Girls that Shred [Part 2] Meet Hilary Lempit

Over the course of five weeks, OutThere Colorado’s “Girls that Shred” series will profile five women who have made a lifestyle out of outdoor adventure. OutThere Colorado is so excited to showcase women who make strong beautiful everyday and who are beautiful in their strength.

Click here to learn more about the Girls that Shred article series.

The women featured in OutThere Colorado’s “Girls that Shred” series seek out challenges both physical and mental that push them towards that which makes them the most happy. Backcountry guide and pro snowboarder Alexa Hohenberg of the first “Girls that Shred” profile followed her passion to the powder-laden slopes of Japan—“no regrets”, she says about her decision to pursue snowboarding full time. Hilary Lempit, climber and spicy food enthusiast, has also made a true lifestyle out of avoiding a desk job and spending as much time on rock and ice as possible.

Related: Girls that Shred [Part 1] Meet Alexa Hohenberg.

Girls that Shred, Part 2 — Meet Hilary Lempit

Age: 26

Hometown: Wilton, CT

Currently Live: Just moved to Bozeman, Montana from Telluride, Colorado.

Primary Sport: Rock and ice climbing.

Occupation: Climbing route pioneer with a day job as a massage therapist and yoga teacher.

Connecticut-native Hilary Lempit moved to Colorado in 2008 to begin her freshman year at Colorado College, and it was there at CC and in Colorado Springs that she first fell in love with climbing. “My first time climbing outside was at Garden of the Gods—I biked with a group of friends to the Garden fully loaded with climbing gear and spent the day cragging in the fall sunshine on warm red rock. After taking in the view of the sunset behind Pikes Peak from the top of a massive sandstone fin, something clicked, and I was hooked.” Lempit learned to trad climb and led her first sport climbs in the Garden of the Gods.

A move to Telluride in southwest Colorado in 2012 took Lempit’s climbing to the next level. It was from there that she began to explore places like Indian Creek, Utah (a pilgrimage for the climbing obsessed) and began to compete in speed ice climbing competitions in nearby Ouray.

For Lempit, exploring in nature, whether it is on skis, rock, ice, or foot, is all about freedom and reveling in what her strength has allowed her to do. “The adventurousness of climbing has been magnified for me by the ability to pioneer new, aesthetic, and wild crack climbs,” Lempit explains, “Feeling this freedom has been the greatest gift climbing has given to me.”

Yoga instruction and massage therapy was a natural extension for Lempit of her belief in the importance of adventure and exploration—When you’ve hit on your passion and found what it is that makes you the happiest, you can’t help but share that knowledge and experience with those around you. Lempit has and will continue to inspire her students with the joy, presence of mind, and fulfillment she has found in her own climbing.

Click here to learn more about the Girls that Shred article series.

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