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INTERVIEW: Lynn Hill - Climbing Free

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 UKC Articles 08 Mar 2017
Lynn Hill, 3 kbLynn Hill needs little introduction. As a pioneer of free climbing in the 80s and 90s, Lynn is regarded as one of the most accomplished climbers in history; male or female. Having made the first free ascent of The Nose on El Capitan in 1993 and a free ascent of the same route in a day just one year later, her free climbing feats remained unrepeated for over a decade.

Natalie Berry asks Lynn about her upbringing in California, her background in gymnastics and of course, about The Nose, alongside her views on where modern day climbing is heading.



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 alexm198 08 Mar 2017
In reply to UKC Articles:

Great interview. There have been some really good articles on UKC recently - keep up the good work!
 planetmarshall 08 Mar 2017
In reply to UKC Articles:

It's great that there's no real celebrity culture in the climbing community. Through various events I've met Alex Honnold, Tommy Caldwell, Dave Mac and others and the've all been suitably down to earth. But I think I'd be genuinely star struck by Lynn Hill.
 neilh 08 Mar 2017
In reply to planetmarshall:

Its when you see some of the old photos of her climbing in the Gunks from the 70's you realise how good she is. Awe inspiring. I remember the articles of her trying the Nose free with Simon Nadin.
 tony 08 Mar 2017
In reply to UKC Articles:

Excellent interview Nat, very well done. And what a good person Lynn Hill sounds!
 Mick Ward 08 Mar 2017
In reply to UKC Articles:

Brilliant, in-depth interview. I'm probably going to have to read it several times to begin to do it justice.

I remember seeing Lynn Hill just the once. She was such a tiny figure. Then I looked into her eyes and it was like looking into an eagle's eyes. I've never seen such power in anyone else's eyes. It was remarkable. Suddenly you could see how she'd do pretty much anything she set out to do.

A very special lady.

Mick
 Tony & Sarah 08 Mar 2017
In reply to UKC Articles:

Hi Natalie, well done, brilliant interview. We felt we learnt more from your interview than from Lynn's book.

Tony & Sarah
 Shani 08 Mar 2017
In reply to UKC Articles:

What a wonderful interview. Very inspirational.
 Paul Figg 08 Mar 2017
In reply to UKC Articles:

There are a couple of great Enormcast podcasts with Lynn, well worth listening to. She sounds like a truly inspirational lady who didn't see any boundaries as to whats possible.

http://enormocast.com/episode-51-lynn-hill-aint-no-mountain-high-enough-par...
http://enormocast.com/episode-52-lynn-hill-aint-no-mountain-high-enough-par...
 Mark Collins 08 Mar 2017
In reply to UKC Articles:

Great interview, thanks very much.
 Fraser 08 Mar 2017
In reply to Paul Figg:

> There are a couple of great Enormcast podcasts with Lynn, well worth listening to.

Yep, I listened to both these a few weeks ago and highly recommend them. I'll read this article later this evening when I've more time, but I'm looking fwd to it a lot.
In reply to UKC Articles:

Great interview. I love her emphasis on 'balance' in the broadest sense.
 Martin Hore 08 Mar 2017
In reply to UKC Articles:

Thank you Natalie - an excellent interview of a real star of our sport.

I don't think it's possible to over-estimate the significance of Lynn Hill's first free ascent of the Nose. It may be the only occasion when such a significant sporting achievement has been made first by a woman. Perhaps the equivalent would be if Paula Radcliffe had beaten the mens' world marathon record (it was correctly recognised as a major achievement that she knocked minutes off the womens' record) or if a woman had run the first 4-minute mile.

Martin
 Rob Exile Ward 08 Mar 2017
In reply to Martin Hore:

Here's a little anecdote about Lynne Hill that you can look up for yourselves - tying in with Mick's wonderful article about climbing magazines. In one edition there was a puff piece about a young and very driven Tobin Sorenson, and an obviously doctored photo of him grimacing on a crack climb somewhere, making it look awesomely difficult.

A few months later a photo emerged of Lynne Hill in the same position: only instead of some macho grimacing, there's this Californian chick totally relaxed and grinning at the fun of it all. A world apart.
 FactorXXX 08 Mar 2017
In reply to Rob Exile Ward:

In one edition there was a puff piece about a young and very driven Tobin Sorenson, and an obviously doctored photo of him grimacing on a crack climb somewhere, making it look awesomely difficult.
A few months later a photo emerged of Lynne Hill in the same position: only instead of some macho grimacing, there's this Californian chick totally relaxed and grinning at the fun of it all. A world apart.


Is this the route: -

https://www.mountainproject.com/v/insomnia/105788118
 Robert Durran 08 Mar 2017
In reply to Martin Hore:

> I don't think it's possible to over-estimate the significance of Lynn Hill's first free ascent of the Nose. It may be the only occasion when such a significant sporting achievement has been made first by a woman.

Yes, probably.

> Perhaps the equivalent would be if Paula Radcliffe had beaten the mens' world marathon record (it was correctly recognised as a major achievement that she knocked minutes off the womens' record) or if a woman had run the first 4-minute mile.

I'm not sure that's a good comparison. There seems to be a school of thought (and Lynn Hill seems, to some extent, to subscibe to it in the interview) that there is nothing physiologically stopping women climbing as hard as men and, certainly, women's top standards do seem to be closing in on men's. This is not true of running or most other physical sports. So, rather than being an extreme outlier of her time, Hill might be better seen as way ahead of her time, breaking down psychological barriers more significant than merely physical ones - and I think that makes her achievements all the more impressive.
2
 Rob Exile Ward 09 Mar 2017
In reply to FactorXXX:

Well found - apparently it was *slightly* more than a few months later!

I think it was Tobin Sorenson whose Dad was a pastor, and he used to stand at the bottom of climbs urging his son to do or die. Consistent with his faith I suppose, but I'm glad I didn't have a dad like that!
In reply to UKC Articles:

Thanks for this excellent interview I really enjoyed it. It was insightful and thoughtful about her views on life and climbing. I must read her book.

Chris
 galpinos 09 Mar 2017
In reply to Rob Exile Ward:

> I think it was Tobin Sorenson whose Dad was a pastor, and he used to stand at the bottom of climbs urging his son to do or die. Consistent with his faith I suppose, but I'm glad I didn't have a dad like that!

There's a good article about him in Alpinist 49.

 kwoods 12 Mar 2017
In reply to UKC Articles:

Incredibly, immensely inspirational. Thank you for this UKClimbing.

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