Climbing Free

Despite being one of the most male-dominated of sports, Lynn Hill never let being a woman keep her from the hardest routes and competitions in free climbing, making up in focus, determination and grace what she lacked in brawn and testosterone. In this book, Lynn describes the sensations, determination and skill needed in the sport. Lynn's career has developed alongside the growth of the very sport she practices. She first learned to climb in the 1970s, when the sport was practically unknown, but her extraordinary gift for rock climbing became widely recognized as the sport became more popular. She stunned the international climbing community when she became the first person to free-climb Yosemite's famous 3000ft Nose, and topped this feat the following year by climbing the same route in 23 hours, half the time in pitch darkness, something it took 6264 hours for the next male climber to accomplish. This outstanding achievement, as well as her strong belief, has ensured that both sexes now compete on routes of equal difficulty in competitions and that Lynn is respected both as a rock climber and as a role model for all women in sports.