Takeda, Pete(r M.) 1964-

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TAKEDA, Pete(r M.) 1964-

Personal

Born May 24, 1964, in Spokane, WA; son of Yozo and Nobuko Takeda. Ethnicity: "Asian." Education: Attended Boise State University. Hobbies and other interests: Competitive climbing, including rock climbing, winter climbing, and Himalayan alpine climbing.

Addresses

Home— 4260 Greenbriar Blvd., Boulder, CO 80305. E-mail— [email protected].

Career

Blue Star International, marketing director, 1996-97; Texture Media, Inc., Denver, CO, content strategist, 2000-03. Also worked at Summit Canyon Mountaineering, Glenwood Springs, CO, and Mountain Shop, Fort Collins, CO. Participant in 1999 ESPN Winter X-Games; appears in advertisements for sporting goods companies; member of Marmot Design Board and Access Fund Ambassador Team; producer of climbing videotapes.

Writings

Pete's Wicked Book (climbing stories), Climbing Magazine (Carbondale, CO), 2000.

Climb! Your Guide to Bouldering, Sport Climbing, Traditional Climbing, Ice Climbing, Alpinism, and More, illustrated by Jack Dickason, National Geographic Society (Washington, DC), 2002.

Author of "Pete's Wicked Tales," a column in Climbing magazine. Contributor of articles, reviews, and photographs to periodicals in the United States and abroad, including Backpacker, TransPacific, Strength, and Sports Afield, and to commercial catalogs such as Patagonia and Black Diamond. Senior contributing editor, Climbing and Rock and Ice.

Sidelights

Pete Takeda told SATA: "I started writing as an outlet rather than a vocation. Though I had an early affinity to writing, I never made it a formal course of study. I wrote my first published piece for a magazine based on some intense personal experiences. Those experiences rose out of my passion for the sport of climbing.

"I essentially left school (after three years of undergraduate study) to live and climb in the world-famous Yosemite Valley. My first writing efforts were first-person narratives of harrowing ascents on the great granite monolith El Capitan. Though climbing is a niche activity, often mistakenly labeled 'extreme,' I feel that the activity presents the opportunity to explore universal themes and narratives.

"These days, I climb all over the world, and I see the same theme unfold. Experience is the framework bordering the picture. Like the worm on the hook, the external trappings lure the viewer into a world in which the universal and resonant themes are revealed—sometimes with a unique twist."