technology careers: Longtime climber leading South Bellevue Community Center camps ...

For Tom Waldron, climbing is a pastime.

He spent much of his childhood in Massachusetts with friends at a local quarry, learning to navigate up and back down with little more than blind courage.

"It was just a big hole in the ground," Waldron said of the favorite haunt of his youth. "We used to climb all the time, but not with so much safety equipment."

While his younger, more reckless days of climbing have long since passed, Waldron still has a passion for the sport, one he and his company Mini Mountain share with youth in Bellevue throughout the summer through week-long camps at South Bellevue Community Center.

After coming to Bellevue in the early 1980s to pursue a graduate degree at the University of Washington, Waldron founded Mini Mountain in 1983 in an effort to teach ski lessons year-round at the specially furnished indoor facility. Shortly after, he extended to climbing lessons and was contracted to operate the city of Bellevue's climbing camps at the South Bellevue Community Center when it opened in Dec. 2005. Waldron said while his staffers from Mini Mountain often operate the camps, he still enjoys bringing climbing to another generation.

"They are doing stuff that makes them nervous and afraid, but they still do it," he said. "That is something they will need in life."

Climbing experience is a necessity for Waldron's instructors, but he said finding people with an affinity for teaching children is the most crucial factor.

Taylor Barrett, a Washington State University student who began climbing four years ago, is one of the leaders of the camps and teaches alongside his sister Victoria. The pair cover everything down to basic knot tying and Taylor said watching campers progress from their introduction to the indoor wall to their first outdoor climb is an exciting experience.

"It's really fun to watch that," he said. "The best part is being able to share these resources."

13-year-old Tudor Muntianu has been climbing for four years after getting a taste of the sport on vacations with his parents and said he is on his third go-around at climbing camp. Along with a love of hiking and the outdoors, Muntianu said the challenges presented by rock climbing are what gravitates him to the sport.

"It's just a great atmosphere," Muntianu said. "There's no pressure at all."

After beginning each session at the community center, campers get an opportunity to truly experience climbing with daily trips to a popular spot off I-90's Exit 38 or Marymoor Park in Redmond. While the techniques taught at the indoor rock wall are a vital piece of education for any aspiring climber, both Muntianu and Waldron said taking the practice outdoors is where the real payoff comes.

"It's a whole different environment," Waldron said. "We have kids that show up afraid to touch the bushes. A lot of them haven't spent much time outdoors and it isn't like we are climbing in the parking lot."

Youth Climbing Summer Camps

Where: South Bellevue Community Center, 14509 Southeast Newport Way

What: Indoor and outdoor rock climbing and instruction

When: Week-long camps at SBCC from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., including day-trips to climb sites

Who: Children ages 8-13

What to bring: Rubber-soled shoes or climbing shoes, all other required equipment provided