Bio

Nathan Williamson
Trango Athlete.
Soloist. Sport Climber.

Nathan grew up in an extremely athletic family. His mother is an outdoors fanatic—focusing primarily on running—and she strongly influenced him to play in the Uinta Mountains from his early years until his mid teens. “I feel at home in the mountains,” he explains. “It’s a place of peace for my family. I wanted to spend all my time up there, so climbing was a perfect fit for me.”



Nathan began climbing as much as he could at a young age. “I didn’t really have anyone in my life who was into climbing at first,” he recalls. “I just knew I loved it and thought it was something I could challenge myself in.” Because he could only find scary beginners to climb with, Nathan quickly caught onto the amazing skill of projecting at a young age. Learning how to remain patient on a project became his catalyst in life, especially when it came to soloing. “I noticed that I was skipping a lot of bolts and running out all my hard projects, and it never really scared me. I was just concentrating so hard that I thought it would be easier to skip a few bolts, but I think it freaked a few people out. Not clipping altogether felt crazy, but it also felt pretty natural.”



His first solo was a 100-foot 5.11a that he climbed many times before. His second solo was an 11c variation, and that was the route that illuminated the beauty of soloing. “I was hooked after that,” he exclaims. “I will never forget how it made me feel. It was a clarity that I had never felt before, and I only feel that when I solo.”



As far as fear goes, Nathan can still keep it all together. “It has never been about fear to me,” he says, “just mastering a heightened sense of awareness.” Nathan has soloed grades as high as 5.12b so far, and he has onsighted a large amount of 11s.



For the past year, Nathan has been sport climbing far up in the Uintas. He likes to focus on first ascents around 5.14a/b, but he’s also psyched on all the 5.13 routes he can find. Mostly, his love for soloing in what triggers his motivation to climb, and he’s always hunting for new lines.