No. 687 Drew Bedford

Transcript (28 pages) of an interview by Matt Driscoll with Drew Bedford on 31 March 2010. Part of the Outdoor Recreation Oral History Project, Everett Cooley Collection tape no. U-2088Drew Bedford was born on August 2, 1964 in Toronto, Ontario, but grew up in Seattle, New Jersey, and upstate New York before his family settled in Charlottesville, Virginia during his teen years. Drew skied throughout his childhood before discovering a passion for climbing when he was thirteen years old. Throughout his high school years in Virginia, Drew climbed as much as possible, despite a relative shortage of quality crags in the Southeast. He moved to Utah in the fall of 1982, enrolling at the University of Utah, and developed his climbing under the tutelage of Les Ellison, Brian Smoot, and Bret and Stuart Ruckman, among others. With routes in traditional climbing, Drew describes the growing pains involved as sport climbing and rappel-bolting entered the scene in the mid- to late-80s. He shares some of his more memorable first ascents, including the first route he put up in Ferguson Canyon and the first free ascent of the Monkey Finger Wall in Zion National Park. He also identifies the lasting influence of a number of climbers from his generation. Project: Outdoor Recreation. Interviewer: Matt Driscoll