1) Sasha DiGuilian

“Climbing is both a physical and mentally involved sport,” says 27-year-old Sasha DiGuilian, a professional rock climber who in 2012 became the first American woman to climb grade 9a. The hardest routes ever successfully climbed on-sight are graded 9a (5.14d)

“It’s not the grade that pushes me to want to try them, it’s more that feeling of determination and hardwork that you have to put forth in order to feel that sensation of accomplishment at the end of it.”

Climbing since she was 7 years old, Sasha has climbed over 30 First Female Ascents as well as 8 significant First Ascents, including “Rolihlahla” in South Africa, a Big Wall in Brazil in 2016 and The Misty Wall in Yosemite in 2017.

Watch Sasha’s story (2011 video):

Watch Sasha Bouldering in Texas (2014 video):

 

2) Margaret Young

Margaret Young once said, “Climbing is as close as we can get to flying”. 

Who was Margaret Young? Margaret Young was a member of the American Alpine Club. At only 45, she died of cancer after a 27-year mountaineering career including climbs in the U.S.A., Canada, Mexico, Ecuador, Bolivia, Kenya, Iran, Afghanistan, Russia, Nepal, and England. 

Margaret made a major contribution to the development of women’s climbing. In 1970 she was a member of the first all-women’s team to climb Mount McKinley. In 1972 she reached the summit of Noshaq in Afghanistan, and with Alice Liska shared the altitude record for women from the Western Hemisphere. Of all her peak climbs, Monja Grande in Ecuador was her favorite.

In her last years Margaret had many cruel blows—paralysis, the loss of her friend Vera Watson, and finally cancer—but she treated them calmly and matter-of-factly.

Margaret had rare imagination and determination—truly a unique woman, an innovative climber, and an inspiring friend. 

Read full article at: http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12198068900/Margaret-Young-19321979

 

3) Sir Edmund Hillary

“It is not the mountain that we conquer, but ourselves.” – Sir Edmund Hillary

Sir Edmund Percival Hillary (20 July 1919 – 11 January 2008) was a New Zealand mountaineer, explorer, and philanthropist. On 29 May 1953, Hillary and Nepalese Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers confirmed to have reached the summit of Mount Everest.

To fully understand this quote, hear speaker Kirsty Spraggon speak about “the Mindset Behind Success”, sharing her experience of climbing her mountains – taking the journey of the interior.

A true-story inspiration! 

Watch now at: 

 

4) Sir Martin Conway

“Each fresh peak ascended teaches something.” – Sir Martin Conway 

William Martin Conway, 1st Baron Conway of Allington (12 April 1856 – 19 April 1937), known between 1895 and 1931 as Sir Martin Conway, was an English art critic, politician, cartographer and mountaineer, who made expeditions in Europe as well as in South America and Asia.

In 1872 he took up mountain climbing and went on expeditions to Spitsbergen from 1896 to 1897 and the Bolivian Andes in 1898. He is an author of books on art and exploration, which include Mountain Memories (1920), ′′Art Treasures of Soviet Russia (1925), and Giorgione as a Landscape Painter (1929).

Check out his list of mountaineering and travel works:

– Climbing and Exploration in the Karakoram Himalayas, 1894

– The Alps from End to End, 1895

– The First Crossing of Spitsbergen, 1897

– The Bolivian Andes, 1901

– Aconcagua and Tierra Del Fuego: A Book of Climbing, Travel and Exploration, 1902

– No Man’s Land, a History of Spitsbergen from its discovery in 1596 to the beginning of the Scientific Exploration of the Country, 1906

– Mountain Memories, 1920

– “Palestine and Morocco”, 1923

Stay tuned for next month’s climbing inspirations!