Charlie Firer
Operations Manager - Employee since 2018
Charlie grew up in Wisconsin where he was fortunate enough to have a climbing team at his high school. After competing for a year, he got a job working at the climbing gym at the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire and guided weekend climbing trips. After realizing his love for climbing and slacklining couldn’t be satiated by the small crags in the flat-lands of the Midwest, he decided to move to Colorado. There, he spent as much time as possible honing his skills in bouldering, sport climbing, and highlining. Charlie moved to Bozeman in 2016 to explore new mountain ranges and meet new people.
Charlie’s favorite types of climbs involve long days in the mountains often combining running and alpine climbing. Ultimately, he enjoys moving quickly through the mountains and utilizing all the skills he has acquired from many different disciplines. Although climbing will always be a part of Charlie’s life, he enjoys a wide variety of other activities ranging from back country skiing to trail running, slacklining, and yoga.
Favorite climbs: Grand Traverse (but really just the Cathedral Traverse section) [Tetons], Cirque Traverse [Wind River Range], Mala Fama [Mexico]
Kim Lemke
Program Manager - Employee since 2015
Born and raised in Billings, Montana, Kim grew up loving snow, rock, and anything outdoors. She learned to ski and backpack as soon as she could walk but didn’t find rock climbing until college. Sitting in freshman orientation, she signed up for “Rock Climbing 101” just for fun. She fell in love and went on to work at SteepWorld in Billings and spend countless hours on the sandstone bluffs surrounding the city. Coming to Bozeman in 2015 for the outdoor recreation that it provides, she now is stoked to keep exploring the local crags and play on some ice this winter.
Favorite Climbs: I'll Tell You What's Cool (Cody, WY), Brown Sugar (Billings, MT), Beer Bong (Ten Sleep, WY), anything that takes you high up in da mountains
Nick Wandzilak
Head Setter, Head Comp Team Coach - Employee since 2014
If it wasn't the whiskey, then it sure was that sweet southern sandstone that made this wayward Kentuckian fall in love with rock climbing. For 20 years, rock climbing has been a significant part of his life whether it's climbing outside or grabbing plastic. Eventually, he learned that he could put that plastic wherever his heart desired, and thus began his journey as a setter. While he loves climbing on steep walls, he also have a deep respect for the less than vertical.
Ryan Worden
Marketing Manager - Employee since 2022
Originally hailing from the frigid northlands of Montreal, Canada, (Go Habs!) Ryan began climbing at the age of 20 after his college roommate floated the idea to go to a climbing gym one day. After a couple years only climbing in the gym, Ryan began to venture outdoors when he moved to Vermont to areas like Smuggler's Notch and Mt. Rumney. Moving to Bozeman in 2018 to ski instruct at Bridger Bowl, Ryan fell in love with the local climbing and decided to stay. When not in Spire, Ryan can be found skiing at Bridger Bowl, climbing with friends at the local crags, and spending time with his dog Ruby.
Favorite climbs: Gigarette (Yankee Jim), High Exposure (Gunks), Pandemic (Joe's), Will's Afire (Joe's)
Wolf Porter
Instruction Coordinator, Assistant Retail Buyer - Employee since 2021
In college Wolf discovered his love for climbing where he completed his Outdoor Pursuits Program, taking students into the backcountry. This is where he fostered his love of teaching and sharing the outdoors with others. After college Wolf and his partner jumped into their custom built van with their dog “Dude” traveling the US in search of endless climbing and skiing. Since then climbing has taken him to different places all over the world including Japan, Peru and Vietnam. Wolf enjoys teaching others and hopes to share his love for climbing and the outdoors with everyone.
Favorite Climbs: Longer climbs in the mountains with friends that involve a significant amount of free climbing with air beneath your feet. Climbs that teach you something about yourself that can be shared with good company. Clipping bolts is pretty nice too.
Nico Hurley
Yoga and Fitness Coordinator - Employee since 2023
Kelsey Pickens
Assistant Head Coach/Climbing Team Coordinator - Employee since 2012
Kelsey was born and raised in Bozeman. She grew up skiing and playing lots of sports. In college she began climbing, mostly bouldering. Throughout her 20s she lived in various states and countries, seeking interesting and aesthetic routes and problems to project. While climbing remains her favorite sport, she also enjoys skiing, running, surfing, and hunting—pretty much any activity that offers immersion within wild places. If she’s not outside, she’s probably working for Spire, writing her next novel, or hanging out with family and friends.
