40 years of teaching experience

leading in rock climbing Since 1983

Since 1983, Vertical Adventures has been the leading rock climbing school in California, setting the standard of professionalism for rock climbing classes with our low student-to-instructor ratios, state-of-the-art course curriculums, excellent safety record, and exceptional rock climbing guides.

Vertical Adventures ROCK CLIMBING SCHOOL was honored to be ranked as the #1 rock climbing school in America by Outside Magazine in their list of America’s top adventure schools.

From September through May, our rock climbing classes and guided climbs are held at Joshua Tree National Park, One of America’s most popular rock climbing areas with over 9,000 routes to choose from. Joshua Tree has ideal weather for rock climbing during the winter season.

Vertical Adventures also offers guided climbs of Tahquitz Rock in Idyllwild, which at 1,000 feet high is Southern California’s tallest rock formation and one of the best rocks in the country for traditional, multi-pitch rock climbing.

During the summer months, our operations shift to the Lake Tahoe Area. Donner Summit and the Truckee area is known for its excellent quality climbing from single-pitch top roping to fabulous multi-pitch routes.

Our rock climbing classes and guided rock climbing have enabled many to attain goals they never thought possible. For small private groups and families with children, we offer special discounted group rates.

If you’ve never done any rock climbing, climbing with Vertical Adventures is the ideal way to learn to safely climb outdoors.

If you’re a gym climber who has yet to climb outside, I invite you to experience the joy and exhilaration of outdoor rock climbing.

Vertical Adventures’ climbing school program includes one-day rock climbing classes, multi-day rock climbing courses up to 5 days in duration, group rock climbing instruction, private instruction, and guided rock climbing.

Our Seasons

June to September - Lake Tahoe
Spring and Fall - Idyllwild
October to May - Joshua Tree

***We have limited operations in Joshua Tree during summer

40 YEARS OF TEACHING EXPERIENCE

Meet Our Guides

Jarad Stiles

Co-Owner

JARAD STILES is from Lake Tahoe California. Jarad’s guiding career started in 2009 by gaining his Single Pitch Instructor certification. After climbing and guiding for a decade, and 26 days of rigorous training and examination, he earned his AMGA Rock Guide certification in 2019. His rock climbing foundation started in the Lake Tahoe area and quickly progressed to the big walls of Yosemite. Multiple ascents of El Capitan, Half Dome, Washington Column and The Leaning Tower taught Jarad the skills needed to move efficiently through difficult terrain. His passion for alpine rock climbing led him to the High Sierra classics, Clyde Minaret, the Incredible Hulk, Merriam Peak, Mt. Whitney, Mt. Russell and Bear Creek Spire. Jarad’s love for wild places inspires his passion for teaching others. He’s known for his patience, understanding, and compassion, giving aspiring rock climbers the confidence to explore their limits.

CHRIS BAUMANN

Co-Owner

CHRIS BAUMANN began rock climbing in 1985 in Lake Tahoe California. Chris has been an AMGA-Certified Single Pitch Instructor since 2006. Known for his patient teaching style, Chris especially enjoys introducing novices young and old to the sport of rock climbing. Chris’ kind demeanor and wealth of knowledge are the perfect combination for an amazing instructor. Known for his mastery of crack climbing techniques, his rock climbs in Yosemite include Astroman, a 13-pitch, 5.11c that is the goal for many crack climbing aficionados, and a one-day ascent of the Nose Route on El Capitan.

kind Words from clients…

Testimonials

My buddy and I booked a two day guided session in Joshua tree last month to learn how to trad climb and it was an absolute blast!

We’ve climbed outdoors but this was our first time climbing trad, and we wanted to learn how to place gear from an expert. Jared was our guide for the trip and he was amazing. Jared is a wealth of knowledge and broke things down in a way that made things easily digestible. He was able to ascertain our skill level and competence right off the bat and kept us challenged in a way that that enabled to build a solid understanding of the fundamentals while learning things we never thought we’d get a chance to try out on our first trip. Book Jared! He’s the best.

Brian B

We spent the day with Chris, one of the most amazing caring, encouraging instructors I've ever had.

