Bryson Tibbitts shares the ropes and the routes

Bryson Tibbitts jokes that all his friends are climbers. Not all of them were before they met him, but they are now.

“I can’t think of anyone who’s truly passionate about what they do who keeps it to themselves. If you’re passionate about something, you want to share it,” he told ExpertVoice.

Musicians share their music. Painters share their techniques. Bryson shares rock climbing.

Someone who wants to climb will find a way, with or without help. Bryson would rather help new climbers learn to manage risk and enjoy the experience than leave them to figure it out alone.

Teaching sharpens his own skills, too. Bryson eagerly chases knowledge like learning is its own sport. Then, he spreads it just as deliberately.

That’s not unique to climbing. Bryson studied neuroscience in college and now runs a neuro-wellness coaching practice, helping clients understand how their own mind functions to work through emotional reactivity and negative self-talk. The same mindfulness he brings to coaching shows up on the rock: Stay present and focus on what is happening instead of what you’re afraid could happen.

Those instincts — to learn everything you can, then pass it on — make Bryson a natural ambassador for the ExpertVoice community. It’s the same logic: Real expertise is made more valuable when it’s shared.

It started with a friend’s free buddy pass to an indoor climbing gym in college. Within two months, Bryson went all-in on climbing. He bought his own gear and his own pass. He introduced more people (his sister, his mom, high school friends, his dog) to the sport, and the sport introduced him to more people.

Today, Bryson stocks his gear closet with extra harnesses, helmets, rappel devices, anchors and shoes in a range of sizes. Between his spare gear and coaching skills, he lowers the barrier of entry for new climbers.

Bryson’s greatest accomplishment, he says, isn’t a particularly technical climb or bolting his first route. He’s most proud of his relationship with his fiancé, Janelle Smith, a skilled technical climber and strong endurance athlete.

He’ll talk about his own feats if you press, but he’s more likely to beam about her triathlons and rotations as a physical therapist.

Whether it’s extra gear or admiration for what those closest to them are achieving, passionate people share what they love.

In 2022, Bryson discovered an entire climbing area in his own backyard. Close, anyway.

From his family’s Arizona homestead near Tonto Natural Bridge State Park, it’s a short hike to an unexpectedly massive landscape of boulders and walls to climb.

Bryson named it New Haven. With it, he got a rare opportunity for modern climbers: a first ascent.

Before bolting his first route, “Roamin’ Gladiator,” Bryson had mentally climbed it probably 50 times. He knew precisely where he’d place each bolt, how he’d move and when he’d rest. Finally sending it felt “incredible,” he said. “Familiar, yet still novel.”

And New Haven wasn’t just one new route. Bryson could’ve bagged each first ascent himself, but passionate people share.

Special places rarely stay secret. Eventually, people find them. Where some protect with gates, Bryson protects with strong community. More people appreciating special places means more people advocating to protect them.

More people climbing means gear gets better. Funding gets better, climbing leagues and competition get better.

The busiest crag will be the one closest to your car, he said. To avoid a crowd, try a further one, try a harder one. To Bryson, every new acquaintance could be a next best friend, any new route could be a next favorite.