Considered one of the greatest rock climbers of all time, Beth Rodden, has conquered much more than some of the world's most challenging summits. She is known for epic free climbs - where a climber uses their own strength to go up the wall and rope in just to prevent falls. Beth has achieved multiple firsts for women in the sport including the first to complete a free ascent of El Capitan, the world-renowned vertical rock formation at Yosemite National Park.
In 2000 she and three other climbers were kidnapped in Kyrgyzstan by rebels from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan for six days before overpowering one of their captors and escaping to a nearby military camp and returning to the US. In her memoir A Light Through The Cracks she tells the story of that harrowing event - including their decision to push their captor off a mountain top - and her long recovery from the trauma of it. Beth has gone on to advocate for better mental health support for climbers who often experience the deaths of close friends in the sport. and for equal pay for women.
She is in New Zealand this week speaking to high school students in Wanaka as well as giving talks at the NZ Mountain Film and Book Festival.
Photo: Supplied and AFP
