Action In Solitude

During an impromptu trip to Ventura, California I had the pleasure of catching up with Justin Roth, a friend and former co-worker. He currently works for Patagonia in the marketing department. Before that he was at Petzl and before that he served in a number of roles at Climbing Magazine and Urban Climber Magazine. Until recently he also published The Stone Mind, a popular blog that frequently contemplated climbing and Buddhism and the relationship between the two. As I have got to know Justin I have found him to be creative, thoughtful, even-keeled, and he possesses a tremendous amount of grit. We recorded the interview at Justin's place in Ventura, which was nice because I got to visit with his wife, Kristin, and his baby girl, Olivia. After dinner and cupcakes Justin offered me a glass of whiskey to enjoy during our talk. We sat down at the microphones setup in his climbing gym (garage with woody) and covered a number of topics, including his suburban upbringing in Ohio, going to college at NYU, and the r