Stephen was raised to love the outdoors, hiking trails and climbing trees near his New York home from a young age. When Stephen was only two years old, a family trip to Alaska permanently instilled a desire to travel and seek adventure, though the relatively flat landscape of NY restricted his climbing to elaborate tree-dwellings and third-class boulder hopping. Once in high school, however, Stephen made good on his dreams by studying abroad in Alaska for a year, where he learned the nuts and bolts of technical rock climbing. After obtaining a degree in English and Philosophy from SUNY Binghamton, Stephen found Philosophy companies were not hiring; he soon left an interim position as a college instructor and set out on the first of two 5-month climbing trips. After a cursory satisfaction of his wanderlust, he settled temporarily in San Diego with his wife, Stefanie. When the opportunity to live and work in Zion arose, it was an easy choice to make. These days you can find him bouldering, hiking, canyoneering, or climbing - usually while muttering Seinfeld quotes to himself.