Chris McNamara

Chris is the Editor-in-Chief and co-founder of the GearLab websites. Chris is the author of 10 books, a big-wall climbing expert, and a recovering ex-Wingsuit BASE jumper. Climbing Magazine once computed that three percent of Chris's life on earth had been spent on the face of El Capitan—an accomplishment that has left friends and family pondering Chris’ sanity. He’s climbed Yosemite's daunting 3,000+ foot El Capitan over 80 times and holds nine big wall speed climbing records. In 1998, Chris did the first Girdle Traverse of El Capitan, an epic 75-pitch route that begs the question, “Why?” Outside Magazine has called Chris one of “the world’s finest aid climbers.” He’s the winner of the American Alpine Club's prestigious Bates Award and the founder of the American Safe Climbing Association. This nonprofit group has replaced over 120,000 dangerous rock climbing anchor bolts. Chris is also the founder and lead author of the rock climbing guidebook publisher SuperTopo. He is a graduate of UC Berkeley. You can follow him on Instagram and ChrisMcNamara.com.