Beth Rodden
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Beth Rodden (born April 5, 1980) is an American rock climber known for her ascents of hard single-pitch
traditional climbing Traditional climbing (or trad climbing) is a type of free climbing in rock climbing where the lead climber places removable protection while simultaneously ascending the route; when the lead climber has completed the route, the second climber ...
routes. She was the youngest woman to climb and is one of the only women in the world to have redpointed a traditional climbing graded climb. Rodden and fellow climber Tommy Caldwell were partners from 2000 to 2010, during which time they completed the second free ascent of '' The Nose''. In 2008, Rodden made the first ascent of ''Meltdown'', one of the hardest traditional climbs in the world and the first time in history that a female climber matched the peak of the highest climbing grades.


Climbing career

Rodden started climbing in 1995 at The Rocknasium, a local climbing gym in Davis, California. She won the Junior National JCCA Championships in 1996, 1997, and 1998; ranked first overall in the ASCF adult national series in 1997 and 1998; and placed third at the ASCF Fall Nationals in 1998. In 1998 Rodden redpointed the
sport Sport is a physical activity or game, often Competition, competitive and organization, organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The numbe ...
route ''To Bolt Or Not To Be'', the historical first 5.14 established in America, and became the youngest woman to ascend 5.14a. Her work impressed free climbing pioneer Lynn Hill, who invited Rodden to make the first all-female ascent of Madagascar's Tsaranoro Massif in 1999. The trip to Madagascar marked Rodden's move to a less mainstream trad climbing career. In 2000, she put up the first free ascent of ''Lurking Fear'' with Tommy Caldwell, marking El Capitan's second first free ascent by a woman. With ''Lurking Fear'' and her 2005 free ascent of ''The Nose'', she became the first woman to free climb two routes on El Capitan. In October 2005 she free-climbed ''The Optimist'', becoming the first American woman to redpoint 5.14b. In 2006, Beth and then husband Tommy Caldwell, competed in the 2006 Triple Crown Bouldering Series to raise money for climber's access. In February 2008, Rodden redpointed the first ascent of ''Meltdown'', a thin sustained crack in Yosemite previously projected by Ron Kauk. A proposed grade of 5.14c made it the hardest pitch in Yosemite, and first ascent by a woman. Despite many talented climbers attempting it, it took 11 years for anyone to make a second ascent.


Hostage in Kyrgyzstan

On a climbing trip to
Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan, officially the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia lying in the Tian Shan and Pamir Mountains, Pamir mountain ranges. Bishkek is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Kyrgyzstan, largest city. Kyrgyz ...
's Kara Su Valley in August 2000, Rodden, then-boyfriend Tommy Caldwell, and fellow climbers Jason "Singer" Smith and photographer John Dickey were held hostage for six days by rebels from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. The four climbers overpowered one of their captors and escaped to a Kyrgyz army camp. During their capture they were forced to hide around the valley as their captors avoided the military. At midnight on August 18, the commander left them all to search for batteries for the radio as well as food, leaving only one guard, Ravshan Sharipov, to watch the four captives. The ordeal finally ended when Tommy Caldwell pushed him off the edge of the cliff, although they learned later that Sharipov survived. About the decision to push Sharipov off, Beth stated: "It's so hard to think about that now, but we were afraid we wouldn't survive." Their story was a brief sensation in the American media. The Kyrgyzstan incident is included in the 2017 film The Dawn Wall. Rodden's climbing suffered and she did not travel internationally for a year. Then in October 2001 she climbed
El Capitan El Capitan (; ) is a vertical Rock formations in the United States, rock formation in Yosemite National Park, on the north side of Yosemite Valley, near its western end. The El Capitan Granite, granite monolith is about from base to summit alo ...
in an Americares event to raise money for the families of
9/11 The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
rescue personnel. She returned to the top tier of rock climbing, onsighting ''Phoenix'', a 5.13a crack in Yosemite, in May 2002.


Personal life

Rodden met Tommy Caldwell through competition in 1995 and they started dating shortly before Kyrgyzstan. They married in 2003, lived in
Yosemite Yosemite National Park ( ) is a national park of the United States in California. It is bordered on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The park is managed by the National Park Service ...
, and both worked establishing themselves as professional climbers. Rodden and Caldwell divorced in 2009. In 2014, she had a son with husband Randy Puro. Rodden has also said that she struggled with an
eating disorder An eating disorder is a mental disorder defined by abnormal eating behaviors that adversely affect a person's health, physical or mental health, mental health. These behaviors may include eating too much food or too little food. Types of eatin ...
early on in her career, and she currently criticizes the perceived importance of
weight In science and engineering, the weight of an object is a quantity associated with the gravitational force exerted on the object by other objects in its environment, although there is some variation and debate as to the exact definition. Some sta ...
in the sport.


