Climbing Free

Climbing Free is the story of Lynn Hill’s life as a pioneering woman in what was once a male dominated sport of rock climbing. Lynn started out as a traditional climber in Southern California in 1975, where she joined forces with a group of climbers known as the Stonemasters, who pushed the standards of free climbing during the 70’s and 80’s. Lynn’s adventures continued to expand as she traveled across the country from California to New York, and then abroad to Europe in 1986. On her first trip to France, Lynn discovered what is now referred to as, sport climbing on the uniquely featured limestone cliffs of southern France. Soon thereafter, she was invited to return to Europe to participate in the first organized climbing competitions in the history of the sport. Lynn was one of the first champions of competition climbing from the mid 1980’s until 1992, when she left the world of competition climbing to pursue her first passion of rock climbing. Lynn was the first woman to climb 5.14 (three-years before any other woman), and the first woman to on-sight 5.13b.