Favorite Climbs: Carbs and Caffeine, Chestnut Mountain; Roller Girls, The Cube; The Hunk, Buttermilks; Mr. Moran, Red Rocks; Morning Dove White, Happies
Zac Vincent
Facility Maintenance Operations - Employee since 2018
Zac grew up outside of Washington D.C. and began climbing at Carderock as a teen. After high school he moved to Boulder where his passion for bouldering took off. In 2012 he moved to Bozeman, which coincided with a break from climbing for a few years. His favorite discipline is still bouldering. Outside of climbing he enjoys spending time with his partner, family and cat.
Kevin Lindlau
Customer Specialist, Instructor - Employee since 2018
Born in Waukesha, Wisconsin, climbing was not on Kevin’s radar until moving to Durango Colorado to attend Fort Lewis College. With a plethora of climbing around town it was hard not to get involved into the sport. For the first two years of living in Colorado he dabbled in all forms of rock climbing, highlining, skiing, snow kayaking, you name it. It wasn’t until he met Marcus Garcia and was shown the world of Ice Climbing that he found his true passion. After his first season on ice, he decided to train and compete in the fantastic world of mixed climbing. This lead to an addiction in dry tooling that is still burning today. Kevin helps coach the USA Youth Ice team with Marcus Garcia and recently moved to Bozeman where he hopes to get more youth climbers involved in the sport. You won’t see him rock climbing often, but more likely dangling upside down on a pair of ice tools training for the Ice climbing World Cups.
Favorite Climbs: Jedi Mind Tricks (CO), Zero to Hero (CO), Anything dry tooling!
Cam Brunner
Customer Specialist, Assistant Head Coach, Setter - Employee since 2018
Cam started climbing in the Cascades on some of the best granite in the United States. He was fortunate enough to learn how to trad climb at a very early start from some local icons. Soon they got sick of climbing with a sketchy 17 year old and Cam started bouldering. This is when he learned to love movement. Route setting came into play at college where he had the opportunity to start setting and it made him think about climbing in a way he hadn't before. Now, it has been three years setting at commercial gyms and he is constantly learning and trying to be better each week!
Ian S.
Customer Specialist, Instructor - Employee since 2021
Ian grew up in Cleveland, Ohio spending most of his free time hunting, fishing or just as outside as you could get in the city. He moved to Bozeman in 2018 to study at MSU and found climbing through the campus gym. Since then he has only fallen more in love with climbing. He spends most of his free time at Spire working out or climbing and on occasion will send something kinda of cool.
Favorite Climb: Flake Fest Direct
Ben Eckstein
Customer Specialist, Bozeman Climbing Team Coach, Setter - Employee since 2021
Ben grew up in the Boston area and started climbing at age 14 after a long gymnastics career came to an end. After joining a team at the local gym, he quickly became hooked on the combination of athleticism, competition and community that climbing provides. After a few years of competition Ben’s focus shifted to the outdoors and his passion for climbing multiplied tenfold, particularly after dipping his toes into route development. Nowadays Ben is a coach and route setter and is constantly pushing himself in both of these fields. Ben loves all types of climbing and gravitates towards dynamic, technical, crimpy and slabby routes, but you’ll also find him working on his weaknesses.
Favorite climbing areas: Bishop, Siurana, Ceuse, Fantasia, Beaver Creek.
Favorite Climbs: Zona 0, Steere Strong, La Femme Noire, Zen Flute, Pucker Clench Sucker Punch, Tree Support
Kel Sheridan
Customer Specialist, Instructor, Event EMT - Employee since 2021
In June of 2021 Kel moved from Chicago to Bozeman to start school at MSU. Kel’s background is in gymnastics and American ninja warrior training, but discovered climbing after getting to Bozeman. Kel is now super stoked on climbing, and pretty much lives at Spire.
Favorite Climb: Black corner (Hyalite), and any route at Spire with the green pinches
Tim Gentry
Customer Specialist, Youth Instructor - Employee since 2022
Born in Portland, OR, Tim started climbing in 2015 in high school. Tim moved to Bozeman 2018 for college, and quickly fell in love with the climbing around here, especially in Gallatin Canyon. Tim loves all types of climbing, but he gets most stoked on big wall climbing, multi-pitch climbing, and sport climbing.
When not climbing, you can find Tim playing the piano, cooking, mountain biking, or skiing.
Eddie Webb
Customer Specialist, Youth Instructor - Employee since 2022
Eddie grew up in Golden, Colorado. With inspiration from his parents, he was flung into the mountains on skis, a bike, and his feet. As a teenager, he took a natural step in mountain travel: rock climbing. Eddie found love for the sport and community at Earth Treks Golden, where he later worked through high school. In 2021, Eddie moved to Bozeman to study Geography at MSU and enjoys exploring the mountain ranges surrounding Bozeman via biking, trail running, skiing, and climbing [Combos preferred!].
