An outstanding American climber and mountaineer, an icon of world climbing, is often regarded as the greatest climber of all time.
She is a CLIMBING LEGEND - her landmark ascent was repeated for the first time more than a decade later, which is extremely rare in top-level sports.
Lynn changed the perception of what is possible in rock climbing by classicizing the most famous big wall route in the world, The Nose on El Capitan in California's Yosemite Valley, which is over 1,000 meters long (31 pitches) and features a key pitch difficulty of 5.14a (VI.6+). After more than thirty years, only Lynn and Tommy Caldwell can claim to have led all pitches of this legendary route in a single day.
In 1979, she was the first woman to climb a 5.12d (VI.4+) route - Ophir Broke in Telluride, Colorado, and for many years thereafter she climbed the most difficult routes, including the first female ascent of a 5.14a / 8b+ (VI.6+) on the French route Masse Critique in Cimaï in 1991 - three years before the rest of the top women reached this level.
In 1992, Lynn Hill became the first woman to lead a 5.13b / X- (VI.5/VI.5+) route in OS style - it was the Simon route in Frankenjura.
During her visit to Europe in 1986, Lynn Hill discovered competitive climbing, which was sparked by her participation in the groundbreaking sport climbing competitions held in Arco and Bardonecchia, Italy. She quickly found herself at the forefront of this new activity, winning over 30 times, including five victories at the Arco Rock Master competition, often compared to the Wimbledon of sport climbing.
In 1995, a year after completing all the classic routes on The Nose in a single day, Lynn took part in an expedition to Kyrgyzstan, where she established two high-altitude multi-pitch classic routes with a difficulty rating of 5.12b (VI.4): the West Face of Peak 4810 (4810 m) with Alex Lowe and Perestroika Crack on Peak Slesova (4240 m) with Greg Child.
In 1999, Lynn led a small women's expedition to Madagascar, during which the Bravo les filles route was established on the vertical, 600-meter wall of Tsaranoro Kely with a difficulty of 5.13d (VI.6), A0. To this day, it is perhaps the most difficult multi-pitch route established by a women's team.
Lynn lived in France and Italy for many years, becoming fluent in French and Italian. She has traveled extensively throughout Europe and visited numerous climbing areas in remote corners of the world, including Vietnam, Thailand, China, Japan, Morocco, Australia, and South America.
Lynn has been a guest at the White House, among other world-class climbers, and has appeared numerous times on the most famous TV shows in the US, including Late Night with David Letterman and Survival of the Fittest, which she won four times.
She also won the 50-meter swim against Martina Navratilova on the Battle of the Superstars. She has been featured in magazines such as Life, Time, Sports Illustrated, Self, Shape, New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, and Vogue, and has appeared numerous times on the covers of climbing and outdoor magazines, including Outside, Climbing, Rock and Ice, Vertical, Mountain, Desnivel, and Montagne.
Lynn has also written excerpts for the following books: The Meaning of Life, Voices From the Summit, Fifty Favorite Climbs, and Women Who Dare.
In 2002, Lynn co-authored a biographical book entitled Climbing Free: My Life in the Vertical World, published by W.W. Norton.
In 2022, she produced a film teaching climbing techniques entitled “The Fundamentals of Climbing.” She is currently working on a documentary film about her life.
