No.574 Nathan Smith

Transcript (25 pages) of interview by Matt Driscoll with Nathan Smith on November 23, 2009Smith (b. 1986) was born in Big Sur, California. His father was in the oil industry so the family moved around a lot. He first started climbing in California when he was eleven and ended up moving to Utah to attend college at the University of Utah. He started traveling around the state and, during his freshman year, got a job with the Outdoor Program on campus. He started leading trips right away and then got his American Mountain Guide Certification the following summer, which is a very difficult course. He was one of the youngest to take the AMGC and now teaches it. In the course you learn how to teach climbing, establish sites, build anchors, and rescue techniques. In fall of 2007, while was still am undergraduate, the University of Utah decided to change their academic rock courses. He applied for a teaching job and got it, but had to co-teach since he was still too young. Spring of 2008 he introduced ice climbing to the university, which had never taught it before, and created a mentorship program for students who wished to learn to teach. He helped the University of Utah to be the first university to earn American Rock Guide Association accreditation. His current goal are to get International Federation of Mountain Guides Association (IFMGA) accreditation and to finish his PhD. He's currently working on expanding the University of Utah's rock and ice climbing classes. Interview is part of the Outdoor Recreation Oral History Project. Interviewer: Matt Driscol