Angie Payne

Angela Payne (born November 6, 1984) is an American rock climber specializing in bouldering, who won a clean sweep of the 2003-2004 US American Bouldering Series, and who in 2010, became the first-ever female in history to climb an 8B (V13) boulder.^[2]

Angie Payne

Personal information
Born	(1984-11-06) November 6, 1984 (age 40) Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
Education	University of Colorado Boulder
Occupation	Professional rock climber
Height	5 ft 5 in (165 cm)[1]
Weight	55 kg (121 lb)[1]
Website	angiepayneclimbing.com
Climbing career
Type of climber	Bouldering
Highest grade	Bouldering: 8B (V13)
Known for	first-ever female to climb an 8B (V13) boulder

Early years

Payne was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio.^[3] She began indoor sport climbing at the age of 11,^[4] and competed in a number of junior sport climbing competitions before switching to bouldering at age 15 to 16.^[3][5] Payne says that her early idols were Lynn Hill, and as she began to focus on bouldering, Lisa Rands.^[6] In 2003, she moved to Boulder to attend college at the University of Colorado Boulder to study veterinary science, graduating in 2010.^[3][6]

Climbing career

Competition climbing

Aged 19, and in her first year in college, Payne won a clean sweep of all three of the American Bouldering Series 5, national championship events, (and thus became the overall ABS 5 champion),^[7] and two Professional Climbers Association (PCA) competitions, (and also the overall PCA championship),^[8] for the 2003-2004 boulder season.^[3][4] Payne finished second overall (2012), and third overall (2006, 2007, and 2015) in the annual US Bouldering Open National Championships (what the ABS became post-2004).^[3] Amongst other podiums and victories in individual competitions,(e.g. the 2006 SENDFEST in Salt Lake City,^[9] and the 2010 Triple Crown Series at Horse Pens 40 in Steele, Alabama^[10]),^[1] in 2013, Payne won the Hueco Rock Rodeo at Hueco Tanks, in Texas.^[11]

Bouldering

From 2004 to 2009, Payne completed the first female ascent of numerous bouldering problems graded V10 (7C+) to V12 (8A+),^[1][4] as well as making the third female ascent of the classic Midnight Lightning in 2004,^[6] and earning an honourable mention in Climbing magazine's 2007 Golden Piton Award [fr] for her climbs,^[4][12] and winning her the 2007 Everest Award for Female Boulderer of the Year, at the 2007 Teva Mountain Games (Chris Sharma won the male award).^[13] In early 2008, Payne climbed Chbalank in Hueco Tanks at V11/V12, and in September 2008, she climbed Dave Graham's European Human Being in the Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) at "hard" V12 (8A+) and her first V12.^[1][14] In February 2009, she climbed Atomic Playboy in Fontainebleau in France, another V12 (8A+).^[14] In June 2010, she climbed Clear Blue Skies, and made the first female ascent of No More Green Grasses, at Mount Blue Sky, both at grade V12 (8A+).^[1][15]

On August 17, 2010, Payne became the first-ever female in history to complete a confirmed 8B (V13) boulder, with her ascent of The Automator in the RMNP (Anna Stöhr would complete the second-ever female ascent of an 8B (V13) just one month later).^[3][5][16] She won a second honourable mention in Climbing magazine's 2010 Golden Piton Awards.^[17] In 2012, Payne, rock climber Ethan Pringle, and mountainer Mike Libecki went to the Kangertittivatsiaq fjord in south east Greeland on a bouldering and climbing expedition.^[18][19] In July 2014, Payne sent her second 8B (V13) boulder, Freaks of the Industry, in Lower Chaos Canyon in the RMNP,^[20] a project she had spent several seasons working on, and which she ranked as one of the achievements she was most proud of in her career.^[3][21]

Rock climbing

In 2015, Payne branched into big wall climbing, ascending the 3,264-foot spire of Poumaka in French Polynesia, with Libecki,^[5][22] which was captured in the film, Poumaka (2016).^[23]

Personal life

In 2016, Payne was working for USA Climbing.^[24] She is a keen amateur photographer.^[24]

Payne has spoken openly about the prevalence of eating disorders in her sport,^[1] and contributes prominently to a documentary on the subject called Light (2021), by Caroline Treadway.^[25][26][27]

Bibliography

• Women Who Dare: North America's Most Inspiring Women Climbers (Chris Noble), 2013, Falcon Guides. page 173–185. ISBN 978-0762783717.
• Better Bouldering, 2nd Edition, (John Sherman), 2011, Falcon Guides. Chapter 12: A Woman's Perspective (Angie Payne) ISBN 978-0762770311.

Filmography

• Award-winning documentary on eating disorders in climbing : Caroline Treadway (director) (2021). Light (Motion picture). See Thru Films. Retrieved February 1, 2022.
• Documentary on ascent of her ascent of Poumaka : Keith Ladzinski, Andy Mann (director) (2016). Poumaka Tower (Motion picture). 3 String Prod. Retrieved February 1, 2022.
• Documentary on leading climbers featuring Payne : Kyle Berkompas (director) (2013). Exposure Vol. 1 (Motion picture). Fryberger Films. ASIN B00IWX37JS. Retrieved February 1, 2022.^[28]
• Documentary on leading climbers featuring Payne : Mike Call (director) (2007). MVM Volume 2 (Motion picture). Momentum Media. Retrieved February 1, 2022.

See also

• History of rock climbing
• List of first ascents (sport climbing)
• Alex Puccio, American bouldering climber
• Alex Johnson, American bouldering climber