“You should never try that,” his father warned. But the sight ignited a fire in him. "My life was changed forever." - Young Chu

Despite his parents' general support for the outdoors, Young received no financial backing for climbing. For most, this would have been the end of the road, but at 16, Young found a way. With only his mother’s sewing machine, Young began crafting his own gear. A backpack came first, then a harness, and soon after, a helmet. His homemade equipment caught the eyes of his friends, and before long, Young was outfitting his circle of climbing friends.

“Eventually, I was making all my own gear.” - Young Chu

The idea may have struck like a lightning bolt while pushing through The Zodiac, or perhaps it emerged as he prepared for The Nose. But it was the harsh seasons in Yosemite that sparked his vision to manufacture gear on a larger scale. As each climbing season ended, Young found himself forced to sell his rock climbing gear to buy ice climbing equipment, only to reverse the process with each new spring. This constant cycle of scarcity fueled a vision.

“Making good gear isn’t hard,” he says. “Making it affordable, that’s the challenge.”

In 1987, Young launched Nelson Sports, Inc., designing shoes for mountain sports. He became the head designer for Five Ten, developing lasts—forms used to create the fit and style of shoes—that would become some of the most copied designs in the world. “I’m proud to say the lasts I developed, based on my own foot, are some of the best-selling and most copied designs in the world.”

But his ambition didn’t stop there. In 2002, Young founded Mad Rock, driven by a singular goal: to create affordable, high-performance climbing shoes. His relentless drive and commitment paid off, and in 2004, his Hooker Lace and Hooker EZ designs earned the ISPO Outdoor Award for footwear—a recognition he never expected. “I always thought awards like that were for companies like Nike and Adidas.”

Despite his success, Young remains inspired by climbing legend Yvon Chouinard (Founder of Patagonia) and continues to innovate with the same hunger he had as a dirtbag climber. His epic ascent of the North Face of the Eiger during a snowstorm is proof: once a dirtbag, always a dirtbag—only now with the experience and vision to keep pushing the limits of climbing gear.

The Beginning of Mad Rock.

Mad Rock began in 2002 as a small, climber owned and operated company that made innovative, highly technical and affordable rock climbing shoes. After many years and over a million pairs later, we still choose not to reflect on our accomplishments nor rest on our laurels-because our best shoes will always be the next batch! To us, "Innovation" isn't just a catch phrase-it's a challenge to be met daily. In that spirit, we embrace using the latest materials and technology to meet consumer demands while maintaining the high quality and innovative products that have put us on the map and in the packs of climbers around the world!

Refinement of an existing design can often be as labor intensive as creating an all-new one. Yet instead of making new models for the sake of making new models, Mad Rock is committed to making definite running improvements to our existing shoe models and offering a variety of new features, colors, and options to our increasingly popular hardware and accessory lines. Mad Rock's goal from the start has been to offer the most sophisticated designs and materials at a fair price, and now more than ever our message of value, quality, durability and climbing enjoyment rings true - so much so that our competitors are increasingly following our lead. We always thought that climbing should be enjoyed by everybody - and we aim to do that with the best gear at a fair price.