Richard (Rico) Thompson: Author & Journalist in Broomfield, CO

Authoring Rock Climbing guidebooks. Over the past 30+ years authored seven reference books on rock climbing including New River Rock, the first ever guide to this legendary climbing destination. It featured 450 routes and set a standard of excellence for climbing guide books. Most recently I wrote Shelf Road Rock (3rd edition) which features 1150 routes and was released in May, 2017. This has been the top selling guide ever for my publisher – Sharp End Publishing - and is now poised for a second printing. As a contributing journalist I’ve authored dozens of articles for national publications including Climbing, Rock & Ice and Mountain Magazine, and have done countless public presentations across the country.

Rick Thompson Wine is an upstart business focusing on reviewing the wines of Italy, Spain and Oregon. This is a part time role. You can learn more on my website: rickthompsonwine.com

I've climbed for 43 years (started in July, 1976) and have established more than 800 first ascents in West Virginia, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, etc.

Managed eight states in the Rocky Mountain West including Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Utah, Arizona and Nevada. Working with our state distributors, I placed and built wines into the market, worked with the distributor sales reps to train them on the more than 450 different products we import, preformed wine tastings and dinners, and supported the distributors in every way possible. I was tasked with rebuilding sales in this large territory.

Managed the Northern Colorado team of sales reps for On & Off Premise in key markets like Fort Collins, Estes Park, Loveland, Longmont, Boulder and the northern Denver suburbs. Responsible for training the company sales team on sales strategies and techniques, winemaking fundamentals and producer profiles. Grew territory gross revenue more than 45% during my first year, and as of my leaving the company managed the highest productive Team at Elite Brands with 45% growth MtM over February 2015. Responsible for bringing Vinity Imports to Elite Brands and selecting products to import from Marc de Grazia.

Served as volunteer President of this land owning entity of the Access Fund for 16 years, performed all aspects of non-profit management.

Designed and “built” their nationally recognized Open Space lands acquisition and preservation program from scratch, successfully protecting more than 5,000 acres of Open Space lands from the East–to-West Coasts and making it the most successful program of its type in the U.S. at the time. Established and maintained partnerships with other non-profit groups and stakeholders (i.e. – The Conservation Fund) as well as local, state and federal governmental agencies (i.e. - National Park Service). Formalized partnerships through negotiation and execution of Partnership Agreements, MOA’s and MOU’s, evaluated and implemented appropriate risk management, coordinated with Legal Committee on all relative issues.

Served as a Founding Board Member of the Access Fund - the nations' largest climbers conservation and advocacy organization. This was a volunteer position. Prior to the start of the Access Fund I served on the American Alpine Club's Access Committee from 1988-2000.