LA SPORTIVA

MARK BOURNE

Location: Canberra, ACT Elevation: 577m Discipline: Mountain Runner

Mark is a renowned mountain runner and stair racer. As a young runner he always enjoyed hills and found them to be his strength in cross country races as a junior. It helped him stamp his mark with a win at the U20 Australian Cross Country Championships on a tough course at Nowra in 2002. So it was a natural transition into mountain running and then stair/tower running, which follows in the footsteps of some great runners from Canberra. The discipline of stair running is growing with more and more races, so the international calendar keeps Mark busy, but he really enjoy getting onto the trails wherever possible.

SAM BURRIDGE

Location: Canberra, ACT Elevation: 577m Discipline: Mountain Runner
Favourite Trails: Namagi National Park, Victoria Alps

While training for an Obstacle Course Race in 2012 Sam started to enjoy trail running more than OCR racing. He soon began competing in trail running races and preferred hilly courses which led him to pursue mountain running. He has continued to improve every year and his running career highlights now include winning the 2018 Ultra-Trail Australia 50k and representing Australia at the 2018 World Mountain Running Championships. Sam is also a husband, dad & Project Manager but always makes time to run & train on his local hills in Canberra or in the mountains.

BETH CARDELLI

Location: Sydney, NSW Elevation: 188m Discipline: Mountain Runner
Favourite Trails: Blue Mountains, Victoria Alps

Beth has always kept active while growing up, but it wasn’t until she was 27 that she gave trail running a go. It didn’t take long for her to discover the pleasures and rewards of trail running. For Beth trail running is an excuse to travel, a way to meet friends, a means of exploring new and exciting places. “Trail running started as a means of keeping fit. When I first started I thought 10km runs were exhausting. The more I ran, however, the more I found that I could push through the mental and physical barriers. I found something within that I didn’t know existed.”

MATT CREHAN

Location: Melbourne, Victoria Elevation: 31m Discipline: Mountain Runner
Favourite Trails: Victoria Alps

In 2015 swimming was daily exercise for Matt. However on a field trip to New Zealand for university, daily swims weren’t possible so he did some trail runs in New Zealand’s South Island. With a new-found love for running and his swimming background, Matt started to compete in Triathlons and completing a bunch of half Ironmans and one full Ironman. Matt soon realized he preferred to spend long days out on the trail rather than training on a road bike and his focus shifted from triathlons to trail running and then to ultra-trail running !

GILL FOWLER

Location: Sydney, NSW Elevation: 28m Discipline: Mountain Runner
Favourite Trails: Blue Mountains, Sydney’s Bush Trails, Victoria Alps.

Gill’s love the outdoors has transitioned from spending weekends climbing, canyoning, mountain biking and walking to a greater focus on Rogaining (the sport of long-distance cross-country navigation) and trail running – Ultras! Her strength is definitely endurance. Gill completed in her first 24 hour Rogaining event in 2006 and since then she has Rogained socially and competed in State, Australian and World Championships. In 2009 she started trail running regularly around the local Sydney bushland tracks with friends, and since 2010 has been entering trail races of increasing frequency and distance. She says, “the best thing about Rogaining and trail running is the new places I get to explore (and the people I get to meet). As there is always another mountain to climb with a spectacular view at the top!”

EWAN HORSBURGH

Location: Sydney, NSW Elevation: 169m Discipline: Mountain Runner
Favourite Trails: Mt Solitary, Sydney’s Bush Trails, Victoria Alps.

Ewan has been running ever since he was a kid, racing everything from track to cross country to fun runs. These days he focus more on ultra events like 24hr races and multi day events. A couple of highlights have been winning Coast to Kosciusko (A 240km race from Eden to Australia’s highest mountain) 3 years in a row, winning the inaugural Tahoe 200 (A single loop, single stage race around Lake Tahoe in California and Nevada) and representing Australia at the 24Hr World Championship. Ewan thinks one of the best things about the sport is the social side – training with friends, stories in the pub after races and plenty of coffees to keep the energy up.

