He’s a pilot, a homebrewer, a cook and a sometimes-bartender. Chad Coxon is also a PMI development engineer at Biomet, but given some time off work, he’s mostly a rock climber. And he climbs not just any rocks, but big rocky cliffs, the kind found at parks in places like Kentucky, Colorado, or, maybe soon, Yosemite National Park. The 26-year-old Coxon is originally from Ortonville, Mich., not too far from Flint. He moved to Indiana to attend Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, and it was there that he met some fellow students who were into rock climbing. He took off a semester to study in Australia, but when he returned the rock climbing really took off. He became part of a club of climbers at Rose-Hulman, even heading up that club for awhile. After graduation in 2011, he took a job at a company close enough to Bloomington to let him slip away on weekends to an indoor climbing facility called Hoosier Heights. When not climbing, he trained and built up his strength by lifting. It was when he took the job at Biomet in Warsaw a few years ago and discovered the local YMCA that his passion for climbing really took off. He started helping out for two to four hours a week at the Y, which he continues to do even now. “The more you do it, the stronger you get,” he said, explaining that his time there gave him gym time while introducing him to many other climbers. He explains that there are a few styles and grades of climbing. Styles are sport climbing; traditional climbing, which uses cams; and free climbing, “like the young woman in the Citibank commercial.” Grades can range from 5.4 to 5.15. “In the scheme of things, I’m an OK climber (5.11a sport lead, 5.9 traditional lead, 5.12 top rope). While there’s a big difference between me a new climber, there is an even larger difference between me and the best climbers,” he said. He’s working at closing up that gap, though. Weekends and vacations find him traveling to Kentucky where he finds lots of good climbing spots. A retired couple from Purdue have opened their property, Muir Valley, in Slade, Ky., to climbers. “It’s a huge place packed on weekends. But it’s great. The couple asks only for donations,” he said. His favorite place so far is Boulder, Colo., where rocks and cliffs are so abundant he’s stopped his car while driving out of town and started climbing right off Canyon Road. Still, he shares what he says is every climber’s dream – to climb El Capitan in Yosemite. Asked what was the scariest place he’s climbed, he doesn’t hesitate to name Bedtime for Bonzo, an actual name of the cliff in Kentucky, somewhere in or near Daniel Boone National Forest. “It was a traditional climb, with cams and wedges,” he said. “But I ran out of equipment ... putting gear in a lot more places than I needed to.” Besides El Capitan, he’s eyeing a place in Fenton, Mich., that offers ice climbing. It’s a steel structure that gets hosed down until frozen, definitely requiring the use of crampons – spikes on the bottom of the shoes. He also eyes his pilot’s license as a means to more climbing. “My next pilot’s license will be instrument, then commercial,” he explains. “Instrument will allow me to fly in clouds. The commercial license will allow me to trade my services to learn to skydive, with the long-term goal being able to base jump off the top of the cliff.” Grinning, he adds, “If you don’t have to walk down you can climb more … not to mention the rush!” Climbing does not have to be expensive, he explains. The initial costs are for a harness, shoes and a chalk bag (the chalk is for sweaty hands.) Beginners should go out with experienced climbers first. “You build trust with people,” he continues, explaining how a climber has to start with more experienced climbers. He suggests that anyone who would like to try rock climbing should stop by the YMCA from 7 to 9 p.m. Monday, Tuesday and Thursday every week. The cost is $2 or free to members, and if you go on a Thursday evening, you’ll have Coxon to help you learn.
