Stephanie "Steph" Davis (born November 4, 1973) is an American rock climber, BASE jumper and wingsuit flyer. She is one of the world's leading climbers, having completed some of the hardest routes in the world. She has free soloed up to , and was the first woman to summit all the peaks of the Fitzroy Range in Patagonia, the second woman to free climb El Capitan in a day, the first woman to free climb the Salathė Wall on El Capitan, the first woman to free solo The Diamond on Longs Peak in Colorado and the first woman to summit Torre Egger. Davis was married to fellow climbers and BASE jumpers Dean Potter and Mario Richard (both of whom died wingsuiting) and currently to sky-diving instructor, flyer and jumper Ian Mitchard. Davis is also a blogger who writes about her interests in climbing, BASE jumping, yoga and veganism.
Early life Davis was born in Illinois and grew up in New Jersey and Columbia, Maryland. Her father, Virgil, was an aeronautical engineer and her mother, Connie, a school teacher. Davis describes herself as an unathletic child, a straight-A student and very musical. She grew up playing the piano from the age of three using the Suzuki method. By the time she was 18, she practiced six hours a day; she also played the flute and sang. In the documentary A Perfect Circle, Davis said that she learned "discipline" and "how to project things" from her 15 years of playing the piano. Her own self-description has been mirrored by others. In one Outside profile, for example, her "greatest assets" are described as "sheer will and a brainy, methodical work ethic" rather than "natural athletic talent and flawless technique".
In 1990, she attended the University of Maryland, becoming an English major. In the spring of 1991, a fellow student offered to take her climbing and she fell in love with it. She describes herself as "lit up" after climbing for the first time. She did not have this same love for piano so she quit. Ever since then, she has "had a hard time wanting to do anything else". She says that "climbing was challenging for me from day one and I think that's why I got so sucked in." In her breaks from school, Davis climbed on Longs Peak and bouldered in Hueco Tanks.
She moved to Colorado, where she was an exchange student at Colorado State University (CSU) for a year, and continued to pursue climbing there. She graduated with a bachelor's degree from the University of Maryland then moved to Colorado and attended CSU to get a master's degree in English. Her thesis focused on the canon of mountaineering literature and "the ways in which reality can be so disparate and shifting for each individual who is living through extreme circumstances" as Davis describes it. She considered attending doctoral programs in English but decided against it. She attended University of Colorado's law school beginning in September 1995, but quit after five days, knowing it was not the life for her. Against the will of her parents, she decided to pursue her passion for climbing. Davis' mother, Connie, said "It was a big shock. We were just a regular family so climbing wasn't something we could relate to. She did it by herself with no help from us."
Climbing career
For the seven years after she graduated from college, Davis lived out of her car, which at first was her grandmother's Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera; she even built a bed in the backseat. She drove around to climbing areas, guiding and waiting tables to make ends meet, earning only about US$6,000 a year. She read throughout her journeys, from novels by Gabriel García Márquez to an autobiography by Kirstie Alley, to French short stories in the original language. Some of her favorite authors are T.C. Boyle, Victor Villasenor, and Rumi. Among her climbing heroes is Layton Kor. Her parents continued to disapprove of her lifestyle, however, and she felt very alone: "My parents did not like my choices and thought I was doing stupid things with my life, and they told me so. I didn't feel like anyone cared if I did a climb I was proud of. They were just like, 'Great. What about your future schooling?'" As Davis became more well-known and successful at climbing, however, she was able to make a better living, particularly from sponsorships from major companies such as Patagonia, Five Ten, Clif Bar, and Black Diamond.
In 1998, Patagonia hired Davis as its first female "climbing ambassador". In exchange for money and free gear, she promoted their products. For Davis, it was the "validation she craved"; "it was like they were playing the role my parents never did. Their support of my passion—even more than the financial support—means everything to me." However, being a paid promoter meant that Davis had to adjust her ideas of climbing. "To be a professional climber, you have to sell yourself and convince everybody you're the best. But I don't think there is a 'best'".
Freerider In 2004, Davis started working on Freerider (5.12d), a 38-pitch climb on El Capitan.For more information on the climb, itself, see Her aim was to free climb the route. In order to be able to achieve this in one climb, she had to know the route through and through, so she practiced it extensively. Two to three times a week, she would hike 10 miles to the summit, rope solo to the lower parts of the route and climb up alone. Potter belayed her, during her actual attempt in April 2004. After a grueling four-day climb, she became the first woman to free climb the route. In May, with the assistance of Heinz Zak, she became the second woman, after Lynn Hill, to execute a one-day free climb of El Capitan.
