About

My name is Scott Semple. I'm a coach, skimo racer, and climber.

I started climbing in 1996, studying endurance training with Scott Johnston in 2005, skimo racing in 2014, and coaching at Uphill Athlete in 2019. In 2022, I created www.skimotransitions.com. Today, I'm working on three books:

• Arrowhead Endurance;
• The Skimo Survival Guide; and
• The Model Athlete.

Coaching

I've coached a variety of mountain sports: alpine climbing, mountaineering, skimo racing, and trail running. While working at Uphill Athlete, I wrote for the UA website, moderated and contributed 1,717 replies to the UA forum, and spoke on a couple of podcasts:

• Getting into SkiMo with Sam Naney, Scott Semple, and Luke Nelson
  Apple | Spotify | Google
• Free Speed: A Talk With Coach Scott Semple
  Apple | Google

Skimo Racing

In 2014, I started skimo racing. I qualified for the Canadian National Team three times, competed at the 2019 World Championships, and finished 6th in Canada in my final season.

Climbing

Before skimo, I was a sponsored climber, working with Black Diamond, SCARPA, Grivel, Metolius, Clif Bar, and Adidas Eyewear. I completed several first ascents and speed ascents, most notably Howse of Cards, Great Western, and Spinstone. But that was all before Instagram, so it’s hard to tell if it ever really happened.

Writing

I've written for several websites, magazines, and climbing journals: Uphill Athlete, Alpinist, Climbing, Rock & Ice, Gripped, the Canadian Alpine Journal, and the American Alpine Journal. In 2021, I spent 35 hours cleaning up and organizing The Almanack of Naval Ravikant. You can read the PDF for free.