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Hazel Findlay

British rock climber From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Hazel Findlay (born May 1989) is a British traditional climber, sport climber and big wall climber. She was the first female British climber to climb a route graded E9, and a route graded 8c (5.14b). She did the third ascent of the Yosemite traditional route Magic Line 5.14c (8c+). She has free climbed El Capitán four times on four different routes and made many first female ascents on other routes. Climbing magazine gave her their Golden Piton Award [fr] (Alpine) for traditional climbing in 2013.

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Biography

Findlay was born in 1989,[1] the daughter of climber Steve Findlay.[2] She began climbing on the sea cliffs of Pembrokeshire with her father when she was six years old.[3][4] She became a six-time junior national rock climbing champion but gave up competition climbing in favor of traditional climbing.[1] She is a graduate of the University of Bristol, where she studied philosophy.[5] She lives in North Wales. She married climber Angus Kille in Las Vegas in 2023.

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Notable climbs

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Findlay made the 3rd ascent of Magic Line (2nd ascent placing the gear) 5.14c/bc+ (E10) Findlay made the first female ascent of a British E9 grade climb with her June 2011 climb of Dave Birkett's route Once Upon a Time in the South West (E9 6c) at Dyer's Lookout in Devon.[2][6]

She is the first British woman to free climb El Capitán in Yosemite National Park, which she has done four times:[5] she made the first female ascent of Golden Gate in 2011,[3] the first female ascent of Pre-Muir Wall in 2012,[7] and an ascent of Freerider in only three days in 2013.[8] In 2017 she free-climbed the Salathé Wall.[9]

She was the first person to free-climb Adder Crack (5.13a), in Squamish, British Columbia, in 2012.[10] She was the first person to climb 'Tainted Love' in Squamish (5.13d). With Jack Geldard, she made the first ascent of the front face of the Aiguille de Saussure, a spire in the Mont Blanc massif, Chamonix, France, also in 2012.[11] In 2022, along with Alex Honnold, she made a first free ascent of Ingmikortilaq, a 3,750-foot wall and one of the world’s tallest monoliths, in Greenland.[12] A more complete list of Hazel's ascents can be found on theCrag.


Other first female ascents of trad routes by Findlay include:

As well as trad climbing, Findlay has also climbed sport climbing routes;[22] most notably:

  • In 2014, she climbed Fish Eye in Oliana, Spain, reaching a difficulty level of 8c/5.14b. Although not a first female ascent (the route had been climbed in 2010 by Daila Ojeda) it was the highest level attained by a British female climber.[23][24]
  • In 2017, she climbed Mind Control (8c), also in Oliana.[25]
  • In 2022, she climbed Esclatamasters (9a) in Spain
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Awards and sponsorship

Climbing magazine gave Findlay their Golden Piton Award [fr] for traditional climbing in 2013, citing climbs including Chicama and Freerider.[7]

She is professionally sponsored by Black Diamond Equipment, La Sportiva, Sea to Summit, Motion Nutrition.

She has launched a mental training business for climbers called "Strong Mind Climbing".

References

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