Christopher Begue and Melissa Moeinvaziri, Salt Lake City, Utah: an interview by John Worsencroft, 4 March 2009

Transcript (33 pages) of an interview by John Worsencroft with Melissa Moeinvaziri and Christopher Begue on 4 March 2009; Part of the Outdoor Recreation Oral History Project, Everett Cooley Collection tape no. U-1985

Mr. Begue (b. 1960) was born just outside of New York City. His first climbing experience was in Chamonix, France when his au pair took him to the Pyrenees. He loved it and he knew he was good at it. Growing up his family also lived outside of Chicago, in North Carolina, Wisconsin and Minnesota. He sought out any way to pursue his passion for climbing. He moved to Colorado to go to school. There he found a community of climbers who taught him a lot about climbing. His family moved to Utah because his dad got a job there. He fell in love with the state because there are so many opportunities for outdoor recreation in any season. He describes the culture, the risks, and the etiquette and unspoken rules of climbing.Community is important to climbers and to Chris, an important aspect of climbing is mentoring, as well as learning from, other climbers. Melissa Moeinvaziri is one of the climbers Chris has taken under his wing.Ms. Moeinvaziri (b. 1989) grew up in Utah and has always loved the outdoors. Her parents often took her to southern Utah when she was younger, and in the winter her father would take her skiing so she developed her passion for the outdoors early in her life. She´s always loved climbing up things - trees, bookshelves - and she always wanted to try climbing. A friend suggested she start at Dick´s Sporting Goods in Salt Lake City. That´s where Melissa met Chris, who saw that she had a knack for climbing. She describes what it´s like being a newcomer to climbing, and getting help from Chris, who´s a veteran. Her first experience climbing outdoors was at night and Chris told her to lead. It was difficult but she learned a lot through Chris´s trial by fire method. Project: Outdoor Recreation. Interviewer: John Worsencroft.