ALICE McNAMARA

Location: Melbourne, Victoria Elevation: 5m Discipline: Mountain Runner
Favourite Trails: Grampians, Victoria Alps & Dolomites.

Alice was a member of the Australian National Rowing Team and won World Championship medals in lightweight rowing events between 2005-2015. Rowing took her around the world including to European lakes nestled between majestic peaks. Lago di Varese, Italia was a home away from home for many years. Alice found that power, strength endurance and a mindful rowing rhythm, translated well to vertical running, and Alice now travels around the world running up buildings & mountains. She is 7 x winner of the Eureka Tower Climb in Melbourne, and has also won the Empire State Building Run Up, Willis Tower in Chicago, KL Tower Malaysia, and Taipei 101 in Taiwan. Alice has recently finished on the podium in trail races like Bright 4 Peaks Alpine Climb and The Razorback Run. Doctor life keeps her busy and indoors, so the mountains and trails are the perfect release.

HAYLEY TEALE

Location: Brisbane, Qld Elevation: 48m Discipline: Mountain Runner
Favourite Trails: Victoria Alps, Blue Mountains.

Hayley has always had a love for the outdoors and getting out horse riding, hiking, cycling and trail running. After moving from England to Australia in 2009 Hayley has been exploring the fabulous trails that Australia has to offer. She has now run or raced in the Victorian Alps, Queensland Rainforests, Victorian Coastline, Flinders Ranges and Grampians. Hayley loves the mountains and likes to challenge herself in all sorts of events from mountain running to trail ultra races.

JAKE BRESNEHAN

Location: Blackheath, NSW Elevation: 1,066m Discipline: Climber
Favourite Crags: Nowra, Grampians & Blue Mountains.

Jake’s passion for climbing has been alive for the best past 15 years. Growing up in Tasmania he was exposed to an array of climbing styles and throughout his climbing career so far he has immersed himself in it all. From big walling in Patagonia and El Capitan. Competing in World Cups in Europe. Spending large amounts of time bouldering in the Grampians and hitting the local crags each weekend he simply can’t get enough.

Jake currently lives in the Blue Mountains and has more than a few lifetimes worth of things he wants to do.

Career Highlights: Riders on the Store, Punks in the Gym, The Wheel of Life

LEE COSSEY

Location: Blackheath, NSW Elevation: 1,066m Discipline: Climber
Favourite Crags: Grampians & Blue Mountains.

Lee has been infatuated by climbing since he was 11 years old. As a young Blue Mountains local he progressed through the existing hard sport routes before adding many of his own harder lines and projects. Lee's interests in climbing cross boundaries from hard sport climbing first ascents at the classic Australian crags of Diamond Falls, Taipan Wall and Elphinstone to Bouldering to trad and alpine big wall climbing. Despite the majority of his time being focussed on the high performance side of climbing his heart still lies in the big adventures. When asked about his favourite experiences it is places like Frenchmans Cap, Bungonia, Yosemite and Patagonia that are first off his tongue.

Lee's drive to progress his climbing performance across these disciplines lead to an obsession for training, sports physiology and ultimately a career in Physiotherapy working with climbers. Lee now works as a Physiotherapist with Move Clinic, working extensively with climbers across Australia.

Living in the Blue Mountains with his wife Andrea and son, Max provides the perfect base to balance family life, climbing, community and work.

DAN FISHER

Location: Canberra, ACT Elevation: 577m Discipline: Climber
Favourite Crags: Nowra, Grampians & Blue Mountains.

As a young kid Daniel was dragged along to all the Australian crags on his father’s climbing trips. He didn’t develop the passion or drive until he started training with the Canberra Rock Squad in the year 2000. Since then, he has competed and won many competitions in the Australia climbing scene, he has also competed for Australia in Canada, Vail and Austria and New Zealand.

