Raised in sports and set on a path towards engineering, Evan Hau’s future seemed predictable — until he became the first Canadian to conquer an elite 5.15 route.
The Yosemite Decimal System is a grading system in which five represents a rock wall that requires gear to climb, and ‘.15’ refers to the difficulty of the climb.
Hau grew up in Winnipeg, far from the mountain landscapes that would later define his life.
As a child on the flatlands, rock climbing wasn’t even on his radar.
“Growing up in a Canadian prairie, I didn’t even actually realize rock climbing was a thing, and I had never even thought that was something that I could pursue,” Hau said.
However, his instincts were still there. As a kid, he climbed whatever he could – furniture inside the house, trees outside – long before he understood that climbing could be a sport.
An active childhood
Throughout his childhood, Hau was actively involved in sports, shaping his discipline and focus.
By high school, Hau excelled academically—especially in math and science. With encouragement from his family, he felt engineering was the natural next step.
“It wasn’t necessarily something I had dreamed about or wanted to do,” he said. “My family kind of pushed me into pursuing engineering,” said Hau in an interview with the Calgary Journal.
Hau enrolled in engineering physics at Queen’s University, drawn by the program and the campus.
Like many first year-students, Hau went in eager and signed up for clubs, assuming he would have time to balance everything.
That changed quickly. The workload was heavy, and his extracurriculars fell by the wayside.
“I kind of stopped going to all of the things except for climbing,” Hau said. “I always made time to go climbing, regardless of how much work I had that day or that week.”
What began as a university hobby soon became a constant.
Climbing offered an escape from schoolwork, but it also presented a challenge that required focus, strategy, and patience.
Those qualities were part of Hau’s personality long before climbing became central to his life. His wife, Sheena Hau, says his natural mindset has played a major role in his success as a climber.
“Evan has a love of problem solving, is resilient, and has a positive mindset,” she said.
After graduating in 2008, Hau began working as an engineer. He moved to Calgary, drawn in part by better access to rock climbing. The Bow Valley’s mountain crags offered opportunities that didn’t exist in Manitoba.
Leaving engineering for climbing
As he settled into his career, his climbing progressed rapidly.
“I got more and more into rock climbing after university, and I also got really good at it,” Hau said.
Balancing rock climbing with an engineering job proved difficult.
The more Hau improved, the more he wanted to see how far he could go.
Eventually, he stepped away from engineering and started his own tutoring business in math, physics, and chemistry.
This work gave him better flexibility to train.
Climbing one of the highest grades was never part of the plan. But progress came gradually. Each new grade led to another goal, despite the time and effort required.
“I’m just really persistent. I just keep trying and don’t give up,” he said. “Projecting hard routes for me became a multi-year project and process. It can take up to two, three, four, even five years.”
Sheena remembers when she first realized how serious climbing had become for Hau, seeing the level of difficulty he was trying to accomplish.
”Over the years, Evan has learned to embrace that training is not always spent with time on projecting routes outdoors,” she said. “He also listens to his body very well, and respects time when he needs rest or breaks. These are hugely valuable, and this side of training and mental preparation is often overlooked in elite-level sports.”
Climbers aren’t the only ones who see this process up close. Professional photographer Mike Hopkins has spent a lot of time documenting Hau on the wall, alongside his difficult routes, often hanging from ropes to capture the climb.
“Climbing especially, it takes some patience because photographing someone like Hau, who’s climbing at the top of their grade, they only climb the route a couple times in a day,” Hopkins said.
Other hobbies
Outside of climbing, Hau maintains a quieter lifestyle. He enjoys board games, basketball, and reading, according to his wife.
Through the camera lens, Hopkins says Hau’s personality is just as notable as his climbing ability.
”When you first meet him, he can be a pretty quiet and reserved guy, but he climbs very hard, and he always seems to be having a good time,” Hopkins said.
First Canadian to complete high-level route
In 2020, Hau became the first Canadian to complete the highest-level route at the time, 5.15.
“It was a great feeling for sure,” he said.
The achievement marked more than just a personal milestone. It signalled a new benchmark for Canadian climbing.
Looking back, Hau’s path into climbing was never something he planned. It developed gradually from sports in Winnipeg to engineering at Queen’s University, and to elite climbing. What began as a childhood habit of climbing trees and furniture eventually became a record-setting pursuit.