Help a pillar of Utah climbing in time of need

If you are a climber in Utah, or if you have ever climbed in Utah, then you probably know of Darren Knezek. If you don't know of Darren, chances are you have climbed on routes he has put up. Darren is the owner of Mountainworks climbing shop in Provo Utah. Darren is and has been a rock solid pillar of the climbing community in Utah, and is personally responsible for putting up thousands of routes all over Utah and the western US. Darren dedicates a tremendous amount of his time, knowledge, effort, and financial resources to developing new climbing areas, maintaining existing ones, and helping new people into the sport. Darren is genuinely stoked and very supportive of people getting into climbing, and for those who have been climbing for years. Anytime you have a question about a route or a crag, chances are Darren can give you all the beta for it and he can't hide his excitement for you.

About 15 years ago, Jennifer, Darren's wife, started the Mountainworks Climbing Club. For a small yearly fee, Jen and Darren took the members on a monthly climbing adventure. which often included training for the month/year to complete the adventure, including submitting Mt. Rainier. They made no money off their guiding or training. But they saw; families doing outdoor amazing feats together, they saw women in their 50's (who were not athletes) gain the confidence to climb a mountain, they saw fathers and sons re-bond and encourage each other to reach the next hold. Normally, guiding for some of these trips would cost thousands of dollars, per person. Darren and Jennifer made less than $20 a trip, because for them climbing is not about the money, but about all the other aspects that climbing can add to a life....confidence, skill, health, success. Please help so that Darren and Jennifer, who over the years have offered so much goodness and hope to others, are not left devastated and hopeless.

 

We as a community should normally do everything we can to support Darren and his efforts to grow this sport and create the opportunities for people to enjoy climbing safely, but it has come to my attention that Darren has recently been the victim of a major theft at his families property in Texas. Darren has been putting his life into restoring his families property when he isn't bolting new routes or helping new climbers in his shop. Not only has Darren lost all of his tools, including the drill he uses to put up new climbing routes, but he has also been robbed of everything of value in the home he was restoring. The thieves took tools, fixtures, doors, broke windows, and even stole the copper out of the walls. The damage to the property is tremendous, and the loss of property that Darren has invested in over many many years basically amounts to Darren losing almost everything.

 

If there is one thing I've learned from the climbing community is that we take care of each other and help each other when in need. We are already in Darren's debt for his tremendous investment into the infrastructure of Utah climbing, but now our friend is in need. Let's help Darren recoup this heartbreaking loss, and get a drill back into his hands.