Climber: Hayden Kennedy

Whip: 2009 Ford Transit Connect

• 27 MPG (highway), 6 cylinder, front-wheel drive, automatic
• Purchase price: $19,500 (used with 2,000 miles)

About the Whip: The Transit Connect has nothing fancy — no power windows, no cruise control. It’s basically a short box: larger than a family-sized van, but smaller than the smallest Sprinter vans. There are no windows in the back, which make for good sleeping conditions.

Pimped out how: Inside, a single bed has been made; there’s storage space for boxes of climbing gear underneath. Next to the bed is a tiny table with a stove on it and other cabinet space. However, Hayden has since found it difficult to use this space to cook. He plans on making a sliding table, which will pull out from underneath the bed, in order to have cooking space. The interior walls have been decorated with photos of Patagonia, Tibetan flags, and red chili lights, which Hayden says are “good for morale.”

Found items: Huge bin of trad gear. Ice climbing equipment. Alpinist magazine. Indian Creek guidebook. Born to Run. Signed copy of Sport Climbing: From Top Rope to Redpoint, Techniques for Climbing Success. Chess board. “Cosmic” lavender air freshener.

Map Quest: Thus far, the Transit Connect has been all over Colorado and the Utah desert, and has made trips to California and Canada.

Any good stories? “One time I had a foursome with three porn stars, who were all on ecstasy. I had one, reverse cowgirl, on the bed. Then, it was like a game of ‘musical chairs.'”

About the Climber: Hayden Kennedy is one of the best all-around climbers in the country. Despite being just barely old enough to legally buy beer, Hayden has redpointed 5.14c, free climbed El Cap, made bids on Himalayan summits, and has stood atop Fitz Roy. He started climbing at 13, and since graduating high school from the prestigious Colorado Rocky Mountains School in Carbondale, Colorado, Hayden has been fully committed to the dirtbag life. For example, while these photos were taken last weekend at Rifle (where we all camped out and enjoyed glorious sport-climbing temps), on Monday, Hayden received a call from his friend Jason Kruk in Canmore, who told him that conditions in the Rockies were sick, and that he better get up there right away. By Wednesday, Hayden was on the road — 21 years old, progressing toward the boundless height of his powers, and free to pick up and leave toward distant adventure at the drop of a phone call.

Hayden never speaks a bad word about anyone, and he never sprays about himself. Above all, he’s got a good head: able to run it out on hard alpine terrain, but simultaneously cautious. This spring, on a work trip to Alaska to help the producers of Planet Earth film, Hayden and Tommy Caldwell snuck away to put up a 5.11 X route on a tall granite face. The crux fell to Hayden, who ran it out 60 feet above bird beaks for an anchor. On the hike out, the trip nearly ended with a grizzly attack, as Tommy and Hayden unwittingly stumbled upon a bear feasting upon fresh kill — the bear charged them from 30 feet, but they stood their ground and called the bear’s bluff; then backed away. Still, Hayden is always willing to back off a situation, and do what’s safest and best. He has impressed the likes of Steve House with patience, foresight and cautiousness when approaching big mountains — surely a result of good upbringing through his parents, particularly his father and ultra-badass alpinist Michael Kennedy.

Above all, Hayden is simply perpetually stoked to climb — a passion that he shares with his partners by always insisting that they can climb harder, climb more, climb better than they probably actually can. Yet because he believes in your abilities so strongly, you begin to believe him.

Pass the tequila! Photo: Jay Peery