Jason Nelson

These days you’ll find Jason up in Alaska filming for the Emmy Award Winning National Geographic Television Show “Life Below Zero”. He might also be wandering some crevasses on a glacier documenting a NASA project to develop a robot to explore new life on one of Saturn’s icy moons. When not working he’s probably out putting up first ascents somewhere. Lately it’s been offwidths in Indian Creek with Pamela Shanti Pack and Gisely Ferraz and sport climbs at home in Ouray. Who knows where he’ll be tomorrow.

Jason has established big wall ice climbs and alpine rock walls in Alaska, ice climbs in Norway, limestone sport climbs in Mexico, and climbs all over the Southwest and Rocky Mountain regions of the US.

Jason has called the Ouray area home for most of the past 20 years. In addition to filming, he has earned a living as a Level 3 Rope Access Supervisor, photographer, and website designer. Over the years he has guided for ice climbing, rock climbing, canyoneering and via ferratas. Jason has taught clinics at events including Red Rocks Rendezvous, Ouray Ice Festival, Bozeman Ice Festival, Pamela Shanti Pack’s Art of Offwidth Clinics, Montrail’s Splitter Camps, Sterling Ropes Goddess on the Rocks events, and was lead rigger for the Valdez Ice Festival several years.

 

Jason grew up and started climbing in the coastal border area of New Hampshire and Maine. After completing art school in Denver, he honed his sandbagging skills in Boulder. Then Western Colorado beckoned, and drew him in. Within this guidebook you’ll find many routes Jason has pioneered. Living in Ouray only broadened Jason’s climbing skills and he spent years as an athlete for companies like Sterling Rope, Outdoor Research, Boreal, Asolo, Trango, Montrail, and others.

 

Jason has authored and published the following climbing guidebooks:

Climbs of the Million Dollar Highway: rock climbing in Ouray, Ridgway, Silverton, and Montrose.

Suffer Candy Vol. 1: an ice climbing guidebook to Ouray, Silverton and Telluride

Suffer Candy Vol. 2: an ice climbing guidebook to Lake City, Redstone, Glenwood Canyon, Grand Junction and Montrose.

• 

•