Kelly Cordes

After learning to climb during graduate school in Montana, Kelly Cordes became hopelessly addicted to climbing. Soon all notions of a “normal” lifestyle disintegrated, and his initial fervor quickly made him a case study in recklessness. Eventually however, he added a modicum of skill and hard-earned judgment, and began embracing progressively bigger objectives and their humbling mix of challenges.

Achievements include new routes Personal Jesus (on Nevado Ulta, Peru, with Jim Earl), the Azeem Ridge (on Great Trango Tower, Pakistan, with Josh Wharton), and Going Monk (on Mt. Andrews, Alaska, with Jonny Copp); a new link-up on Cerro Torre (Patagonia, with Colin Haley); and an “excellent failure” on Shingu Charpa’s still unclimbed north ridge (Pakistan, with Josh Wharton).

When he’s not off climbing, Kelly lives in a small cabin in Estes Park, Colorado, where he works as the senior editor of the American Alpine Journal.