At a petite 5 feet tall and 100 pounds, Lynn Hill has scaled one of the world's most terrifying -- and perhaps best known -- mountain faces, making her a legend in the rock-climbing community.
More than 70 people crowded into Houston Hall to see Hill on Friday, and a few even trickled in a full hour early. From students and athletes to businessmen and women in leather motorcycle jackets, Hill attracted a diverse audience. Some drove more than three hours just to see her.
The event was comprised of a multimedia slideshow, talk, book signing and raffle; the latter featured prizes such as a $100 gift certificate to Eastern Mountain Sports, a nylon windbreaker and a climbing rope valued at over $200.
Hill's presentation focused more on the places she had climbed than on the climbs themselves.
"I use rock climbing as my vehicle to travel around the world," she said.
For Hill, traveling is just as much about finding the best spots to climb as it is about appreciating different cultures.
"It's like being on a wall," she said about her experiences in foreign countries. "You've got to make do with what's presented to you."
She has competed all over the world: France, Sardinia, Madagascar, Vietnam, Morocco, Thailand and Tasmania.
Her presentation ended with a discussion about Cuba.
"What is Cuba? We all have these ideas," she said, but "we're not really allowed to go there" and experience Cuba for ourselves.
Hill tried to dispel cultural myths that Americans may have about Cuba by showing a video in which people were dancing, working and playing soccer by sunset.
"Some of Havana even looks like Europe," she added.
However, by highlighting her appreciation of culture, Hill downplayed her achievements.
She is the only person to ever "free" -- which means to climb without equipment -- the Nose of El Capitan in Yosemite.
Hill accomplished this feat less than 10 years after she began competing and climbed the 2,900-foot vertical face in 23 hours.
She began climbing in 1975 at age 14. In 1990, she was the first woman to climb a 5.14 route, one of the most difficult grades. She has won more than 30 international titles, including the 1997 Italian World Cup Climbing Championship.
Hill stopped competing in 1992 and last year gave birth to Owen, her first child. This, however, has not stopped her from climbing.
"I think it is a good inspiration for women who think they can't" juggle professional and family life, she said. "Most important is being able to focus on one thing at a time: focus on child, focus on climbing, focus on whatever I need to."
Hill let the personal side of rock climbing rather than its technicalities dominate her speech.
"I really liked it," said Natalie Vane, a Wharton junior who arrived knowing nothing about rock climbing.
Other students who came to the event were more experienced in the sport.
"I like [rock climbing] because it's about taking full responsibility for your own life," said 21-year-old Gabriel Rogers, a religion major at Swarthmore College. "I like the freedom of it, the focusing on one thing." When asked, Rogers said that the threat of imminent death bothered him, but "not in a bad way."
Hill's presentation was sponsored by the University of Pennsylvania Outing Club.