Salathé Wall
In 2004, Davis became the second woman to free climb El Capitan in one day. One year later, in October 2005, she became the first woman to free climb the Salathé Wall, on El Capitan, The route is rated 5.13b/c, is 35 pitches, and approximately long. The difficulty of the climb can be described as "spidering up the side of a skyscraper, climbing to [handholds] no bigger than lentils". What makes Davis' achievement even more impressive is that she free climbed the route, meaning that she used only her hands and feet to climb the rock; she did not hang off the rope or any other mechanical aids. Davis worked on the route throughout September, learning every inch of the climb and meeting Cybele Blood, who became her belayer. Davis had initially planned for the climb to take five days and had cached water and food along the route for that length of the time, but poor weather, high numbers of climbers on the route and difficult climbing made the climb take eleven days. In fact, Davis wore only light climbing shoes, climbing tights, long underwear, and a light wind jacket. The only other gear she had was climbing gear, a lightweight sleeping bag, a portable espresso maker, water and food. When the two ran low on food and water, Blood went looking for the cached supplies but couldn't find them, so Davis "jugged" to the top to get some water and then returned to the route to continue the free climb. This climb was Davis' "dream come true" and afterwards she said, "I don't have to prove anything to myself anymore, or to anyone else."
She is also the first woman to climb Torre Egger, a difficult summit in Patagonia, of which she made the first one-day ascent, with her then partner Dean Potter. When Davis arrived in Patagonia, Potter was already established, and they both climbed Cerro Stanhardt via what might have been a new route on the east face. They next attempted Torre Egger, but half-a-rope-length from the top had to turn back because of a melting ice mushroom that would have made it dangerous to continue. Once colder weather returned, the couple climbed Titanic on the east side of Torre Egger, a feat that took them 23 hours. As of December 2015, according to Dougald MasDonald, it was the first ascent by a woman, and may have been the peak's first one-day ascent.
The 2006 and 2007 were pivotal years for Davis in terms of her relationships and her climbing. In 2006, Davis' marriage to Potter ended after he climbed Delicate Arch that year. The controversial climb resulted in a public outcry, and there was a lot of criticism directed at him for climbing "such a revered landmark". The couple lost much of their financial stability because they lost a lot of sponsorships. This financial stress added to their already tension-filled relationships and led to their divorce. As a result, Davis drove from Yosemite to Colorado; she could not face going home to Moab.
Free soloing
Davis has made free solo climbing a specialty and is "one of the world's most experienced" free solo climbers. In free solo climbing, climbers rely only on themselves to ascend the rock and use no protective gear; they use no ropes, harnesses or anything else. Davis has said that she is not into free soloing for the "death-defying buzz" but rather for the sense of "control".
The Diamond on Longs Peak in Colorado is the first place Davis went alpine-climbing. It is "the most famous alpine rock climbing destination in Colorado". It is vertical to overhung granite full of cracks and at the top is . After her first experience there at the age of 24, she returned frequently in the summers. She began her free solo experience of the area by soloing Kiener's Route (5.3) July 7, 2007, working up to harder routes.For more on the climb, itself, see Next, on July 14, she free soloed Casual Route (5.10) and returned again on August 27, after soloing a route on another mountain, to see if she would feel more at ease.
In September 2007, Davis free-soloed Pervertical Sanctuary (5.11a), which was her goal, a difficult route on the east face of Longs Peak (), a thousand-foot granite wall known as "The Diamond" in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado.For more on the climb, itself, see She repeated the feat on September 13 with Peter Mortimer filming. Famous among climbers, Ryan Minton explains in his article about Davis' achievement that "The Diamond is one of the most revered alpine walls in North America" and all of the climbing routes on it are extremely difficult. To be fully prepared and be sure she was not bothered by other climbers, Davis slept close to the peak itself on 3 September and began climbing at 4:15am. Interviewed after the climb, Davis said that positive thinking was central to her success, as well as knowing that she was carrying very little gear and the conception of herself as a crack climber. Davis is the first woman to free solo the Diamond and the second person to free solo the Pervertical Sanctuary route (the other is Derek Hersey).
In May 2008, Davis free soloed the North Face (5.11b) of the Castleton Tower, at the 5.11 grade. For more on the climb itself, see It is a famous formation in Castle Valley, Utah. After Davis climbed it, she BASE jumped from the top. In describing this climb, she referred to her climb and jump as "the cleanest possible style". Davis prepared by climbing the route multiple times in April and waiting for the perfect weather conditions. BASE jumping requires specific conditions, especially around Moab, where the cliffs are so short. On 4 May, the weather and Davis' mental state coincided, and she was ready to free solo the route. Although she woke up with a cold, for her the mental state was more important than the physical. However, while climbing she accidentally stepped on the cuff of her pants, which she unusually had unrolled due to cool temperatures and slipped; because she had such good hand and arm placement, however, she did not fall. The climb was filmed by a close friend, Jim Hurst. Davis has said in an interview that while she had always refused to have her free solos filmed in the past because she has known him so long and because he knows how she climbs, having him film was not an imposition. There was no communication between them during the filming.