Nick Wilkes
I was born and raised in Vernon, WI, amidst forests, farms, and marshlands. I spent my youth rambling outside with my two younger brothers, building forts, shooting homemade bows and arrows, and catching crawfish and garter snakes. As long as we came home by supper time, our parents granted wide latitude, for which I am forever grateful.
Senior year, I destroyed my hip in a major car accident, ending running sports for me. Fortunately, college was the perfect place to transition to outdoor adventure pursuits, and the Hoofer Outing Club at UW-Madison taught me how. I did my first climbing, backpacking, snowshoeing, and whitewater paddling my freshman year, and I soon dedicated my education to outdoor adventure. I found jobs teaching canyoneering, rock climbing, sailing, paddling, wilderness travel, and co-led Adventure Learning Programs, a UW organization that facilitates team-building and leadership workshops. Life was good.
After undergrad, I studied field science and biology education at Teton Science School in Jackson Hole, and Antioch New England Graduate School in New Hampshire. Along the way, I met incredible friends, students, and mentors, people who taught me how to identify important moments, ask open questions, and set high standards for myself. Graduate school was worth every cent of tuition (and interest) I paid for it.
In 2004, I moved to Springdale, Utah, to help my friend and mentor, Jonathan Zambella, grow the guiding department at Zion Adventure Company. Over six seasons, our Guide Corps quintupled in size, bringing all the joys, challenges, and great satisfactions that come with such an effort. While at ZAC, I led over 750 field days of canyoneering, rock climbing, mountain biking, and desert hiking with the best clients in the world.
After much soul-searching, my wife and I moved back to Madison in 2010. We moved here to start a family, push down some roots, and make a home here. The West may be best when it comes to mountains and spectacular scenery, but nothing beats Wisconsin and the Midwest for seasonal wonder, character-building weather, and friendly, down-to-earth people.
When I'm not climbing in the off-season, I am probably spending time with my family. My wife, Maya, is an amazing human whose support and grace I am indebted to. Our sons, Sebastian and Laszlo, test and teach me daily. I also work as a photographer in Madison, WI and design websites with Isthmus Design.
Client Feedback
“The best part of my trip was watching my friends (the other clmbers) get stuck and figure out how to keep going. I really appreciated Nick’s help when I was stuck and confused on the wall, giving suggestions as to what holds looked good and other things I could try. The worst part was that with about an hour left in our session my forearms were just too weak to keep going (but that’s a me issue).”
“I really appreciated how supportive the guides were. Thank you, Nick, for pushing me to try new routes I would have never thought to get on. I know I “complained” about climbing at the Lake a lot yesterday, but you truly… made me feel like it was actually enjoyable to go to the Lake. I viewed it as a chore before and now… I don’t.”
“The best part (of our trip) was Nick. He was adaptable to our pace and skill, he didn’t leave slower learners behind while still keeping the faster ones engaged. As with anything my daughters had different skill levels. Nick adapted our climbing to keep them both smiling the whole time. Allie who had a little more fear, he encouraged differently than he did with Maya who had much less fear. He also found a way to keep Allie interested as she became our primary Belayer, even providing belay for me. That was huge, even though they had different levels of “success” on the climbs, they both gave a resounding YES when asked if they would do it again. The worst part was honestly something we couldn’t control, Time, as in there is never enough when your having fun.”
“Nick was a great teacher. I loved how he would demo but then allow us to practice while he provided coaching. He really made a welcoming environment for someone who was brand new and also a bit nervous. I didn’t feel judged with my lack of knowledge and felt empowered to try things myself.
Our group skewed in expertise from very experienced to 6 months to none. Nick provided multiple routes and was flexible with showing different aspects of climbing such as giving info on anchoring and rappelling.”
CERTIFICATIONS
Rock Climbing
AMGA Single Pitch Instructor
Wilderness Medicine
Wilderness First Responder
Paddling
ACA L1 SUP Instructor
ACA Community Paddle Sport Leader
