Can you tell us a little about yourself?
My name is Luis Armando Gil Rangel. I was born and grew up in Caracas, Venezuela.
Caracas is a beautiful, unique valley located in the North of South America where Los Andes meet the Caribbean Sea. Our mountain, El Avila, is visible from pretty much everywhere. If you want to know which direction is north, just face the mountain.
In 2014, I graduated from Simon Bolivar University in Caracas. This same year I chose to leave my country to study in the U.S. Many people my age were doing the same thing. Unfortunately, the economic and political situation in Caracas had become incredibly bad. I had no idea how much worse things were about to get after I left…
How I ended up in Portland is simple. One day a climbing friend told me about a place with pretty good beer that wasn’t too far from Yosemite. (This was an important criterion for me.) So, I researched Masters programs in the area and found Portland State. I applied to the mechanical engineering program. A few weeks later I received the letter of acceptance. I didn’t know much about Portland, and I didn’t know a single person here, but in the end, it was a bet that turned out well.
Can you tell us about your work?
Well, I am an engineer. I work at a tech company developing new computer architectures. I design and test systems by dropping them and putting them on vibration tables or in big ovens to see if and how they fail, and then I provide solutions to make those technologies viable.
Climbing is my passion and love. It is, in a way, what brought me here. The Masters program was just an excuse and a requirement to be in the U.S. lawfully. Since I didn’t have a car when I first came to Portland, I would offer to teach people and take them up routes, if they would drive. This is how I first managed to climb at Smith Rock (a place I’d always dreamed of climbing). During that period, climbing helped me forget how hard it was to be an immigrant, how much I missed my family, and my doubts about coming here in the first place. I think I was dealing with bouts of depression, which was pretty scary. Eventually, I shook it off, decided to accept my reality and move on.
Later, when life got better and I got more gear, I started helping people that wanted to learn to climb, but didn’t have anyone to teach them. When someone said, Oh, I’d like to do Monkey Face one of these days, I’d answer, Let’s do it. We can go this weekend if you want. Doing that was cool. I’ve actually lost count of how many times I climbed the Monkey. I did the same thing with other skills, like trad climbing, for example.
PDX Climbers of Color
A couple years ago, when some friends created PDX Climbers of Color, (an organization that aims to improve access to, and create space in the outdoors for people of color) I jumped in to help. I was happy to do it. It was an opportunity to teach, and the community was stoked to learn. It’s important to mention that this group helped me understand racial inequality in this country. Even if it sounds naïve, I grew up thinking the U.S. was a super advanced country, and I didn’t realize that racism and inequality were the problems that they are here. The group helped me see how wrong I was.
In the last couple of years, I have been saving money and helping my family in Venezuela, without forgetting about my own dreams. Eventually I put the money and time in to get my AMGA certification and formally become a professional instructor. This allows me to organize outdoor clinics for the community with a local gym which provides all the permits and gear.
In the future, I have plans to continue my professional AMGA path, and hopefully retire from my engineering career, so I can guide across the U.S., as well as outside the U.S.
How long have you been climbing?
I have been climbing for over 10 years. I started in Venezuela, climbing in a place called La Guairita, a very special place close to my house.
I have climbed in many beautiful places in Utah, California, Oregon, Washington, etc. with memorable routes, but overall, the best memories are of my climbing partners. My friends Anne Marie, Matt, Chris and I got benighted once and had a pretty intense time, but it was a bonding experience. After that we started calling ourselves the “PNW Bailers”. We even designed a simple logo and made some custom sweaters. That was fun. “The Bailers” was a statement of friendship, about not taking climbing (or ourselves) too seriously. Sometimes people care more about the send than the fact that they are sharing a memory with someone else. We will always be the bailers 😊.
Can you tell us one lesson you have learned on your journey so far?
I’ve learned resiliency. I’ve learned to roll with the punches and just keep trying if there is something I really want. Unfortunately, life is not meant to be easy.