Our Mission:
To promote climbing, provide a resource for responsible development and conservation of climbing areas, and to encourage the etiquette, education, and safety of the Southern Idaho climbing community.
Meet the Board:
Becky Wildman – Chair
Originally from Salt Lake City, I’ve lived in the Magic Valley since 1997. My husband is an old-school climber, but I didn’t start climbing until my kids showed an interest and friends invited us to City of Rocks and Dierkes. My favorite things about climbing are the mental/physical challenges at every level of climbing, and the social/community aspect around climbing. I’m grateful Southern Idaho has such great outdoor climbing crags and a local climbing gym, as they both play a role in creating a strong climbing community. I am all about promoting climbing by encouraging others, supporting climbing education and etiquette, and working to conserve our climbing areas.
Jake Jensen – Vice Chair
I was born and raised in Orem, Utah where I started climbing trees in elementary school with the goal of getting high enough that the branches started to break under my weight. In college I found climbing again at the local gym. Armed with false confidence, I headed into Rock Canyon in search of bolts and taught myself how to climb and have been a climber ever since. I have had the pleasure of climbing more objectives, in more places, than I ever thought possible. I engage in all forms of climbing excluding big wall aid climbing, which I am saving for later in life.
I have my doctorate degree in physical therapy, and treat patients at CPR PT in Twin Falls. I am also an adjunct professor at CSI and teach a lab class for the PT assistant program. I moved to Twin Falls in 2018 to house sit and work as a contract PT for 8 months, then headed off to Salt Lake City for 5 years to focus on climbing and skiing. In 2023 my wife Ashley and I started our family, and decided to move back to Idaho to raise our children. We love our friends and community here and find it a perfect place to recreate as a family.
Shawn Willsey – Secretary
I climbed rocks for the first time while working in Grand Teton National Park as an obnoxious 19-year-old and fell hopelessly and madly in love. The combination of physical strength, balance, technique, precision, and complete mental focus was just what I needed. Those early years were a bit spicy and reckless at times as I struggled to develop the skills and knowledge to climb safely without proper instruction, the internet, a mentor, or much of anything resembling a reliable resource.
Over the years, I upped my game. I kept climbing, received professional training and certification through the American Mountain Guides Association (AMGA), worked as a guide for Sawtooth Mountain Guides, and taught climbing courses at CSI for twenty years. Over the past decade, I’ve become particularly passionate about developing new crags and routes in Southern Idaho, with an emphasis on accessible, moderate, and beginner-friendly climbing. I helped launch SICC as a founding board member and chair (2016–2020) before stepping back for a spell. It has been incredibly rewarding to watch our local climbing community grow and flourish, and I am excited to be involved again.
Not only do I love climbing rocks, but I have devoted my career to exploring, studying, and telling their stories. I have a master’s degree in geology, and am a licensed professional geologist, have authored two geology books, run a popular geology-focused YouTube channel and currently serve as Distinguished Professor of Geology at CSI. Whether climbing them or explaining how they formed, rocks are a huge chunk of my life.
Molly Miller – Treasurer
I grew up in Central and Eastern Oregon, and being OUTSIDE was a way of life. We scrambled and bouldered as kids, without the terminology or protection that is essential to rock climbing, but I loved challenging myself and scaring my older sister on the cliffs around our home. Then I spent 30 years in Florida. Not a lot of rocks to climb, or mountains to love. When my travel job turned into “work from home” during COVID, I realized that if I was going to be working from home, home should be a place I could love. So I moved to Twin Falls, where OUTSIDE is on my doorstep, and I have the opportunity to explore and challenge myself in this sport that is new to me, but still feels like home.
Although I have only been in the region for a few years, and started climbing after I got here, I have found this community to be open and friendly, with a passion to share the love of the sport and the natural beauty of our region with everyone. I have benefited greatly from my loose association with SICC, and am excited to come off the sidelines and help in the important work being done.
Matt Larsen – Access Chair
I had my first exposure to climbing when I was in college at the University of Utah, I took a climbing class for one credit. I would love to say that my climbing career started at that early age, however, I absolutely hated the class! I don’t think it was taught very well. I liked the rappelling, but the climbing was awful.
Fast forward 30 odd years, my kids who were essentially adults at the time asked if I wanted to go climbing at the gym with them. Remembering back to my class in college I reluctantly said yes, because my kids were asking to do something with them, which is an automatic yes at that age. I fell in love with climbing at the age of 47. I’ve been climbing for the last almost 6 years and become obsessed. I’ve gone from “I’m only going to top rope at the gym“ to “OK I’ll try lead climbing“ to “I need to learn to trad climb so I can do more of the interesting routes“ to “you know that ice climbing looks pretty awesome”. I’ve been lucky to have multiple friends help teach me along the way and made new friends to teach me even more. I feel like everyone who routinely uses the crags and climbing areas should help to support safe and conscientious access through their local coalitions.
Outside of climbing I have worked in the emergency department for the last 20 years as an emergency physician. I have always focused on first responder and pre-hospital care, including before medical school when I was working as a police officer in Salt Lake City. I currently work with the Special Operations Rescue Team (SORT) run by the Magic Valley Paramedics, and am the medical Director for both Magic Valley Paramedics and Air St. Luke’s.
I have three adult kids, two live in Salt Lake City, one lives in Berkeley, California. I’ve been married to my lovely wife for the last 31 years. Although she does not partake in the climbing fun, she is my hiking buddy.
Melissa Niwinski – Maintenance Chair
Melissa brings two decades of climbing experience and a deep passion for the community to the coalition. Over the past 20 years, Melissa has explored crags across North America and abroad—from the iconic quartz conglomerate of the Gunks and the granite bluffs of Squamish to the sandstone of the Red River Gorge, the boulders of Horse Pens 40, Red Rocks, and the limestone cliffs of Kalymnos, Greece. Beyond her time on the rock, she spent several years route setting in climbing gyms and dedicated almost 10 years to coaching two youth competitive climbing teams, helping the next generation of climbers build confidence and skill. Melissa is dedicated to preserving climbing access, supporting local crags, and fostering an inclusive community for all climbers. To her, the climbing community is family, and she loves getting out on the weekends—whether it’s sport, trad, or bouldering.
Kim DePew – Community Chair
I have managed Gemstone Climbing for the last 6 years and have taught yoga in Twin Falls for over a decade. I’m Idaho grown, growing up in Wendell and Hagerman while attending school in Buhl and Twin Falls. I have been rock climbing at Gemstone since they opened and went on my first outdoor climbing adventure with Shawn Willsey at Gawkers. While managing the climbing gym and yoga keep me very busy, I have been making time for more outdoor climbing adventures. I have seen firsthand what climbing has done for people in our community, life changing impacts that I get to witness almost every day. Climbing changes lives and I’m grateful we have such an awesome climbing community, and I am grateful to be part of it.