Jorge became a Jesuit priest, and moved to the United States to study at Cornell University.

[3] In the next decade, they established over a hundred new routes, many of which, such as Crimson Chrysalis, Epinephrine, Dream of Wild Turkeys and Levitation 29 are now some of Red Rock's most famous and popular climbs.

[7] In 1986, after the arrival of their children, they retired from climbing for ten years, during which Joanne took up ultra distance running, especially through wilderness and mountains, having completed six one hundred mile races, as well as 165 miles on the John Muir Trail (Whitney Portal to Red's Meadow; in 1996) in five days flat, solo, and self supported.

[5][8] After their ten-year retirement from climbing, they returned and are continuing to establish a number of significant routes in Red Rock, some of which are 1500 to 2400 feet long (Inti Watana, Gift of the Wind Gods, Woman of Mountain Dreams, Twixt Cradle and Stone, and Slim).

George taught anthropology and linguistics[9] at University of Nevada for over 35 years[3] and is fluent in English, Spanish, Italian, French, Quechua, Catalan, and some German.