Lauren Concepcion - Board Secretary, Social Chair, Executive and Fundraising Committees

My climbing career started in 2007 at a swampy Florida gym called Vertical Ventures. For years, I competed on plastic and drove 7 hours every Friday night (printed Dr. Topo guides in hand!) to climb southern sandstone – sometimes for just a single afternoon – before retreating home to await the next trip. A few years later, I drove to Boulder on a whim with 4 bins of gear in my Jeep and haven’t looked back since.

In 2013, I started school at CU Law and after graduating, worked at a small transactional firm where I had the opportunity to represent many outdoor industry clients. This experience showed me the plethora of access and advocacy issues plaguing climbing, and I’ve been motivated to use my professional expertise as a force of good for my hobby ever since. 

Currently, I am a trademark attorney and chances are if you’re my client, you’ve had at least 1 email or phone exchange where I’ve been scrambling for a hotspot connection from atop a ridgeline or desert campsite. When I’m not climbing, I’m probably outdoors skiing, biking, hiking, gardening, or frantically chasing one of my dogs through the woods. 

What is something that people often get wrong about you? While my past few climbing seasons have focused on alpine bouldering, I’m not “just a boulderer.” I’ve logged many hours on a rope and some of my favorite locations include: Indian Creek, the Obed, and my absolute favorite sport climbing spot in the universe - the New River Gorge.

Michelle Estrella - Advocacy and Finance Committees

I learned to trad climb at Seneca Rocks where you have to make every piece of pro count since the rock quality is so bad. I moved to Colorado in 2005 after a stint in Germany and Washington, DC. 

I’ve served on several boards including Boulder’s Open Space Board of Trustees, Colorado Chautauqua Association Board and Boulder’s Parks & Recreation Advisory Board..

I work as a fractional CFO specializing in nonprofits and have twin teenagers who are my climbing, mountain biking. ski/snowboarding and travel partners.

Jacob Sorum - Governance Committee

Growing up in South Dakota, I climbed my first granite spire in the Needles of Mt. Rushmore at the age 10. Two and a half decades later, climbing remains my biggest passion. I’m incredibly grateful for the endless friendships, adventures, and connection to public lands that it continues to give.

I joined the BCC board in 2025 with a simple motivation: give back to the crags that have given me so much. As a frequent user of Front Range climbing areas, I believe the places we sacrifice for often become the ones we love the most. That belief, and a desire to protect Colorado’s climbing future, brought me to the BCC.

When not on rock or the spray wall in my garage, I serve as a nonprofit leader, designing and directing programs that empower people, strengthen communities, and level playing fields. My career spans conservation, education, housing, and youth and community development—all grounded in a commitment to equity and impact.

Outside of climbing, my favorite hobby is talking about climbing (kidding…but not really). I’m an avid snowboarder, occasional mountain biker, I love to travel and speak spanish, and most of all, spend time outside with my wife, my son Wesley, and our energetic black lab named Ollie.

Shannon Forsman - Advocacy Committee

I grew up in Boulder and started climbing in elementary school. I got my start climbing indoors on plastic, but over time, I found myself increasingly drawn to the outdoors. I went to university in Vancouver, BC, where I studied environmental science and fell in love with the granite boulders of Squamish. After graduating, I moved back to Boulder and coached at The Spot Bouldering Gym.

These days, I work as a software engineer. I love sessioning on the MoonBoard at the BRC during the week and getting outside to climb on the weekends whenever I can. My background in environmental science keeps me rooted in stewardship and access advocacy, and joining the BCC board felt like a natural way to give back to the places and community that I love.

Outside of work and climbing, I enjoy hiking (my husband and I are slowly ticking off all of Colorado’s 14ers) and gardening. I'm also into martial arts, crosswords, and piano, and I spend way too much time hanging out with my cat.

Favorite crag: Upper Chaos Canyon in RMNP

Something people get wrong about me: I'm really not into crimps

Fred Knapp - Fundraising and Social Chair, Advocacy Committee

I first climbed in 1982 on the bluffs of Steele, AL and in 1987 moved from New Orleans to Boulder (where I was hired at Neptune Mountaineering and later the Boulder Mountaineer). It was Ed Abbey’s Desert Solitaire that made me fall in love with the West, though the Boy Scouts exposed me to and gave me passion for the outdoors. 

I’ve been active in the Boulder climbing community as a route developer, mountain shop employee, guide, contributing editor at Climbing, and founder of Sharp End Publishing in 1992. 

I’m drawn to the Boulder Climbing Community because it represents the region I love and provides incredible community support through trail work and re-bolting. It’s the organization I’ve benefited from the most, though I have served on committees for the AAC, as well. As a board member with the BCC, I’m on the Fundraising and Advocacy committees. I enjoy interacting with the community and am thrilled to give back.

When not climbing, I enjoy spending time with my wife, son, and daughter and my amazing climbing partners. I can often be found surfing river waves, kayaking, rafting, canyoneering, and skiing. While I tend to enjoy every crag I’ve been to, my favorites are Eldorado Canyon, the Flatirons, the red rock desert of Utah, and the Boulder Rock Club. 

Jamie Logan - Finance Committee

My connection to the BCC starts with my relationship with its founder Roger Briggs. He and I climbed the Diamond on Longs peak together in 1967 and we have been friends ever since. As a current board member, I am giving back to the regional community that has been a major part of my life. I have watched the transformation from all traditional climbing with pitons, to a sport with indoor climbing gyms and bolted sport climbs. The increase in the number of climbers has been amazing and it is apparent to me that the resources we use need to be maintained. We need trails to the climbs in order to avoid destroying the natural landscape. We need bolts and anchors that we trust to be safe to minimize accidents. The BCC is the only organization with this stewardship role as its reason to exist.

