Vincent on Adventurous Multi-Pitch & Mobile App Development
Volunteer Spotlight
In this ongoing series, we feature incredible volunteers who help drive the OpenBeta project forward. We’re excited to introduce Vincent Williams, who is currently leading our mobile app development.
Where do you live and climb?
I live in Mesa, Arizona. Arizona has tons of great climbing, but Jack's Canyon is probably my favorite spot. It has loads of great sport climbing on super solid limestone, but is remote enough that there aren't large crowds. Another place I love is Cochise Stronghold, known for it's sparsely-bolted slab multi-pitch climbs. If you are down for the approach and the runout it offers some great adventure climbing!
Besides climbing, what are you passionate about?
In addition to being a climber, I'm also a parent of 3 kids! As you can imagine, this can be time consuming, but whenever possible my wife and I try to get outside with our kids and climb together. I'm super excited for them to grow up climbing with us and I hope they enjoy the sport as much as we do!
I enjoy any outdoor activities like hiking or camping, but coffee brewing and photography are also side hobbies of mine!
What do you do for work, why did you choose that path?
I'm a software engineer working at Block and I've been doing software engineering professionally for around 8 years. I got into programming when I was about 12 years old because I was really into Minecraft at the time and wanted to make mods for it.
How did you learn about OpenBeta?
I initially wanted to create a better mobile app for Mountain Project, but I discovered that their API is not publicly available. While researching alternatives, I came across an article detailing the challenges OpenBeta is facing regarding Mountain Project’s copyright claims. This sparked my interest in OpenBeta's mission!
I build software for a living so the mobile client for Mountain Project has always been frustrating to me. It is not a user friendly experience at all and the offline support is not great. I initially wanted to build something better for climbers to use. Being a software engineer I also recognize the importance of open source software and data so that also drew me to OpenBeta.
What is your role at OpenBeta?
I am developing the OpenBeta mobile app. I want to support editing of areas and climbs on mobile devices to make it easier for climbers to contribute and to truly build a comprehensive catalog of climbing data!
How did you get into climbing?
I lived in Incline Village on Lake Tahoe for a year. I lived a few minutes away from a climbing gym and decided one day to give it a try. I was instantly hooked and it wasn't long until I wanted to climb outdoors.
What is your favorite type of climbing?
I enjoy all types of climbing, but easy trad multi-pitch is my favorite. It's always fun to challenge yourself on hard single pitch, but something about spending a few hours on an easy wall is just very relaxing to me.
Sending Ewephoria in Cochise Stronghold was pretty memorable to me. I was new to multi-pitch climbing and slab is a weakness of mine so I felt very accomplished after sending what was a scary route to me at the time!
What do you love about the climbing community? What about the climbing community bothers you?
I love how friendly most climbers are and how everyone is willing to help out and teach each other! One thing that can be frustrating is the grade gatekeeping and arguing that you see in the comments on some climbs. Who cares if this is crag is easier than your local crag? Just climb and have fun!
What is one lesson you’ve learned from your journey so far?
Before I got into climbing, I always thought climbing was an extreme sport with a high barrier to entry. I realized that climbing is much more accessible than I thought! There are climbs for all skill and strength levels.
Thanks for reading! Want to help out with mobile app development or otherwise contribute to OpenBeta? Contact us at mobile@mail.openbeta.io or join our Discord to get started.