ABOUT & CONTACT — ADAM NAWROT

ADAM NAWROT

DIRECTOR // CINEMATOGRAPHER

Adam Nawrot is an NYC based filmmaker & photographer, and a regular contributor to Climbing Magazine. He operates Safe Harbor, a production company focused on the intersection of commercial and non-fiction storytelling, and works as a freelance DP. Adam’s interests include alpine starts, well lit rooms, and occasionally writing about himself in the third person.

Adam's work has taken him around the globe and is driven by a lifelong passion for exploration and storytelling. An avid cyclist, paddler, and climber, his filmmaking and photography is never too far removed from a core adventurous spirit.

Phone | 848 - 391 - 5214
Email | adam@safeharborcreative.com

River of No Return - II - I used to think I didn’t like fish, but thats only because I never had it straight from the water. Sonia cooked some up on an multiday Everglades paddle a few years ago and I saw the light.

On the Salmon River, our crew never missed a chance to have lines in the water, and our dinners were usually supplemented with the day’s catch.
While the river’s namesake might have you expect that salmon would inhabit these waters, the dams downstream on the Columbia and Snake rivers have long since stopped the massive Salmon runs that traditionally reached these waters and defined their ecosystems. 📷 by @watermelonlife

My first few years of kayaking were driven by a sort of conquistador mentality. Simply getting down a river was really challenging, and so I tracked my progress by ticking off progressively harder and harder rivers. Style wasn’t a thing I was particularly concerned with and I was happy just to make it down and check another river off the list.⁣⁣
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The truth is that you can get away with a ton in kayaking with a little bit of bravery and a whole lot of luck. I ran a lot of things well out of my skill level and got away with it most of the time. It was super fun.⁣⁣
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Over the last 2 years, I’ve hardly paddled any class V. Even though I’d heard it a million times before, the words didn’t mean much until the last few years - what you run is less important than how you run it. I’m still not a great paddler, but the class III’s that used to bore me now have seemingly endless potential for play and learning. With all the rain we’ve been getting, my backyard runs have been flowing high and I’ve been really enjoying kayaking, not for the sweet photo and adrenaline rush that motivated my early paddling, but for the endless subtlety in reading water and the zen of boat control. ⁣⁣And now on the occasions that I do find myself on Class V, I feel like my lines have a bit more to do with skill than they do with luck.
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This a shot of boat wizard Joe Potoczak soul surfing one of the many excellent waves on Idaho’s Main Salmon River.

#portra400

Today I turn 27. ⁣
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Over the last year I got engaged to a girl I thought could only exist in dreams, bought a lovely little house in a super fun neighborhood, traveled to France, Argentina, South Africa, Alberta, Peru, Texas, Moab, California, the PNW, Idaho, and all over the East Coast, sold my favorite vehicle ever, bought the worst vehicle ever, I made a ton of new friends, watched old friends move away, picked up bike polo, ice climbed a ton, and kayaked even more. ⁣
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Professionally I slaved over but ultimately made huge progress on the feature length documentary I started 2.5 years ago, I DP’d projects for Patron and Grey Goose, directed stuff for Fuji Bikes, cam op’d for Red Bull and Tommy Hilfiger, and wrapped a popular run of illustrations in Climbing Magazine. ⁣
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Its been a year defined mostly by the sisyphean task of making a feature length documentary, big life moves, and plenty of ‘adulting,’ but its also been a great year full of time for the people that are important to me. Writing it all out helps me remember that I didn’t spend all my time in the edit room 😅 Here’s to another lap around the sun 👹

THE TRAD DAD⁣
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Trad Dads hang onto their youthful excitement for the sport by surrounding themselves with newer climbers. They enjoy long, easy routes with clear objectives and defined summits. However most of their time is spent imposing their unsolicited wisdom onto others—not only imparting information about every move on a given route, but a year by year description of which footholds have become polished, which local restaurants started charging extra for bacon on their burgers, and which campsites have now become private. The Trad Dad is forever nostalgic about the “glory days” of climbing, and can often be found complaining about how the crag feels more and more like a gym everyday. Armed with a 401(k) and a dependable vehicle, the Trad Dad is already a step ahead of most climbers, but it’s an advantage that is promptly lost on even the easiest bouldering problem. A classic weekend warrior, the Trad Dad often spends more time on food prep and organizing gear than actually climbing rock. Somewhat inexplicably, despite a lifetime of climbing, the trad dad has yet to lead anything harder than a 5.9 without hanging on a piece or two.⁣
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Stomping Grounds⁣
The Gunks / City of Rocks / Leavenworth / Eldorado Canyon / Seneca Rocks ⁣
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Lingo⁣
Five.Fun / Upper Fourth Class / Lower Fifth Class / Multi-pitch / Scrambling / Scrambled Eggs / Party Ledge / Fireman’s Assist / Munter Hitch⁣
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Dreams of⁣
Three day weekends⁣
High-end coolers⁣
Summit snacks

