Steph Davis has been a professional climber since 1991. But simply calling the Moab, Utah local a climber seems inadequate.

From three years old, Davis was trained in the Suzuki Method on the piano. She practiced everyday, sometimes for hours a day, until she discovered a passion for climbing. The piano fell silent as climbing became her primary focus.

In 2004, Davis became only the second woman to free climb El Capitan in one day. The following year she freed the formation’s Salathe Wall—the first woman ever to do so. She’s logged climbing achievements all over the world, and has confronted fear while free soloing walls such as the Diamond on Longs Peak. 

For Davis, climbing is about when to hold on, and when to let go. We talk about her evolution as an athlete—how she went from focusing exclusively on climbing to adding base jumping and wingsuit flying to her repertoire. She describes the sense of euphoria gained from free soloing, and why it can’t be replicated.

This episode is brought to you by The North Face.

Alpinist Magazine

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Host: Abbey Collins

Guest: Steph Davis

Producer + Engineer: Mike Horn