Kevin Branford

Born and raised in Colorado Springs, CO, Kevin grew up just steps away from the Garden of the Gods. He began climbing at the age of 11, and with the opening of the Sport Climbing Center just a few miles from his house, there were few days when Kevin couldn’t be seen scaling the walls. With over 30 years of his life dedicated to the climbing industry, Kevin has been involved in many aspects of the sport. Competition climbing became a passion of Kevin’s from a very young age, and along with that passion came a love of routesetting. He won five Youth National Championship titles, a youth Continental Championship title, and competed at the youth world championships in 1995 and 1997. Kevin worked with USA Climbing for over 15 years as a senior routesetter, setting numerous events at the national and international level. As a natural progression after being a competition climber and L5 routesetter, Kevin has also been shaping holds for some of the largest brands in the U.S. Kevin co-owns Method grips and has shaped holds for Trango, Kingdom, Rock Candy, So iLL, Eldo/Franklin and Kilter. Being a hold shaper has given Kevin an artistic outlet that will forever be a part of the climbing framework in the U.S. and abroad. The other passion Kevin had dedicated his recent years to is coaching. After living the competition life, Kevin has held a natural aptitude for coaching many climbers of all abilities, especially the strong young guns from around his hometown. Kevin has a loving wife and three children, Aiden (who passed away in 2021), Oliver and Amelia.