Life

My partner, Emily Clader, is also a mathematician.

Maya Ross Clader was born June 18, 2021.

When we're not puzzling over math problems or enjoying city life, you might find us in the Sierra. Emily and I are both avid rock climbers, primarily in the form of bouldering.

Despite their obvious differences, climbing and mathematics have a lot of similarities. For example, different paths to the top of a boulder are called "problems," and boulder problems, like math problems, are usually only solved after a great deal of false starts and failures. For me personally, whether I'm climbing or doing mathematics, it's not just the solution that brings me joy, but the entire process. I love learning the intricate details of a problem, discovering subtle techniques to push the progress just a bit further, and ultimately accomplishing something that had previously felt impossible.

In the winter of 2020, I had some fun creating a short video to document my five-day progression on a classic boulder problem in Yosemite Valley called Thriller (V10). In the video, I wanted to highlight the many failures and the incremental, sometimes backwards progress necessary for learning boulder problems near your limit. If you're interested, you can view the video here.