Hayden Kennedy: if you're going to be dumb you better be tough

VIMFF Finale
Saturday, February 18, 7:30 pm (doors 6:30 pm)
Centennial Theatre
Tickets $18 online / $20 doors   Buy Tickets Here

"I have always been too skinny and too weak to play football, and I was never very good at soccer. When I played baseball I was too afraid of the ball, which obviously never got me any home runs, and basketball was totally out of the question – everyone knows that white men can’t jump. I was left with the silly sport of climbing.” [Hayden Kennedy]
Climbing is in Hayden Kennedy’s blood and always will be. He remembers hearing stories from his father about his alpine climbs and crazy adventures in Alaska and the Himalayas when he was just old enough to say, “That sounds cold and stupid, Dad!”

Hayden grew up climbing, hiking, skiing and kayaking in the mountainous west. He completed his first multi-pitch climb at only 13 – the Kor-Ingalls on Castleton Tower – and was utterly petrified the whole time. Hayden recalls his father was just as scared as he was and told Hayden after every pitch that he led, “Good thing you didn’t fall.” Fortunately Hayden has gotten a lot better at placing gear since then.

After Castleton, he soon became obsessed with climbing. Since then Hayden has done it all, from the infamous “man spoon” on cold icy ledges to hard free-climbing all around the world. “I love the fact that one day you can have an intense adventure in the mountains and the next day be sport climbing and laughing it up with your friends. All of it gets me psyched. From granite to limestone, ice to sandstone, I love it all.”

There are days when he doesn’t make the summit, but those times are what make the good days that much better. The struggle of a hard redpoint and the mental challenge of a scary alpine climb gives Hayden a grasp of what he wants to become as a climber.