MISSOULA — Before University of Montana student Justin Willis ever stepped foot on campus, he was a professional mountain climber.

A Billings native, he grew up finding rocks to conquer in the nearby Beartooth Mountains. His father, also a climber, took him winter camping as a toddler, and he tried ice climbing for the first time at age 6.

When the Steepworld climbing gym opened in Billings, Willis was member 001. By age 13, he was traveling to ice climbing championships. He went on to compete in close to 20 ice climbing world cups and national championships.

His parents grudgingly allowed him to drop out of high school at age 16 to pursue his climbing dreams. Willis once spent an entire winter living in an unheated van in Hyalite Canyon near Bozeman to be near premier ice climbing.

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