He currently lives and works in Canberra as a High School Teacher with a focus on Design and Technology. He trains at his home build wall, Canberra Indoor Rock-climbing or at Nowra and would classify himself as a weekend warrior.

ANDREA HAH

Location: Blackheath, NSW Elevation: 1,066m Discipline: Climber
Favourite Crags: Grampians & Blue Mountains.

Andrea is a climber living in the Blue Mountains for its proximity to world class climbing and the beautiful outdoors. Having spent her youth indoors doing gymnastics in Melbourne, Andrea was lucky enough to find climbing in her teens and explore the wonders of trad climbing at Mount Arapiles.

For the last 20 years Andrea has enjoyed travelling around Australia, Europe, Thailand, New Zealand, the USA and South Africa to appreciate what the climbing world has to offer. Disregarding the norm to specialise in a field, Andrea has bouldered V11’s, sport climbed two grade 33’s and trad climbed big walls; Ozymandias at Mt Buffalo and Freerider at Yosemite ground-up.

Andrea deliberately and delicately balances future climbing ambitions around working as an Exercise Physiologist and running Move Clinic with her husband, Lee Cossey and raising their son, Max.

TONDE KATIYO

Location: Melbourne, Vic Elevation: 99m Discipline: Bouldering, Sport, Trad on occasion
Favourite Crags: Buoux, Font, Index, Grampians, Céuse, Spiders Web.

Tonde is a passionate climbers of 30+ years. After a career in Graphic design (where all his free time was spent climbing all over the world) he switched in 2009 to become a full time route setter. Working first mainly in the Paris region (with font as his home cragg), opportunities quickly saw him setting training rounds for the French national team, then World Cups and National level events in over 15 countries.In 2012 he and his family moved to the US. He now lives in Melbourne, where he works on the development of route setting for Urban Climb and steals out to the crag whenever he can.

Amanda 8b (31) Index, Washington USA photo: Andy Wickstrom

ZAC VERTREES

Location: Medlow Bath, NSW Elevation: 1,050m Discipline: Climber
Favourite Crags: Grampians & Blue Mountains.

Zac started climbing 1995 and emerged in the "golden era" of the Penrith crew. A rag tag Buch that would quickly stamp their names on Australian and international climbing.

In 2010 he climbed Yosemite's Freerider (5.12d/13a), with only one fall on an easy 5.10 pitch but everything else climbed first go! He and Tobias Kiss climbed it ground up over 3 days. Zac lead and hauled nearly every pitch of the 32 pitch route bar the Sewer pitch. On that trip he and Tobias also climbed Golden Gate (5.13a) free over 4. As well as The Nose in 13hrs. Zac had made his international mark.

This reputation was backed up at Patagonia in 2017 saw one of Vertrees's more adventurous feats. He and Matty Scholes climbed Mt Fitzroy's Supercanaleta (1600m) in a 20hr tent-to-tent push. This was all onsight and up to grade 30 on bolts via the central latitude muline.

Closer to home Zac was establishing FFA's such as Culda Sac, 31 trad, Gigantor 26R, and Teflon Extension at Bungonia which goes at 31, 28,29-30 and 27. Established and climbed bunch of classics up to grade 33 such as The Groove train (33), Tuckertime (33), Doors Of Perception (33), Phoenix Uprising (31), as well as trad grade 30 cracks like the Great Shark Hunt at Mount Buffalo.

He admits that on boulder he's pretty weak but hey, you got to have something to work on. People of inspiration include Sean Villanueva O'drisoll, (HB) Malcolm Metheson and John Ewbank

And what's to come? Zac just loves the mountains and wants to continually improve at all styles of climbing. But more specifically, climb 9a-35 in the not to distant future, climb 32 on gear, free El cap in a day, boulder v13, and climbing Cerro Torre is still a dream as well as some long Patagonian ridge traverses like sections of Fitzroy traverse.

THE TEAM