Woman who climbed El Capitan on her 70th birthday says you can do it too

November 5, 2021 1:52 AM

Dierdre Wolownick, mom of Free Solo star Alex Honnold, believed to be oldest woman to scale the rock formation. Dierdre Wolownick says it's never too late to start a new hobby. And she should know. Wolownick started climbing at the age of 60 in an effort to be closer to her son, Alex Honnold, a world-famous climber and star of the documentary Free Solo. Now, 10 years later, she's scaled the formidable El Capitan rock formation at California's Yosemite National Park for the second time, on her 70th birthday.

The previous record holder did not hold the record very long; Dierdre Wolownick climbed it with her son when she was 66 years old.

posted by dancestoblue (20 comments total)

But I don't wanna, Dierdre.
posted by dumbland at 3:20 AM on November 5, 2021 [17 favorites]

Finally a response to all those happy active folks who like to needle you about how anyone can run a marathon, etc...

Yeah yeah, I'll do it when I'm 70.
posted by phunniemee at 4:54 AM on November 5, 2021 [11 favorites]

I heard this the other night but the interview was frustratingly short on specifics of the route. Salathé? Mescalito? Wings of Steel?
posted by Flashman at 5:01 AM on November 5, 2021 [1 favorite]

Her Facebook post mentions East Ledges, and the NYT says she took a descent route up, so that fits. When she did it a few years ago, with Alex, the route was Lurking Fear.
posted by rhamphorhynchus at 5:46 AM on November 5, 2021 [1 favorite]

This is really awesome for her and it's fun to read about her experience, but I'd like to eliminate two lies that seem to show up whenever an old person does something cool.

1. It's never too late.
2. If xxx can do it, so can you.
posted by FencingGal at 7:05 AM on November 5, 2021 [24 favorites]

Great for her. But this reminds me of this column, by a blind woman. When a blind man climbed Mt. Everest, "The sighted folks were inspired again, and I knew what was coming. 'So?' she continued, 'when are you going to climb Mount Everest?' ... Eyesight aside, I'm never going to climb Mount Everest. I'm a lover of creature comforts who freaks if the AC breaks down for 15 minutes. And as I told that woman at Starbucks, I'm terrified of heights."
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 7:18 AM on November 5, 2021 [4 favorites]

I assure you that I cannot do that too.

Frankly, just looking at those pictures makes me dizzy.

Some people are good with heights, but I am not one of them.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 7:27 AM on November 5, 2021

When she did it a few years ago, with Alex, the route was Lurking Fear.

See, right there- that's a big "no" from me.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 7:30 AM on November 5, 2021 [5 favorites]

Dierdre crushed it. Climbing has had a big reckoning the past few years with route renaming (I recently helped out on a guidebook and got a first hand view into this), sexism and overall accessibility. In the competitive climbing arena there was a real awakening about eating disorders which was eye-opening. Speaking of body image, here’s a great recent article about entering the climbing world with something other than the expected fit physique. Great read.
posted by misterpatrick at 7:31 AM on November 5, 2021 [8 favorites]

Yeah, I'd like to hear about the Lurking Fear ascent. That's at least an order of magnitude bigger deal than east ledges. That said, go Dierdre!

(Sending this to my mum, who had me kick steps up a snowy Mt. Lady MacDonald in Canmore on her 70th -- link to Google photos)
posted by bumpkin at 7:49 AM on November 5, 2021 [1 favorite]

See, right there- that's a big "no" from me.

You're probably safer on a rock face with Alex Honnold than you are driving to work.
posted by mhoye at 7:58 AM on November 5, 2021 [1 favorite]

Alex Honnold better not be below me, then.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 8:00 AM on November 5, 2021 [3 favorites]

I loved that article misterpatrick, thanks!
posted by Braeburn at 8:00 AM on November 5, 2021 [2 favorites]

My spouse learned how not-to-die with climbers in the 65-70 year-old range. We're very grateful they were still going up the rocks, and were still amazing climbers.
posted by SunSnork at 8:02 AM on November 5, 2021 [2 favorites]

bumpkin: Her article about the Lurking Fear ascent is on Climbing.com here.
posted by rhamphorhynchus at 8:08 AM on November 5, 2021 [3 favorites]

Alex Handhold?

Of course you'd feel safe!
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 9:20 AM on November 5, 2021

Well done Dierdre!

However, I can't climb El Capitan on her 70th birthday; that was more than a month ago!
posted by chavenet at 10:03 AM on November 5, 2021 [5 favorites]

Wolownick started climbing at the age of 60 in an effort to be closer to her son

Why was he up so high
posted by babelfish at 10:17 AM on November 5, 2021 [18 favorites]

Storry Transcript

Canadian English is diverging at an accelerating rate.

Alex Honnold has this 'intensified human' look to him that makes me curious about his parents. His mom seems unusually healthy but not otherwise a long tailer.
posted by jamjam at 12:17 PM on November 5, 2021 [1 favorite]

She was an inspiration to me some years ago when I read an interview with in which she talked about her process of accepting that free-climbing was what he son was going to do, accepting that it was incredibly dangerous, accepting that he might well die doing it. At the time, I had a young child who was a sensation-seeking boundary-pusher, and it was easy to imagine him growing up to engage in dangerous behavior, and that interview with her helped me accept him, and accept that he was going to live his own life in his own way, with whatever that entailed.

He's fourteen now, and it turns out he's not reckless in the way I feared—on the contrary, he just went out and got his first paid job, and the third item on his "now that I have income" to-do list was "start a rainy day fund." He is brave, athletic, and very independent, and so ready to get out into the world that he was excited to learn that an emancipated minor is a thing, but I haven't had to cultivate the Dierdre Wolownick mindset in the way I expected to. Still, what she had to say taught me something I have found useful and inspirational in raising my four kids, and I'm grateful for that.

Nonetheless, I agree with FencingGal up-thread: "you can do this too" is not the takeaway from a story like this. But it does illustrate another great parenting lesson: if you follow your kids into their interests, that can be a powerful way to connect with them and show your love.
posted by Orlop at 1:06 PM on November 5, 2021 [13 favorites]