I’m very pleased to bring you an interview with one of my favorite climbers, Paige Claassen. Paige is an absolute crusher in the world of sport climbing, having climbed a number of notable nails-hard 5.14+ test-piece routes (Necessary Evil, VRG; Just Do It, Smith Rock), capped with her recent send of Algorithm (5.14c/d) in the Fins, Idaho.
But as usual, this isn’t really a climbing website and we’re not really here to talk about Paige’s climbing (don’t worry, we will a bit).
I reached out to Paige because she’s worked out a life that is flexible in so many ways, yet intentionally demanding. Paige hasn’t settled for a life solely in the pursuit of climbing. She has instead created space for meaningful projects from 18-hour-days spent coordinating grape harvesting operations with her husband in Namibia, to nonprofit work across the globe.
She also takes on a good share of humble, self-deprecating humor. It’s my favorite kind of way to navigate this world.
A Pinch of Introduction:
Paige Claassen moved with her family to Estes Park, CO when she was nine, and shortly thereafter found her tribe amongst the climbing underworld. As Paige puts it on her website:
“As a kid, I sank in the swimming pool, lacked the coordination for basketball, and broke ear drums with my saxophone. At the age of nine, my parents took me to the climbing gym and I instantly found my place. Climbing, the sport for misfits, had accepted me with open arms.”
Paige Claassen
Paige went on to spend a decade in the youth competitive scene, before refocusing on outdoor climbing in tandem with her studies at the University of Colorado in Boulder. After securing her BA in Marketing, she’s spent the remaining years on a whirlwind tour that we’ll now explore…
The Drive
CC: Instead of listing a bunch of achievements, I like when someone has a particular route (or boulder problem, whatever) that really brought out the best in them. What was that experience for you?
Paige: Odin’s Eye, a 5.14c in Flatanger, Norway is the route I’m most proud of because I really had to keep my composure and stay super positive.
The route has four distinct cruxes, and each one felt really impossible on it’s own. It was really hard to envision linking them together. The route also seeps, so I had to stay positive and believe that I could climb the second crux, even when it was completely wet.
I have a joke with my husband, because he tends to hop on my projects and complain about conditions, which can mess with my head. I told him he had to be really positive and not complain about the route being wet. The day I sent, he went up first and said “wow, it’s so dry today, it feels really good!”. When I got on, it was the wettest the route had been, but I sent.
Positivity and not creating a place in your head for doubt goes a long way!
CC: I’ll also add that Paige is known for her technical wizardry, as she describes here. Odin’s Eye is a complete muscly, steep thug-fest (from what I’ve heard, let’s be real). Paige not only had to face hard climbing and very uncertain conditions, she had to do it in what she describes as her anti-style. I’m a touch obsessed with stories of those who can address and overcome weaknesses — a critical element of improvement in both sport and life. I encourage you to hear more on the Training Beta Podcast interview about Paige’s experience on the route.
The South African Connection
Paige married her husband, Arjan de Kock, a South African native in 2016. Let’s have her tell us how they met:
Paige: I was on family vacation in South Africa with my parents to visit my brother, who was studying abroad in Cape Town. I wanted to climb and knew of a climber in Cape Town (Arjan), so I asked if he wanted to climb.
He had to bail on climbing for a meeting, so we met up for drinks and dinner instead, and went climbing the next day. It was sort of a whirlwind 24-hour romance on the other side of the world, and I didn’t think I’d see him again.
We texted for three months before he flew to the US to visit me. Two years later we got married, in May of 2016. Over three years ago – crazy!
Namibia Grape Harvesting
Until recently, Paige and Arjan have been splitting time each year between Colorado and South Africa. When in Africa, Paige supports her husbands work harvesting grapes, which includes a particularly grueling two month schedule.
CC: Tell me about your work in Namibia with your husband. Why do grueling farm work when you can just climb professionally?
Paige: So, this November will actually be our last year working in Namibia, because the business took a turn for the worse. But working in Namibia had very little to do with the money. I’m not super driven by money if the work isn’t meaningful to me or helping someone else. I’d rather do what I love and make less than be rich and miserable.
But I love Arjan, and this was his work, and something he’d put a lot of time and energy and heart into. Arjan implemented new machines and a new pay system so that people are incentivized to work harder and can make up to three times as much as they could otherwise.
I was happy to work in Namibia for two months to support Arjan. I’m not one to sit around while everyone else works, so that certainly wasn’t an option. I said I would help with whatever needed to be done.
The Spreadsheet
Arjan came home from work one day at the beginning of the season and asked if I could manage this excel spreadsheet. I said sure, not knowing what I was getting into. Plus I love a good spreadsheet.
