Mieko Akutsu
Mieko, the Diva of Mountain Madness, brings articulate instruction and elegant demonstration of climbing techniques to her classes. Her innate ability to break down complex concepts of climbing physics and bio-mechanics into easy to understand movements has enabled her to teach over 10,000 beginning climbers how to "walk the rock."
Her creative and upbeat teaching style is a Mountain Madness hallmark, and the climbing programs she's developed for Mountain Madness have been emulated (and imitated) by other organizations.
Mieko began climbing at Enchanted Rock in 1985 and is credited with the first-ascents of several popular climbing routes at ERock, including Orient Express, Space Balls and Lawyers, Guns and Money. She has an extensive background as a training strategist and specializes in developing training programs for online and individual learning; she is certified by the Covey Leadership Center and the Institute of NLP. Mieko has been teaching technical rock climbing since 1988, and over the past 19 years has been widely regarded as the most experienced female guide in the southern United States.
Mieko completed AMGA Top Rope Site Manager training in 2002, is a Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) Certified Lead Guide for Enchanted Rock State Natural area, and a Boy Scouts of America Merit Badge counselor.
Scott Harris
Scott Harris, Mountain Madness founding father and ERock legend started his climbing career in 1985 and has climbed throughout the Texas rockspots, Colorado, Arizona, Spain and the Italian Dolomites. In Italy, Scott made the 2,000 foot climb of Tofano de Roses in a single day. Among his many claims to fame are numerous 5.11 and 5.12 first ascents at ERock and on Austin limestone, as well as the second ascent of Lemmonade, 5.13 on Mt. Lemmon in Tucson, Arizona.
(Translation: 5.13 means really freakin' hard.)
Scott is a co-author of the much sought after (and alas, out of print) Dome Driver's Manual, the original guidebook to Enchanted Rock. Yep, he can read, despite the fact that he graduated from Texas A&M. Gig 'em.
In the early days of Mountain Madness, Scott was part of a grassroots effort to bring the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) and the central Texas climbing community together. That effort resulted in a memorandum of understanding between the two groups under which climbers were recognized as a legitimate and welcome user group at Enchanted Rock State Natural Area. Scott was also instrumental in forming, and was an original member of, the Central Texas Climbing Committee (CTCC), an elected body that today continues to maintain the stewardship of climbing areas in the park. Without the efforts of these avid and visionary "godfathers of climbing", rock climbing as we know it today would not exist at ERock.
Scott has returned to Austin after a ten year hiatus in Boulder, Colorado, where he added snowboarding to his list of accomplishments. A former architect, Scott has now turned his prodigious talents to music and is currently studying audio engineering at The Recording Conservatory of Austin.
John Conner
John Conner has been climbing for nearly 10 years from west coast to east coast. He made his first climbing trips to Joshua Tree National Park while stationed at Camp Pendleton, California. Since then he has climbed throughout the country, in areas such as: the Sierra, Taquitz, Lover's Leap, Red Rocks, the Tetons, Devil's Tower, Whitehorse, Cathedral and Cannon Mtn in NH, the Gunks, and Acadia NP in Maine.
Not just an accomplished climber, John served as a Marine officer from 1995-2000, after which he returned to academics and earned his Masters degree in Aerospace Engineering from UT-Austin. When not climbing trad routes, John teaches Algebra at Cedar Park High School.
Our resident rocket scientist is AMGA Site Manager and Wilderness First Responder certified and is a member of the American Mountain Guides Association.
