Carolynn Marie
"Lynn" Hill is famous for making the first free ascent of the
difficult sheer rock face of The Nose on El Capitan in Yosemite Valley, and
for repeating it the next year in less than 24 hours. She has been
described as both one of the best female climbers in the world and one of
the best climbers of all time. One of the first successful women in the
sport, Hill shaped rock climbing for women and became a public
spokesperson, helping it gain wider popularity and arguing for gender
equality. "I'd been a child during the 1960s when women burned their
bras and hundreds of thousands gathered in protests against the Vietnam
War. As a climber, I've felt connected to a similar nonconformist culture,
one opposed to society's increasing materialism, pollution and corruption.
Our approach to the rock--clean, traditional climbing, with the least
dependence on equipment--was an extension of this ethical viewpoint."
--Lynn Hill