Steph Davis
Encyclopedia
Steph Davis is an American rock climber, BASE jumper
and wingsuit flyer
.
, lived in Mountain Lakes, New Jersey
and was raised around Columbia, Maryland
, the daughter of an aerospace executive. She started rock climbing when she was 18 and "had a hard time wanting to do anything else." She is perhaps the only woman to have free-soloed
at the 5.11+ grade
. Steph also practices yoga
and is a vocal vegan
activist.
In 2003, Davis became the second woman to free climb
El Capitan
in one day. Two years later, she became the first woman to freeclimb the Salathé Wall
, on El Cap, and to climb Torre Egger
, a difficult summit in Patagonia
, of which she made the first one-day ascent, with her then partner Dean Potter
.
Davis has soloed routes on Colorado
's Long's Peak's east face, The Diamond, a thousand-foot granite wall at 14,000 feet. In the summer of 2007, she free-soloed the Diamond four times, with the final solo recorded by Peter Mortimer
, of Sender Films. Soon afterward, she free-soloed and BASE jumped Castleton Tower
, in Moab, Utah
.
Davis has made first ascents around Moab including the Tombstone. In 2008, she climbed Concepcion, one of the hardest pure crack climbs in the world. Steph has been on successful international expeditions to climb new routes in alpine
, big wall, and solo
styles, including in Pakistan
, Kyrgyzstan
, Baffin Island
, Argentina
, Italy
, and Patagonia
. Davis was the first American woman to summit Fitzroy
in Patagonia and to summit all seven major peaks of the Fitzroy Range.
she first began her love with climbing, learning the sport at Carderock
While at Maryland, Davis spent her summers at Devils Tower
in Wyoming. She became an exchange student for a year at Colorado State University
to improve her climbing skills; and enjoyed it so much she moved to Colorado
where she graduated from Colorado State University with a master's degree. She attended University of Colorado
's law school, but after five days of law school she quit and moved to Rifle, Colorado
, against the will of her parents, to pursue her passion for climbing.
For the next seven years, she lived out of her vehicle, first in a Cutlass Ciera
and later out of a Ford Ranger
pickup, driving around to climbing areas, guiding, and waiting tables for cash. Before she started going to the mountains of Patagonia, she spent her winters in Hueco Tanks
, enjoying its bouldering
.
She soon found Long's Peak in the nearby Rocky Mountains
and over two summers made 15 ascents. Eventually, she made Moab her home by "acquiring a storage unit and a library card."
Davis's book High Infatuation: A Climber's Guide to Love and Gravity (ISBN 1594850658), has been translated into multiple languages. She is a blogger and photographer at highinfatuation.com.
BASE jumping
BASE jumping, also sometimes written as B.A.S.E jumping, is an activity that employs an initially packed parachute to jump from fixed objects...
and wingsuit flyer
Wingsuit flying
Wingsuit flying is the sport of flying the human body through the air using a special jumpsuit, called a wingsuit, which adds surface area to the human body to enable a significant increase in lift. Modern wingsuits, first developed in the late 1990s, create the surface area with fabric between the...
.
History
Steph Davis was born in IllinoisIllinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, lived in Mountain Lakes, New Jersey
Mountain Lakes, New Jersey
Mountain Lakes is a borough in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the borough population was 4,256....
and was raised around Columbia, Maryland
Columbia, Maryland
Columbia is a planned community that consists of ten self-contained villages, located in Howard County, Maryland, United States. It began with the idea that a city could enhance its residents' quality of life. Creator and developer James W. Rouse saw the new community in terms of human values, not...
, the daughter of an aerospace executive. She started rock climbing when she was 18 and "had a hard time wanting to do anything else." She is perhaps the only woman to have free-soloed
Free solo climbing
Free solo climbing, also known as free soloing, is a form of free climbing where the climber forgoes ropes, harnesses and other protective gear while ascending and relies only on his or her physical strength, climbing ability, and psychological fortitude to avoid a fatal fall...
at the 5.11+ grade
Grade (climbing)
In rock climbing, mountaineering and other climbing disciplines, climbers give a climbing grade to a route that concisely describes the difficulty and danger of climbing the route...
