Michael Reardon (Free Soloist)
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| Name: | Michael Reardon
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| Birth: | 1974 |
| Birthplace: | Rhode Island |
| Type of Climber: | Free Solo |
| Notable Solo Ascents: | Equinox (5.12c/d) at Joshua Tree National Park, CA EBGBs (5.10d) at Joshua Tree National Park, CA Ghetto Blaster (5.13b) at Malibu Creek State Park, CA Urban Struggle (5.12b) at Malibu Creek State Park Pirate at Suicide Rocks, CA |
| Notable On-Site Solo Ascents: | Outrage (5.13a) at Boney Bluffs in the Santa Monica Mountains, CA Romantic Warrior (V 5.12b) at Needles, CA Sea of Tranquility (V 5.11d, A0) at Needles, CA 214 routes in England including Neon Dust (5.13b/c) at Froggatt |
| Notable First Ascents Solos: | More than 150, including: Waiting for Guntess (5.13a) at Malibu Creek State Park, CA Shikata Ga Nai (V5.12) at Needles, CA MRSR (5.12a) at Joshua Tree National Park, CA Rainy Days (5.12d) at Burren, Ireland Palisade Traverse (VI 5.9) in 22 hours (the previous ascent took 12 days) in the Sierra Mountain Range, Ireland |
| Favorite Climb: | The Vampire (III 5.11) at Tahquitz, CA |
| Sponsors: | Metolius Climbing Acopa Nemo Equipment Leki Poles Jetboil |
Michael Reardon (born in 1974 in Rhode Island) is a professional American Free Solo Climber, filmmaker, motivational speaker and writer. He lives with his wife and daughter in Oak Park, California.
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[edit] General Information
Michael Reardon is one of the only professional Free Solo climbers around today. His time is spent traveling the world looking for the next ultimate solo climb, and giving motivational speeches and slideshows internationally.
An amusing tidbit about Reardon relates to the Leave no trace principal. To keep fellow climbers guessing, Reardon chooses to leave gifts for those who come after him. Examples include: plastic tigers attached to bolts and over-sized panties in summit registers.
[edit] Climbing History
Michael Reardon started climbing as a child on the boulders in his grandfather’s backyard. Together with his cousins, both his climbing skills and his interest in climbing were challenged and developed. Bouldering in a backyard turned to 3-day hikes in the Appalachian Mountains, and then to ridgerunning in the Rocky Mountains. Reardon eventually found himself in California where his climbing skills were fostered even further.
Michael Reardon’s first formal climb was at Tahquitz, CA on a 1,000-foot route called Whodunit (5.9), with a “crusty old climber.” As the story goes, halfway up the route, the crusty handed Michael some gear and told him, “You’ll use these when you’re scared.”
After the successful ascent, the pair had enough time to climb a 500 foot 5.7. Reardon had now officially caught the climbing bug. Because he didn’t have any friends to climb with (or his own gear, for that matter!), Reardon was forced to start climbing without ropes. He returned to the 5.7 climb, and soon found himself at the top, without having to rely on any ropes.
[edit] Scholastic History
Michael Reardon attended the University of California at Los Angeles, graduating with B.S. degrees in Philosophy and Political Science, then later graduated from the Pepperdine University School of Law with a Juris Doctor Degree.
[edit] Professional History
Michael Reardon acted as the Head of Business Affairs for Harvey Entertainment, then as a Partner/the Head of Production of Black Sky Entertainment, and currently owns Jumprunner Productions
[edit] Notable Achievements
· Equinox (5.12c/d) and EBGBs (5.10d), Joshua Tree National Park, CA
· 1,000 individual solos in 30 days and 100 first ascent solos up to 5.12 at Joshua Tree National Park, CA
· Ghetto Blaster (5.13b) and “Urban Struggle” (5.12b) at Malibu Creek, CA
· Pirate at Suicide Rocks, CA
· Onsight solo of Outrage (5.13a) at Boney Bluffs
· Onsight solo of Romantic Warrior (V 5.12b), Sea of Tranquility (V 5.11d, A0) and the First Ascent solo of Shikata Ga Nai (V 5.12) at the Needles, CA
· Onsight solo of 214 routes in England including Neon Dust (5.13b/c)
· Onsight solo of 240 routes in Ireland including the first ascent of Rainy Days (5.12+), and the first solo of the Palisade Traverse (VI 5.9) in 22 hours (the previous ascent took 12 days) in the Sierra Mountain Range.
[edit] Sponsors
· Metolius Climbing
· Acopa
· Nemo Equipment
· Leki Poles
· Jetboil
[edit] Media Appearances
· The New York Times
· National Geographic
· Climbing Magazine
· NBC World of Adventure Sports
· CNN
· HBO
· The “Climb On” video series
· Film: “Return to Sender”
· Film: “No Strings Attached”
[edit] Related Companies
· Damon Corso – Photographer
· Mark Niles – Photographer
· Jumprunner Productions – Production Company
· Petrala – Production Company
· Westlake Marketing Works – Marketing Company
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[edit] External Links
www.freesoloist.com - The official Michael Reardon website
