Madaleine Sorkin

Madaleine Sorkin is a professional climber with a passion for difficult traditional routes, particularly up big walls. She is a certified AMGA Rock guide and coaches climbers to engage their performance edge. Recipient of the American Alpine Club Bates award in 2014, Madaleine has traveled from Colorado to California, and internationally to Kyrgyzstan, Patagonia, Jordan and Canada making several first or early ascents up to 5.13+ Grade VI (multi-day) rock walls, often in female teams and in remote areas. At the heart of her climbing are the partnerships, wild dreams, struggle and humor that make the pursuit meaningful.

In 2018, impacted by climbing-related tragedies in her community, Madaleine founded The Climbing Grief Fund (CGF) in partnership with the American Alpine Club. She now works as the Director of CGF which is working to evolve the conversation around grief and trauma in the climbing community and connect individuals to effective mental health professionals and resources.

Sky Yardeni

Sky is a rock climber and a Nature-Based Wilderness Therapist.
His therapeutic work lies at the intersection of nature, healing, and social justice, often with people from vulnerable communities with backgrounds of trauma, addictions, incarceration, systemic marginalization, and mental health issues.

After one of his best friends died in a climbing accident, Sky found tremendous support and healing in community and nature, and he became the Therapeutic Director of the Climbing Grief Fund to help support the climbing community in similar experiences of grief and loss.