Stephanie "Steph" Davis is an American rock climber, BASE jumper, and wingsuit flyer. She is one of the world's leading climbers, having completed some of the hardest routes in the world. She has free soloed up to 5.11a (6b+), and was the first woman to summit all the peaks of the Fitzroy Range in Patagonia, the second woman to free climb El Capitan in a day, the first woman to free climb the Salathė Wall on El Capitan, the first woman to free solo The Diamond on Longs Peak in Colorado, and the first woman to summit Torre Egger. Davis was married to fellow climbers and BASE jumpers Dean Potter and Mario Richard, and currently to sky-diving instructor, flyer, and jumper Ian Mitchard. Davis is also a blogger who writes about her interests in climbing, BASE jumping, yoga, and veganism.
Davis in 2010
Davis free climbed the Salathé Wall route (at left) on El Capitan in Yosemite, which stretches 3,200 feet (980 m).
The Diamond on Longs Peak is the most famous alpine rock climbing area in Colorado.
Steph Davis BASE jumping with a wingsuit.
Free solo climbing, or free soloing, is a form of rock climbing where the climbers climb solo without ropes or other protective equipment, using only their climbing shoes and their climbing chalk. Free soloing is the most dangerous form of climbing, and, unlike bouldering, free soloists climb above safe heights, where a fall can be fatal. Though many climbers have free soloed climbing grades they are very comfortable on, only a tiny group free solo regularly, and at grades closer to the limit of their abilities.
Alain Robert free solo of Pol Pot (5.12d, 7c), Verdon Gorge, 1996
Steph Davis free solo of Outer Limits (5.11a), Yosemite, c2002
Heinz Zak [de] free soloing Separate Reality in 2005; Zak had taken the iconic photograph of Wolfgang Güllich making the first free solo of Separate Reality in 1986
Michael Reardon free soloing Lower Right Ski Track (5.10b) in Joshua Tree National Park, 2007.