I am a retired architect who designed the original Movement gyms and continue to climb in my late 70’s around 5 days a week. I love all the climbing around Boulder and lately can be mostly found sport climbing in the Flatirons.

Matt Gowie - Fundraising Committee

I started climbing in a gym in Philadelphia and quickly caught the bug. I was just beginning to start leading sport outside when the small startup that I worked for got acquihired over to Seattle. I had friends in Portland and my standard weekend for the 2nd half of 2015 and into 2016 was to drive 3 hours to Portland on Friday to pickup friends, drive the additional 3 hours to Smith Rock, climb for a day and a half, and then reverse the drive on Sunday. Fell in love with climbing that way and it has been a huge part of my life since.

I came to Boulder at the end of 2019 through a relationship. I was living in my van at the time and ended up liking the town + climbing well-enough that I bought a condo here in 2020. I’ve since grown a crazy long todo list in the front range that feels like it’ll never stop growing. I’m happy to call this place home because of great outdoor pursuits like simul climbing in Eldo, scrambling in the flats, pushing myself on bolts in Bocan, and incredible alpine days in Rocky.

Joining the BCC board feels like an important and fulfilling way that I can give back to the local climbing community. I’m stoked to share some of my non-climbing experience and help an organization that is working hard to preserve this amazing sport.

Professionally, I run a boutique consulting firm called Masterpoint and have been doing that since 2016. Our niche is Infrastructure as Code, which is just a software way of saying “We help people run their software on the ‘Cloud’”.

Outside of climbing, I enjoy running (sometimes for long distances), traveling, and recently started playing the drums.

Will Harte - Board Treasurer, Finance Committee

My lifelong climbing habit started at the Maine Rock Gym in Portland, Maine, circa 1995,  but it wasn’t until moving to Colorado in 2019 that I had the opportunity to spend more time climbing outdoors. I joined the BCC because of the unique access we have to stunning crags across the Front Range, and because I recognized the impact that we as climbers were having on these landscapes. As a board member since 2022, I have contributed to the BCC via the Finance Committee, serving as Treasurer for two years, as well as on the Executive Committee. 

I’ve been involved in conservation and stewardship work my entire life, from supporting prescribed burns for prairie restoration when I was 10 years old to earning B.S. and M.S. degrees in interdisciplinary environmental science. Today, between wrangling two young kids at home and a serious climbing habit, I’ve managed to hold down a day job in the clean tech and product development industry in various roles spanning program management, corporate strategy, pricing, and chief of staff.  

If I could wave a magic non-profit wand, my wish would be that every climber would become a sustaining member of and volunteer for their local climbing organization. Yes, this means YOU!

Bill Kinter - Governance and ARP Committees

I first came to Colorado in 2016 with the longshot goal of trying to make a career in climbing. That career starting with the Colorado Outward Bound School in Leadville, where I still work as a senior mountaineering instructor. More locally, I am also a guide with Denver Mountain Guiding with whom I focus on technical climbing instruction to share the experience and knowledge (and stoke!) I’ve gained over the years. Much of my instructional philosophy is guided by my work as the volunteer Front Range Editor for Accidents in North American Climbing where I seek to analyze accidents in the front range, what lessons can be learned from them, and how they can be prevented. 

These days, my primary work is with Movement where I am currently the Assistant Director of Climbing Programs for our gyms in Colorado and Chicago. This work gives me the opportunity to connect with gyms, instructors, coaches, and climbers from all across Colorado, even though my heart will always be in Boulder. In my eyes, modern climbing gyms are more akin to community centers than training facilities and have been the foundation for how I build human connection to others.

My favorite area hands down has to be Eldo. Even though I like to engage in all forms of climbing, the beauty of the canyon along with the, let’s say, character building nature of the climbing has made it my favorite place on the planet.

Kyle Ward - Fundraising and Social Committees

When I moved to Boulder in the summer of 2012, I would have never imagined the life I’ve found myself in nor the deep connection I’ve discovered here on the Front Range. Some say never meet your heroes, but it turns out that’s misguided, and mine happened to lend a hand in cultivating my love for climbing and the importance of protecting it, and that would have only happened here. 

Over the last 14 years, climbing has taken me on a wild ride featuring best friends, unbelievable areas, and cherished memories that are worth the price of admission over and over again. It’s also led me to utilize my professional backgrounds in conservation, project management, and marketing to help give back to the community that has given me so much. 

Joining the BCC seems to be the next extension of this and I fundamentally believe in their mission and the importance they play in giving us all access to the places that mean so much to each of us. Climbing is an incredible vehicle for personal growth and community development, and what we have here on the Front Range is beyond special. It’s an honor to help advocate for our local climbing areas and guide new people to discover the same things we have all come to cherish so deeply. 

Oh, and my favorite route has to be Sonic Youth in Clear Creek. That whip at the chains changes lives, it certainly did to mine.

William Loopesko - Fundraising and Finance Committees

I grew up in Denver and taught myself to climb in Eldo and the Flatirons after reading Mountaineering: Freedom of the Hills when I was 16. Since then I’ve been climbing and getting out into the desert of Utah for canyoneering as much as possible. I have many favorite climbs, and they’re all long moderate adventurous multi-pitch alpine routes like the Wham Face on Vestal Peak.
I served as the Chair of the Denver Chapter of the American Alpine Club for 2.5 years and was first introduced to the BCC during that time. Joining the BCC board was a logical extension of my work with the BCC and I’m excited to be able to contribute to the work protecting the places I grew up climbing.
When I’m not climbing, I’m probably working on the climate tech-startup I founded 6 years ago. And when I’m not doing that, I’m out skiing, hiking, paddling, or otherwise exploring Colorado and the western United States.

Ali Arfeen - Governance Comittee