In 2014 Waldo made his first trip to Yosemite and climbed a number of Valley test pieces, including a sub-12-hour ascent of Lurking Fear (5.7 C2, 19 pitches) on El Capitan. He returned in 2016 and made a single-day ascent of Zodiac (C3, 16 pitches), as well as big wall lines in Zion National Park.
With time Waldo became a highly qualified rope rescue instructor, rope access technician and arborist, and developed a keen interest in technical rigging, rock climbing and mountaineering.
“I began taking on jobs requiring technical rigging on rock faces in remote places and developed my skills as a rigger,” says Waldo. “In 2014 I started Remote Ropes, a technical rigging organisation specialising in remote-location expeditions, and gained a reputation for extreme rigging jobs in remote places.”
As Remote Ropes gained traction Waldo started guiding private clients to some of the most remote unexplored places on Earth, which involved helicopter drop-offs and first descents of giant waterfalls. He also worked with athlete Leo Houlding, helping with filming and rigging logistics during Houlding’s expeditions in Guyana, a big wall in Borneo, and the Mirror Wall expedition to Greenland in 2015, which Waldo says cemented his love for big wall climbing: “I have never been so cold and terrified in my entire life. It was brilliant.”
Waldo teamed up with Houlding again in 2018 to support his 23-hour ascent of the Triple Crown, in the Bugaboos, with Will Stanhope. While out there Waldo also climbed the North and South Howser Tower and Finger Berry Jam (5.12a, 6 pitches).
In 2019 Waldo and Leo were adventuring again, this time on a expedition to the Amazon jungle of Guyana to establish a new route on Mount Roraima, the 2,810-meter tepui (flat top mountain) that was the inspiration for Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World. The team of six climbers, plus two local guides, trekked through 53km of pristine jungle, climbing trees (Waldo was in his element) and crossing swamps just to reach the base of the 600-metre overhanging prow.