WHAT IS MEMBER OF THE MONTH?
We exist to serve our community by inspiring them to safely pursue their passions and live life on adventure. If you ask most of our members, one of the highlights about Alpine is our community. We are a rather diverse bunch of folks who rally around our passion for climbing, adventure seeking and the outdoors. Each month we will be featuring a member (or members) of the Alpine community that are staples around here and emulate Alpines values of safety, adventure, community, passionate, and servant leadership.
When the team met to determine who our first Member of the Month would be, it was an easy choice. Anthony, Samantha, Ali and Judah all came in on our first soft opening day for their belay class. After passing their class, Anthony and Samantha went to grab the rest of the kids while Allie and Judah belayed each other. About 5 hours later, they finally left. Fast forward to today, you’ll likely see one or all of them here every day.
member of the month - the masts
Tell us about your family
We moved to Ripon three years ago from Nebraska. All of our family is still in Nebraska. We lived out in the country so moving here still felt like home to us. Ripon is a small town and we absolutely love it. Anthony and Samantha have been married for 19 years and have five children; Aliya (15), Judah (14), Eli (12), Eden (10), and Liam (8). When we’re not climbing they are very involved in their church.
What is your climbing background?
We had zero climbing background! When we did our belay class we asked your team to explain it to us like we were 5 years old. We have done a bunch of camping, hiking and backpacking, especially when we moved to California, and love the outdoors but never any rock climbing.
Why did you join Alpine?
Once we found out that Alpine was being built we knew we had to be involved. We are a big family and are very careful with what we spend our time and money on, so the fact that everyone can be involved but not on a set schedule works really well for us.
Why do you love Alpine?
THE COMMUNITY! When you walk in the door you feel welcomed. Everyone is so encouraging and always pushing you to be better.
Climbing is something everyone can do no matter where you’re at. You then learn that you can do so much more than you think you can and constantly improve.
There’s always new routes to try and new people.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO SOMEONE INTERESTED IN CLIMBING AND A TOTAL NOOB?
Just jump in and do it! Come as you are.
From day one, the Masts have emulated Alpine’s values of passion, adventure and community and have quickly become a cornerstone of the gym. Thank you Masts for helping make Alpine what it is. We look forward to many more hours of solving boulder problems, pushing to the next grade and serving others along side you.
