STAFF - PG BELMONT
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Mike Abell - Manager Mike was introduced to route setting at the old Planet Granite location in Santa Clara 6 years ago. Since then he's been setting routes around the bay area refining his skills. Mike has been climbing for 8 years, starting first as a sport climber and then transitioning into competition climbing and bouldering. He's now a full time student in the south bay and juggles setting, school, and climbing. He calls the Eastside a second home and will go great lengths to sneak a weekend outside. When Mike's not climbing or studying you can probably find him coaching the PG Youth Climbing Team, trying to beat Art's highest scores on Wii, or pretending he can still sport climb. |
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Brett - Asst. Manager Originally from Southern California, Brett migrated north to the Bay Area seeking adventure. When he isn’t busy driving or sleeping in vans, he loves to boulder in the Sierras, work on artsy DIY projects, and vacation in the desert. |
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Erica Planet Granite has been Erica’s second home ever since she learned to climb at the Belmont gym in 2006. Climbing quickly became an integral part of her life and has led her on amazing journeys, introduced her to genuine people, and reignited her childhood passion for the great outdoors. |
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Andrew Andrew was introduced to climbing in 2005 while attending college at UCSB. It was after his first trip outdoors on the Santa Barbara sandstone that he fell in love with climbing and hasn’t looked back. After finishing college he moved back to the bay area and joined the PG team working the front desk. While he enjoys sport climbing, it’s bouldering that he’s most enthusiastic about. Andrew loves everything PG has to offer, but also encourages people to take their acquired strengths outdoors. |
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Casey Born right here in the bay area, Casey has grown up doing everything from skiing and snowboarding to playing water polo for his high school. He started climbing almost ten years ago and has focused on bouldering for the majority of his climbing career. He's thrown down problems from the local bay area spots to Jtree, Yosemite Valley, Toulumne Meadows, Tahoe, North Cal Coast, Oregon, Washington, all the way up to Squamish, B.C. Casey has been with PG for almost two years now, working the front desk, doing belay lessons and BRC. Whenever he has time off from climbing he works 40 hour weeks(almost) as a framing carpenter. |
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Colin Colin picked up climbing and photography around the same time. He loves how climbing brings him to some of the most beautiful places in the world. Since his first trip to Bishop he has been doing his best to capture how beautiful these places are in still photo and video. Check out his work at http://vimeo.com/barple |
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Andres Native to the SF Bay Area, Andres does his best to keep his psyche |
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Ryan Born in South Africa, Ryan Walton moved to California when he was six years old. Growing up in California, Ryan first fell in love with surfing and team sports, such as baseball and basketball. Since obtaining his law degree and moving back to the Bay Area, Ryan developed a passion for rock climbing, mountaineering and biking. Ryan splits his time volunteering with the Bay Area Mountain Rescue Unit (BAMRU), traditional and alpine climbing, mountain biking, trail running, and organizing trips in the Sierra. Ryan is congenial and empathetic, always looking to meet new people and begin his next adventure. |
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Daniel Daniel Ferreira is a Bay Area native and began setting routes for PG in 2010. Daniel spends most of his time sport climbing and bouldering when he is not setting routes or working the front desk. The Eastern Sierra's are a second home to Daniel anytime of the year and Tahoe is where he got his start in climbing. While Daniel feels most at home cranking on crystals and bear hugging basalt blocks, he is also an avid ultra marathon runner and bird watching enthusiast. |
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Warren McLean Wernick Warren first stepped foot into PG in 2007 and hasn't left since. He has found a home amongst a family of strong and eager peers who are constantly psyched to climb. It is said that from failure comes our greatest lessons. In climbing, failure is a commodity of sorts. Yet unlike bacon, it is not served hot and tasty. It is the constant reality for all climbers. and in the spirit of dear old Tom Edison, all climbers must discover 10,000 ways not to climb the route before it can be done. Yet, even as one project is sent, there will always be another harder goal on the horizon; a truth that reminds all climbers that the true prize is in process rather than the result. Perhaps the greatest gift of all is the reality of how ludicrous climbing really is. From a practical perspective, it is an abiding waste of time and energy. Yet purely in the act of doing so, climbing provides a sense of unadulterated euphoria that is rarely carried in our spirit past the days of early childhood. Such a silly and difficult hobby reminds Warren never to take himself too seriously while the constant risk and physical strain keeps him completely present and focused. For Warren, this perpetual cycle of achievement and redirection has become as much a climbing ethos as a metaphor for life and the pursuit of all things awesome. It constantly reminds him to live life in the serenity between the nostalgia and satisfaction of what he has accomplished, and the electric anticipation of the challenges yet to come. His other passions include Film Production, Guitar, Cycling, Running, and Theater. |