Alex Honnold, a famous climber, conquered Mountain El Capitan with little more than a T-shirt and hand chalk. Now his mother just became the oldest woman to reach the 1 peak on September 23rd- the 2 of her 70th birthday.
Dierdre Wolownick, the writer and language teacher, decided to 3climbing as a means to connect more deeply with her son, Alex, who made history in 2018 as the first man to climb El Capitan without any 4 equipment. It happened that Alex was home nursing an injury, which allowed him the time to 5 his mother on her first visit to the climbing gym. Wolownick completed 12 routes that day with her son's help, but it was months before she worked up her courage to6 on her own. Wolowmick became committed to the sport, and began to meet friends and7 her skills. Her biggest dream was to stand on the top of El Capitan like Alex so there could be more 8between them. She kept challenging herself at a time when many people her age are thinking about retirement and 9.
On September 23, she, together with her 10 set out for the peak of El Capitan in the dark at 6 am. The route was a hike 11 enough to require all fours. She had to grab trees and whatever else to 12 her weight. The granite slabs (花岗岩石板) that led her up stretched for what seemed like miles. She just walked steeply uphill, 13. To make things worse, her foot no longer worked the way it should 14 a failed surgery." My 15, though, was the worst offender. My writer's imagination could see 16 what would happen if I stumbled (绊倒) ... "She remembered when interviewed by a journalist from the LA Times. Despite the 17 ， she made it to the top together with others two hours later. "It was really 18 to watch her and then to have her on top with all of us," said Mcmackin, a friend of Wolownick's." We knew where we were. We knew how awesome the moment truly was."
Wolownick often 19 her climbing experiences on social media to guide other climbers， reminding them that they are 20 of doing everything they desire.
