CLIMBING FREE: My Life in the Vertical World

A legend in the world of high-altitude rock climbing, Hill has pursued her love of "free climbing"—using only your body to ascent "without altering the rock or using artificial means to pull yourself higher"—since 1975, when she was one of the pioneers of the free climbing movement in the climbing mecca of the Mojave Desert's Joshua Tree area, through the early 1990s as one of the top competitors in the lucrative World Cup climbing circuit. In her first book, a remarkably entertaining autobiography, Hill not only tells of her own love affair with the sport but also traces a change in rock climbing culture over the decades, from "the mountaineering heritage of climbing in which risk and danger were considered integral to the experience" to an environment where "contenders spent the majority of their time training on artificial walls crammed into their basements." She details some of the darker sides of climbing, such as early sexist attitudes toward women climbers and the favoritism shown to various "star" climbers at international competitions. And she recounts heart-stopping climbs, such as her 1994 free ascent of the Nose on Yosemite's El Capitan mountain, a feat no one has been able to repeat. Hill's belief that "the spirit of free climbing is about adapting one's personal capacities and dimensions to the natural features of the rock, not the other way around," continues to spur her on to daring new climbs, which bodes well for a sequel to this fascinating book. (May 6)