Connor Herson

Connor Herson is an American climber (born July 8, 2003; hometown Redwood City) whose work concentrates on traditional and big‑wall climbing. The films collected here trace his development from an athlete portrait into documentation of sustained project‑based ascents and route creation, showing both the personal background and the technical demands that define his profile.

Connor Herson: Traditional at Heart (2023) is an introductory athlete portrait that situates Herson’s climbing in family and schooling context, explaining how he balanced a Stanford degree with Yosemite‑style trad and big‑wall work. Expect conversation, context, and footage that explains where his technique and priorities come from rather than a single ascent highlight. That foundation pays off in the later, more outcome‑focused pieces.

The Black Diamond episode Born From the Climbing Life: Episode 4 — Drifter's Escape, The World's Hardest Trad Climb (2025) follows Herson through the creation and eventual first ascent of Drifter’s Escape on a Squamish wall; the episode documents the boulder‑scale moves, small gear placements, and long exposure that the filmmakers frame as leading to a proposed 5.15a. Finally, Herson appears in Black Diamond Presents: The Pirates Code (2025) in a different register: Tuolumne high‑country route development, collaborative problem‑solving, and the practical mechanics of turning an equipped line into a free ascent. Together these films show Herson’s technical range, his project persistence, and how modern trad and big‑wall climbing combine hard movement, small gear, and long timelines.