It turns out the spreadsheet determined what 2000 people in the packhouse are doing at any given moment. So I’m the point of communication between the marketing team and the production lines in the packhouse.
I consider what orders need to be filled, and what grapes are available (size, variety, color, etc.) that day based on what the farm managers tell me. Then I choose what country will receive which shipments and what brand, box, carton, label, etc. has to be fixed onto that box of grapes. If I give one small wrong instruction to an entire packline of people (about 300 people)…it’s really bad. So I can’t mess up.
A Day in the Life During Harvesting Season
Paige: I wake up at 4:00 am to count what orders we filled the previous day and decide what orders still need to be filled. Then I prioritize the outstanding orders and assign them to each of the six packlines, based on what that line is capable of. For example, some lines can only pack into bags, and some are able to print labels onto plastic cartons.
By 5:30 or 6:00 am, I need to have a finalized starting plan for the day. The managers need this information to stock the packlines and setup the machines.
By 7:00 am, the packhouse is full of employees packing grapes. It’s super loud with all the machines running and pretty cold in the packhouse for the grapes. Which is great because outside it reaches 120 degrees (F).
The workers have a hour-long lunch, but they’re staggered in two teams. As such, I don’t really take a lunch break, since there’s always production lines running. Someone from our team will make grilled cheese sandwiches, and we’ll just run in and grab one whenever we can. Health regulations prevent us from having food in the packhouse.
We finish packing anywhere between 6:00 pm – 10:00 pm, then I go home and sleep for six hours and start over the next day.
This goes on six days a week for two months. It sounds rough, and it is, but I like that everyone else is working just as hard. From upper management to the workers on the packline, we’re all working really long hours. We’re in it together and it’s a pretty cool bonding experience.
The Professional Climbing Life
CC: What percentage of your income is supported by climbing? What are some other sources of income?
Paige: Previously, about 25% of our family income was from my climbing sponsorships, and 75% was from farming (primarily Arjan’s salary, but I earned a bit during harvest as well).
Now that the farming side is ending, we’re restructuring our entire lives basically. We’re now living full time in Colorado, but will go back to South Africa to visit family.
Arjan and I recently started a production company called Olifant Productions. Arjan has always loved taking photos, but has recently been filming. I realized that I love to edit video, so we make a great team.
Arjan is super social and loves to go interact with people and be in new places, which is great for capturing content. I’m more of an introverted homebody, so the editing process suits me really well. Plus, editing is kind of like operating a spreadsheet, but way more fun.
Below, check out Paige Claassen on the famed Groove Train (5.14b) in Australia’s Grampians National Park (an Olifant Production film). I’ve watched this video a lot, and I’m excited to see where Paige and Arjan take their production work.
I like to work, so I’m not worried about the future. The challenge is deciding where to apply myself.
Paige Claassen
Paige Claassen on Funding a Life After Professional Climbing
CC: How do you envision finding a place of financial stability beyond prime climbing years? I realize you could easily be crushing for decades, but there will come a time (I imagine) when sponsors want to make more room for the up-and-comers.
Paige: Yes, I love this question and fear that not many climbers consider this.
Arjan and I are hoping to continue this new path we’re on, producing videos. I’d love to work on some projects outside of climbing as well, but climbing is a great avenue right now because it’s something I’m so familiar with.
I’ve always loved school and learning, and could see myself in a wide range of different jobs, if needed. I like to work, so I’m not worried about the future. The challenge is deciding where to apply myself.
Flexing the Brain, Not Just the Biceps
CC: You are an educated and articulate woman. Where/how do you find ways to flex your brain outside of a professional climbing career?
Paige: When I finished school at CU, I designed a world climbing tour called Lead Now with Jon Glassberg of Louder Than 11. We traveled to nine different countries, documenting my attempts to climb 5.14 routes in each country to raise money for local nonprofit organizations. This was a logistically challenging project, but also my introduction to the nonprofit world.
Soon after Lead Now, I met Arjan and started the Southern Africa Education Fund. SAEF is a 501(c)(3), and we do most of our fundraising in the United States in order to build classrooms in Namibia where we farm.
I’ve always found a way to contribute to something other than my climbing pursuits, and these tend to be great intellectual challenges as well. Not only have I been learning how to partner with a local community, work alongside the Namibian government to overcome legal barriers to public education, and take on the logistics of a construction project in rural Africa, but there’s also the ethics of it all.
Am I providing the help the community needs, rather than what I think is needed? Am I helping the community help themselves, rather than simply doing something for them? Are classrooms really helping when these kids are also hungry?