He knows his stuff!!! And he can encourage you to go for something you never in your wildest dreams would think you had it in you. From the very start of booking this during Covid, Bob was the consummate professional. He met us to go through sizing, equipment etc and followed meticulous covid guidelines, before handing us over to Chris who was our guide for the day. When I first saw where he was taking us, I thought "there's been a mistake, I'm a total novice." But Chris, through patience and humor and just generally such a cool guy had all of us climbing. His instructions were spot on, calling out where you might want to consider placing a foot (yes he knows the routes that well, he can tell out a foothold). Pacing was perfect, I worried we'd be overly exhausted but Chris paced it wonderfully

I loved the day! My only regret? That I don't live nearer to be able to do this again and again and again...

To Bob and Chris, thank you!

L.A.

Our day in December with Tony was one my family will recall with such joy!

My 12-year-old daughter said this past family trip was her favorite, and that is a lot because of the climbing experience with Tony. (She is trying out Sender One today!) He was so patient with our various abilities and comfort levels. He also took time to teach us the basics. The routes seemed perfect for our group, and then he treated us to a hike thorough the Real Hidden Valley Chasm. It was a once in a lifetime adventure! Tony's love of climbing is evident, and that spirit helped build our confidence as well. Thank you and Tony for setting us up for a very fulfilling family day of rock climbing. We will be back and highly recommend to others.

Kristen I.

This was an absolutely incredible course, Jarad was fantastic!

My climbing partner and I wanted to refresh our knowledge and learn new tips and tricks related to building and cleaning anchors, rappelling, and multi pitch climbing. We not only learned a lot, but we had so much fun doing it! Jarad was knowledgeable, patient, enthusiastic, encouraging, and super safe. We can't wait to take another class on self-rescue, additional safety, and learning and redoing more techniques.

It was wonderful! This was our 10-year-old daughter's first time climbing outside.

Jarad was out guide. He was terrific with her- patient, confidence-boosting, didn't talk down to her at all. She went up and down about 5 times; I (mom) did twice. It was great for her confidence and she said it was her favorite day ever.

Thanks to Jarad for making it happen. I would definitely recommend him to anyone looking for a special adventure.

We had the best time climbing with our guide, Chris!

Our group had a mix of experience levels. My husband and I have been climbing for 4 years but hadn't done much slab climbing. Our friend had never climbed outdoors before. Chris was an excellent teacher, and he did a great job maintaining the balance between challenging us but not pushing us to do something we weren't comfortable with. He emphasized and taught safe climbing techniques, and we loved learning about the park and surrounding towns from him! He's also a great photographer! Thanks for an absolute awesome time Chris! Also, shoutout to Bob for being flexible and helping us reschedule when a storm was predicted for our climbing day!

Hilary D.

“Climbed with Vertical Adventures this weekend - it was awesome!”

Our Chris was knowledgable, personable, and helped us all feel very safe on the rock, but also encouraged us on increasingly challenging climbs. He was an excellent teacher giving technique advice throughout the day. By the end of the day we had all improved a ton and were way more confident. Bob and the office staff were clear communicators, always available, and a total class act. Can't wait to climb with these guys again!

Thomas G.

“Jarad was a best-in-class example of what Vertical Adventures has to offer customers.”

I joined several members of my Search & Rescue unit in a training with Vertical Adventures, focused on basic repelling, rock traversing, and belaying skills for Class 3 and Class 4 terrain searches. Jarad, our AMGA-certified instructor, was a best-in-class example of what Vertical Adventures has to offer customers. He was thorough, calm and and extremely positives as he took our team through a comprehensive and focused two day training block. Thank you, Vertical Adventures!

David G.

“Chris was super knowledgeable and friendly.”

He helped us all feel very safe on the rock, but he also encouraged us on increasingly challenging climbs and this helped our skill tremendously. He was an excellent teacher and gave great technique advice throughout the day. By the end of the day we had all improved a ton and were feeling way more confident.

“I wanted to say thank you again for the incomparable time in JT.”

Your instruction came through precise, informed and professional. I enjoyed our conversations and you knew exactly when to give a little advice or when to let me or my dad just enjoy working it out on our own. You really made the whole experience as I got some perspective not just of the rock but the plants and the wildlife surrounding us. I felt your love of the place reflected. Now I love it there too. Thanks again. I always say there's 1000 days in your life that define it. This was one of the 1000 for me. Hell- it was one of the top 10.

“Jarad is super patient and so knowledgeable”

Just wanted to let you know what a terrific job Jarad did as our guide last week. He is super patient and so knowledgeable, he made my first outdoor climbing experience as enjoyable as possible considering it’s a big change from climbing in the gym.