My mission is to empower women to climb confidently.

Meet Kate

A nomadic storyteller at heart, I have lived in many places across the country. After I fell head over heel hooks for climbing, Colorado called to me and I have now called it home for nearly 7 years – the longest I’ve lived in one place.

I recently became certified as an AMGA Single Pitch Instructor to share my love of climbing, which was something I never could have imagined 10 (or even 5) years ago.

I’m not a strong or fearless climber. I don’t have great footwork, and I get scared all the time.

I’m no Alex Honnold or Lynn Hill, and that’s the point. I still have fun and climb a ton.

I’ve bouldered in epic places like Yosemite and Patagonia, I’ve summitted Devils Tower in Wyoming, climbed multi-pitch in Zion, spent a lot of time in Joshua Tree, and explored crags across the country and all around Colorado.

But I didn’t grow up in the mountains - I grew up in Michigan. And I didn’t start climbing until I was 35. Believe me, you can start climbing whenever you want, no matter your background.

My Motivation

Before I got into climbing, I spent twenty years working in television production, mostly as a sports camera operator.

I was usually the only woman camera op, and many times the only woman on the crew at all. I loved what I did and was proud as I proved myself to be capable and skilled.

But along with proving myself, I often felt like I had to prove that all women were capable. And that didn’t really seem to change all that much in those twenty years.

When I found climbing, I also found a community of women supporting and encouraging each other, and I had really never experienced that before.

The more time I spent in gatherings of badass women instead of being the only girl in the room, the more I felt the power of this kind of community. Of course, I had many supportive men in my career and in climbing, but there was a special kind of magic that came from being surrounded by strong women.

So it became my mission to help other women find that magic, too, and that’s why I’ve created this space.