[Climber] Steph Davis

■Steph Davis: So In Control

Steph Davis: So In Control from Prana Living on Vimeo.

Steph Davis has been pushing the limits of climbing for 18 years, cross discipline. She is known for her free ascents of El Capitan, for climbing hard cracks in the Moab desert, for free soloing long and committing routes, and for first ascents in South America, the Karakorum and the Arctic. Steph is also an avid BASE jumper and wingsuit pilot. She has made hundreds of jumps, including combining free soloing with BASE.

Aside from climbing and jumping, Steph loves running, skate skiing, gardening, cooking and writing. She is a prolific blogger and a vocal supporter of veganism, animal welfare and simple living. Steph prefers climbing areas that are good for dogs.

Please check back regularly for additional updates. For videos, photos and more information on Steph, please visit Steph’s blog High Places.

■Free Solo and BASE, Castleton North Face

Free Solo and BASE, Castleton North Face from steph davis on Vimeo.
■Salathe Wall

Salathe Wall from steph davis on Vimeo.

freeing the Salathe, El Capitan

■back in the saddle

back in the saddle from steph davis on Vimeo.

Two years ago, I slipped in snow at the top of this cliff and tore an ACL, but I just thought it was sprained. I was by myself and couldn't walk on it, but luckily I had a parachute to get down. After a couple of months of ice and ibuprofen, it got mostly better.

But that knee was always a little weird after that and seemed to get tweaked a lot, and there were a few things it didn't really do.

My brother finally made me go to a doctor to get it checked last summer...no ACL! I got a double bundle hamstring graft last November.

I have a brand new knee ligament and it works great :)

The first base jump back is exciting....

video by Mario Richard

■moab river bouldering

moab river bouldering from steph davis on Vimeo.

what climbers do in moab when it's over 100 degrees

■black dragon wash with slack and fletch

black dragon wash with slack and fletch from steph davis on Vimeo.

steph davis, mario richard base jumping in black dragon wash, utah desert

■an afternoon on Castleton Tower

an afternoon on Castleton Tower from steph davis on Vimeo.

Steph Davis and Mario Richard in the Moab desert.
Climb and BASE

■Eiger Birds

Eiger Birds from steph davis on Vimeo.

Steph Davis and Mario Richard flying a 2-for-1 wingsuit day off the Eiger in Switzerland.

For our first jump, we hitched a helicopter ride to the exit point, thanks to some friends who were filming a base jumping movie in Lauterbrunnen and on the Eiger.
total approach time: approximately 2.5 minutes

After we landed, we packed our parachutes on the grass at the foot of the Eiger and hiked back up for a second flight.
total approach time: approximately 2.5 hours


tracks:
Sky (Radio Edit), Sonique, Cream Anthems 2001
Disco Heaven, Lady Gaga, The Fame Monster

■Swiss Valley

Swiss Valley from steph davis on Vimeo.

flying the cliffs in Lauterbrunnen

Steph Davis
Mario Richard
Diego Calderoni

■MOAB Boogie 2009

MOAB Boogie 2009 from steph davis on Vimeo.

Moab Skydiving Boogie, September 24-27:
Skydiving!
BASE jumping!
Saturday night disco party with *SPARKLEMOTION*, Moab's own disco-party-dance band!!
Let's get down!!

■a moab skydive

a moab skydive from steph davis on Vimeo.

this is what it looks like when you're flying and popping a few barrel rolls over the moab desert.

■Desert Fly

Desert Fly from steph davis on Vimeo.

just another day in Moab

■120

120 from steph davis on Vimeo.

Note to self: the wall goes BEHIND you.

■Myles of Earl

Myles of Earl from steph davis on Vimeo.

Out in the Utah desert in the Dirty Devil Wash is a secret canyon. Robber's Roost was one of Butch Cassidy's cattle rustling hideouts, inaccessible on horseback except by one trail. Remnants of his shelters still remain, along with ancient petroglyphs on the rock walls.

Just above Robber's Roost, a 600 foot cliff drops straight down to the river bed. Base jumpers can escape by climbing out a narrow slot canyon.

Jumpers, who spend much of our time eluding Park Rangers and unfriendly Native American tribes, can be safe here in the inhospitable desert and jump without persecution. It's an outlaws' paradise.

The jump is named "Myles of Earl" in honor of a jumper and pilot who spotted this cliff from the air while searching for remote walls, and later died in a plane crash over the canyonlands of Utah.

■Wile E. Coyote jump

Wile E. Coyote jump from steph davis on Vimeo.

it is possible to run a little too enthusiastically off the cliff.