2025 KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Join us Saturday night to hear from those below at the WyoClimbers + Pure Madness Group (Melvin + Roadhouse) Keynote Speaker Event

MARCUS GARCIA | TIMMY O’NEILL

MARCUS GARCIA

This moving presentation explores the importance of mentorship in climbing and how it shapes not just individuals but entire communities. Marcus’s story highlights the ripple effect of mentorship, showing how shared experiences and lessons can empower generations of climbers and beyond.

Picture this: a lifetime of vertical dreams, calloused hands, and the kind of wisdom that only comes from dancing with gravity. That's Marcus Garcia – not just a climber or coach, but a storyteller whose life has become a testament to the power of reaching back while pushing forward.

In his soul-stirring film and presentation, "Beyond the Climb," Marcus doesn't just talk about mentorship – he shows us how it pulses through the veins of the climbing community like a lifeline. This isn't your typical climbing story. It's about those magical moments when someone believes in you before you believe in yourself, about the sacred exchange between generations that turns rocky walls into classrooms of life.

TIMMY O’NEILL

Timmy O’Neill is an alpine rock climber, a surf rock drummer, and a rock-steady reader. He is co-founder and former executive director of paradoxsports.org a nationwide, adaptive-climbing nonprofit.  He writes and mails hundreds of ‘life notes’ per year. O’Neill is a brand ambassador with Patagonia, Osprey and Edelrid and currently serves on the board of orogenesiscollective.org creating the world’s longest man bike trail.

PAST KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

  • 2010 – Jason Kehl

  • 2009 – Joe Kinder

  • 2008 – Dave Macleod / Chris Lindner

  • 2007 – Todd Skinner Tribute

  • 2006 – Sonnie Trotter / Mike Anderson

  • 2005 – Lynn Hill

  • 2004 – Timmy O’Neil

  • 2003 – Todd Skinner and Paul Piana

  • 2002 – Steph Davis

  • 2001 – Dean Potter

  • 2000 – Barry Blanchard

  • 1999 – Galen Rowell / Conrad Anker

  • 1998 – Randy Leavitt / Greg Child

  • 1997 – Alex Lowe / Lynn Hill

  • 1996 – Jerry Moffatt / Doug Robinson

  • 1995 – Royal Robbins

  • 1994 – Todd Skinner and Paul Piana / Bobbi Bensman

  • 2023 — Cat Runner, Russ Clune and Madaleine Sorkin

  • 2023 — Katie Brown, Kai Lightner, Alex Johnson, Alan Watts

  • 2022 — Chris Kalous, James “KG” Kagambi, Brittany Goris, Hayden Jamieson

  • 2021 — Shingo Ohkawa, Chris Kalman, Nikkia Smith

  • 2019 — Volker Schoffl, Craig DeMartino, Kitty Calhoun, James Edward Mills

  • 2018 – Peter Croft, Nina Williams, Paul Piana, Angie Payne

  • 2017 – Tommy Caldwell, Joe Kinder, Hazel Findlay, Nathaniel Coleman, Matty Hong, Pamela Shanti-Pack

  • 2016 – Steph Davis, Sonnie Trotter, Matt Segal, Chelsea Rude

  • 2015 – Ethan Pringle, Hayden Kennedy, Alex Johnson, Hans Florine, Elad Omer, Carlo Traversi

  • 2014 – Lynn Hill, Sasha Diguilian, John Long, Angie Payne, Alex Honnold, Conrad Anker, Paige Claassen, Timmy O'Neill

  • 2013 – Tommy Caldwell, Timmy O’Neil, Emily Harrington, Cedar Wright, Erica Wynn, and Henry Barber

  • 2012 – Royal Robbins, Kevin Jorgeson, and Kate Rutherford

  • 2011 – Jonathan Siegrist