Sarah Watson

Date of Birth:
March 15, 1983

Hometown:
Green Bay, Wisconsin

What is your primary means of adventure, AKA what gets you most psyched?
Rock Climbing, Skydiving, BASE jumping

Invent your dream adventure by combining five places, disciplines, pitches, peaks, environments, etc. and stacking them together into a combination. Why did you pick each part?
My dream adventure is to go to a place like Baffin or Antarctica (so much rock to explore!) … but have it be the temperature/climate of the Sierras (I’d rather not deal with extreme cold)… I want to go adventuring and put up tons of new routes (preferably free climbing them of course) … And take the quick way down every time (wingsuit BASE off the top!) … and if it was a supremely dreamy adventure, there would be a hot spring to soak in every night at camp :)

Describe 5 climbs, trips, or moments that have defined you as a mountain athlete:

1. My Epic trip halfway up the Nose of El Capitan … probably the most taxing, scary, and life altering few days I have had … ask me about it someday as it would take an entire page to describe … but it drove me towards free­climbing harder because I decided I hated aid climbing .
2. Very early on in my climbing days, my ex dislodged a massive block which hit the ledge I was supposed to be standing on …. I knew climbing was dangerous, but this experience shook me up pretty good, and was my first glimpse at death by rockfall.
3. Trying Air Sweden (5.13), Indian Creek … still haven’t gone back to finish it up. I thought I had it on lockdown before getting injured on it, and almost sent (right before I mangled my knee). That route has taught me a ton about myself, about perseverance, and about letting go (when I thought I would never be able to climb again.) … So, if the stoke is there, and I am feeling fit, I’d love to get back on that thing!!
4. It has been a series of trips, but learning how to BASE jump has completely changed my life and how I look at the world. Rock climbing now seems really safe, I cherish every moment I get to spend with my friends, and lets be honest, I get to FLY!!! There is absolutely nothing a human being can experience that trumps flying!
5. That trip down to Peñoles in Mexico where I screwed up my knee for good. My leg will never be remotely the same again… I can’t run or ski anymore, I back off of routes/boulders with high ground fall potential, but I am SO incredibly blessed! I can still hike and climb and land a parachute! One stupid choice at any random moment can completely change your life. I am much more cautious now and a lot less bold. I want to be able to walk ten years from now, and I have to be grateful for everything that I am still able to do!

Describe your most memorable night in the mountains:
Climbing Huayna Potosi in Bolivia (years and years ago, before I was really a climber) I just remember a lot of pain, shortness of breath, freezing appendages, exhaustion, and above all, fear. I was terrified and had no business being up there, really, but I will never forget that night that we went to the summit. I have had other memorable moments in the mountains since, but that was one of the first, and still one of the most powerful moments of my life. It is seared into my memory. I can still go back to there, high up on the mountain, standing on the summit, and see with clarity the barren, windswept terrain in every direction. I can still see the stars as bright as I have ever seen them.

What has scared or intimidated you as a mountain athlete?
Massive storms, rockfall, death, crippling injury, loss of limbs/digits, there is a lot to fear if you think about it too much ;)

What would your adventure partners be most surprised to learn about you from before the time when they met you?
I used to be incredibly shy!!

What are your top 5 all­time favorite pieces of CAMP equipment?

1. M5 Pack ­ perfect for so many different types of adventures. Fits a rack, rope and all your necessities easily and it is super lightweight and comfortable to wear!
2. ED Evo Line Sleeping Bag ­ I LOVE this sleeping bag and it barely weighs anything! It is so warm and cozy, it is one of my favorite moments of the day when I crawl inside all tired from the day!
3. ED Protection Jacket Lady ­ so warm, so lightweight, stuffs down to nothing … everyone should have one of these jackets!! The ED protection vests are amazing as well!!
4. Air CR Climbing Harness ­ I forget I am wearing it most of the time!
5. Photon Express KS Quickdraws ­ These are my favorite all­around quickdraws. Super durable for projecting, great clipping action, and lightweight enough to take anywhere!

Why are you a CAMP athlete?
CAMP makes some of the most amazing and lightweight climbing gear I have ever come across! I love the equipment, I love the guys in the office who feel like family, and I am so blessed to be an ambassador for the brand! I couldn’t ask for a more awesome company to represent! :)

Tick List

It meant a lot to me when I climbed:

1. Selaginella (5.8), Five open books, Yosemite. It was my first time there, I was just learning to climb … to this day it is the hardest pitch I have ever led in terms of amount of effort expended! I was terrified and stupidly run­out (I ran out of gear about halfway through the pitch) and I was so proud of myself when I flopped over on that big ledge at the top, utterly exhausted and so thankful that I was still in one piece. This pitch taught me a lot about how to push through fear, how to focus on just the next few feet of a climb and inch my way upward.
2. Growing Up (5.13a, A0, 21 pitches), Half Dome, Yosemite. I spent almost an entire summer working on this route, hand drilling bolts, humping loads of gear up to the base. I completed the route with Sean Jones, and I am the only female to have a first ascent on Half Dome. Talk about lessons learned, it would take a novel to describe all I learned while working on this route!
3. My proudest onsight in Indian creek (as a very new climber was Quarter of a Man (5.11++) I was so pumped, I felt like I was coming off the route the entire upper half, but I stuck with it and sent!
4. I was pretty proud of myself when i sent Turning Point (V8?) in the flatirons outside of Boulder, CO. I don’t boulder much, and that thing is not even remotely my style … so I was pretty stoked to put it together!
5. Milkbone (13a) and Ultrasaurus (13a?) on Dinosaur rock in the Flatirons …. the first harder Flatirons climbs I sent a few years ago …. just stellar climbing, awesome times, great company. These routes made me really start to enjoy sport climbing!!

The adventure, route or race I had to train the hardest for was:
The hardest I have ever trained is right now … but if I told you what for, I would have to kill you ;)

The adventure, route or race that wrecked me the most was:
Growing up, Half Dome … took every ounce of energy (physical, mental and emotional) to stick it out and finish it up!

I most want an all-­expenses­ paid trip to:
Norway!!!!! It is one expensive country …. and the cliffs are unreal!!

My short list of climbing or adventure goals this year:

1. Desert … work on Concepción, Pink Flamingo (Indian Creek)/Zion ­ Moonlight Buttress?
2. May ­ Yosemite … learn to speed climb! //June ­ The Hulk and the Needles!
3. Switzerland/Italy … Summer BASE jumping trip??!!

That’s about as far as I can plan at one time :) But I have to get back to rifle later in the summer to work on a few projects there!!