The Staff

Katherine hails from Miami and was raised by rad hippie immigrants from South America. She was eating tofu and alfalfa sprout sandwiches before they were cool—those are cool now, right? She moved out to California five years ago to pursue... acting and hasn’t looked back. She reluctantly went bouldering for the first time at her friend’s insistence and joined the gym the day after—trying new things can be scary AND transformative! When she’s not convincing everyone she knows to try climbing…she’s most likely rewatching one of her favorite shows again for the fourth time or exploring Southern California on weekends—she likes that so much that she co-wrote/co-produced an indie feature about road tripping through California!

Nick hails from the distant future, having come back in time to prevent an apocalyptic reality. Turns out things are much better here, so he stuck around. He is a paragon of placidity, a champion of both nothing and everything,... and a repository of unwarranted knowledge and ideas with dreams of becoming a world-renowned supervillain. And if the legends are to believed, he once flashed a 5.8 on top rope.

Filemón loves hiking and is always looking for a new trail, new adventures and new friends to walk the mountains with. He’s glad to be a family member of Touchstone, and LA Boulders is his home gym.

LAB’s resident jack of all trades, Patrick always brings positive energy with him. Between learning everyone’s name, playing the best music, baking treats, and sharing helpful yoga tips, he occasionally finds time to climb things and hang out.  Be sure... to ask him what song was playing twenty minutes ago!

Charles is an LA native who loves to eat, cook, hike, and most importantly climb. He gets excited when you bring food to the front desk. Apparently, his stomach is a black hole. When he’s not climbing, you can usually... see him walking around Los Angeles with a huge bag lugged with school work + climbing shoes or possibly outside on a patio restaurant during happy hour. Aside from that he always loves to eat and work out, so if you want to talk about food or possibly fitness come say to him at the front desk! Bring tacos.

A wandering nomad who has lived and been to many far and wide corners of the world from New Zealand to China to South Africa to Peru, Lenard found his way to Los Angeles. He decided to set up camp... and stay for a while. His search to find a place to call home has finally come to an end. When not at work at LAB, you can likely find him skiing and snowboarding up at Big Bear, lead climbing over at Malibu Creek, camping out at Joshua Tree, bouldering at Stoney Point, or at many of the Queer Crush events in the LA area. He loves baking delicious sweet treats, listening to all the pop queens, and taking lots of cute photos of his dogs. And if you’re ever going on a road trip, he’s always down to join.

Melo, short for Melody, is native to Los Angeles. When she isn’t at LAB you can find her catching some LA sun hiking or climbing outside. Her eclectic sense of fashion is cultivated from her impeccable thrift finds and jewelry... that she makes herself. She loves her cat Molly and her pup, D.O.G. (pronounced like the letters.) While she loves to take risks, she knows when to stick with what works, and has her sushi order dialed in. She has a sweet tooth and really enjoys her sweetened matcha and loves a nice cheese and bean pupusa. Come say hello next time you’re at the desk and bask in her friendly energy!

Stumbling his way into Los Angeles from San Diego, Kobe is a cat fanatic and food lover who loves to share whatever he was cooking last. Ask him what he ate last or what his favorite food is, and the... answer is sure to be something new every single time. Beyond cooking and eating, he loves to spend his time at cat cafes, various restaurants across the world, or in the photo pit at different shows. Kobe is always looking for an excuse to climb, so if you need a ropes partner or want to boulder for a while, he’s your guy! Just promise to get him food afterward.