. Steph also practices yoga
Yoga
Yoga is a physical, mental, and spiritual discipline, originating in ancient India. The goal of yoga, or of the person practicing yoga, is the attainment of a state of perfect spiritual insight and tranquility while meditating on Supersoul...
and is a vocal vegan
Veganism
Veganism is the practice of eliminating the use of animal products. Ethical vegans reject the commodity status of animals and the use of animal products for any purpose, while dietary vegans or strict vegetarians eliminate them from their diet only...
activist.
In 2003, Davis became the second woman to free climb
Free climbing
Free climbing is a type of rock climbing in which the climber uses only hands, feet and other parts of the body to ascend, employing ropes and forms of climbing protection to prevent falls only....
El Capitan
El Capitan
El Capitan is a vertical rock formation in Yosemite National Park, located on the north side of Yosemite Valley, near its western end. The granite monolith extends about from base to summit along its tallest face, and is one of the world's favorite challenges for rock climbers.The formation was...
in one day. Two years later, she became the first woman to freeclimb the Salathé Wall
Salathé Wall (El Capitan)
The Salathé Wall is one of the original technical climbing routes up El Capitan, a high granite monolith in Yosemite National Park. The Salathé Wall was named by Yvon Chouinard in honor of John Salathé, a pioneer of rock climbing in Yosemite...
, on El Cap, and to climb Torre Egger
Torre Egger
Torre Egger is one of the mountains of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field in South America. It is located in a region which is disputed between Argentina and Chile, west of Cerro Chalten...
, a difficult summit in Patagonia
Patagonia
Patagonia is a region located in Argentina and Chile, integrating the southernmost section of the Andes mountains to the southwest towards the Pacific ocean and from the east of the cordillera to the valleys it follows south through Colorado River towards Carmen de Patagones in the Atlantic Ocean...
, of which she made the first one-day ascent, with her then partner Dean Potter
Dean Potter
Dean Potter is an American free climber, alpinist, BASE jumper, BASEliner, and highliner. He is noted for hard first ascents, free solo ascents, speed ascents, and enchainments in Yosemite and Patagonia....
.
Davis has soloed routes on Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
's Long's Peak's east face, The Diamond, a thousand-foot granite wall at 14,000 feet. In the summer of 2007, she free-soloed the Diamond four times, with the final solo recorded by Peter Mortimer
Peter Mortimer (filmmaker)
Peter Mortimer is an American filmmaker from Colorado. He has produced and directed three films related to rock climbing and mountaineering under the production group Sender Films.-Biography:...
, of Sender Films. Soon afterward, she free-soloed and BASE jumped Castleton Tower
Castleton Tower
Castleton Tower is a Wingate Sandstone tower standing on a 1,000 foot talus cone above the northeastern border of Castle Valley, Utah. The Tower is world renowned as a subject for photography and for its classic rock climbing routes, the most famous of which is the Kor-Ingalls Route featured in...
, in Moab, Utah
Moab, Utah
Moab is a city in Grand County, in eastern Utah, in the western United States. The population was 4,779 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat and largest city in Grand County. Moab hosts a large number of tourists every year, mostly visitors to the nearby Arches and Canyonlands National Parks...
.
Davis has made first ascents around Moab including the Tombstone. In 2008, she climbed Concepcion, one of the hardest pure crack climbs in the world. Steph has been on successful international expeditions to climb new routes in alpine
Alpine style
Alpine style refers to mountaineering in a self-sufficient manner, thereby carrying all of one's food, shelter, equipment etc. as one climbs, as opposed to expedition style mountaineering which involves setting up a fixed line of stocked camps on the mountain which can be accessed at one's leisure...
, big wall, and solo
Solo climbing
Solo climbing or soloing is a style of climbing in which the climber climbs alone, without somebody belaying him. There are three ways to climb solo:* Roped solo climbing:**lead climbing with a self-locking device which is used to arrest a fall...
styles, including in Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan , officially the Kyrgyz Republic is one of the world's six independent Turkic states . Located in Central Asia, landlocked and mountainous, Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the southwest and China to the east...
