About Us > Board of Directors

Jimmy Pinjuv  
Jimmy Pinjuv honed his early climbing skills on the big and bouldery Red Rocks of Nevada. He brought these soft rock skills to the Bitterroot Valley and has been climbing here now for nearly 20 years. Jimmy currently heads the Bitterroot Climbers Coalition and he is dedicated to preserving climbing recreation for future generations. Jimmy was an early pioneer of Lost Horse Canyon and he continues to be a new route ascentionist there by putting up double figure routes for each of the last two years. Currently, Jimmy is working with the Forest Service to build a latrine in the Lost Horse Canyon Area. Jimmy is a proud father of two young girls, a devoted husband to his wife, Cryss and they live rurally outside of Hamilton, with a fantastic view of the Drip Buttress in Blodgett Canyon.
Steve Porcella  
Steve began climbing at age 7 in the Sierra Nevada with his dad and some well-known Yosemite climbers. In 1992, he co-authored, The Hikers Guide to California's 14ers. In 1996, he co-authored The Climbers Guide to California's 14ers. 2008 saw the revision release of this same book. Steve has volunteered information on F.A.s to many climbing guide books, journal articles, and has volunteered to keep the sport alive in other outdoor publications across the west. A National Ski Patrol volunteer member since 1998 at Lost Trail, Steve was the volunteer Access Fund Regional Coordinator for the State of Montana for 10 years. Steve's reason for volunteering with the Bitterroot Climbers' Coalition-- "Its time to give back to the superbowl of sports because climbing access can be taken away in a heart beat." (Photo: Run-out on Sweet Jesus, Yosemite)
Craig Kenyon  
Craig Kenyon grew up climbing the Front Range and alpine peaks of Colorado. In high school he was leading nail ups in Boulder Canyon. Taking his aid skills to Montana in the late seventies, Kenyon eventually got a second ascent of the Grade VI Upper Doublet in the Beartooths. Never far from Kenyon’s mind are the days of knickers and pin racks, tension traverses and rope tricks. This penchant for big walls sent him up 10 routes in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison and most of the major alpine walls of Rocky Mtn. National Park. Arriving back in Montana in the early nineties, he applied his skills to the Bitterroots, helping put up some of the most technical aid routes in the range. The highlight of Kenyon’s spree of first ascents was freeing the Timebinder route with minimal fixed gear on the Prow in Blodgett Canyon. A long-time resident across the river from Kootenai Canyon, Kenyon now lives in Missoula, where he is bivouaced for the time being. (Photo: 4th Pitch of Timebinder)
Christoph Ammann  
In 1994 Christoph began climbing at age 18 near his home in Innsbruck, Austria. After climbing some of the finest limestone and granite in the European Alps, he betrayed climbing to pursue freeride mountain biking. Some years and thousands of downhill-miles later he moved to Montana to do research at the Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Hamilton. There, hiking filled his summers and later he returned to his love, climbing. Since then he has been bouldering throughout Montana and can be found usually accompanied by his dog Yukon and Canon digital cameras. Some of his photos are published in the Lost Horse climbing guide and the upcoming Montana Bouldering guide. He was named one of the most talented sport photographers of 2008 by the editors of photo.net. His reason to volunteer in the Bitterroot Climbers' Coalition: "I think the BCC is a great way not only to deal with access and preservation issues but also to bring unity and communication to the climbing community itself." (Photo: Bouldering at Lake Como)
Brett Klaassen  
Brett began climbing in Washington State. He relocated to Missoula, Montana, after riding his bicycle solo across the US looking for a good place to set down some roots. He started the UM Climbing Club in 2007 with friend and long-time climbing partner, Michael Madison. In 2008, he organized and led the first-ever "Climb for Climate"--an ascent of Mt. Rainier to raise awareness of climate change. He's majoring in Biology, with minors in Math and Wilderness Studies. Brett is currently working on the Missoula Rock Climber's Guide with Craig, due out in Summer of '09. (Photo: Brett & "Layla" having a luau high on Rainier)
Corey Piersol  
Growing up with the Adirondacks, Corey moved to Missoula, MT, in 2006. In 2008, after hiking many of the peaks in the Bitterroots, he found his one true love--rock climbing! While climbing throughout the Bitterroots you can trust that his boy, Diego (whom wishes he had opposable thumbs) can be found running around close by. Corey is a man on fire! This guy has organized multiple events, including Lost Horse Climbing Festival & Boulder Bash and the Bluegrass & Blue Skies slideshow in March of 2009 at the Roxy Theater. He's a key member of the UM Climbing Club and instrumental in getting anything done. He's a student at the University of Montana studying finance. Why is he part of the BCC? “I can only hope that the beauty and splendor that I have experienced here in the Bitterroots will be passed on for those to come.” (photo: Tanganika Boulder, Lost Horse Canyon)
Levi Parchen  
Levi Parchen, a montana native, grew up in Missoula and started climbing at the age of 17.He has climbed extensively in the Western US, but his passion for bouldering and route climbing has transitioned more into the development aspect. In the last few years, he and Dean Towarnicki and others have established hundreds of boulder problems and more than a dozen routes in the areas surrounding Missoula, specifically, Lolo pass. Levi will be graduating in 2009 from the University of Montana with a bachelor's degree in Health and Human Performance with an emphasis in excercise science. He is unsure of his plans after college but would like to stick close to family and friends in Missoula.
Dean Towarnicki  
Dean is a University of Montana 2006 graduate with a B.A. in Environmental Studies. Originally from Pennsylvania, Montana is where he started climbing. A few top ropes with his brother Lance quickly gained his interest in climbing, but his brother grew out of it. Dean was forced to bouldering and top-rope soloing which he found was a good way to learn the tricks of the trade. After spending his early college days in PA he decided he needed to travel west and arrived in Montana. It was the best decision of his life and states,
"Life in Montana is wonderful!" His climbing quickly improved and he climbed with many friends around the area and around the country. He enjoy south-facing walls in the Bitterroot, long walks in the canyons, and all the pockets in Lolo. He enjoys climbing with anyone, if you need a partner, give him a shout. See you in the 'Root!