Chris Wall

Head Trainer and Coach

If climbing were an Olympic sport, Chris could be working at the Olympic Training Center. Our training and coaching director, Chris combines top-end credentials with the personalized approach typically found in big-time athletics. Chris is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, as well as a Certified Muscle Activation Therapy Specialist with an M.S. in exercise physiology. His scientific mind and analytical thinking compliment his insight and experience to yield carefully structured results sought by novices and World Cup competitors alike. Chris’ genuine interest in his clients helps them unlock their true potential: “I can make anyone a better climber, they just have to let me.”

Chris has worked at the BRC since 1992, and his performance articles have been published in Rock and Ice, Climbing, She Sends and the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. He’s chairman of USA Climbing’s coaches committee, and he’s been interviewed about training for climbing by numerous sources, from local online publications to Outside magazine. But Chris’ expertise extends well beyond scientific knowledge and into the crucial art of individualization. As he says, “No one method works for everyone, so I aim for the custom fit.”

Outside of climbing, Chris teaches at the renowned Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Boulder school, and as a competitor he took the bronze medal at the Masters International in Rio de Janeiro in 2004. Perhaps there’s a philosophical connection between his success in the intense grappling martial art and his technique-intelligence-dedication approach to training climbers. Says one client, “He teaches you how to fight so you don’t have to.”

Whether a client strives for general fitness, peak performance, or anything in between, Chris makes clear what any serious athlete already knows – that gimmicky shortcuts don’t exist for improved performance. He emphasizes training hard and training smart, and smart includes individualized fine-tuning. Chris approaches training and instructing with the strategic vigor and intelligence that enable success, whatever your goals. His favorite quote? “Cry in the dojo, laugh in the battlefield.”