Katherine Lamb (born September 16, 1997) is an American rock climber who specializes in bouldering, and who in 2023 became the first-ever woman in history to climb an graded boulder.
Early life
Lamb started out at the Boston Rock Gym where she initially focused on competition lead climbing, however despite initial promise (she won the 2012 PanAmerican Youth Championships), her studies at Stanford University in computer science kept her away from being able to focus full-time on climbing. After graduation, Lamb told Climbing that she embarked on an "endless climbing trip, supporting her climbing with a mixture of sponsorships and a 20-hour-per-week data science job". Lamb is a worker-owner of Catalyst Cooperative.
Notable ascents In February 2023, Lamb did the first female ascent of Spectre () in The Buttermilks.
On July 28, 2023, Lamb did the first female ascent of Daniel Woods' 2018 route, Box Therapy , at the RMNP, becoming the first female climber ever to climb an graded boulder route. However, the boulder was later downgraded by Brooke and Shawn Rabatou, who both considered it to be V15.
In March 2025, Lamb did the first female ascent of The Dark Side , in Yosemite National Park, once again achieving the feat of becoming the first female climber to climb V16.
See also Tomoko Ogawa, first female climber of an graded boulder Angie Payne, first female climber of an graded boulder Ashima Shiraishi, first female climber of an graded boulder
References
External links
Box Therapy (V16/8C+), HardClimbs (2023) The 22 Best Boulderers in the World, HardClimbs (2023) VIDEO: Katie Lamb on New Base Line (8B+/V14), UKClimbing Magazine (2023)