Alpinist13 Aug 2025

Sonnie Trotter - Commitment to Climbing

When Sonnie Trotter was a teenager, he discovered a portal into another world. Entering the local climbing gym he found challenge, adventure and passion. By sixteen, he was all in, and he made it up his first 5.14 within just a few years.

The climbing seemed to come naturally, but figuring out how to make a living doing it took a lot more time—and some trial and error. Early sponsorships covered gas money for traveling to competitions, but it took him a decade to start generating real income as an athlete. He knew that his happiness was directly connected to climbing and so he did whatever he could to do it as much as he could.

Looking back at the last thirty years of climbing, Trotter says he's most proud of his willingness to listen to himself and commit to his passion. He recently published "Uplifted," a memoir chronicling those many years of climbing, his role as a father and how he manages to tie it all together.

In this conversation, we talk about Trotter's evolution as an athlete, where he finds freedom and why he believes climbing should be fun—even when it's not easy.

This episode is brought to you with support from Rab Equipment.

Host: Abbey Collins

Producer & Engineer: Mike Horn

Guest: Sonnie Trotter

Subscribe to Alpinist Magazine

Purchase Sonnie's book, "Uplifted: The Evolution of a Climbing Life"

Photography courtesy of Patagonia.

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