VICE Members



Henry Blanchette

Name: Henry Blanchette
Email: henry.blanchette@viceaxe.com
Not until his first encounter with VICE did this sailor and runner from Marion MA get hooked on all things vertical. He is stoked to be a member of VICE, where he can continue to develop his love for the outdoors and take on any challenge with an energetic group of like-minded adventurers.

Katie Bond

Name: Katie Bond
Email: kathryn.bond@viceaxe.com
Hailing from the treacherous peaks of St. Petersburg, Florida, Katie Bond is honored to be a member of VICE. She first started experimenting with the notorious gateway drug known as bouldering back in 2006, and its been all uphill from there. Now an avid climber of boulders, sport pitches, big cliffs, trees and ice, she has an incurable addiction to scaling heights and embracing new challenges. If you catch her inside, she is most likely studying in order to graduate this May with a double major in Biology and Environmental Science. If you come across her on the mountain she may be identified by her enthusiasm, use of drop knee and heel hook techniques on ice, ginger hair, and cheesy jokes.

Mike Brown

Name: Mike Brown
AKA: Downtown Mike Brown, Brown-Eye, Brown-Town, Teint Chop
Email: mike.brown@viceaxe.com
I am a 5th year senior at Tufts University who believes that the day is not over without a thorough dose dose of physical and mental beatings. I am currently training for the Boston Marathon, taking 3 PE classes, doing P90X workouts, and in my free time I'm getting my bachelors and masters in Biomedical Engineering and Engineering Management. I am from Maine and if you know what Dysart's is then we are immediately friends. See you out on the ice.

Jeb Bruno

Name: Jeb Bruno
AKA: Bam Bam
Email: jeb.bruno@viceaxe.com
The Man, The Myth, The Legend. From the wooded hills of Southern Connecticut comes a creature more animal than man Raised on the traprock of Connecticut's dangerous cliffs; Hardened on the steep, soft sandstone cliffs of central Kentuck'; Perfected in the bullet hard granite cliffs of the White Mountains. This raw mountain man seeks to dominate the vertical realm by becoming a "Jack-of-All-Trades." Not devoid of culture Jeb spends his spare time studying Behavioral Neuroscience at Northeastern University, causing general mayhem, and debating topics of importance.

Joshua Elliott

Name: Joshua Elliott
AKA: Filthy Animal
Email: joshua.elliott@viceaxe.com
Joshua split his childhood between central Massachusetts and the Moosehead Lake region of Maine. It was in Maine, in the log cabin that his father built after a Henry David Thoreau overdose, that Joshua discovered his love of the outdoors. While the outdoors was always something of interest it was not until coming to Tufts that Joshua began to further explore his love of mountains and jorts. Joshua first tried ice climbing over the winter break of his freshman year at Tufts and has been addicted ever since.

David Gainsboro

Name: David Gainsboro
Email: david.gainsboro@viceaxe.com
Beginning to hike in the foothills of Northern New England soon after he could walk, only in the last couple of years has David tackled Mother Nature’s more vertical offerings. David appreciates all activities in the outdoors—from cycling, to backpacking, to skiing. He relishes New England winters and looks forward to graduating and more fully taking advantage of the cold with backcountry skiing and more ice climbing. Year round, David can be found running, whether on the trail, the track, or the stairs. Overall, though, David is most famous for his food, equally comfortable preparing delectable meals to satisfy anyone and everyone in a backcountry or frontcountry kitchen.

Rob Gleich

Name: Rob Gleich
AKA: The Lightning Scorpion
Email: rob.gleich@viceaxe.com
Raised by wolves in the arctic tundra, Rob enjoys reading, eating, and climbing big icicles. His goals for the season are ascents of Fafnir and The Smokestack.

Jory Hanselman

Name: Jory Hanselman
AKA: Hansel
Email: jory.hanselman@viceaxe.com
Born in America's heartland, Jory spent her youth climbing the majestic hay-bales and traversing the dangerously steep man-made sledding hills of Illinois and Wisconsin. After a two-month back country experience in Utah at the age of 15, her eyes were opened to to wonders of real mountains. Now she doggedly dodges lightning bolts, fights mountain lions, cuts trail, and conquers rock and ice as a way of life. Her academic pursuits include philosophizing about the unreality of time and dabbling in a bit of environmental studies.

Ryan Hofstetter

Name: Ryan Hofstetter
AKA: Hoff
Email: ryan.hofstetter@viceaxe.com
Ryan was born and raised in Idaho. He grew up climbing the Sawtooth Mountains, skiing moguls and flying remote control airplanes. Since then, his friends have introduced him to the joys of rock climbing, ice climbing, and mountaineering and he can't get enough. When Ryan is not enjoying the outdoors he is usually hunkered down studying to finish his undergraduate degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Nick Levin

Name: Nick Levin
AKA: McLovin
Email: nick.levin@viceaxe.com
A New Mexican who loves his desert climbing to Colorado cowboy alpine ascents. Spending the spring of 2010 in Mendoza, Argentina.

