When Kelsey Gray tells people he grew up in Houston, they immediately think he's talking about the city in Texas. But he's actually referring to Houston, Alaska. Though he spent a lot of time outdoors as a kid, he didn't venture into the mountains until later.

He started rock climbing when he was a student at the University of Alaska Anchorage. Around 2008, Gray serendipitously overheard a conversation about how Alaska needed a new rock climbing guidebook. He volunteered for the task. As part of his research for the first edition of the Alaska Rock Climbing Guide, Gray climbed more than 340 routes in one summer. He realized many of them were riddled with old, unsafe hardware and has since dedicated a lot of time and money to replacement.

He's now published several guidebooks and books of poetry while climbing and developing routes around the world. We connected with Gray while he was in Thailand.

You can learn more about Kelsey Gray in the Local Hero section of Alpinist 92.

This episode brought to you by Patagonia

Host: Abbey Collins

Producer & Engineer: Mike Horn

Guest: Kelsey Gray

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