Born in Texas and raised in Kentucky, Walter grew up rock climbing on the steep sandstone cliffs of the Red River Gorge. After participating in a NOLS mountaineering course in the North Cascades, he traveled to climb in the Rockies, the Tetons, the Sierras, and the Alaska Range. Between climbing trips he completed a B.S. in Biology at the University of Kentucky and enrolled in the graduate program at the University of Montana. Upon completion of a M.S. degree in exercise physiology he began guiding for RMI.