Austin Lines

Name: Austin Lines
AKA: Sweet Cheeks
Email: austin.lines@viceaxe.com
Hailing from the Lou in Missouri, which happens to be the most dangerous city in the nation, Austin grew up exploring the states' myriad of caves and sniffing out the next adventure. His affinity for caves has manifested itself in his choice of living conditions, as he does all of his schoolwork in the closet of his room. Majoring in mechanical engineering and dabbling in architectural design, Austin is gradually discovering that his real interests lie out of doors, away from computers and drafting tables. Next semester he's heading down south of the ol' Mason Dixon line to tackle the precipitous peaks of New Zealand's Southern Alps.

Jeff Longcor

Name: Jeff Longcor
AKA: JLo
Email: jeffrey.longcor@viceaxe.com
Jeff has always felt inspired and encouraged by his family and friends. His younger years were packed full of extreme hikes, climbs, water sports, and parties. As his time at Tufts University came to an end and life transformed into a full time desk job, Jeff began to travel North on the weekends to enjoy the rush of high adventure in the outdoors. When it comes to VICE, Jeff believes that anything is possible. He is certain that there is no limit to what this team can accomplish through organization, preparation, and cooperation. He also talks a lot about risk management.

August Longino

Name: August Longino
Email: august.longino@viceaxe.com
I was raised cradled between the Cascade and Olympic Mountains of the Pacific Northwest before coming to Tufts University for my degree in Vertical Ice Climbing Enthusiasm. Nick Levin and I are training to climb Mt. Aconcagua this coming Spring. Before I leave, I hope to climb the Black Dike in NH.

Phil Mallon

Name: Philip Mallon
Email: philip.mallon@viceaxe.com
A New York native, Phil Mallon rocked the socks out of the Mechanical Engineering Department at Tufts (and managed to get a degree out of it). Phil's love for the outdoors spans across more activities than just ice climbing. This man is a true mountaineer! Rock on Phil... Rock on!

Zach Matthay

Name: Zach Matthay
AKA: The Rummager
Email: zach.matthay@viceaxe.com
A San Francisco native, I discovered my love of the mountains on backpacking and skiing trips in the gorgeous Sierra Nevada of California, and during trips to the Cascades in Washington and British Columbia, including one to the top of Rainier with a family friend. I fantasize about the remote, ragged, snowy places of the world on a daily basis, and am always looking forward to the next climbing trip, be it on rock, snow, or ice.

Daniel Meer

Name: Daniel Meer
AKA: Meerkat
Email: daniel.meer@viceaxe.com
Daniel is majoring in Mechanical Engineering at Tufts. He likes to train hard for every sport possible and sitting in hammocks.

Stephen Normandin

Name: Stephen Normandin
AKA: Scuba Steve
Email: stephen.normandin@viceaxe.com
Stephen has been an avid skier since an early age, and was a competitive mogul skier for many years. In the spirit of loving all things cold and wintery, he eventually expanded his chilly horizons to include ice climbing, mountaineering, and extreme snowshoeing. His interests also include scuba diving (in New England, of course) and any sport that involves falling large distances. Stephen says he doesn't enjoy dangerous activities, rather all of his activities just happen to be dangerous. Stephen's mom doesn't believe him.

Jed Palmer

Name: Jed Palmer
Email: jed.palmer@viceaxe.com
Born and raised in Cranberry Country, Jed spent his childhood exploring the deer-laden swamps of southeast Massachusetts. Though he has long valued the solitary outdoors experience in hiking and backpacking, his foray into climbing in the past few years has opened his eyes to the value and necessity of a team. Jed currently enjoys ice climbing in a limited recreational capacity, but hopes to pick it up again more seriously when he finishes his graduate studies. Aside from climbing, Jed spends his precious free time playing for the Tufts Ultimate Frisbee team and building robots.

Brendon Providence

Name: Brendon Providence
AKA: Rendo
Email: brendon.providence@viceaxe.com
Being raised in St. Lucia, Rendo was brought up an island boy. He later moved to New York City and became a city boy. At Tufts University, he finally discovered what it meant to truly be outside. Over the years, he has learned to deal with many challenges in nature. He seems to often make decisions abiding by the slogan "Do it Hard!".

Austin Siadak

Name: Austin Siadak
AKA: Dak, The Dak
Austin would rather be climbing than telling you about himself. Get off your computer and get outside. See you in the hills!

Ryan Stolp

Name: Ryan Stolp
Email: ryan.stolp@viceaxe.com
Stolp is a pulled pork, southern fried ice climber from NC. When he's not going vertical, he's likely drawing cartoons about when he went or plans to go vertical. Ideally, they'd both happen at the same time, but the world of inventors has yet to supply him with a pen that keeps his fingers warm in freezing temps.

Jimmy Voorhis

Name: Jimmy Voorhis
Email: james.voorhis@viceaxe.com
Born and raised in the blustery hinterlands of southeastern Massachusetts, Jimmy studies Geology at Tufts University. His climbing interests include ice climbing, trad climbing, and mountaineering.

Ed Warren

Name: Ed Warren
AKA: Edventure
Born in northern NH, Ed discovered his innate liking for snow and ice when he first skiied at age 2. Ever since, he has been climbing and skiing whatever mountains he can get his picks/skis on.

Daniel Wong

Name: Daniel Wong
Email: daniel.wong@viceaxe.com
After getting dehydrated and blacking out during a White Mountains relay race, Daniel realized how to appropriately spend his leisure time. He has since attempted various outdoor endeavors and begun gear-lusting 24/7. Daniel has much to learn from the VICE crew.


© 2011 Vertical Ice Climbing Enthusiasts
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