About | Elemental Gym

Laura Francis

Personal Trainer

Coach Laura specializes in strength and mobility training. She is passionate about sharing her love for gym exercise with her athletes and encouraging them in their fitness journey. Wyoming has been her home for most of her life and she loves to downhill ski and mountain bike with friends and family when she’s not at Elemental. She is fascinated with the relationship between physical strength and confidence. Email Laura at laura@elementalgym.com if you’d like to train with her!

Nick Hunkerstorm

Personal Trainer

From the row-crop fields of the Salinas Valley to vast wildernesses around the world, Nick has been pushing on things and pulling on things all his life. He has been an Elemental athlete since about 2015 and recently made the leap to trainer/coach. Besides running a small business growing mushrooms and microgreens, Nick enjoys spending time with his family on river trips throughout the west. Email Nick at nick@elementalgym.com if you’d like to train with him.

Blaine Limpus

Personal Trainer

I grew up in Indiana playing all the traditional sports (winning two AAU state and one national AAU basketball championships). However, during college I found climbing which led to traveling the country for climbing opportunities. Eventually, I got my masters in adult education from the University of Wyoming where I met my wife, Melanie. Later we moved to Lander for climbing and all the mountains have to offer. I am honored to be part of the Elemental team working on the values of consistency and helping build resilient humans. I believe in the ability to apply our strengths in the outside world via plyometrics, strength + metabolic and anything that can apply to one’s specific needs. Email Blaine at blaine@elementalgym.com if you’d like to train with him!

Jeremy Cronon

Personal Trainer

Jeremy works as a strength and metabolic coach. He believes that fundamental strength training is a key component to expanding our own capacity, promoting an injury-free lifestyle, and supporting a wide variety of athletic pursuits, from mid-winter dog walks to peak bagging in the Winds. Simple movements, consistently trained make all the difference. Email Jeremy at jeremy@elementalgym if you’d like to train with him!

Kian Stewart

Operations Manager

Originally, Kian began working at Elemental as a front desk employee and route setter. After spending time behind the front desk, he became interested in fitness through the Elemental community. He began taking strength and metabolic classes at the gym, and the rest is history! Kian now works as the Operations Manager at Elemental. Email kian@elementalgym.com if you have any questions!

Neil Long

Youth Climbing Coach

After finishing a career as a track and cross country athlete, Neil Long started rock climbing in 2011 during his last year of college at Black Hills State University, where he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Exercise Science. Initially focusing on traditional climbing and mountaineering, he continued to climb after moving to Laramie to earn a Master’s in Kinesiology and Health with research in exercise motivation. Neil pursued a brief career in the fitness industry in Phoenix, Arizona before moving back to Wyoming in 2016 to work in outdoor education at Casper Mountain Science Program. He also worked for the City of Cheyenne Outdoor Adventure Program, taking students hiking, camping, and of course climbing. In 2019, Neil finished a post-baccalaureate program to earn his license as an elementary classroom teacher and began teaching in Casper, all while continuing his pursuit of climbing and training. When a job opened at Baldwin Creek Elementary in 2022, Neil jumped at the opportunity to move to a climbing town. He immediately became a member of Elemental Gym and frequently visited local areas to climb. He is excited to share his passion for rock climbing as well as training, and he is also looking forward to helping young people experience the personal growth associated with improving as a climber.

Melanie Limpus

Membership Manager

A fifth generation Montanan, Melanie grew up in Billings and attended the University of Wyoming. She fell in love with Wyoming and her husband, Blaine, and the two of them made their home in Lander. She loves climbing, painting, skiing, rock hounding, biking, and her cat Poots. In 2024, Mel launched Adventures in the West Magazine and became the Membership Manager at Elemental. If you ever have any questions about memberships or just want to say hi, email mel@elementalgym.com!

Carissa Dahl

Personal Training

I started working at Elemental January 2024 at the front desk and recently transferred over to personal training. I love the community at Elemental, it’s this wonderful place where no matter what time of day you get there, you’ll have someone to say “hi” to. I’ve lived in Lander for about a year and love climbing, biking, and hiking here. Besides outdoor sports, I grew up playing basketball and skiing, competed in boxing after college, and love a quick game of pickleball. Anything that involves moving my body and competition, I’m game for. I try to live by the motto – “Stay Humble and Hustle Hard”, firmly believing in the power of hard work.

Anne Magnan

Strength and Metabolic Coach

Anne works as a strength and metabolic coach. She believes wholeheartedly in the concept of functional fitness – be it putting a suitcase in the overhead compartment or swinging a five-year old around the room. She values exercise for its ability to push our physical and mental capacities. Email Anne at anne@elementalgym.com if you would like to train.

