Beyond The Rock

Shawna grew up in the flat plains of the Texas and Oklahoma State borderline.  The only outdoor activities available were the kind that required level ground with little to no change in elevation. Think soccer, baseball, softball, disc golf, football, and long distance road cycling. Shawna was first introduced to climbing in the Wichita Mountains in central Oklahoma and then again on an adventure trip in the Colorado Rockies with Outward Bound.  Though she fell in love with the sport, climbing did not become a part of her daily physical vocabulary until she moved to Austin in 2005.  There, she started working at the local climbing gym and climbing the local crags.  In- between 2005 and today, Shawna tried her hand at the luthier trade, she became a middle school language arts teacher, she then became a dyslexia specialist while simultaneously working as a stunt professional AND thrashing her way through graduate school until finally settling on a career as a school counselor and LPCA candidate. Shawna kept climbing as much as she could in order to keep her sanity intact!  Did Shawna enjoy blissful, uninterrupted climbing for the last sixteen years, of course not, but after surgery, injuries, sicknesses, and grad school, she always found a way to come back to climbing.  Shawna describes herself as a happy little local climber.  Now that she’s older,  traveling for climbing trips has become difficult but she plans on changing that.  In the meantime, she is determined to find pleasure and peace in the local rock.  During the weekdays, Shawna can be found climbing at the local gyms, or taking walks or riding her bicycle on her neighborhood trails.  On the weekends, she likes to climb outside whenever possible.  If she’s not climbing, Shawna can be found glued to her sewing machine, working in the yard, napping with her pets, paddle boarding, instructing rally racing driving courses, or volunteering for a local children’s trauma clinic.  As you can see, she likes to stay busy.

Hosts

Emilie Hernandez

Hey everyone, my name is Joe Kreidel. I've been a passionate climber for 20+ years now, and have been fortunate enough to climb all over the country, and internationally. As well as being a husband and father of three kids, I'm the co-owner and Head Routesetter at Armadillo Boulders in my hometown of San Antonio, Texas. At Armadillo Boulders, my goal is to help people experience the joy, adventure, and self-discovery that climbing has provided me.

Like many Texas climbers, I started climbing at Reimers and Enchanted Rock, eventually becoming obsessed with the physics and problems solving required of bouldering at McKinney Falls. I've lived in many parts of the USA since that time, and have had the opportunity to explore many regions of our country's climbing geography and culture. One of the highlights of my climbing career was having the opportunity to develop boulderfields and a couple crags in the Tucson area. It has been great to return to San Antonio and revisit our favorite Texas climbing areas. It's great to now have the skills to tick off climbs I once aspired to climb, but wasn't capable of back then. What's even more enjoyable is that I also get to introduce my kids to the special areas we have in Texas.

Links to some of our community partners and artists featured at the gym are here:

Hey guys, I’m Vince, the chill local cragster you run into at the Greenbelt and Reimers every week in Austin, Texas. “He climbs with Fran, wears a red helmet, and he always finds the shake out rest”. I’ve also been enjoying up and then immediately down-climbing routes to spice things up, like Tunnel Vision. Aside from climbing, I’m a big fan of volleyball, basketball, guitar, surfing, and camping. Climbing has taught me a lot. Most recently the idea is that life is s beyond just “living a long, happy, pain-free life”. Climbing can be dangerous. It is full of falls and failures, painful sharp holds and cracks, but it’s beautiful nonetheless. I also work in pain management, so I can talk about that all day! Please don’t be annoyed at all my ticks on Mountain Project. And come by and say hi at the crag when you see me out there!