Ladies we Love: Climber Lindsey Kunz

July 1st, 2014 • BY Erinn Morgan

[This Ladies we Love profile is the fifth installment in our monthly series featuring the highly inspiring roster of female athlete ambassadors from Outdoor Research. They are skiers, climbers, mountaineers, and more—all breaking down barriers and pushing the edge.]

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We love climber and mountaineer Lindsey Kunz and her focus on finding work-life balance—it’s clear that her lifestyle embodies the “work-hard-play-hard” motto.

A business and IT management consultant, she started her own company to provide sub-contracting services to help achieve work-life balance more easily. “Balance for me is in the macro scale, not on the day-to-day scale,” she says. “I’ll work a contract for a stint of 6 to 12 months and during that time I work anywhere between 50 to 80 hours a week. When the contract nears its end, I make the decision to either extend or tell them I cannot extend and take several months off at a time. In general, it works out to about work a year-and-a-half and take a year off.” Sounds good to us.

Here, we catch up with this Outdoor Research ambassador from her current base in Chamonix, France, to learn more about her balancing act, her exotic round-the-globe trips, what’s in her climbing pack right now, and her unconventional energy snack.

WomensMovement: With a commitment to balance of  work and play in your life, you are an inspiration. How do you achieve your balance?

Lindsey: To be honest, work-life balance has always been a struggle for me, just like everyone else. But what I believe is most important in my ability to achieve that balance is that I remain committed to it. I have come to terms with not being able to get this balance day-to-day, and it’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make to have a long period of time to unwind and pursue my other passions in life.

Not everyone is going to become a consultant but I do believe that everyone has the opportunity to find their balance. Maybe it’s coercing your company to give you a leave of absence to take a longer trip to pursue your dreams (that’s how it all started for me!). Or maybe instead, balance is simply having enough three-day weekends to take the longer backpacking trips or climbing trips. Whatever balance looks like for you, if you remain committed to finding and achieving that balance—like you would with any other project or dream—if you do good work and build trust in those around you at work, and if you involve them in helping you achieve your dream, you will find a level of balance that is sustainable for you.

WM: What made you decide to spend less time behind the desk?

Lindsey: When I was younger, I was really career-focused. I wanted to use my drive and energy to gain as much experience as possible, since I knew that level energy wouldn’t last forever. However, when I met Ben, he reminded me about all the other dreams I have in my life outside of work and demonstrated to me that it’s possible to have both—work success and time for your other passions. Nearly a decade later, I feel like I have found my balance.

WM: How did you and Ben meet?

Lindsey: Ben and I met rock climbing. I had just graduated from college at the University of Washington and was about to start my first post-college job. I was volunteering at the local climbing gym for a membership and in between shifts, I would boulder in the gym.

There was this guy that was working on a problem on the same wall I was and was completely hogging the wall—he’d get stuck on his problem and literally stand right in front of the wall so I couldn’t climb! I decided if I helped him with his project, he’d move on so I could work on mine. But after doing so, we got to talking and I realized he was very interesting! (I later learned he did this intentionally to force a conversation with me.)

At the end of the day, he sheepishly asked for my email, to which I smiled and gave him my phone number. He was the first person I had dated where my typical dating cycle was broken: meet, grow infatuated, and then get to know them for whom they really are and the spark diminishes. Our love was not this stars-flying spark but rather matter-of-fact—we were just meant to be together. We have much in common, including our passions in life, but our skill sets compliment one another. After all, it took meeting Ben to finally get into traditional climbing and mountaineering. For all this, I’m truly grateful.

WM: Can you tell us a little bit about the times you traveled around the world with Ben?

Lindsey: Well, actually, we’re currently on our third trip. But in short, they have opened my eyes to the world, to real problems and not just first-world problems. They have brought both the best times with Ben and also some of the most challenging times in our relationship. We have learned that even in traveling and being on vacation that we need to find our balance.

First Trip (2009-2010): At first, we struggled to figure out how much time to take off. I was still relatively new in my career and was afraid taking more than three to six months off would spell disaster. However, Ben’s perspective was we may never get this chance in life again and should aim more for nine to 12 months. We perused guidebooks for months, plotting out the places we wanted to go and the best time frames in which to be there. When we pieced it all together, it came out to 16 months! With delicate budgeting and my great employer, we were able to make this work. We balanced time on this trip between climbing and hiking or mountaineering activities with cultural activities. Itinerary: South America (Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador), North America (U.S. and Canada, mostly on a climbing trip but also to do some elk and moose hunting with family near the Yukon boarder in Canada), Asia and SE Asia (China, Nepal, India, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia), and Austral-Asia (New Zealand, Australia, and Fiji).

Second Trip (2012-2013): Both Ben and I got so sick for adventure, we started saving again to take another trip. But we were also very keen to give back. So this next trip, we decided to slow down our travels, to visit fewer places to get to know the cultures and people, and to divide our time between climbing and volunteering. Itinerary: Brazil, Peru (we taught an outdoor leadership course here to the kids in the mountain community), U.S., Canada (Ben’s originally Canadian, so we try to see his family as much as possible), Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam.

Third Trip (2014-Present): As we are getting older, our pace of travel is slowing, but we still embrace it nonetheless. This trip is mostly focused on climbing and mountaineering, but Ben has been doing some contract work on the side, too, and we have slowed our itinerary to balance it with blogging and spending time outside together. Itinerary: U.S. (climbing road trip in our Sprinter van), France, Switzerland, Austria, and Germany. We are actually still planning the end of this trip!

WM: What’s in your climbing backpack right now?

Lindsey: Well, I’m currently with my husband in Chamonix, France, and most our trips here are to climb snowy, mixed peaks or alpine rock. This means a daily routine of packing and unpacking my backpack. That said, here’s what’s in it for our alpine rock trip tomorrow:

• Outdoor Research (OR) Incandescent Hoody
• OR Ferrosi Hoody
• OR Enigma Jacket
• An assortment of OR gloves for cold snow/ice sections (Alti Gloves and Alti Mits) and thin gloves for belaying and cold rock climbing (Ironsight) – I have Raynaud’s, so alpine climbing at 13,000ft requires more glove options than one can imagine!
• OR Verglas gaiters
• Black Diamond (BD) Momentum DS Harness
• BD Vapor Helmet
• BD Neve aluminum crampons
• BD Raven Ultra ice axe
• A light rack of nuts and BD Camelots
• Slings, some with DMM Revolver biners that roll to reduce rope drag or double as pullys for crevasse rescue
• La Sportiva Mythos Rock Shoes
• Chalk bag
• Sterling Fusion Ion2 9.4mm 70m rope
• Platypus 2.0L Big Zip bladder
• Julbo Explorer glacier glasses
• An assortment of snacks—I usually take the equivalent calories of five to seven bars on route

WM: Favorite on-mountain energy snack?

Lindsey: Gummies. They’re no health food, but the simple sugars in gummies provide quick energy. Plus, they’re small enough to fit in my pocket without being crushed, and can be purchased anywhere in the world. I’ve recently been adding into my pack bite-sized macaroons too, which are a bit denser and so delicious!

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