Cairn Engineering was founded in 2023 by Chris Esser and Matt Burns. Chris and Matt met in 2016 during a climbing session at their local gym. Cairn began by doing NASA-funded research on a novel propulsion system (the inset photo of the rocket device) to improve sustainability in space by deorbiting satellites at the end of their missions. One of the important discoveries they made in that research was that rocket science is less fun (and sometimes more dangerous) than climbing, so they pivoted to focus their engineering skills on climbing and other outdoor adventures.
Who is Cairn Engineering?
Our Purpose
Today’s climbers are climbing routes and boulders at a physical difficulty that was unimaginable even a decade ago. Many of the world’s most elite climbers are competing for world championships and Olympic medals. Athletic performance is at the core of modern climbing. But compared to other sports, climbing remains well behind in applying engineering and technological tools to improve performance.
Cairn Engineering believes we can do better. We can find a way to help climbers improve their performance without taking away from the essential nature of taking what the rock (or the routesetter) has given them and finding a way to climb it. Our first product, the mu stick, is designed to prime the rock and your skin for optimal friction. It gives you sending conditions on every go. You can focus on your beta, your technique, your power, and your endurance; we’ll focus on the friction.
Chris began climbing as a kid in Wisconsin and became obsessed during engineering school at the University of Wisconsin, making regular trips from Madison to Devil’s Lake and spending summers guiding at the Red River Gorge. He earned two engineering degrees and has worked in the aerospace industry for 15 years, including working on several different aircraft and spacecraft.
Chris Esser
Matt began climbing during engineering school at the University of Virginia. He’s covered all of the climbing bases from boulders in the Southeast to desert cracks to big walls in Yosemite to snow and ice in Alaska but is mainly a boulderer these days who will very occasionally clip a bolt or dust off his trad rack. Matt has been an engineer, a construction manager, and even a lawyer but no matter what he’s been doing for work, he’s always been a climber.