Biography

Timmy O'Neill is a professional rock climber, first ascensionist and public speaker. Following early speed ascents of Yosemite's 3,000 foot El Capitan, O’Neill has dedicated his time to a life of international exploration and giving back through ‘adventure impact’ - the combination of outdoor adventure and social impact. He is co-founder and former executive director of Paradox Sports, a non-profit that integrates individuals with disabilities into outdoor recreation. O'Neill also volunteers as an ophthalmic tech, working on the African continent for the past 10+ years to assist in curing preventable blindness with CureBlindness.org. O'Neill is a 20 year climbing ambassador sponsored by Patagonia, Osprey Packs, and Clif Bar. He is most recently the founder of Joy Merchants, offering multi-day outdoor retreats, in order to create strong personal relationships via curated individual exercises and group conversations, both trailside and fireside. O’Neil currently makes his home in the SF Bay area, a short journey to Yosemite Valley. Timmy utilizes the same energy and passion required for his adventures to positively change the world via social endeavors. He is cofounder of Paradox Sports, a national NGO that transform lives and communities through adaptive climbing opportunities. As executive director he coproduced the first adaptive climbing manual and certification as well as several long standing outdoor climbing programs. Timmy and his brother Sean, a t-12 paraplegic, have climbed the 3,000 ft El Capitan in Yosemite National Park multiple times and together they won the prestigious Excellence in Mountaineering award. For the past decade O’Neill has been working with the Himalayan Cataract Project / Cureblinndness.org as an ophthalmic tech within Sub-Saharan Africa. He volunteers multiple times per year assisting in curing preventable blindness during the high-volume cataract interventions in Ethiopia, South Sudan, Ghana and other countries. Timmy shares the lessons gleaned from both his guide work with individuals with disabilities as well as his work in relieving the suffering of those with preventable blindness.