Background
Findlay was born in 1989, the daughter of climber Steve Findlay. She began climbing on the sea cliffs of Pembrokeshire with her father when she was seven years old.
Findlay was born in 1989, the daughter of climber Steve Findlay. She began climbing on the sea cliffs of Pembrokeshire with her father when she was seven years old.
She is a graduate of the University of Bristol, where she studied philosophy.
She was the first female British climber to climb a route graded E9, and the first to climb a route graded 8c/5.14b. She has free climbed El Capitán three times on three different routes, and made many first female ascents. Climbing magazine gave her their Golden Piton award for trad climbing in 2013.
She lives in Sheffield.
Findlay made the first female ascent of a British E9 grade climb with her June 2011 climb of Dave Birkett"s route Once Upon a Time in the South West (E9 6c) at Dyer"s Lookout in Devon. She is the first British woman to free climb El Capitán in Yosemite National Park, which she has done three times: she made the first female ascent of Golden Gate in 2011, the first female ascent of Pre-Muir Wall in 2012, and an ascent of Freerider in only three days in 2013.
She was the first person to free-climb Adder Crack (513a), in Squamish, British Columbia, in 2012. With Jack Geldard, she made the first ascent of the front face of the Aiguille de Saussure, a spire in the Mont Blanc massif, Chamonix, France, also in 2012.
Other first female ascents by Findlay include Air Sweden (513b R) in Indian Creek, Utah, in April 2010, 69 (513b/c) in Squamish, later in 2010, San Simeon (E8) in Pembrokeshire, in May 2011, The Doors (approx 513) in Cadarese, Italy, in 2012, and Chicama (E9 6c) in Anglesey, in early 2013.
In 2014, she climbed Fish Eye in Oliana, Spain, reaching a difficulty level of 8c/5.14b. As well as trad climbing, Findlay has also climbed sport climbing routes.