Lisa and Wills
It begins with passion! We are Wills Young and Lisa Rands, Synergy Climbing’s founders and head coaches. We are married, and we are passionate about climbing! We are both elite-level climbers with impressive ascents, competition wins and over 60 years of experience between us. We have traveled the world developing bouldering areas, climbing Alpine spires, making first ascents in the mountains, climbing world-class highballs, pulling off terrifying head-game climbs, winning World Cup bouldering competitions, and raising the bar in so many ways. Now we are here in this amazing climbing Mecca of Chattanooga to share our knowledge, and the passion that brought us here.
The mission of The Synergy Project is to enhance your climbing community. We go out of our way to recognize all our clients for the value they bring to our lives personally, as well as the support they offer to our business. It is not only our goal to make better climbers, but to create happier, healthier people, more confident in everything they do.
We are two of the most experienced and accomplished coaches in the country, having traveled and climbed world-wide, practicing all disciplines of the sport from bouldering to mountaineering. Lisa is a former Open National Champion, International Champion, World Cup winner and former world number one in bouldering. As coaches we have coached climbers to national-level competitions including to a current and former national champion in bouldering and sport climbing. We are both American Mountain Guides Association (AMGA) Certified Single Pitch Instructors and certified coaches with USA Climbing, the national governing body of competition climbing.
Lisa Rands
Lisa Rands is an American climbing icon, former Open National champion and the first American to win a World Cup bouldering competition. She blasted to public attention with her phenomenal bouldering prowess, taking a second and two first-place finishes in her first year on the international circuit as she attained the rank of number one in the world. She also blitzed outdoor climbing competitions such as the Phoenix Bouldering Contest and the southeast’s “Triple Crown” with comprehensive wins.
Lisa inspired a generation of women climbers with her dynamic style, and her bold, gutsy ascents of climbs previously regarded as only, “for the guys.” She is a former member of The North Face global athlete team.
Beyond winning numerous national and international events and awards, Lisa’s quest for adventure has taken her around the world to Alpine spires in Patagonia and the revered gritstone cliffs of England. She has authored new boulder problems at the emerging climbing Mecca of Rocklands, South Africa, and has teamed up with legend Peter Croft to establish first ascents in the Sierra backcountry.
Known throughout the world for her exceptional talent, and drive, Lisa is also recognized for her modest personality and friendly demeanor. Lisa is married to Wills (see right).
Read more at –> www.lisarands.com.
Wills Young
Wills Young was raised in England, and learned to climb there, holding leader falls with a waist belay long before climbing gyms existed. He honed his leading skills through traditional climbing on local gritstone “edges,” the mountain crags of Scotland, and the dicey sea cliffs of Wales, climbing half a dozen years before he ever clipped a bolt.
A move back to his native California saw Wills develop hundreds of boulder problems at climbing areas in Southern California, and elsewhere, becoming a significant leader in the bouldering boom of the 1990s and early 2000s and leaving a legacy of first ascents, many of them recognized as some of the finest boulder problems in the country. Wills wrote passionately about the climbing scene for Rock and Ice, Climbing and Outside magazine among others.
After a spell behind the desk as an editor at Climbing magazine, interviewing and traveling with some of the world’s best climbers, Wills moved to Bishop, California, with wife-to-be Lisa Rands, where he authored one of the country’s most popular climbing guidebooks, Bishop Bouldering, climbing nearly all of the book’s 2000 boulder problems in the process.
In his role as coach, Wills pushed Lisa to improve her technique and propelled her to wins at international competitions, training with her through countless gym sessions and thousands of days out on the rock.
