This website is owned by Eric J. Hörst (pronounced "Hirst"), the nation's leading authority on climbing performance. An accomplished climber of 34 years, Eric has ascended cliffs all across the United States and Europe. Driven by his passion for adventure and challenge, he has established over 400 first ascents, primarily on his home cliffs in the Eastern states. Eric is a prolific author of six books (climbing performance genre) with sales of over 200,000 copies. His latest books include Conditioning for Climbers (April 2008), a second edition of his best-selling Training For Climbing (September 2008), and the just-released Maximum Climbing (2010). Several of his books have foreign translations.

A student and teacher of climbing performance, Eric has personally helped train hundreds of climbers, and his training books and concepts have spread to climbers in more than 50 countries. He is widely recognized for his innovative training techniques and equipment, and he has been a training products design consultant for Nicros, Inc. since 1994. Eric's other widely-circulated books include Flash Training (1994), How To Climb 5.12 (1997), Learning to Climb Indoors. Eric has written over 50 magazine articles, appeared on numerous TV broadcasts, and his techniques and photos have appeared in many publications including Climbing, Outside, DeadPoint, Men's Health, Fortune, Men's Journal, Muscle Media, Alpen, Rock & Ice, Muscle & Fitness, Paddler, Urban Climber, Parents, Wall Street Journal, Experience Life, and National Geographic Adventure. Eric is also editor of the NICROS Training Center and he broadcasts monthly training podcasts for Podclimber.com.

Editorial requests for interviews, articles, or photographs please email Horst at TrainingForClimbing dot com

Click here for an extended biography covering Eric's 34 years as a climber.

View detailed publishing history of magazines and books.

Here's a 3-minute video featurette about Eric and his family's climbing.

EH sending in Arco, Italy. Photo: Mike McGill.