, Baffin Island
Baffin Island
Baffin Island in the Canadian territory of Nunavut is the largest island in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, the largest island in Canada and the fifth largest island in the world. Its area is and its population is about 11,000...
, Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, and Patagonia
Patagonia
Patagonia is a region located in Argentina and Chile, integrating the southernmost section of the Andes mountains to the southwest towards the Pacific ocean and from the east of the cordillera to the valleys it follows south through Colorado River towards Carmen de Patagones in the Atlantic Ocean...
. Davis was the first American woman to summit Fitzroy
Cerro Chaltén
Monte Fitz Roy is a mountain located near El Chaltén village, in the Southern Patagonian Ice Field in Patagonia, on the border between Argentina and Chile...
in Patagonia and to summit all seven major peaks of the Fitzroy Range.
Early life
She grew up playing the piano from the age of three. In 1990, when she was a freshman at the University of MarylandUniversity of Maryland, College Park
The University of Maryland, College Park is a top-ranked public research university located in the city of College Park in Prince George's County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C...
she first began her love with climbing, learning the sport at Carderock
Carderock, Maryland
Carderock, Maryland, is located in Montgomery County, Maryland, along the Potomac River. Carderock is just west of Bethesda.It is the location of a division of the U.S. Naval Surface Warfare Center ....
While at Maryland, Davis spent her summers at Devils Tower
Devils Tower National Monument
Devils Tower is an igneous intrusion or laccolith located in the Black Hills near Hulett and Sundance in Crook County, northeastern Wyoming, above the Belle Fourche River...
in Wyoming. She became an exchange student for a year at Colorado State University
Colorado State University
Colorado State University is a public research university located in Fort Collins, Colorado. The university is the state's land grant university, and the flagship university of the Colorado State University System.The enrollment is approximately 29,932 students, including resident and...
to improve her climbing skills; and enjoyed it so much she moved to Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
where she graduated from Colorado State University with a master's degree. She attended University of Colorado
University of Colorado at Boulder
The University of Colorado Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado...
's law school, but after five days of law school she quit and moved to Rifle, Colorado
Rifle, Colorado
The City of Rifle is a Home Rule Municipality in Garfield County, Colorado, United States. The population was 6,769 at the 2000 census. Rifle is a regional center of the cattle ranching industry located along Interstate 70 and the Colorado River just east of the Roan Cliffs, which dominate the...
, against the will of her parents, to pursue her passion for climbing.
For the next seven years, she lived out of her vehicle, first in a Cutlass Ciera
Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera
The Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera is a mid-size car that was sold from 1982 through 1996 by the Oldsmobile division of General Motors.It shared the front-wheel drive A platform with the very similar Buick Century, Pontiac 6000 and Chevrolet Celebrity; both Olds and Chevy considered using the Celebrity...
and later out of a Ford Ranger
Ford Ranger
The Ford Ranger is a pickup truck produced by the Ford Motor Company. The "Ranger" name had previously been used for a premium styling package on the F-Series full-sized pickup trucks since 1965. The name was moved to this line of North American compact trucks for the 1983 model year.In North...
pickup, driving around to climbing areas, guiding, and waiting tables for cash. Before she started going to the mountains of Patagonia, she spent her winters in Hueco Tanks
Hueco Tanks
Hueco Tanks is an area of low mountains in El Paso County, Texas, USA. It is located in a high-altitude desert basin between the Franklin Mountains to the west and the Hueco Mountains to the east. Hueco is a Spanish word meaning hollows and refers to the many water-holding depressions in the...
, enjoying its bouldering
Bouldering
Bouldering is a style of rock climbing undertaken without a rope and normally limited to very short climbs over a crash pad so that a fall will not result in serious injury. It is typically practiced on large natural boulders or artificial boulders in gyms and outdoor urban areas...
.
She soon found Long's Peak in the nearby Rocky Mountains
Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States...
and over two summers made 15 ascents. Eventually, she made Moab her home by "acquiring a storage unit and a library card."