THE CRACKHEAD⁣
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It’s sometimes unclear whether the Crackhead is drawn to off-width climbing because of genuine masochistic tendencies, or because they think that engaging in a discipline that is universally agreed upon as heinous makes them seem unique. Either way their readiness to wedge and wiggle their body weight between sand paper is downright concerning. For many, climbing off-width is a “dark art,” requiring its practitioners to grovel, trudge, and shed more blood than Satanists at a goat sacrifice. When not at the crag, the Crackhead can be found suspended upside-down like a bat practicing inversions and “leavittation” techniques on plywood torture devices in their basement “Crack Den.” In an effort to prolong their suffering and save enough skin to climb more than one pitch a day, Crackheads employ a variety of protective measures including tape gloves, knee pads, high ankle shoes, and work pants. If this curious list of accessories didn’t already make the Crackhead stand out at the crag, their collection of comically large cams and industrial strength curtain rods that every touron in the parking lot is inquiring about surely will.⁣
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Stomping Grounds⁣
Vedauwoo / Indian Creek / Yosemite / Squamish / Sedona ⁣
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Lingo⁣
Chicken Wing / Armbar / Heel-toe / Flare / Pod / Fat Stack / Kneelock / Leavittation / Inversion / Bumping / Big Bro / Wide Pony / Flailfest / Crack Rash / Gobi⁣
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Dreams of⁣
A climb that actually necessitates a headlamp⁣
A career as a chimney sweep

THE HIGH ROLLER⁣
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Once the dividends started rolling in from their tech industry startup, it was time for the High Roller to rack up some better stories to tell at Silicon Valley dinner parties, New York supper clubs, and corporate-speaking events. A cool $60,000 dollars and an Everest summit tag later, the High Roller is now in the running for the title of “the most interesting man in the world” among their peers. With eyes set solely on the summit, the High Roller approaches climbing like they do business, and is ready to “conquer” the playing field no matter what - even if it means being dragged up by Sherpas and leaving a path of oxygen bottles in their wake. Preferring not to waste time on the logistical complications of most climbing endeavors, High Rollers often employ the services of professional guides to maximize their time in the mountains and minimize their potential to actually glean anything of value from them. Find the High Roller’s trite memoir comparing the principles of mountaineering to their philosophy on business at a book seller near you.⁣
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Stomping Grounds⁣
Mount Everest / Mount Rainier / Denali / Aconcagua⁣
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Lingo⁣
Diamox / Fixed Line / Sherpa / Bottled Oxygen / Base camp / Prayer Flag / Icefall / Crevasse / Bergschrund / Moraine ⁣
Dreams of⁣
Big game hunting in Africa⁣
Having had insisted on a prenup⁣
”Disrupting” existing industries

THE PEBBLE WRESTLER⁣
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The Pebble Wrestler is a champion of the contrived, specializing in finding the hardest ways up the easiest summits. When non-climbers question the utility or purpose of climbing rock, its a good thing they haven't heard of a sit start because their brains might truly implode. By stripping away many of the elements of other styles of climbing and distilling the act into a purely kinesthetic practice, one may be led to believe that the Pebble Wrestler is perhaps the most poetic of the climbing species - a sort of stone based dancer, giving even the Purist a run for their money. Such notions are usually quickly dispelled by The Pebble Wrestler's obnoxious cragging boom box, and never ending need to compare ape indexes with their bros. Perhaps because rope is expensive and belaying is boring, Pebble Wrestlers tend to be of a younger variety. Although unfazed by countless nights spent sleeping on crash pads, their patience for explaining what exactly one is to every hiker they meet on the trail has drawn thin, so don't ask.⁣
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Stomping Grounds⁣
Hueco Tanks / Chattanooga / Joe’s Valley / Horse Pens 40 / Bishop / Rocky Mountain National Park⁣
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Lingo⁣
Assis / V-Scale / Dab / Power-spot / Bucket / Highball / Ape Index / Flapper / Uncut Footy / Invalid Salad / Crashpad / Boars Hair Toothbrush ⁣
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Dreams of⁣
Not having to choose between fitting friends or pads in the car⁣
Cell service at the proj

THE PURIST

The Purist's head is in the clouds - literally. Having spent many sleepless nights torturing themselves over why they do what they do, the Purist exhibits a complicated relationship with climbing that often comes off as, or perhaps simply is, self-righteousness. Favoring fast and light movement in the mountains over the siege-tactics of traditional mountaineering, the Purist has sufficiently stroked their own ego to the point that it's the only thing more fragile than the ice they're usually swinging into. Thoroughly convinced that their style is the only form of climbing that stands up to conceptual scrutiny, the Purist has successfully forgotten how to have fun, and can now only experience said emotion in retrospect (see “Type-2”). To give credit where it is due, their ability to bivy anywhere, climb anything in mountaineering boots, and operate on 2 hours of sleep with no oxygen is indeed noteworthy, but their countless re-tellings of said events get simultaneously more extravagant and duller every time. Although primarily concerned with alpine endeavors, the Purist can take many forms including that of the bolt chopping cragger and, of course, the free soloist. Upon further introspection, the Purist has recently discredited all of their previous ascents and now considers any expedition that doesn't start from sea level to be in “poor style.” Stomping Grounds
North Cascades / Bugaboos / Alaska Range / Patagonia / Canadian Rockies / Baffin Island

