Many of us have heard of Alex Honnold, who made history in 2018 when he became the first man to climb El Capitan without ropes or safety equipment. But his mother, Dierdre Wolownick, just became the oldest woman to conquer the famous peak: She reached the top on September 23—the morning of her 70th birthday.
Dierdre, the writer and language teacher, decided to take up climbing as a means of connecting more with her son. In 2008, accompanied by her son Alex, she visited a climbing gym and completed 12 routes that first day with his help, but it was months before she worked up the courage to return and practice on her own.
Dierdre became committed to the sport, and began to meet friends and sharpen her skills. She scaled parts of Half Dome Trail and Cathedral Peak at a time when many people at her age are thinking about retirement and slowing down. The writer would go on to publish a book about her climbing experiences with Alex called The Sharp End of Life: A Mother's Story.
"As a mother, I am impressed by this role exchange process. Parents and children often wind up changing roles in life as they get older," she writes in her book. "But never, I thought, is that transformation as obvious as when they climb together."
On September 23, Dierdre and her friends set out in the dark, at 6 a.m. The route is steep enough to require all fours, grabbing rocks and trees and whatever else will hold the weight. Yet despite all difficulties, the team made it to the top. "It was really inspiring to watch her and then to have her on top with all of us," said one of Dierdre's friends. "There was a special look on everyone's face. We knew where we were. We knew how amazing the moment truly was.
