Mark at the top of El Capitan's "Triple Direct"

Mark Ripperda, Vertex owner and manager, has been climbing since 1988. He was a head instructor for CalAdventures at U.C. Berkeley, and has climbed all over California, was well as Utah, Nevada, Oregon and Hawaii. Mark, who has done aid routes on El Capitan, Half Dome and Washington Column and can, on occasion, be seen in lycra indoors, usually opts for crack climbs. Mark also works as an environmental engineer for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.