Adidas Outdoor continues to expand its commitment to the climbing community with two additions to its athlete team, Jess Roskelley and Kyle Vassilopoulos. Both well-accomplished climbers in their own right, Roskelley and Vassilopoulos will join the adidas Outdoor team by representing the brand at local and national events and competitions around the globe.
Since Adidas Outdoor launched in the U.S. three years ago, it has built a solid list of sponsored athletes including Sasha DiGiulian, the reigning female world champion; 11-year-old Ashima Shiraishi, three-time American Bouldering Series Youth National Champion, and world-class climber and Pro Climbers International Founder Kevin Jorgeson.
Both Jess and Kyle are the epitome of purist climbers at heart. Climbing and the outdoors have been a part of their lives from the very beginning, and theyve continued to build their skills and follow their passions into impressively accomplished and inspiring role models for the sport, said Greg Thomsen, managing director of adidas Outdoor U.S. As they each set out to conquer their own next personal goals, were extremely proud to have them represent adidas Outdoor.
Roskelley, 30, a Spokane, Wash., native, became the youngest American to reach the summit of Mount Everest in 2003. The son of mountaineer John Roskelley, Jess has been an avid ice and rock climber from a very early age. He has been on more than a dozen climbing expeditions around the world and focuses on technical alpine routes and first ascents.
Vassilopoulos, 31, has more than 18 years of experience as a climber, traveling to remote places in the U.S and around the world to pursue his climbing passions, including bouldering, sport climbing, ice climbing and alpine. In total, he has climbed well over 200 routes around the world at a technical difficulty of 5.13 or harder.
The two athletes were recently in Canada together, where they ascended the Real Big Drip, two mixed pitches of M7+. In the coming year, Roskelley will be spending time on various ice and mixed alpine routes in Canada, Alaska, Patagonia, Peru, and Nepal. Vassilopoulos looks to compete in World Cup events while continuing to establish first ascents in his home state of Montana and abroad.