How do I respond when I ask a schoolgirl how her day is going and she says “fine ma’am, except for the problem of hunger”? I’ve definitely struggled with my own emotions as I learn how to most effectively help this community that has become so familiar to me.
Paige Claassen on Today’s Climbing Culture
I really can’t relate to the dirtbag culture…I don’t think I would be a climber if that’s what it took today.
Paige Claassen
The Mobile Lifestyle
CC: Climbers are increasingly seeking more location flexibility (me included). But without a fully mobile existence (i.e., a van), providing housing in separate places for only a few months at a time can be logistically challenging. You split your time between Colorado, South Africa, and other travel. Functionally, what does this look like? Do you own any properties in any of these places? Do you rent somewhere new when you travel? Stay with parents in Colorado?
Paige: Our living situation has changed over the years. Arjan had a house in South Africa, a little mountain cottage, that we’d stay at when we were there. But with the changes in the family business, that house is no longer ours.
For many years, I stayed with my parents in Estes Park between travels. In 2016, Arjan and I bought a house in Longmont, Colorado. We live here “full time” now, but rent it out on Airbnb when we’re traveling. We have a truck that’s built out, so if we’re climbing in the US, we typically camp out in the truck. When traveling abroad, we get an Airbnb. It’s kind of a mish mash.
The Dirtbag
CC: As a well-traveled climber, where do you think the glorification of dirtbag culture has gone wrong? What do you like about it?
Paige: I really can’t relate to the dirtbag culture.
I guess I’m spoiled, or just a typical American, but I love having a shower at the end of the day and eating real food.
Our sport has certainly evolved over the last few decades. Mad respect for the guys and gals who were living off scraps in Camp 4 and hitchhiking around to climb.
But if I’m being honest, I don’t think I would be a climber if that’s what it took today. I think the dirtbag lifestyle requires being a climber 100% of the time, which is great for a lot of people. I like being a climber about 60% of the time, and the rest of the time I want to stimulate my brain or help other people. And sleep in a bed.
Other Interests and Personality
CC: You obviously love climbing and travel. What else interests you?
Paige: Everyone always says cooking, but Arjan and I REALLY love to cook. We go through phases of making a soufflé every night for dessert. I love to bake, but have gotten more into cooking meals on a budget lately, which is actually super fun.
Cleaning isn’t something I particularly enjoy, but I like when my house is clean. So I suppose you can often find me cleaning. I like to decorate, so if friends move houses, or my parents go on vacation, I’ll rearrange their house. We have three nephews who we love to play with, all in South Africa. This is all sounding very domestic.
I tried to learn to kite surf, but it turns out I absolutely hate the water, and the sand, and the sun. I’m really terrible at other sports.
A Commitment to Greater Causes
CC: I really admire your commitment to greater causes beyond climbing, highlighted on your Lead Now tour and your Southern Africa Education Fund project. Why is this sort of work so important to you?
Paige: I think it’s just really needed. There is a lot of suffering in our world and a lot of gaps to fill.
The village in Namibia where I live for two months of every year had an obvious gap for me to fill: education. I think of it on more of a utilitarian level. What needs to be done, and how can I help accomplish it?
Regardless of our skill or experience level, there are always ways we can contribute. Sometimes it just takes one person’s motivation to get the wheel rolling. Other people are happy to support and lend a hand, but might not know how to begin.
CC: What personality trait is key to your success but also not your greatest attribute?
Paige: I put a lot of pressure on myself. My expectations often exceed what’s realistic, leading me to feel disappointed in my performance. There’s a sense that I am capable of more.
I feel this sense of pressure most severely in my work with the Southern Africa Education Fund. It’s hard to feel like I’ve accomplished anything when I see how much still needs to be done. I think that’s what pushes me to try my absolute best, but it also leads to some sleepless nights and occasionally some tears.
Parting Thoughts
Alright folks, I hope you’ve enjoyed this interview with Paige Claassen.
I am very excited to see where Paige takes her career, certainly in the world of climbing, but also her commitments to make the world even a slightly better place. You are correct Paige: it will never be enough, but every bit helps. We thank you for your work.
If you’d like to learn more about Paige, I really encourage you to check out her website and especially her entertaining instagram feed. Also, please take a look at Olifant Productions and the quality work being produced.
Remember, the best laid plans mean nothing if you can’t take action today. Have questions? Need some feedback? Hit us up on the Contact page.
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Thanks guys, see you next week.
Please note, Paige Claassen supplied all photos. Please reach out to her for permission to republish.
I briefly met Paige and Arjan in Clear Creek on the same day I got Sonic Youth. They were both super friendly and down to earth, and even though Paige probably warms up on Sonic, she was really psyched for me for sending it. It’s really cool to see this interview with her, keep up the good work!