Catherine Howell "Kitty" Calhoun (formerly Kitty Calhoun Grissom; born 1960) is an American

mountain climber Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, ...

Early life

Calhoun was raised in

Greenville, South Carolina Greenville (; locally ) is a city in and the seat of Greenville County, South Carolina, United States. With a population of 70,720 at the 2020 census, it is the sixth-largest city in the state. Greenville is located approximately halfway be ...

. 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. She began

rock climbing Rock climbing is a sport in which participants climb up, across, or down natural rock formations. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a usually pre-defined route without falling. Rock climbing is a physically and ...

through an

Outward Bound Outward Bound (OB) is an international network of outdoor education organizations that was founded in the United Kingdom by Lawrence Holt and Kurt Hahn in 1941. Today there are organizations, called schools, in over 35 countries which are att ...

course at the age of 18 and took up ice climbing at 19. She attended the

University of Vermont The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is amon ...

and graduated in 1982 with a degree in recreation management. Calhoun's parents separated while she was in high school, and her younger brother Gib died by suicide shortly after she left college.

Mountaineering

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 Alpamayo (possibly from Quechua ''allpa'' earth, ''mayu'' river, "earth river") or Shuyturaju (possibly from Ancash Quechua ''huytu, shuytu'' oblong, slim and long, Quechua ''rahu'' snow, ice, mountain covered in snow) is one of the most conspicu ...

and Qitarahu. In 1987 she was the first American woman to climb

Dhaulagiri Dhaulagiri is the seventh highest mountain in the world at above sea level, and the highest mountain within the borders of a single country (Nepal). It was first climbed on 13 May 1960 by a Swiss-Austrian-Nepali expedition. Annapurna I () is ...

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

, marking her first 8,000-meter peak, although she and her teammates had no

Himalaya The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...

n climbing experience. She subsequently received invitations to climb

Mount Everest Mount Everest (; Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point. Its elevation (snow heig ...

and join other high-profile expeditions, but she opted instead to lead her own expeditions with close friends. In recognition of her second 8,000-meter summit—an expedition she led up

Makalu Makalu ( ne, मकालु हिमाल, Makālu himāl; zh, t=馬卡魯峰, p=Mǎkǎlǔ fēng) is the fifth highest mountain in the world at . It is located in the Mahalangur Himalayas southeast of Mount Everest, in Nepal. One of th ...

's highly technical West Pillar route—she was awarded the Robert and Miriam Underhill Award, the highest honor given by the

American Alpine Club The American Alpine Club (AAC) is a non-profit member organization with more than 24,000 members. Its vision is to create "a united community of competent climbers and healthy climbing landscapes." The Club is housed in the American Mountaineerin ...

. She was the first woman to climb Makalu, the world's fifth-highest mountain. In 1991 Calhoun relocated to

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

and undertook a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

, which she completed in 1993. After receiving her MBA, she founded Exum Mountain Adventures, a guiding company based in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

. In 2006, she climbed the Diamond Couloir on the south face of

Mount Kenya Mount Kenya (Kikuyu: ''Kĩrĩnyaga'', Kamba, ''Ki Nyaa'') is the highest mountain in Kenya and the second-highest in Africa, after Kilimanjaro. The highest peaks of the mountain are Batian (), Nelion () and Point Lenana (). Mount Kenya is locat ...

with Jay Smith.

Personal life

Calhoun was formerly married to Colin Grissom, one of her climbing partners, with whom she has one son. She currently lives in

Castle Valley, Utah Castle Valley is a town in Grand County, Utah, United States. The population was 319 at the 2010 census. The town is approximately 16 miles northeast of Moab, near State Route 128. The community was named for castle-like rock formations near ...

References

External links

Kitty Calhoun
at

Patagonia Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and gl ...

Kitty Calhoun
at Scarpa {{DEFAULTSORT:Calhoun, Kitty Living people 1960 births American mountain climbers American female climbers Sportspeople from Greenville, South Carolina University of Vermont alumni University of Washington Foster School of Business alumni 20th-century American sportswomen