Emmett Cookson was born and raised in St. Louis, Mo. Growing up, he participated in a lot of the typical ball sports: soccer, basketball, and baseball. His freshman year of high school saw him enjoying his first ever cross country season, and by his senior year, he was team captain and had been a part of two Missouri State Championship teams. He studied Computer Science at the University of Tulsa and was a walk-on Track & Field athlete.
Cookson looked for a new sport to dive into after college and began to climb after moving to Austin, Texas. Then a move to Boulder, Colo., presented new opportunities to coach and routeset. Cookson has been climbing since 2014 and coaching climbers since 2016, including being selected by USA Climbing to be the Head Coach for the Team USA Paraclimbing team for the 2018 World Championships in Innsbruck, Austria. In that time, he developed a coaching style based on strong fundamentals of movement and a passion for helping others enjoy the sport that has led him to work worldwide with some of the best climbers in their disciplines.