Spenser Tang-Smith was born and raised in the Bay Area of California. He played sports throughout childhood, but rock climbing took over while he was pursuing marine biology at UC Santa Barbara in 2003, and he has been an avid climber and birthday challenger ever since.
Vikki Glinskii was born in Kiev, in the former USSR, and made her way west to San Francisco via Albany, NY, Columbia, MO, and San Diego. She met Spenser and climbing at the same time, and has since fully integrated the two into her life. It could be said that her athletic career began at age 21, when she was finally diagnosed with Celiac disease and, consequently, developed the ability to build muscle.
Spenser and Vikki have been living in a trailer (currently trailer #3) since 2012, traveling to climbing areas and supporting themselves with media production and other part-time work. In spring 2019 they find themselves firmly planted at Joe’s Valley, Utah, enjoying the long evenings and scavenging the hillsides for unclimbed boulders. Follow them on Instagram @thervproject.
Spenser's birthday: July 15
Vikki's birthday: September 13
Spenser's hometown: Bay Area, CA
Vikki's hometown: Kiev, Ukraine
Currently based: Joe's Valley, UT
Career Highlights
Spenser: Climbing rocks brings me immense joy, and I’ve gotten to try thousands of routes and boulder problems throughout the years, even succeeding on a few of them. By the numbers, I’ve climbed 5.13c, V11, and have established a lot of boulder problems, including a handful of V10s. I am, by far, the most proud of my birthday challenges, particularly my 24th, 26th, 30th, and 32nd. In particular, I climbed 360 different boulder problems in Squamish in a single day during my 30th challenge, and I doubt anyone has done anything similar. I’m also proud of owning the SKT (Slowest Known Time) on the WURL, an incredible 30+ miles of ridge scrambling in the Wasatch mountains outside of Salt Lake City.
Vikki: I'm also a birthday challenger, and each challenge I've done has taught me that my limit is always further than I think. Last year's challenge involved biking 15.5 miles with 3,200 feet elevation, while climbing 32 boulder problems on the way. I was most nervous about the biking, and it turned out to be not that bad. Actually, it was just enjoyable. So I'm now always looking for the next thing...how do I top myself this time?!
