Lex Johnson

My name is Lex Johnson!

I’m originally from Atlanta, Georgia, but I currently call Chattanooga, Tennessee, my home in the Southeastern United States. I found climbing at 19 years old while completing my undergraduate degree at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. Before climbing, I spent most of my time managing music artists, booking shows, and playing in bands. I was lucky enough to have a friend at the time who suggested I apply to work at the local rock climbing gym on the front desk (despite not know climbing. Still not sure why I was hired).

That job during college introduced me to a wild and passionate community of climbers that, almost 10 years later, I still consider my family. I quickly got psyched about the sport, and like most Florida climbers, I spent about 6 days a week in the gym training for the 5-10 days of outdoor climbing I would get in a year. For those of you not from Florida, there is no climbing in the state (unless you count some beach bouldering in Jupiter, FL), and the closest crags are about an 8-hour drive.

While working at my home gym in Florida, I was introduced to routesetting and began to travel, setting competitions mostly in the south. After my gym closed in 2019, I moved to Chattanooga to be closer to climbing and to continue working as a routesetter. I now manage a few small gyms in TN, route set full time, and climb as much as possible. When it’s too hot to climb in the South, you can find me paddling on the river, playing disc golf, or snapping pictures.

When the temps are good, you can catch me out at the boulder fields, putting my Flashed Big Squishy to the test. For a climber who takes lots of big falls, there ain’t nothing better than a big squish to have your back. Or your butt.