liberty Mountain.

Name: Jessica Powell

Number of years working for Liberty Mountain: 1 year

Job title: Sales Rep

Short description of what you do at Liberty Mountain: I work with the brick and mortar shops in Colorado and the Midwest.

What do you like most about your job? I love getting out and visiting the shops-especially when we have time to get out and climb!

Active in the following sports/activities/hobbies: Climbing of all types, Canyoneering, Backpacking, Biking, Splitboarding, Trail Running, playing the guitar, reading

Favorite activity: Climbing!

Favorite outdoor areas: Red Rocks National Conservation, The Uinta National Forest, The Wasatch, St George, Utah

Piece of outdoor gear you most wish you had: SUP or Kayak-I don’t know how to do any water things.

Most interesting place ever lived: Tavua, Fiji

Top-five favorite movies: Tommy Boy, Home, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Sixth Sense, Baby Momma

Top-five favorite books: This question is too hard. The 5 most recent were A Dog’s Purpose, The Wilderness Essays, The Light Between 2 Oceans, Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrain, and Alone on the Wall.

First memory spending time Outdoors: I come from a family of 5 girls, so my dad gave up on having a boy to take on “man adventures” and started hauling me around instead. My first real “outdoor” memory is of a hunting trip we did. He made me pick up deer poop and pinch it between my fingers to see if it was fresh. It was an interesting daddy-daughter bonding experience for a 6 year old.

Inspirational Hero: Steph Davis. She’s so hardcore.

Dream vacation: A climbing trip to Thailand.

Favorite food to eat outside: Those peach cup things. But with fruit juice not syrup.

Cake or pie: Popsicles.

Dogs or Cats: Dogs. Specifically my dog, Ande.

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