Background

Joe grew up by the beaches of Charleston, South Carolina, but when he was 18, he traded one flat town for another flat town to attend the U.S. Naval Academy where he played the little-known sport of Sprint Football.

During his career as a Navy Explosive Ordnance Technician, he stumbled upon Pisgah Climbing School and its military mountain training programs as a way to prepare his team for a deployment to Andes in South America with Army Special Forces. He was hooked on climbing immediately due to its unique way of combining technical systems with physical challenges. Joe continues to love rock climbing for the same reasons but particularly enjoys introducing people to the activity and having the opportunity to continually grow as a person through climbing.