Despite his young age of 23, Jackson Marvell is old-school. For him, climbing is about adventure. He’s not out clipping bolts or waiting for the temps to drop so he can send that next V-grade. You’re more likely to find Jackson out solo-aiding a crumbling mud tower.

But when it comes to sending bold routes, he’s prolific. The Utah native summited 100 desert towers before he could legally drink and has established first ascents from the Colorado Plateau all the way to Kyrgyzstan.

“If you weren’t filming him, the majority of people wouldn’t know all the stuff that he did this season,” says alpinist and photographer Drew Smith. Luckily, local filmmaker and photographer Ben Neilson was filming last season, and captured Jackson in his element, climbing some of Utah’s hardest ice and mixed routes. Check out the film Gimme Back My Bullets.

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Bolted this choss cave a couple weeks ago, was able to hang onto my tools long enough to get the send yesterday. Calling it (Gimme back my bullets) because I pulled a couple slugs out of a crack half way up the wall while bolting it. It goes on all natural holds (although some flex quite a bit) the only holes drilled were for bolts and an occasional bat hook hole. If you wanna go check it out go get it before it falls down again. Thanks to all my friends that came to hang out and support and drink beers @jakesmade @brennahhhhp @wyattedwards @crossroadstudios @kurtross @rousseaualan @_burkel ? @neilson.ben @blackdiamond #liveclimbrepeat

A post shared by Jackson Marvell (@jackson_marvell) on Mar 6, 2019 at 7:01am PST

Jackson Marvell