Chris Brinlee, Jr.

Storyteller | #CelebrateDiscomfort

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Chris Brinlee, Jr.

Storyteller | #CelebrateDiscomfort

Chris Brinlee, Jr. Is a Storyteller.

Stories, however, are not best-told from inside the walls of a cubicle, so in August 2014, Chris left his behind—quitting his fancy advertising art director job to go experience something more.

Since then, Chris’s adventures have led him around the globe—he’s paddled remote fjords in Greenland, ridden motorcycles through Vietnam, sailed with a crew to Antarctica, and climbed 6,000m peaks in Nepal.

Chris strives to #CelebrateDiscomfort—a theme at the core of each adventure, and each story he tells.

Chris specializes in bringing stories to life for both brands, and editorial outlets. As a contributor for publications such as Red Bulletin, IndefinitelyWild, Outside, Huckberry, and Gizmodo—his words, photos, and videos have inspired millions; while his strong presence on social media provide daily doses of inspiration.

Home Base

Lyons, Colorado

FAVORITE TRANSPORT

Motorcycle

FAVORITE FOOD

Thip Samai Pad Thai in Bangkok

Chris Brinlee Jr

RT @outsidemagazine: "I was sitting in my cubicle, and this little voice inside my head said, 'go backpacking.'" —@chrisbrinleejr… https://t.co/HiZJgetSjF
about 14 hours ago

What is Chris listening to?

Follow @ChrisBrinleeJr on Instagram

God's Own Drunk. This 320', two-pitch, traditional climbing classic in the Cathedral Spires is rated 5.8+, but the first ascensionist must have been drunk when he rated it, because it felt more like Five-point-HARD.

@lanleyc took the first, harder pitch (as he usually does,) and took a lil-whipper a few moves off the ground, blowing a point-five during the fall. HTF was I gonna get over the bulge that he fought so hard to overcome? With a lot of grunting and a truck-load of try-hard, that's how. By the time I reached the belay I was so pumped, but it was my turn to lead.

Time to Cowboy up. The second pitch proved to be almost as hard as the first, and I forced my way up the dihedral, into a chimney, and finally was able to make a (very-exposed) traverse to the top-out, before bringing Christian up.

Though the climbing was hard (and harder than anything else I have ever led) the actual crux of the journey was deproach. Beta on the descent was ambiguous at best, and there were multiple rap stations on either side of the pillar, but nothing actually said which one to take, and where the next rap anchor would be.

We tried our luck on what was inevitably the "wrong" side, made the second rap off of an old piton that we backed up with a nut, and then down climbed easy fifth to the ground. This was great, except it put us on the opposite side of the route's start, forcing us to hike twenty minutes back to our packs, wearing rock shoes to climb over downed trees, boulders, and briar bushes. We got back to VanleyC just as darkness had fully fallen.

Definitely don't miss this classic if you head out to @visitrapidcity. 10/10 would do again. Thanks @reedrombo for the sweet recommendation!

#sponsored #visitrapidcity #rapidcity #dobigthings #custerstatepark #godsowndrunk

Know what's more fun than hiking in Badlands National Park? Carving down the smooth, winding asphalt on a pumpy longboard; I've never seen anyone carve as hard as @lanleyc.

If you drive through the park, don't forget to bring a board. It doesn't get much better than this.

@visitrapidcity #sponsored #dobigthings #visitrapidcity #rapidcity #badlands

Enter the Badlands.
Badlands is one of those places where the statistics live up to their reputation. Its scenery is so dramatic, and the road that runs through it offers such sweeping vistas, that few feel compelled to ever leave the parking lot.

Additionally, there are few trails in the park, which provide even less incentive for getting out and walking around (most hiking and backpacking in the park is cross country.) But you and I know better - that's not how you get to know a place. You've gotta smell it. You've gotta feel its dry soil crunch underneath your shoes. You've gotta pick the sticky bristly balls from your pant legs and socks. You've gotta climb higher to get a better view of the land that surrounds.

So that's what @lanleyc and I did. We left the parking lot. We climbed sketchy piles of ever-eroding rubble that threatened to give out at any time. We smelled the flowers - literally and figuratively. If we never step beyond the known, do we really get to experience a place? I don't think so.

@visitrapidcity #sponsored #visitrapidcity #rapidcity #southdakota

At 2am, I awoke from a deep slumber, perched at 10,000' above a stunning alpine lake in Tuolumne, Yosemite with the company of an excited group of friends.

By 325am, we were hiking cross country by starlight across slopes of talus and fields of snow. We reached the base of Mt. Conness as the first rays of light began to crest over the behemoth in front of us, casting a pink and golden hue on the peaks to our backs.

At 725am, @brysonmalone and I roped up and began climbing the mountain's classic West Ridge, which Peter Croft described as one of the best moderate alpine rock climbs in Tuolumne - including a comparison to the famed Cathedral and Matthes Crest routes. A very in-love party climbed just below us.

After a few route finding issues, an adventurous rappel, and some swift simul-soloing, we arrived at the summit at 108pm - later than expected, but just in time given the incoming clouds, which filtered golden light onto the summit where @souzacine and @chris_naum had been patiently awaiting our arrival since 730am.

At approximately 215pm, heartfelt vows were exchanged - harkening not just an incredible love for each other, but also a mutually great love for the mountains; and @a_souza_photo and @vertical_life_pause were married atop the same peak that was their first climb together, many years before.

By 3pm, the sky fell out as we rushed down from the summit - signifying a powerful and dynamic change in their lives ahead. Timing, and a union, have never been more beautiful. So grateful to have been a part of their monumental experience.

#SouzasOnTheSummit #tietheknot

Today is National Switzerland Day! So grateful for the opportunity to have spent such short, but instrumental and impactful time there, on its great peaks!

I shot this photo of @lanleyc last October, just hours before we attempted a post-season, unguided attempt on the famed Hornligrat route. Less than a week earlier, we had just climbed the Eiger's Mittellegi Ridge, had an epic, made it down, and were ready for more.

The epic resulted because we were slow, and underestimated the great Ogre peak. On the Matterhorn, we vowed to not be slow, or at least, to not stop moving. With almost the entire route covered in snow, the going was inevitably slow, but we very rarely stopped, even to rest, and made it hut-to-hut in twenty hours.

This mountain movement solidified the relationship that Christian and I have; can't wait for more adventures together this fall!

#switzerland #matterhorn #swissalps #alpinism

Photos

They say a picture's worth a thousand words.

Photos

They say a picture's worth a thousand words.

Adventure

Travel

How We Got There

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Some stories are best told with words. Lots of words.

Stories

Some stories are best told with words. Lots of words.

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