Meet Kyle Brackman | Climber & Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kyle Brackman and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kyle, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
There’s no real great answer as to why I started up. I love adventure, fitness, photography, and creating videos, so combining all of those activities led me to where I am now. I definitely have an obsessive personality – before I became a climber I ran Track & Field at the University of Connecticut where I was a distance runner. I was obsessed with running but always had an eye on climbing. After college and a year of living in CO, I decided I’d give climbing a shot.

Risk is a pretty obvious and inherent factor of climbing, so there is no getting around that. All I know is that I truly fell in love with the sport last July when I started up. I enjoy assessing risk and making objective decisions with the information I have in front of me. When I am taking photos on the wall, not only do I have to take into account my own safety, but the safety of the people I am taking photos of. If a climber is leading, I do not want to get in their way or intrude on their experience.

It’s kind of contradictory I guess, wanting to live in the moment but also be taking a photo of it. I’d like to think that I am capturing an beautiful split second and extending it over a longer period of time when I get a good shot, but who knows. It feels good when I can produce a good product of a person or place that means a lot to me.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
What I’m most proud of so far is my ability to capture intense moments on the wall with other climbers. I feel like I still have so much to learn about both climbing and photography, but I’m proud of the results at this point. Studying both disciplines every day in my office at home and then applying that knowledge on the wall outside feels incredible. I’m definitely most excited to get out there when I have both a climbing and photography project to work towards.

The biggest challenge right now is simply improving. I would love to start climbing and taking photos of big wall climbs, so that is definitely where my head is at. I’ve got some projects that I’m working towards for that but nothing set in stone yet. I am always pouring over photos that Jimmy Chin takes, I absolutely love his new book, ‘There and Back’. It seems like an impossible goal but I definitely think of his work when I am creating.

In terms of lessons, I’m learning to be patient. No one can become a great climber or artist overnight no matter how bad they want it. It come in these incremental steps that aren’t always epic or amazing, they’re really just the basics. Until I can master the basics I will never truly get better, and that will take patience.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Fort Collins is kind of a slept on town in Colorado – there really is a lot to do.

I’d start by taking my friends to Horsetooth Reservoir to paddleboard, swim, or kayak (while taking photos of course). When I moved to CO from NJ, it was definitely weird being landlocked, but Horsetooth definitely made it a lot easier.

After that we’d grab some food at Illegal Pete’s or maybe just some coffee at Bean Cycle Roasters. I love coffee and Bean Cycle is my favorite place to get a cup at.

Next I’d drive up Poudre Canyon and take them to some of my favorite spots to climb and take photos. There is Crystal Wall, the Palace, Sheep Mountain, all areas where I have so many good memories. The next day I’d drive down to either Boulder Canyon or Eldorado canyon where the beauty of each is just incredible. Eldorado Canyon doesn’t even feel real sometimes.

To finish the weekend off I’d go to Rare Italian for dinner. I can say I was pleasantly surprised when I moved to CO and there was still good Italian food, so I’d definitely have to get a table there.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I definitely wouldn’t be where I am in climbing or photography without my girlfriend, Lauren. She helps me keep a level head and supports my goals while also reeling me in when she needs to.

On the technical side of climbing, my main mentor’s name is Steve. We started climbing together at Whetstone Climbing gym in Fort Collins and he’s taught me how to both sport and trad climb, the latter still ongoing.

On both the creative and climbing side, I’d like to thank my climbing partner, Aidan. Aidan has shown me fantastic places to take photos and has been another amazing mentor.

Next is the person I’ve probably climbed with the most, Kevin. With Kevin’s help I have grown much faster as a climber and am always stoked to get out there with him.

Last but not least are my two friends from back east, Andrew and Will. Both have given me feedback on my photos, videos, and TikToks and support me no matter what.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kylebrackman.photo/

Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@kylebrackman.photo