Dave Lee comes to us from Bedford, New York. He moved from the east coast in 2011 to attend CU Boulder. Dave became interested in strength and conditioning in high school, committing to getting stronger and faster in his senior year. Finding CrossFit at the end of high school, he was quickly enthralled with the program, which complemented his climbing well.
Dave’s climbing career began in 2006. Since then, he’s spent extensive time climbing in all styles: trad, ice, sport, alpine, and bouldering. Lately, he has focused most on sport climbing, particularly pushing the boundaries of lifting heavy weights while climbing hard.
Notable ascents include: Haiku, Boulder Canyon. Whispers of Wisdom, RMNP. The Evictor, Eldorado Canyon. Mount Denali, Alaska. Right Couloir, Peak 11,300, AK.
In 2022, Dave did one of his best days of climbing, completing a one-day link-up of many of the classics in Boulder. The order was: Archangel, Country Club Crack, Doub-Griffith, Naked Edge, Yellow Spur, Rewritten, Death and Transfiguration, 3rd Flatiron, 1st Flatiron.
Outside of climbing, Dave has run a handful of ultra-endurance races, with the Never Summer 100k being the longest. He’s raced the Power of Four skimo race with a time of 6:01:04.
In 2024, Dave focused on lifting and hit a power lifting total of 1140 (515 Deadlift, 250 Bench, 375 Squat) while maintaining the ability to climb 5.13.
Dave has been coaching at Roots since 2014 and full-time since 2015. He has coached many thousands of classes and over two thousand personal training sessions. He has demonstrated a commitment to the profession of coaching and has worked with athletes of all ability levels on their general fitness, injury rehabilitation, and sport-specific goals.