Climbing Free: My life in the Vertical World by Lynn Hill

Climbing Free: My Life in the Vertical World is an autobiography by Lynn Hill, one of the most celebrated and pioneering figures in the world of rock climbing. The book offers a deeply personal and candid account of Hill's life, both on and off the rock, detailing her journey from her early climbing experiences to becoming one of the sport's most accomplished athletes.

Lynn Hill made history in 1993 when she became the first person (male or female) to free-climb The Nose on El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, a feat considered one of the most difficult and prestigious accomplishments in the climbing world. In her memoir, she reflects on this achievement and the challenges she faced throughout her climbing career, both in terms of the physical and mental demands of the sport and the social barriers she had to overcome as a woman in a male-dominated field.

The book not only covers Hill's climbing feats but also delves into her personal life, including her relationships, struggles with identity, and her evolving philosophy about climbing, self-reliance, and pushing limits. She discusses her early years as a competitive climber, her motivations, and the obstacles she faced in a sport where success is often measured by individual performance and risk.

In Climbing Free, Hill explores the internal and external challenges of a life dedicated to climbing—balancing the pursuit of personal growth with the realities of the sport's physical dangers. The memoir captures the essence of Hill’s dedication to her craft, the rewards of following one’s passion, and her belief in the power of perseverance and freedom in both climbing and life.

We were able to compare this book to the one we read in 2023 by Tommy Caldwell. Both authors balance personal stories with in-depth descriptions of climbing. For the climbers in our group, Climbing Free had an appropriate amount of jargon. For the non-climbers, they were able to get by with context clues.

For the discussion, we talked about Lynn's childhood and her near immediate success with rock climbing at a young age. Was this from natural born talent or from having such a strong rock climbing support group? How much of climbing is physical vs psychological?

We discussed the challenges she faced starting off in a male-dominated sport where many in the community undermined her, going as far as saying that women could never complete certain routes. But, she persevered and blocked out the negative feedback, and we were impressed and inspired by her ability to do that. Final questions were related to sexism in climbing: does this still exist today? What does that look like? How can we overcome this?

Group mean rating: 8/10