Background
Her father, a corporate lawyer and a descendant of John C. Calhoun, sent her to an exclusive private school in Greenville where she excelled in sports, particularly hockey and skiing.
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Kitty Calhoun
Edit ProfileEducation
She attended the University of Vermont and graduated in 1982 with a degree in recreation management.
Career
Calhoun was raised in Greenville, South Carolina. She began rock climbing through an Outward Bound course at the age of 18 and took up ice climbing at 19. Calhoun began her career in mountain climbing as an Outward Bound guide in Colorado after graduating from college.
She later became a guide for the American Alpine Institute, with whom she led climbs in Peru, Bolivia, Alaska, Argentina, and Nepal.
On a personal trip to Peru in 1984, she climbed Pirámide, Alpamayo and Qitarahu. In 1987 she was the first American woman to climb Dhaulagiri in Nepal, marking her first 8,000-meter peak, although she and her teammates had no Himalayan climbing experience.
She was the first woman to climb Makalu, the world"s fifth-highest mountain. In 1991 Calhoun relocated to Seattle and undertook a Master of Business Administration, which she completed in 1993.
After receiving her Master of Business Administration, she founded Exum Mountain Adventures, a guiding company based in Salt Lake City.
In 2006, she climbed the Diamond Couloir on the south face of Mount Kenya with Jay Smith.
