Jason Martin


Jason climbing on Huayna Potosi, Bolivia. Photo: Phil Highfil

Basics

I started with the Institute in 2000,and have been an Institute guide trainer and Single Pitch Instructor Course Director since 2007. I hold a Bachelor of Arts and Education Degree from Western Washington University and a Masters of Fine Arts Degree from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. I advise climbers on program selection and expedition preparation and manage the guide staff. I also coordinate commercial use permits with land agencies, develop and refine AAI course curriculum, oversee trip logistics, and supervise the Institute's Blog and Twitter accounts. I speak Spanish.


Jason at the far end of the table and friends enjoying pisco sours after a successful summit of Ishinca, Peru.


Jason climbing near the summit of Toqllaraju, Peru. Photo: Andrew Wexler

Climbing Philosophy

I like to consider myself not just a climber and a guide, but also a dramatist, playwright and a film critic. If you recall your high school English classes, you might remember a chart that looks like this:


I used to think that my interest in theatre and film was the polar opposite of my interest in climbing and guiding, but then I had an epiphany. I realized that my enthusiasm for climbing and my interest in story structure intersect. Climbing has a clearly delineated dramatic structure. You might remember that exposition is what provides the background information on the main character and the world that he lives in. When the character becomes enmeshed in the story and has to deal with obstacles the action begins to rise. The climax is the moment of greatest tension and emotion. And the remainder of the chart deals with story resolution.

In climbing, getting prepared for something big or difficult is like exposition. Getting on the mountain or route is the same as rising action. Dealing with the crux of the climb is like the climax. And getting back to the car safely is analogous to the falling action and resolution.

Of course- just like in the movies- every now and then a climber thinks that the story is over. He thinks he's going to get back to the car safely and that there won't be any more challenges. And every now and then there is a surprise. In the movies we find out the monster is not dead. In real life, a storm moves in on the descent or a rope gets jammed, or some other obstacle stands in the way.

When I realized this I finally understood that my interests are the same. Going on a climbing trip takes us away from our normal every day lives and puts us somewhere special. The same thing happens with the best books, movies and theatrical productions.



Favorite Climbing Destination

My Favorite climbs include solo an ascent of the North Face of Chair Peak (AI 3, 5.4) in the winter, a spectacular ascent of the Resolution Arete (Grade V, 5.10, A1) in Red Rock Canyon and an ascent of the ubber classic Northeast Buttress of Mount SLesse (Grade V, 5.10).

Hobbies

In addition to working as a climbing guide and as the Institute's operations manager, I'm a freelance writer with a varied field of interests. I'm an outdoor writer, a guidebook author, a playwright, a screenwriter and a film critic.

I also manage the AAI blog. My writing work has been seen in Climbing magazine, the Northwest Mountaineering Journal, the San Antonio Current, the Las Vegas Review Journal, the Waterbury Republican-American, The Backpacker, Movies Online, and in numerous other newspapers, magazines and websites.

I've authored two guidebooks. In 2003, Mountaineers Books published Washington Ice: A Climbing Guide and in 2008, Sharp End Books published Fun Climbs Red Rocks: Top Ropes and Moderates.

As a dramatist, I have seen my work produced throughout the United States and Europe. I've received three Meritorious Achievement Awards from the American College Theatre Festival for excellence in playwriting; and my play "Dying Light" was selected as the Best New Play at the Northwest Drama Conference in 1995. More recently, my Brechtian exploration of Native American rights and modern environmentalism entitled, "Endangered Species," was selected as a finalist in the Earth Matters on Stage conference in Humboldt, California. As a screenwriter, I adapted John Weld's book "Fly Away Home" into a screenplay for Laguna Films in California.

In the summer of 2008, I wrote for a 48-hour film festival. In a 48-hour time, my team had to write and produce a four-minute "road trip" film that included a potato sack, a grocery store manager, the line, "It doesnŐt have to be that way," and a theme that dealt with how dangerously disconnected we are from our food sources. My team won first place.

Additionally, in 2005 Jason and several other climbers/guides were asked to do a two-part series for Oregon Public Broadcasting about ice climbing in Washington State.