Where to start about Bobbi Bensman?? Bobbi has been climbing since 1980 and was basically the Alex Puccio of her time. She was a professional climber for 21 years until she transitioned to a full-time job as a sales rep for outdoor companies and became a mother to two daughters.

In her time as a pro climber, she helped forge the way for strong female climbing by doing one of the first 5.14a female ascents, which was quickly downgraded after her send. We talk about how controversial that – and other – downgrades of hers were and how she dealt with that at the time.

We talk about how her climbing and training have changed – if at all – as she’s gotten older, and how becoming a parent changed her climbing and lifestyle.

Bobbi has an unquenchable thirst for climbing and has never stopped being motivated by her goals. She does whatever it takes to follow her passions and she’ll tell you all about that in the interview.

I’ve gotten a lot of requests recently for interviews with older climbers, so I hope this is helpful to hear how Bobbi is still sending basically just as hard now as she did 30 years ago.

• Most notable ascents

• Instagram @bobbibensman

Photo of Bobbi on Helicopter V6 by  @dog_man_van

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