Davis's book High Infatuation: A Climber's Guide to Love and Gravity (ISBN 1594850658), has been translated into multiple languages. She is a blogger and photographer at highinfatuation.com.
Notable ascents
- Freerider (VI 5.12.d/13a). El Capitan. 2003. Second woman to free El Cap in a day. First freed it wall style, then returned a month later to free it in under 24 hours.
- Salathé Wall (El Capitan)Salathé Wall (El Capitan)The Salathé Wall is one of the original technical climbing routes up El Capitan, a high granite monolith in Yosemite National Park. The Salathé Wall was named by Yvon Chouinard in honor of John Salathé, a pioneer of rock climbing in Yosemite...
(VI 5.13 b/c) El Capitan. 2005. First woman to free the Salathe Wall. - Concepcion (5.13b/c) Moab. 2008. Third ascent of the route, first woman to redpoint it. The free ascent links the full pitch, bypassing the anchors partway up the route. The redpoint was filmed by Peter Mortimer for The Sharp End.
- The Tombstone (5.13) Moab, 2005. First free ascent, team style with Dean PotterDean PotterDean Potter is an American free climber, alpinist, BASE jumper, BASEliner, and highliner. He is noted for hard first ascents, free solo ascents, speed ascents, and enchainments in Yosemite and Patagonia....
. - The Crackhouse, Moab. 2004. First female ascent.
- Shipton Spire, Pakistan. Inshallah VI 5.12 A1. 1998. Third ascent of Shipton Spire, new route climbed all free except for a blank 10 foot section. With Kennan Harvey and Seth Shaw.
- Tahir Tower, Pakistan. All Quiet on the Eastern Front (VI 5.11 A3). 2000. First ascent of the tower in the Kondus Valley with Jimmy Chin, Brady Robinson and Dave Anderson.
- Jushua Tower, Baffin Island. Zen and the Art of Leadership (VI 5.11 A4) 1999. First ascent of the tower with Russ Mitrovich and Brandon Kannier.
- Peak 3850, Kyrgyzstan. Big Yellow Moon. (V 5.12) 1997. First free ascent with Kennan Harvey.
- Peak 4520, Kyrgyzstan. “A Thousand Years of Christianity” (V 5.9) 1997. Solo ascent.
- Poincinot North Face, Potter-Davis Route (V 5.11 C1 WI4) 2001. First ascent with Dean PotterDean PotterDean Potter is an American free climber, alpinist, BASE jumper, BASEliner, and highliner. He is noted for hard first ascents, free solo ascents, speed ascents, and enchainments in Yosemite and Patagonia....
, alpine style. - Torre Egger, Titanic. 2003. (East Pillar) (UIAA VI+ A2) First one-day ascent of Torre Egger, with Dean Potter.
- Cerro Standhardt, 2003. New route with Dean Potter.
- Fitzroy, Franco-Argentine, 2002. First American woman to summit Fitzroy.
- Poincinot, Whillans Route. 2001.
- Guillaumet, 3 ascents.
- Mermoz, Red Pillar (V 5.12) and the standard route. Also linked Mermoz and Guillaumet in a day with Dean Potter.
- L’Aiguille de l’S. Two times. With Charlie Fowler and Laurence Monnoyeur.
- Innominata.
- Saint Exupery. The Englishman’s Route.
- The North Tower of Paine, with Charlie Fowler.
Notable free solos
- The Diamond (Longs Peak)The Diamond (Longs Peak)The Diamond is the sheer and prominent east face of Longs Peak and named for the shape of the cliff. The face has a vertical gain of more than 900 feet all above an elevation of 13,000 feet...
, 2007. First free soloed the Casual Route (V 5.10) two times, then proceeded to free solo Pervertical Sanctuary (V 5.11-) two times. Both solos of Pervertical Sanctuary were filmed by Peter Mortimer for The Sharp End. - North Face, Castleton Tower (5.11). 2008. Free soloed the route and descended by base jumping.
- Coyne Crack (5.11+) Indian Creek. 1997.
- Scarface (5.11) Indian Creek. 1997.