Charlotte Leslie has been climbing with her partner, Graham Eltridge, since the 1970s. In 1982, at 62, she achieved the once-unimaginable feat of scaling the rock face that comes to life in Yosemite National Park — El Capitan.
Ms. Leslie, who is now 70, told Rupa Huq and Dorothy Winger, co-authors of Beyond the Cliffs of Everest: A Woman’s Guide to Climbing the World’s Most Extreme Mountain, about her 2014 ascent.
The duo were attempting to climb the mountain despite weather warnings and pouring rain. As people of the climbing community know, the valley floor had become so wet that when the rain came down, the water gushed down the rocks in pools in the valley and covered the path just a few feet below the middle of the rock face. Ms. Leslie and Mr. Eltridge scrambled over the pools with packs just inches away from their faces to reach the granite summit.
“The sopping wet sun made things happen very quickly because we had to use everything we had,” Ms. Leslie told the authors.
There were several more months spent in the damp valley, where Ms. Leslie talked back to her partner, telling him to stay inside. “I was saying, ‘No, no, no! Don’t touch any rocks.’ ”
She removed the dry ski pants from her legs and put on a pair of waders. All the while, Eltridge carried their gear. During his set of pack checks, the exhausted Ms. Leslie confessed to him, “I’m dizzy,” “I’m drowning,” and “I can’t move my arms.” But Ms. Leslie didn’t give up until she and her partner reached the top.
The experience was somewhat transformational for Ms. Leslie and for the couple. Ms. Leslie said that she and Mr. Eltridge realized that there’s “something special” about El Capitan.
“Graham and I haven’t been climbing for a long time,” Ms. Leslie said. “[El Capitan] is a place where we have been able to really really let go and realize what we love doing.”