Lingo
Type-2 Fun / Alpine Start / Screaming Barfies / Blue Bag / Simul / Picket / Bivy / Serac / Abalakov / Piolet / Gendarme / ‘schrund / Car-to-car
Dreams of
Base camp
Calories
A sense of satisfaction that isn't fleeting
Longer weather windows

THE HOG HAULER

Armed with an array of doodle-dads, billabongs, husker-dos and husker-donts, the hog hauler finds solace in sorting through his doohickeys while hanging thousands of feet in the air and moving mere inches at a time. Aid climbing is a secret art that reveals itself only to those with incredible patience and an even more incredible amount of time on their hands. The hog hauler proves that given enough tools and time, you can truly climb anything - a prospect that leaves most other species of climbers pondering “what’s the point?” This patient masochist loves all types of rock from Yosemite’s fine-grained granite to the caked-mud sandcastles of the Fisher Towers and other nightmarish forms of choss. By painstakingly body weighting individual gear placements one after the other, Hog Haulers are able to carry bags of poop through some of the most exposed places on earth. It's valuable to note that the last things to move so slowly across these spectacular rock faces were likely the very glaciers that created them.

Stomping Grounds
Zion National Park / Colorado Plateau / Baffin Island / Yosemite Valley / Your local crag practicing big wall logistics on a free-climbing trade route on a busy weekend

Lingo
Pig / Poop Tube / Port-a-ledge / Jugging / Hooks / Bolt Ladder / Pin Scar / Bongs / Pulley System / King Cobra / Bounce Test / “Free climbing is neither”

Dreams of
Actually having gone to school uphill both ways
A 2000 Liter haulbag
A pooptube that doubles as a pillow
Top-stepping
Better hauling ratios

THE CRAG KING

The Crag King can be heard screaming “TSSST!” and “ARRGGH!” all across the valley. Fret not as the Crag King is not injured, but rather performing their signature vocal display in an effort to let everyone else at the crag know just how hard they're sending. The Crag King generally sticks to difficult one pitch routes free of pesky distractions like anchor building, route finding, and topping out. This allows them to focus instead on maneuvers like “finger lock gastons” and rodeo inspired rope tricks for clipping the first bolt. Although Crag Kings flourish in sport climbing environments, they are not necessarily bound to them, and are often found plugging pro in trad areas so long as the jams are no larger than hand size, the rock is perfect, and approach times do not exceed 10 minutes. A creature of vanity, the Crag King is largely ego driven and is known to marry their feelings of self-worth to their ability to crush hard grades. For the Crag King, climbers exists in a hierarchy that derives its structure from finger strength and tick lists. The Crag King navigates this social structure in a cliquish manner and bonds with other strong climbers over sand papering their callouses, secret area beta, and convenient excuses for why they haven't sent their latest project.

Stomping Grounds
Rifle / Red River Gorge / Rumney / Smith Rock / Squamish / Mesquite / Anywhere in Spain

Lingo
Redpoint / Flash / Whipper / Gri-Gri / Figure 4 / Flapper / Friction / Chains / Belaggles / Rest Day / Tick List / Send / Beta / Stick Clip / Project

Dreams of
Top 100 placement in the USA on 8a.nu
Fresh meat on the climber-dating scene

Fauna from the Field Guide to the Outdoors series. Maybe when our documentary is done I’ll be able to flesh this series out more. Got mountain bikers in the cross hairs 👹

Crag side camping ain’t bad either, especially when the shower runs warm!

#camping #optoutside #chasingwaterfalls #sunsoutbunsout

Perfect hexagonal basalt columns and striking green lichen, whats not to like?

#rockclimbing #flashfoxy #pnwonderland #idkhowtotagclimbingstuffanymore

For the past two years I’ve been working on a kayaking documentary, so it was nice to actually go do some kayaking yesterday instead of just sitting behind my computer and working on a movie about it... Here’s a shot of Chris entering the second tier of the RKill before things went a little wrong 🙃

#whitewaterkayaking #creeking #poconosteeps

Snaps from the Trenton Cycling Revolution canal path clean up. Still wrapping my head around just how many plastic water bottles we found back there... @trentoncycling #trashtag

Shot some fun product photos for the @fabalishfoods launch. These are hands down the best falafels I’ve ever had - super moist and super yummy 🤤
#productphotography #studiophotography #falafel #veganfood

A hard crust layer of ice made for some dynamic spray the other night.

#iceclimbing @iceclimbing #neiceconditions #plotterkillpreserve

Playing around with an old motif.
One of my earliest 'real' sets of photos was from a night ice climbing photo shoot I did for Princeton Tec back in the day. Without any ice gear whatsoever @bryanculbertson and I super sketchily suspended ourselves in the middle of the Main Flow at the Narrows by scrambling up its flanks and swinging ourselves into position. The resulting photos were some of my favorites even to this day.
These are a few semi-hasty shots from last Friday - a great start to a very pleasant weekend jaunt around the Catskills.

WHO I'VE WORKED WITH