In 1978 Big Wall Bev was finishing her 10 day roped solo on El Cap (see link to her story), while I was sleeping on the North Buttress of Middle Cathedral. I was climbing with a South African - Richard Wilmot whom I had met in Chamonix - and we could clearly see her single headlight high up on the wall. The next morning as we started our descent the choppers were dropping off journalist and TV cameras to interview her as she topped out. That night in the bar ... after her ten days and our piddling, one bivy, Grade V ... she looked like a million bucks and we looked like we had been run over by a truck. There was no doubt who the real "hard-man" was.
https://www.adventure-journal.com/2021/05/they-called-her-big-wall-bev/
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