Our Unqualified Leaders

CliFF

Owner

I like climbing quite a bit. I’ve been at it for about 20 years and have been working in the industry since 2007, when I started route setting and coaching at the MPHC Climbing Gym. In 2010 I left NYC to pursue my dirtbag dreams and spent a year climbing around the US and another in Yosemite learning how to climb cracks and big walls. Eventually, I made my way back to NYC and worked at a few gyms before starting GP81. I’m super grateful for the incredible staff that makes this place function and the vibrant community that gives it its heart and soul.

Julian

Owner

I was born in Colombia and moved here in 2001. Learned a new language, survived high school, and somehow managed to get into college. Started working in the climbing industry around 2013, and that’s when I knew I wanted to do this every day. Fast forward to 2017 and boom... GP81 happened. I love all aspects and modalities of climbing, but most of all the family that comes with it all. I am working on being less grumpy. I love the people I work with.

Alexander

Manager

I started climbing in college at a free outdoor climbing wall with no instruction and in bare feet and I would like to think that I have improved since. I became manager after I worked at GP81 for a week, noticed we didn’t have a schedule, and then suggested we have a schedule. My job at the gym is to make sure all operations are running smoothly and continue to improve our space through our staff, facility, and community. I don’t have any climbing accomplishments and probably never will, but I love bouldering outside and will bring the best snacks. I like to spend my free time cooking and eating food, hanging out with my dog Lemon, and listening to podcasts.

Sandbagging Team

Sam

Head Routesetter

Sam is a legendary pirate of the Seven Seas, and the irreverent trickster of the Caribbean. A captain of equally dubious morality and sobriety, a master of self-promotion and self-interest, Sam fought a constant and losing battle with his own best tendencies. Sam’s first love was the sea, his second, his beloved ship the Black Pearl.

Marc

Routesetter

I started climbing in 2009 when my cousin took me to my first climbing gym in NYC. I was born and raised in Queens, the place I call home in my heart. I’ve been route setting for 8 years now and it’s cool to see how route setting has evolved throughout the years. I started to route set at GP-81 because Cliff wanted more reachy choss boulders. My job at the gym is to create soft crimp lines with the occasional high heel hook above your head. I do enjoy setting to allow our community to experience all kinds of movement though, picking their brains and pushing their limits. I would one day love to actually make use of my passport and climb at destinations such as Squamish, Magic Wood, and the Rocklands. When I’m not climbing, I like to spend my free time eating yummy foods, rapping J. Cole lyrics in the shower, browsing shoes and clothes I can’t afford, playing video games, and taking naps with my dog Koda.

Sebastian

Routsetter

I started climbing as a kid at NJRG and started competing on the youth team, making my way to Nationals a couple of times. After high school, I took to the culinary world and worked in restaurants throughout New York and California. 

I continued climbing as a hobby after graduating from culinary school, and competed occasionally. 

I became fed up with working in restaurants and began to search for something different and inherently better than the world I was in. 

I became a setter at GP81.

I enjoy big blocks, some hiking, camping, climbing and donuts.

I like cars, tacos, rocks, Playstations, and cheeseburgers.

I usually spend most of my time exploring with Eliza.

She likes those things too.

People who do the majority of the work yet conveniently left at the end

Hannah

Social Media Manager

I had a pretty late start to climbing and actually got into ice climbing before I even stepped inside a climbing gym!  I went on a couple trips with my dad in CO and fell in love with it quickly.  I have been working in climbing gyms for 2 years and am also part of the Columbia Climbing Club.  Once I moved to the cooler side of the river and found GP81 I knew I wanted to be a part of this community.  At GP81, I am a part-time snack organizer and surface wiper, full-time DJ and hype woman.  If I am not exclusively doing the crimpy problems in the gym, I am most likely crying in the library, dancing, or making a mess with paint. 

Mia

Copy Editor and Memberships

I started climbing at the campus gym while I was a student at the University of Montana, and it quickly became a passion. I love climbing for the way it simultaneously helps me feel more connected to myself, my community, and my environment. I feel very grateful for the people who took me under their little climbing wings to share their knowledge, and I love doing the same for others who are new to the sport. It always feels amazing to witness somebody discovering that they are capable of more than they thought possible, and this is a big reason why I enjoy working at GP! Outside of climbing, you can find me on long bike rides around the city, teaching creative writing classes, drawing, scraping up my knees playing pickup soccer, and getting in over my head with cooking projects.

Ron

Retail Manager

I started rock climbing in my early 20s. My first experience was on ropes at Chelsea Piers. I later found a bouldering gym and fell in love with that style of climbing. By day, I climb and work in the climbing industry and by night, I make secret climbing memes incognito. Now, as retail manager at GP-81, I produce merch with the team and oversee inventory. I also enjoy video games, basketball, cooking, heckling climbers over my shoulder, and learning new skills.