Lynn Hill is a pioneer, a true icon in her sport and considered by many to be the greatest rock climber of all time. She has not only made climbs long thought to be impossible, along the way she has smashed stereotypes and changed the perception of women in her sport.
One of her crowning achievements occurred in the 1993 when she made the very first free ascent of The Nose, the sheer, 3,000 foot rock face on El Capitan in California’s Yosemite Valley. For years, the best climbers from across the world made the pilgrimage to Yosemite to achieve what was considered the unachievable. Not only was she the first to free climb The Nose in 1993 — something that took her 4 days — she went back and did it again the following year in less than 24 hours.
It was a feat no other person was able to repeat for more than a decade.
These days, Hill is still climbing and runs a business teaching others the thrills and beauty of climbing. And, at the age of 57, she’s still smashing stereotypes, including those about what a woman her age is capable of achieving.
Hill talks to Growing Bolder about her historic achievements and her passion for continuing to push new boundaries.