Dani Kluberton

Strength and Metabolic Training

Coach Dani specializes in strength and metabolic training and is working toward her certified personal training certification. Dani cares deeply about each athlete and believes in meeting them where they are. She builds training plans specific to each athlete to help them reach their goals and build healthy, life-long habits. With a background in running and endurance sports, Dani loves rock climbing, long mountain runs, and cooking good (easy) meals in the kitchen. Email Dani at dani@elementalgym.com if you would like to train with her!

TAYLOR CARR

ISSN-SNS, MS Sports Nutrition, MS Strength and Conditioning

Taylor Carr has a dual Masters in Sports Nutrition and Strength and Conditioning. She is also a certified Sports Nutritionist through the ISSN. Taylor works with athletes of all backgrounds to educate and instruct proper food fueling and nutrient timing. Taylor believes that with a functional nutrition plan, every athlete is able to better reach their unique fitness and lifestyle goals. She is also passionate about helping individuals heal their relationship with food.

Kelsey Ball

Mobility, Strength and Metabolic and General Fitness Coach

Originally from Casper, Kelsey has called Lander home for nearly ten years. When she’s not digging in the garden, you can find her fishing, hunting and foraging in the Wyoming wilderness, likely in the company of her two dogs, Eddy and Ginger. Kelsey fell into yoga instruction to fill the space between climbing team, skiing, big mountain adventures – and injuries. She believes a foundational connection to nature and our bodies benefits people across the health spectrum, including mental wellness and wants to bring the same attitude to coaching and individual work with athletes at Elemental. We all deserve to feel better and she is here to help you wherever you are on your journey!

Kelsey works as a mobility, strength and metabolic and general fitness coach.

KATHRYN PERKINSON

NSCA – CPT

Kathryn works as a strength, metabolic, and rock climbing coach. She has spent her life training for team sports, endurance events, and climbing. Kathryn believes that small habit change can lead to life long transformation and that we are all athletes capable of great things. She is an NSCA Certified Personal Trainer. Email Kathryn at kathryn@elementalgym.com if you would like to train.

STEVE BECHTEL

BS Exercise Physiology, CSCS, SFG II

Steve is the founder of Elemental Performance + Fitness and Climb Strong. He specializes in strength and metabolic training, climbing performance, post-rehab strength training, and is available for remote coaching. Steve believes that the path to long term athletic success and overall health is based on consistency over intensity and that learning to improve your beliefs and relationships about physical activity and nutrition is how you will experience the greatest gains. Email Steve at steve@elementalgym.com if you would like to train.

LEIF GASCH

Performance Climbing Coach

Coach Leif specializes in strength and metabolic training as well as performance climbing coaching. Leif strongly believes in a steady and methodical approach when working towards a goal, whether that’s to climb a hard new route or just achieve a higher level of general fitness. His background as a rock climber has given him the opportunity to work with coaches and athletes from all around the country and he brings that experience to his coaching here at Elemental. Email Leif at leif@elementalgym.com if you would like to train.

EMILY TILDEN

NSCA – CPT

Coach Emily specializes in strength and metabolic training, long distance running and nordic skiing programming and pregnancy and postpartum fitness. Emily believes that every athlete, whether new to a sport or a veteran, benefits from continued focus on developing efficient movements, identifying and improving weaknesses and finding fun in the challenge of it all. Email Emily at emily@elementalgym.com if you would like to train.

ELLEN BECHTEL

NSCA-CPT

Coach Ellen not only manages day-to-day operations at Elemental, but is a trainer, as well. She specializes in strength training, mobility coaching, and pregnancy / postpartum fitness. Ellen believes in the value of increasing body awareness, functional movement and mobility training as a means to build strength, improve quality of life and improve sport-specific performance. She is a yoga instructor, an NSCA-CPT, and a GGS Pregnancy and Postpartum Specialist. Email Ellen at ellen@elementalgym.com if you would like to train.

About Us

Elemental Philosophy

Staff

ELLEN BECHTEL

EMILY TILDEN

LEIF GASCH

STEVE BECHTEL

KATHRYN PERKINSON

Anne Magnan

Kelsey Ball

Carissa Dahl

Blaine Limpus

Melanie Limpus

Nick Hunkerstorm

Neil Long

Kian Stewart

Contact Us

Laura Francis

Nick Hunkerstorm

Blaine Limpus

Jeremy Cronon

Kian Stewart

Neil Long

Melanie Limpus

Carissa Dahl

Anne Magnan

Dani Kluberton

TAYLOR CARR

Kelsey Ball

KATHRYN PERKINSON

STEVE BECHTEL

LEIF GASCH

EMILY TILDEN

ELLEN BECHTEL