No.573 Jonathan Knight

Transcript (42 pages) of interview by Erik Solberg with Jonathan Knight on June 20, 2008Knight (b. 1972) was born in Twin Falls, Idaho. His first exposure to the mountains was skiing and hiking in the Sun Valley/Ketchum area. When he was nine his family moved to Las Vegas where, despite missing skiing, he developed his climbing skills. He started climbing at sixteen during a family vacation in the Southern Sierras and improved his skills with his friend at the Craft Boulders and Red Rocks. While in Las Vegas he first encountered the issues between traditional climbers, like himself, and bolters. After taking the initiative to meet with groups of ""bolters"" he realized that the two groups, while operating under different philosophies, could coexist. At seventeen he moved to Salt Lake City to attend the University of Utah. Despite being disappointed at not being able to attend school in Colorado he encountered an active climbing scene in Utah with a diverse environment to explore. The Salt Lake area offered him a metropolitan area surrounded by continuous series of climbing opportunities. Interview is part of the Outdoor Recreation Oral History Project. Interviewer: Erik Solber