Louise Shepherd on Her Female Climbing Role Models and Connecting With Other Women in the 80’s

Louise Shepherd was and is a juggernaut for women’s climbing, particularly in Australia, where she did for climbing what Lynn Hill did in the US - make it impossible to ignore that women are excellent at this. And this was before everybody got the news from everywhere immediately - so, yes, there needed to be a palpable example in all of the climbing hotspots. And there was. Jill Lawrence in the UK, Catherine Destivelle in France, Christine Gambert, though French, was often climbing in Germany, Lynn Hill in the US, and of course, Louise Shepherd in Australia.  

Louise and I only had a short time to chat, so I came in researched and ready, and trying to fill some of the gaps that I hadn’t been able to fill through my reading, and in turn, got some great stories from Louise about climbing with the other women we’ve been discussing. 

Save Arapiles Climbing Petition: https://www.change.org/p/save-natimuk-stop-the-rock-climbing-ban-at-the-famous-mt-arapiles

Save Arapiles Climbing Video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_bYfeWq_Nw

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Season Two is generously supported by Rab. 

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Written in Stone is co-created with Power Company Climbing.