Ladies We Love: Climber, Artist, Biologist–Kate Rutherford
Standing before a rock face, professional big wall and alpine climber Kate Rutherford does more than size-up a slab. She scopes out her surroundings for undocumented wild species, and for pieces of natural inspiration—for fine art. If she’s along the coastline, she pockets polished, ocean-shaped stones for Suspended Stone Design, a handcrafted beach stone jewelry company that she founded 12 years ago. The 35-year-old artist-adventurer and Patagonia climbing ambassador has been scaling rock for 17 years, including never-before-climbed routes in British Columbia last year and six back-to-back seasons spent in Patagonia to face her underlying fear of alpine climbing.
Rutherford has certainly pushed more boundaries than her own.
On Patagonia’s Fitz Roy, she accomplished a first ascent of a 5.10-rated route dubbed The Washington Route, which she named after her hometown Vashon, WA. She bagged another first ascent in Venezuela, called 10 pounds of Tequila, a 5.12-rated climb. And on Yosemite’s El Capitan she made the first-ever female-team free ascent of The Freerider with Madaleine Sorkin.
Rutherford’s lifelong passion for nature and the outdoors was augmented by childhood years spent living in an Alaskan cabin without electricity or running water. Today, her self-made career is a weave of colossal climbing, jewelry making, and biology. Most recently, her biology degree complimented her climbing expertise to help lead an international team of biologists, conservationists, and filmmakers up an unexplored 2,000-foot vertical face on Mt. Namuli: A 7,936-foot granite buttress in northern Mozambique and one of the world’s 34 biodiversity hotspots. Though the mountain is home to an extremely high number of endemic species that are threatened by extinction, it lacks formal conservation protection. Drawing attention to this precious ecosystem, the 2016 documentary Namuli, captures Rutherford and her team’s trip, of many ‘firsts.’
Here, Women’s Movement caught up with Rutherford on her climbing and creativity.
What came first, rock climbing or jewelry making?
I’ve been making jewelry since I was a kid. Currently though, jewelry making came after climbing. The form and design of my jewelry is based on being able to travel easily with it. I’m excited to branch out once I have studio space and more time to work on it.
Looking back at your climbing accomplishments, which ones are you most excited about?
The North Pillar of Fitz Roy in Patagonia, Argentina, was really scary, and Madaleine and I did really well. I was so relieved to be down on the ground. That climb was one of the hardest I’ve ever attempted and accomplished. It’s a very personal experience—the routes are not necessarily hard, and they all seem like such a big deal at the time. In 2013, I also climbed all of the seven skyline peaks in the Fitz Roy range—all of those mountains are so exciting!
Photo by Mikey Schaefer.
What was your first on-rock experience?
I didn’t really learn to climb until I was in college. But, my stepmom took me to a top roping boulder on Lake Chelan when I was like 12. Then, I went on an Outward Bound course when I was 15, and we climbed in the La Sal Mountains. I remember thinking, that it was fun to realize how to use your body in order to solve this problem on the rock.
What are some of the most important lessons you’ve learned through climbing?
To try to enjoy the moment, and all of the moments, even if you’re suffering on some mental or physical level. Sharing those moments with your partner and climbing community is an ongoing, compelling thing to put energy into. Also, being kind to your climbing partner.
And some of the greatest challenges?
Alpine climbing is really hard for me because it’s so scary—I spent six seasons in Patagonia learning to alpine climb. In the beginning, I was scared to walk out the door. Then I realized that all I needed to do was put one foot in front of the other, and to know that I have the choice to move forward or to go back down. That was a really powerful lesson to learn, for climbing and for the rest of my life.
How can your creative expression—climbing and jewelry making—become a vehicle for inspiration or change?
A lot of joy comes from sharing and trying to inspire others to climb, adventure and enjoy the outdoor world. People can forget, especially living in cities. The more that people enjoy the world that they play in, the more inspired they will be to preserve the world that they live in. I’m motivated to inspire people to pay attention.
Watch the trailer and learn more about the Namuli film, here.
About Morgan Tilton
Raised in the stunning San Juan Mountains of Southwest Colorado, Morgan Tilton is a Bronze medalist and two-time Finalist of the 2015 North American Travel Journalists Association Awards for her travel writing. She covers adventure, travel, business, and outdoor community news, which has been featured in Backpacker, 5280 (Denver's city magazine), EnCompass, TransWorld Snowboarding, and CoBiz among others. She's also a trail runner,— More about this author →
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