Notable ascents

* est.1997: ''Country Boy'' (5.13d, 2nd ascent) at Lumpy Ridge, Estes Park Valley, Colorado. * 1998: ''To Bolt or Not to Be'' (5.14a, 8b+) in
Smith Rock State Park Smith Rock State Park is a state park located in central Oregon's High Desert (Oregon), High Desert near the communities of Redmond, Oregon, Redmond and Terrebonne, Oregon, Terrebonne. The day-use area of the park is open daily from dawn to dusk ...
, Oregon. * 1999: ''Bravo les Filles'' (VI 5.13d A0, 13 pitches, with Lynn Hill, Nancy Feagin, and Kath Pyke) in Tsaranoro Massif,
Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...
. * 1999/2000: ''Disco Machine Gun'' (5.13, FA/FFA) Indian Creek Canyon,
Moab, Utah Moab () is the largest city in and the county seat of Grand County in eastern Utah in the western United States, known for its dramatic scenery. The population was 5,366 at the 2020 census. Moab attracts many tourists annually, mostly visitor ...
. * 2000: ''Lurking Fear'' (5.10 A3, FFA with Tommy Caldwell) on
El Capitan El Capitan (; ) is a vertical Rock formations in the United States, rock formation in Yosemite National Park, on the north side of Yosemite Valley, near its western end. The El Capitan Granite, granite monolith is about from base to summit alo ...
, Yosemite Valley. Originally rated 5.10 A3, the first seven pitches free are 5.12c, 5.13c, 5.12d, 5.12d, 5.12a, 5.12c, and 5.13c. * 2002: ''The Phoenix'' (5.13a, first female onsight) Upper Cascade Falls, Yosemite Valley, California. * 2002: ''Grand Illusion'' (5.13c, onsight, first female ascent) at Sugarloaf, California. * 2003: ''Sarchasm'' (5.14a, 8b+, 2nd ascent)
Longs Peak Longs Peak is a mountain in the northern Front Range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The fourteener is located in the Rocky Mountain National Park Wilderness, southwest by south ( bearing 209°) of the Town of Estes Park, Colorado, ...
,
Rocky Mountain National Park Rocky Mountain National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States located approximately northwest of Denver in north-central Colorado, within the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. The park is s ...
, Colorado. * 2003: ''West Buttress'' (5.13c, FFA with Tommy Caldwell) on
El Capitan El Capitan (; ) is a vertical Rock formations in the United States, rock formation in Yosemite National Park, on the north side of Yosemite Valley, near its western end. The El Capitan Granite, granite monolith is about from base to summit alo ...
, Yosemite Valley. All pitches were redpointed at different times; no continuous free ascent done yet. * 2005: ''Anaconda'' (5.13b/c, first female free ascent) at Lumpy Ridge,
Rocky Mountain National Park Rocky Mountain National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States located approximately northwest of Denver in north-central Colorado, within the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. The park is s ...
, Colorado. * 2005: ''Grand Wall'' (5.13b, Free Ascent) multi-pitch at Squamish, B.C. Canada. * 2005: ''The Optimist'' (5.14b, FA/FFA) in
Smith Rock State Park Smith Rock State Park is a state park located in central Oregon's High Desert (Oregon), High Desert near the communities of Redmond, Oregon, Redmond and Terrebonne, Oregon, Terrebonne. The day-use area of the park is open daily from dawn to dusk ...
, Oregon. * 2005: ''The Nose'' (VI 5.14a, 3rd/4th Free Ascent with Tommy Caldwell) on
El Capitan El Capitan (; ) is a vertical Rock formations in the United States, rock formation in Yosemite National Park, on the north side of Yosemite Valley, near its western end. The El Capitan Granite, granite monolith is about from base to summit alo ...
, Yosemite Valley, California. In October Caldwell and Rodden each led about half of the route’s 31 pitches and freed every one. * 2008: ''Meltdown'' (ungraded, thought 5.14c, FA), Upper Cascade Falls, Yosemite Valley, California. She worked the 70-foot crack for most of the winter before redpointing, placing all protection on the redpoint ascent.


Filmography

* 2005: ''Dosage Volume III'' (bigUP productions) - Rodden on ''The Optimist''. * 2005: ''A Day In The Life: 5 Women Who Climb'' (Vasentertainment) * 2006: ''Wall Rats'' (Form Follows Function/Yegg Central Productions) * 2006: ''The First Couple of Rock'' (Corey Rich and Jason Paur) - A film highlighting Rodden and Tommy Caldwell as married climbing partners. * 2008: ''Dosage Volume V'' (bigUP productions) - Rodden on several hard traditional routes including ''Meltdown''. * 2008: ''Grand Canyon Walls'' (bigUP productions/Sender Films) - Rodden and Tommy Caldwell raft down the Grand Canyon looking for first ascents. * 2022: ''Reel Rock 16 - Showcase 2 - This Is Beth'' (A Well Travelled Collective Productions/In partnership with Reel Rock) - Beth Rodden reflects on a legendary climbing career and the challenges of self-talk and body image.


See also

*
History of rock climbing In the history of rock climbing, the three main sub-disciplines – bouldering, Pitch (climbing), single-pitch climbing, and big wall climbing, big wall (and multi-pitch climbing, multi-pitch) climbing – can trace their origins to late 19th-ce ...
* List of first ascents (sport climbing) * Dave MacLeod, Scottish traditional climber * Sonnie Trotter, Canadian traditional climber


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rodden, Beth American rock climbers 1980 births Living people American female climbers 21st-century American sportswomen Sportspeople from San Francisco 21st-century American women