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Personal life

Climbing, crafting and videography

< David Gary

Climbing

Backyard walls

Since 2024

Two climbing walls in my backyard. The main wall is a steep board under its own roof, covered in hundreds of holds on a lettered grid, and the slab wall is a second, less steep board. In March 2026 the main wall was stripped for a full reset.

  • A steep black climbing wall covered in colorful holds, under a roof in a backyard

    The main wall, January 2025

  • A black slab climbing wall set with holds

    The slab wall, February 2025

  • The main wall stripped of holds, with hundreds of holds spread out on a tarp in front of it

    Resetting the main wall, March 2026

Problems on the main wall

2025

A few of the problems on the main wall, filmed between February and May 2025. Each one has a name and a grade, from V2 up to V8.

  • A climber reaching high on the backyard wall

    Ecofuturism (V2)

  • A climber swinging into a big move on the backyard wall

    Enter Void (V6)

  • A climber in a navy sweatshirt mid-move on the backyard wall

    Down to the Soil (V7)

  • A climber near the top of the backyard wall

    Gone and Forgotten (V7)

  • A climber in a white tank top high on the backyard wall

    Conical Tooth Cats (V8)

Outdoor bouldering

2020 to 2025

Bouldering outside. These are a few of the problems I've been on, plus a night session at Moe's Valley in November 2020.

  • A climber in a beanie on a steep gray boulder

    Final Round (V8)

  • A climber pulling on a low sandstone overhang above crash pads

    Cherokee Grandmother (V11)

  • A climber reaching up a dark, overhanging boulder above crash pads

    Homewrecker (V12)

  • A climber in a light blue hoodie standing on top of a sandstone boulder at night

    Topping out at Moe's Valley, November 2020

Sport climbing and canyoneering

2020 to 2021

Days on a rope: a 5.13a sport route in December 2020 and a slot canyon in November 2021.

  • A shirtless climber on lead on a red sandstone wall, rope clipped to a quickdraw

    A 5.13a sport route, December 2020

  • A person hanging upside down on a blue rope between narrow sandstone walls

    Upside down on the rope in a slot canyon, November 2021

Crafting

Handmade longbow

2024

A longbow I made by hand in 2024. The photos show it at full length, bending on a post during its strength test in October, and at full draw during a shot test in November.

  • A tall wooden longbow held upright at full length, trees behind

    The bow at full length

  • A wooden bow braced at its grip on a wooden post, bent by a string pulled down toward the camera

    Strength test on a post, October 2024

  • An archer at full draw with the longbow under tall trees

    At full draw, November 2024

Videography

Taskmaster, season 3

2026

A home-made season of Taskmaster, with five friends as contestants and me as the taskmaster. It ran to four episodes, each with a prize task, three or four filmed tasks and a live task for the live show, which ran on a scoreboard and presentation app I wrote. Every task was filmed on several cameras per contestant. I wrote the task cards in LaTeX and built props like a mock dating-app page. My editing pipeline turned each task's footage into finished videos from cut lists I wrote, and the last polish happened by hand in CapCut.

  • A contestant in a cap laughing in a kitchen, the first frame of the season opener

    Season opener

  • The results graph for Tag, with each contestant's portrait and score on a red damask background

    Tag, episode 1

  • A contestant in white laughing on a black leather couch

    Date Night, episode 1

  • A contestant on a couch across a coffee table from a man in a suit

    Luck of the Draw, episode 1

  • A contestant in a white jumpsuit walking into a living room

    All Eyes on Me, episode 2

  • A contestant in a bucket hat on a couch beside a sleeping dog

    Turducken, episode 2

  • The results graph for Safe and Sound, with each contestant's portrait and time on a red damask background

    Safe and Sound, episode 2

  • A contestant in yellow shorts under a wooden frame strung with webs

    Charlotte's Webs, episode 3

  • A face made from apple slices, cheese and seeds on a black cutting board

    Art What You Eat, episode 3

  • Two contestants in a bedroom, one lying on the bed and one reading on a couch

    Storytime, episode 3

  • A contestant lying on a kitchen floor

    Balancing Act, episode 4

  • A contestant in a cap peeking out of a pantry doorway

    Counting, episode 4

  • A contestant lounging on a couch across from an interviewer in a suit

    Interviews, episode 4

  • A contestant beside a climbing wall, with an on-screen marker reading under 25 feet

    Find Saul, episode 4

  • The season's final scoreboard, with the champion's portrait and each contestant's points by episode

    Final scoreboard

Survivor

June 2024

A one-day game of Survivor in the backyard on June 15, 2024, with challenges, confessionals, tribal councils and a final tribal council that night. I planned the challenges (a balance course, tug of war, a ball toss and a standing endurance round on the edge of the deck) and wrote a small web page that cut a picture into shuffled puzzle pieces. The whole day was filmed on a Canon camera and phones, from the first challenge to the final vote.

  • Six contestants standing in a line on a backyard lawn

    Lined up for the first challenge

  • Two contestants helping each other across a slackline over crash pads

    Crossing the slackline together, second challenge

  • Two blindfolded contestants in a backyard, one laughing

    Blindfolded, second challenge

  • A contestant running across a backyard lawn in a low crouch

    Racing across the yard, third challenge

  • Three contestants standing on the outside edge of a deck railing

    The standing endurance challenge

  • Three contestants leaning out over crash pads from the edge of a deck

    The standing endurance challenge, from the side

  • A contestant in a cap and white T-shirt smiling at the camera

    A confessional

  • A person reading votes beside an opened yellow LEGO-head jar used as the voting urn

    Reading the votes at the first tribal council

  • A contestant holding up a written vote behind the yellow LEGO-head urn

    Showing a vote to the camera, third tribal council

  • The host standing with papers beside the yellow urn while contestants sit on outdoor couches

    The third tribal council

  • Contestants seated around a fire pit in a backyard at dusk

    The final tribal council, around the fire pit