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2000
Lynn Hill (United States)
Lynn
Hill is one of the best climbers in the world. A natural athlete, Hill has competed in
track and gymnastics as well as climbing. She first roped up at age 14 and excelled
immediately. By the late 1970s, she was climbing near the top standards of the day.
 Hill discovered competition climbing during a visit to
France in 1986. She quickly moved into top ranks and won more than 30 international
competitions, including five times at the Arco Rock Master, the Wimbledon of competitive
climbing. Hill has also climbed some of the hardest routes in the world, succeeding on a
5.14a route in France called Masse Critique in 1991, the first 5.14 competed by a
woman.
Hill possesses a combination of power, grace and endurance
that has enabled her to tackle some of the more difficult challenges in the world of
climbing. In 1992, she climbed The Nose on El Capitan, Yosemite’s most famous
aid route, in just over 8 hours. The following year, she returned to Yosemite to make the
first free ascent, encountering two pitches of 5.13 and several 5.12 pitches. A year
later, she topped that feat with the first one-day free ascent of The Nose, leading
every one of The Nose’s 34 pitches in 23 hours. The feat will long stand among
the world’s great rock-climbing accomplishments. It has yet to be repeated by man or
woman. In 1995, Hill took her big wall skills to the high peaks of
Kyrgyzstan. There she
made the first free ascents of two 5.12 walls, the 4000 foot west face of Peak 4810 with
Alex Lowe and the Perestroika Crack of Peak 4240 with Greg Child. Most recently on
an expedition to Morocco, Lynn established Tete De Chou rated 5.13b. This route is
the hardest climb established by a woman in Morocco.
Among America’s best-known climbers, Hill has been a
guest at the White House and has been featured on television and in many newspaper and
magazine articles. She has produced a film about climbing and is currently finishing her
autobiography.
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