About Thomas

Hey! I'm Thomas, often known as @neodude on the internet. I'm experimenting with recording some of my thoughts & feelings in the mountains with this diary. You can also follow me on Instagram here. If you want to get an email when I write something new, sign up here.

I grew up in Hong Kong, moved to the US for college and stayed here ever since. I've been a climber for a long time – almost 20 years now, by the last count – and an avid trail runner for the past decade, too. Mostly, I climb in the American West; I spend a lot of time in Yosemite, and have been lucky enough to climb in a few of the grandest landscapes of the world – Baffin Island, Patagonia, Alaska, Norway, the Karakoram.

Besides "just going climbing", my other focus has been bringing more queer folks into climbing, and increasing the diversity in the climbing world. I spent many, many years as what felt like the only gay person who climbed "seriously". A few years ago, I realized that instead of complaining about that to my friends all the time, I could, you know, be the change I wanted to see in the world. So I started being more open about my sexuality in the climbing sphere, and working on helping other queer climbers realize their dreams.

To that end, I've been doing more and more climbing instructing, mostly in affinity spaces, as well as some private guiding. I am an AMGA Certified Rock Guide and SPI, have been working at the Yosemite Mountaineering School since 2024, and occasionally in Red Rocks near Las Vegas, NV as well. Reach out if you would like to climb with me!

Climbing aside, I spent a lot of time living the queer life in San Francisco, was a co-founder at the global health non-profit Watsi and its spinoff Meso, and previously spent some time building software products at Pivotal Labs and New Relic.