The Coolest Women I Knew Taught Me to Trad Climb. Their Biggest Lesson Took Me Years to Learn.

I. Girls Gone Wide

The first time I ever climbed with Mary Eden, outside of taking her offwidth camp, was on a cold Sunday in May. I woke up in my 4Runner a few miles outside Indian Creek, Utah, not knowing if she’d gotten my texts in the desert or found the hand-drawn map I’d left in her friend’s truck. The air on the bluff was dry, cold enough for a sweater. She’d agreed to meet up, but I figured she probably had something better to do than climb with a former student.

Then I saw her.