Beyond the Summit: About Todd Skinner

Todd Skinner's accomplishments include:

First free ascent of the Salathe Wall on El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, California.

First free climb of the North Face of Mt. Hooker in the Wind River Range, Wyoming.

First ascent of Aritiyope, Amazon Basin, Venezuela.

First free ascent of The Great Canadian Knife in the Cirque of the Unclimbables, Yukon Territories.

First free ascent of the Direct Northwest Face route on Half Dome, Yosemite National Park, California.

First free ascent of the East Face of Trango Tower, Pakistan's Karakoram Himalayas.

First free ascent on Kaga Pamari, the Main de Fatima, Sahara Desert, Mali.

First free ascent on Ulamertorsuaq, Cape Farewell, Greenland, funded by the National Geographic Society.

First free ascent of the East Face of Poi, Ndoto Mountains, Northern Kenya.

Underhill Rock Climber of the Year Award by The American Alpine Club.

Emmy Award for adventure cinematography.

Todd Skinner's Major Accomplishments

Todd Skinner was the most diversely accomplished rock climber of this generation. His achievements were documented in film and magazines in 12 languages. He accomplished more than 300 first ascents in 26 countries around the world and established new climbs at the highest level of difficulty. He relished the challenge of all aspects of rock climbing, from bouldering to Himalayan peaks, but most of all dreamed about Big Walls that could be free climbed in all corners of the globe.

Todd's climbing highlights include the first free ascent of the Salathe Wall on El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, the first free ascent of the north face of Mt. Hooker in the Wind River Range, the first free ascent of The Great Canadian Knife in the Cirque of the Unclimbables in the Yukon Territories, the first free ascent of the Northwest Direct Route on Half Dome, Yosemite National Park, the first free ascent of the East Face of Trango Tower in Pakistan's Karakoram Himalayas (the first grade 7 free climb in the world), the First free ascent of a new route on Kaga Pamari, Hand of Fatima Group, Mali West Africa, the first free ascent of a new route, War and Poetry, on Ulamertorsuaq, in the Cape Farewell region of Greenland, and the First free ascent of the East Face of Poi, Ndoto Mtns of Northern Kenya.

Skinner's accomplishments were covered by periodicals including National Geographic (cover feature on Nameless Tower 4/96 and article on Vietnam 12/97), Life Magazine, Outside Magazine, USA Today, Climbing, and Rock and Ice - and the premier issue of National Geographic Adventure, April 1999. His expeditions to Pakistan, Vietnam, Mali, Greenland were featured on the Outdoor Life Channel. His expedition to Kenya was an Outdoor Life Channel feature. His expedition to Aritiyope, an Amazon big wall in Venezuela, was featured on ESPN. Todd was invited to be one of three adventures included in National Geographic's first "Live from National Geographic" lecture program held outside of Washington DC.

Due to the dynamic nature of Todd's Beyond the Summit presentation he was increasingly in demand to bring his story of the spectacular free ascent of the East Face of Trango Tower to corporate audiences nationwide. Todd's clients included The Million Dollar Round Table, Intel, Dell Computers, Rational Software, Covad Communications, PaineWebber, Inktomi, Cadence Design Systems, CBT Systems, Nextel, Apple Computer, Inc., U.S. West, AST Computers, Compaq, GTE, Quantum Corporation, and The U.S. Naval Academy.