Meet Our Leaders

  • Rue Zheng (they/them)

    CO-ORGANIZER

    Climbing has become a huge part of Rue’s life since they moved to Salt Lake City. They are passionate about creating supportive spaces for climbers and fostering the communities they needed when they first started climbing. Rue hopes that new and seasoned climbers feel like they belong in the sport of climbing and make connections that extend beyond the wall. Outside of climbing, Rue is a software engineer who loves to travel, dabble in photography, geek out on anime, birds, and nature.

  • Matty Kastellec (he/him)

    CO-ORGANIZER

    Matty is a transplant from New York City, bringing experience both from his professional life as Managing Director at a national non-profit and from years of service with Crux Climbing, NYC’s LGBTQ+ climbing group. Outside of SLAQC, he has also volunteered with local orgs like Genderbands, Craft Lake City, and the Salt Lake Climbers Alliance. When not doing all that, he tries to get outside as much as possible to enjoy the natural wonders of the beehive state.

  • Maddi Bistrong (she/her)

    Since moving to Utah to teach adaptive skiing at the National Ability Center, Maddi has embraced the year-round adventure opportunities that the state offers. By day, she works in tech, providing employers with critical insights into LGBTQIA+ workforce dynamics, emphasizing how diversity and inclusion drive superior outcomes for companies and their employees. When not climbing or strategizing, Maddi can be found downhill biking, trail running, or skiing the Wasatch. She also enjoys downtime playing fetch with her cat.

  • Liz Todd (They/She)

    Liz is passionate about building community and fostering a sense of belonging, both on and off the climbing wall. She finds joy in connecting with others through shared experiences, particularly in the climbing world where she has found a strong sense of community.

    Liz brings this commitment to her work with SLAQC, where she focuses on building affinity spaces, creating storytelling materials that highlight the experiences of queer climbers, and showcasing narratives that amplify underrepresented perspectives. She believes in utilizing storytelling to foster connection, inspire action, and promote inclusivity in the climbing community. 

    In her free time, you can find Liz climbing, exploring the outdoors, or on the hunt for new additions to her rock and fossil collection

  • Jacobi Seacord

    Coming soon!

Meet Our Advisory Board

  • Charlie Warner (she/her)

    BUSINESS STRATEGIST, ADVISOR, EDUCATOR Human|Work

    Charlie is a self–described “wanderpreneur” and is fascinated by the nature of work (and nature in general). She's a strategist by trade, an educator at heart, and loves tapping into her inner–child by asking all of life's deepest questions.

    Charlie works with organizations like SLAQC and businesses to develop clear and aligned visions, values, and strategic roadmaps. She is the founder of Human|Work project, a professional development platform and mentor network on a mission to humanize the nature of work. She also runs her own strategic advising firm and teaches strategy and leadership at Westminster College. Outside of work, Charlie can usually be found climbing mountains, hiking with her pup Millie, riding bikes, and eating her way through the world.

  • Drew Brodhead (He/him)

    ANCHOR MAINTENANCE AND ADVOCACY COORDINATION
    Salt Lake Climbers Alliance

    Growing up in Northern Michigan, Drew developed a deep appreciation for learning through experience and the natural world. In 2006, he accidentally stumbled into a climbing gym—and the rest is history.

    Drew earned a degree in Outdoor Recreation, Leadership, and Management from Northern Michigan University before heading west to California’s Sierra Nevada to chase his dream of becoming a guide. However, realizing that guiding wasn’t making him a better climber, he set out on a journey of self-discovery.

    In 2021, Drew joined the Salt Lake Climbers Alliance and now works as its Anchor Maintenance and Advocacy Coordinator, combining his love of the climbing community with a knack for power tools and spreadsheets.

    Drew firmly believes that life is about experience, and climbing offers the perfect mix of self-discovery, meeting amazing people, overcoming obstacles, and occasionally swearing at inanimate objects. For Drew, it’s all about savoring the journey and cherishing this beautiful blue marble we all call home.

  • Dr. Amy Frugé, DPT

    FOUNDER
    Converge Physical Therapy

    Is the Founder and owner of Converge PT & Wellness, whose mission is to enable all ages and identities to play without limits. Amy is passionate about creating spaces of equity and inclusion - in her clinic, her recreational activities and her home (her dog Lola is intersex. Yes, Lola — named after the Kinks song — before knowing that Lola was intersex).

    Amy loves to climb, snowboard, trail run, laugh, eat delicious food with loved ones & watch her new baby girl explore this wild world. 

    As climber for nearly 20 years, Amy finds joy in bringing others to climbing. It was once said about climbing “The higher you climb, the more awe you receive.” And Amy believes that is a gift with sharing. 

  • Megan Lee

    Coming soon!

  • Kanzi Kamel

    Coming soon!

Our Mission

SLAQC creates a supportive space for all queer people to enjoy climbing.

We host weekly meetups, raise visibility by collaborating with brands who share our mission, advocate for increased access to climbing with gym partners, and promote queer stories and organizations.

Through these efforts, we empower queer individuals, create a more inclusive climbing community, reduce barriers to access, and cultivate collective knowledge.

Our Vision

SLAQC envisions a homespace where all queer* people can embody our limitless potential through climbing and the outdoors. 

** Queer is a term for people of marginalized gender identities and sexualities who are not cis–gender and/or heterosexual. While we recognize this term has a complicated history, we choose to use it as an umbrella term to describe our community. 

Our Values

Queerly Designed.

Queerly Beloved. 

We believe community is the bedrock of climbing. We help each other grow, share knowledge openly and proactively, and create space for all climbers. Our experiences together keep us grounded and deepen our connections with each other and the lands we climb on. 

Non–Toxic Culture

We intentionally build supportive connections that prioritize joy, respect, trust, and safety. Rather than chasing grades, judging gear, gatekeeping, and beta spraying, we model non–toxic culture through mindfulness, consent, and compassion. We refuse a climbing environment that only values individual achievement, sending not only for ourselves, but for the community that supports us.

Redefine Who Climbs

We reject traditional definitions and unspoken rules of who can climb.

We rewrite the narrative of who climbs to represent the totality of our community: bodies of all races, sizes, genders, sexualities, abilities and means.

We break stigmas of what our bodies can or can’t do.

We amplify stories within and beyond our organization, so that folks who want to climb have the opportunity to see all aspects of themselves in our sport.

We seek to center the most marginalized among us - those who face compounding layers of discrimination due to their races or ethnicities, sexualities, gender identities or performance, abilities, size, or socioeconomic status.

We hold ourselves accountable to making decisions that center these communities and building programming that intentionally serves these identities.

Accountable to the Most Marginalized