Bronwyn Hodgins

Squamish, BC | Age: 33 | @bronwynhodgins

Sponsors:

Rab
Wild Country
La Sportiva
Midnight Lightning
Hornby Organic

Biography

Bronwyn Hodgins is a professional rock climber and guide based in Squamish, BC, and a passionate advocate for female and minority representation in mountain sports spaces. Known as the first Canadian woman to free climb El Capitan in Yosemite National Park (with her five-day ascent of Freerider in 2018), Bronwyn has since climbed up to 13d trad and 14c sport, as well as led remote Big Wall expeditions from Baffin Island to Chile to Greenland!

Bronwyn has a particular love of big adventures, after growing up in a family of avid canoe trippers in Ontario. In summer 2022, she kayaked along the west coast of Greenland for 65 days, where the team of six established first ascents on cliffs as high as 900m, rising straight out of the Arctic Ocean. After Greenland, Bronwyn became curious about performance climbing and began working with a personal coach. Two years later she climbed “la Rubia” in Spain, making her the third Canadian woman to climb the grade. Shortly after, she was referred to as one of the most well-rounded elite female rock climbers of today by the popular climbing podcast, the Enormocast.

Bronwyn is also an avid storyteller and loves sharing her adventures as a creative outlet to complement her athletic pursuits. Beyond speaking engagements and written articles, Bronwyn has become increasingly drawn to documentary filmmaking. For her most recent film, La Rubia, Bronwyn led an all-female production team to tell the raw and emotional story behind her most challenging climb to date.

She typically travels each winter, while in the summers she teaches advanced climbing courses in Squamish and is a co-founder of Rock and Rise festival for female and genderqueer climbers.

<div class="caption">1/9</div>
<div class="caption">2/9</div>
<div class="caption">3/9</div>
<div class="caption">4/9</div>
<div class="caption">5/9</div>
<div class="caption">6/9</div>
<div class="caption">7/9</div>
<div class="caption">8/9</div>
<div class="caption">9/9</div>

Proudest Ascents

La Rubia (5.14c), Spain, 2024 – Third Canadian woman to climb this difficulty grade!
Necronomino (5.13d trad), Utah, 2022 – Second female ascent
Sea Barge Circus (5.11+, 1000m), Greenland, 2022 – First ascent, established over ten days on the wall and a 35 day sea-kaya approach!
Time is a Construct (5.11 A2, 400m), Greenland, 2022 – All-female first ascent in a single 50 hour alpine push
Golden Gate (5.13a, 1000m), El Capitan, 2021 – Third female free ascent
Never Laugh at Live Dragons (5.11, 600m), Baffin Island 2019 - First Ascent
Freerider (5.13a, 1000m), El Capitan, 2018 – First Canadian woman to free El Cap

Major Documentaries

La Rubia (currently on International Tour) Watch Trailer: https://youtu.be/jd5T79mbnK4?si=7yvdiTeUmdmVYsTJ
Sea to Summit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cf3Ro6sstQg&t=1177s
Picaflor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_8r_PHSZ88&t=37s
El Gavilan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7s4e4mbYM00&t=2s
Ocean to Asgard: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TC9tZEGHeh0