Oral history interview of Ron McKay, conducted by Tallie Casucci (audio and transcript)

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Title Oral history interview of Ron McKay, conducted by Tallie Casucci (audio and transcript)
Creator McKay, Ron
Contributor Casucci, Tallie
Description Ronald McKay (b. 1970) grew up outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In high school, Ron's school had an outdoor program class, which took students to the Shawangunks in New York to top-rope. After a few years, Ron began to lead climb at the Gunks and continue to boulder there and in PA with his friends on the borrowed high schools' gear. After one year of college, Ron took a climbing road trip out West and eventually settled in Bend, OR, for about 6 years in the early 1990s. During that time, Ron worked at Entre-Prises (EP Climbing) and Metolius. Ron moved to Salt Lake City in 1996 and worked at Black Diamond Equipment and Snowbird before going back to school at Salt Lake Community College (SLCC) and the University of Utah for a math degree. After completing his Master's degree in Math, Ron started teaching math at SLCC. Ron recounts how Salt Lake has treated him well holistically through the last 26 years.
Additional Information Timestamps - 1:21 Growing up in PA and learning to climb at the Shawangunks; 10:03 Climber gathering to discuss bolting in the Shawangunks; 18:21 Moving to Bend, OR; 25:21 Working for Entre-Prises (EP Climbing), Metolius, and JanSport; 33:22 Progressing in climbing at Smith Rock; 38:51 Making a bouldering crashpad; 43:26 Moving to Utah; 59:04 Having a holistic view of life in Salt Lake City and memorable climbs; 1:17:29 Becoming a math professor at Salt Lake Community College (SLCC); 1:41:33 Finding balance as a lifer; 1:50:12 Challenges facing the climbing community; 1:59:18 Impact and future SLCC rock climbing club
Date 2022-10-19
Spatial Coverage Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, Utah, United States, 40.76078, -111.89105
Subject Rock climbers; Rock climbing; Outdoor recreation industry; Mathematics; Climbing gyms
Collection Number and Name DA0002 Rock Climbers Oral History Project
Collection Name Rock Climbers Oral History Project
Holding Institution Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah
Type Text; Sound
Format application/pdf
Language eng
Rights
Access Rights I acknowledge and agree that all information I obtain as a result of accessing any oral history provided by the University of Utah's Marriott Library shall be used only for historical or scholarly or academic research purposes, and not for commercial purposes. I understand that any other use of the materials is not authorized by the University of Utah and may exceed the scope of permission granted to the University of Utah by the interviewer or interviewee. I may request permission for other uses, in writing to Special Collections at the Marriott Library, which the University of Utah may choose to grant, in its sole discretion. I agree to defend, indemnify and hold the University of Utah and its Marriott Library harmless for and against any actions or claims that relate to my improper use of materials provided by the University of Utah.
Note The views and opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect any views, opinions, or official policy of the University of Utah or the J. Willard Marriott Library.
ARK ark:/87278/s6s4f2kb
Extent 30 pages; 2:07:17
Genre oral histories (literary works); sound recordings
Setname uum_rcohp
ID 2289548
Reference URL https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6s4f2kb
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