Climbing above education

Their hands are like stone, they're callused and tough, and they have kept them alive while holding on to practically nothing. These are the hands of Dierdre Wolownick an American River College french professor, and her 25-year-old son, Alex Honnold.

Wolownick is not an average college professor; she is a proud parent of a history making and record-breaking rock climber. Her son may be a star of the sport, but that doesn't stop her from being an avid rock climber herself. She has enthusiasm to match that of her son's and shows her adventurousness and dedication to the sport.

While many students may not realize it, ARC professors do have lives outside of teaching. Those outside lives can consist of many things. For Wolownick, her outside life consists of driving to Lover's Leap or Phantom Spires, off Highway 50, just two of the many places to climb locally. On these weekend climbs Wolownick is always trying to better herself. She says, "surpassing yourself is always a surprise and always exhilarating."

Wolownick started climbing two years ago, when Honnold took her to Pipe Works Climbing and Fitness in Sacramento. She has already climbed places all over the country. In mid-June last summer Honnold and Wolownick scaled the side of half dome in Yosemite together. Wolownick says her son, "is the best climber in the world."

There is more to rock climbing than just being physically capable; a stable mentality is needed to be successful. It's not about the rush, says Wolownick, "it's about controlling the rush." That proves to be difficult for her because she says, "I often picture in gory details what can happen if I make a mistake." Then laughing she says, "and that's not a good thing." Wolownick says she is working on her mind control, but Honnold is a "master of mind control" when it comes to climbing. Wolownick says that she and her son have different mentalities of climbing, "for Alex it's 50 percent mental 50 percent physical but for me it's life or death."

Control is something her son Honnold knows a lot about. There are many different types of rock climbing and Honnold does them all, he scaled Yosemite's Half Dome ropeless, meaning using only his hands and feet to keep him from falling. His rock climbing feats have earned him sponsors by major companies like The North Face and have allowed him to travel not just to Yosemite, but all over the world.

Honnold was recently named an adventurer of the year by National Geographic.

According to the official blog of The North Face athletes and community last July Honnold spent 24 hours summiting the 3,000-foot El Capitan, in Yosemite not once, but three times. He broke the speed record for consecutive ascents and he scaled more than 8,000 vertical feet and hiked down 9,000 feet back to the valley. Honnold did all this just a week after climbing the walls of both El Capitan and Half Dome solo in under 11 hours.

When asked how it makes her feel to have such an adventure seeking son, Wolownick says, "He is doing what he loves, is passionate about and he's making a living, I try to focus on that rather than worrying."

skjerpt@imail.losrios.edu