Favorite Climbs: Dreamscape (Unaweep Ca.), Harvard - Columbia Traverse (Collegiate Peaks), Alone Time with my Banana (Clear Creek Ca.)
Alex Glenn
Customer Specialist, Youth Instructor - Employee since 2022
Alex grew up in Leucadia, California where he began exploring the vast wilderness of the Sierra Nevada's. After competing in surfing for 4 years, his focus slowly shifted to rock climbing and snowboarding after a visit to Utah when he was 16. What began as a family getaway soon became a passion for the outdoors, ultimately leading him to study photography at Montana State University. When not behind the front desk of Spire, you can find him in the alpine, climbing or with skis strapped to his feet.
Lea M.
Customer Specialist -Employee since 2022
My name is Lea and I am a desk staff employee at Spire. I like rocks. I like big rocks, and small rocks and pointy rocks, but not loose rocks.
Favorite Climbs: Those northwest rocks and some of those south rocks.
Matt R.
Customer Specialist - Employee since 2023
Matt grew up in southern California with running as his main sport. He moved to Bozeman for school in 2022 as a transfer student. He found climbing through the local climbing gym but really fell in love with it while working in Yosemite Valley for a summer. He then moved to Mammoth for a couple years to work at the ski resort and was regularly climbing in Bishop. His favorite type of climbing is trying hard sport climbs but really loves all types of climbing. When not climbing, Matt is usually skiing or hiking.
Favorite Areas: Yosemite Valley, Bishop (Happys, ORG, Pine creek, and Milks).
Favorite Climbs: Black Hole (ORG), From Chocolate to Morphine (ORG), The Clapper (Happys),The Weekender (Happys), Bachar Cracker (Valley)
Maddie M.
Customer Specialist - Employee since 2023
Maddie grew up in the great Midwest, having a passion for outdoor excursions to the Upper Peninsula and state parks across Lake Michigan. Though throughout high school she lived a mere few miles from a climbing gym, she was never exposed to the sport until her Freshman year at UW-La Crosse. There she was introduced to bouldering at the school’s retro wall by a good friend, and together they spent as much time climbing as they did in the classroom. Since then, Maddie has moved to Bozeman in the pursuit of accessibility to a variety of sport crags, and has been working hard to get into the world of trad, ice and alpine climbing. She is content anywhere with big rocks and good friends.
Favorite climbs: Maddie’s Route [Red Rocks], Legacy [Leggat Spire], South Sixshooter [Indian Creek], Take it in Small Steps [Winter Wall], Orange is the New Black [Point of Rocks], Irrational Exuberance [Hellgate Gulch], Let Your Pimpness Shine [Grandad Bluff], Riverboat Hustler [Necedah], Upper Diagonal [Devil’s Lake]
Hannah Z. aka Zylly
Customer Specialist, employee since 2023
Michigan born and raised, Zylly started consistently climbing while in college. With her university's climbing club she got to climb in several other states (as Michigan has very limited options), but her favorite outdoor sport climbing was in Arkansas. Zylly grew up appreciating all seasons of nature and if you ask to watch the sunset, the answer will always be yes (most likely will suggest running up a hill to get a better view). Between rock climbing, ice skating, skiing, and hiking, any spontaneous adventure sounds like a good idea if it means getting outside. If she's behind the desk you may catch her telling punny dad jokes or dancing to the music.
Brooke C.
Customer Specialist - Employee since 2023
Hi, my name is Brooke and I really like rock climbing. I grew up in Austin, Texas, but my love for climbing really took off once I moved to Utah for college. Between Joe’s Valley, Maple Canyon, and AF canyon it’s hard to choose an all-time favorite. If you want to find me in the wild I’ll ideally be snacking, reading, or petting a dog.
Emma K.
Customer Specialist - Employee since 2023
Emma has yet to supply a bio. Booooooo Emma!
Grace C.
Customer Specialist - Employee since 2023
Grace grew up in the most beautiful place on the entire planet: Hood River, Oregon (she will bring it up every chance she gets). Thrust into the vastness of the outdoors at a very young age, she spent her childhood exploring Mt. Hood and the Columbia River Gorge in every way that it had to offer. If she wasn’t goofing off in the mountains on foot or capsizing her 420 in the freezing water, she was probably on skis, a bike, or one of her horses. Although she grew up hurling herself into outrageous outdoor situations, she came to Bozeman deathly afraid of heights. Much to her initial chagrin, some buddies introduced her to climbing. Eventually deciding it would be the perfect way to conquer that fear, she dove headfirst into it and found a wonderful community through the gym. She now spends most of her free time exploring the endless playground that is Montana, attempting to get an education, and unapologetically distracting everyone at Spire with her idiotic dance moves.
Favorite Climbs: Anything Alpine on Mt. Hood or Mt. Adams