Profile: Nancy Feagin
From the Wasatch Backyard to Madagascar Big Walls
Nancy Feagin spent her early years exploring the outdoors by camping and backpacking in Yosemite, California. Born in Washington, D.C., and later raised in San Francisco, Feagin’s passion for climbing wasn’t to be ignited until the 9th grade, when her family relocated to Jackson Hole. Feagin’s father, a knee surgeon, performed surgery on a climbing guide who lacked insurance. In exchange, the guide offered to lead the entire family up the Grand Teton. The experience spurred Feagin to begin climbing in the Tetons — while working in the Exum Guides office.
In 1992, Feagin made her way to Salt Lake and got a job at the newly opened climbing gym, Rockreation. During this time, she partnered with notable Utah locals, such as Doug Heinrich, and competed at climbing competitions across California, Texas, and Arizona. During Snowbird’s 1994 Sport Climbing Competition, Feagin placed third.
Feagin became an accomplished big wall climber tackling big walls in Zion, Yosemite, and beyond. She amassed an impressive tick list, including an all-women first ascent (FA) of Bravo Les Filles — a thirteen-pitch climb in Madagascar that goes at 5.13d.¹ Feagin also became an accomplished mountaineer. In 2001, after a solo ascent of Aconcagua, a website promoting healthy lifestyles for teenagers offered to fund an Everest attempt. That May, Feagin went to Everest with another climber and a team of six Sherpas (along with Feagin’s mother, who climbed to the Base Camp) and summited the peak.
Her global travels notwithstanding, the Wasatch has made an impact on Feagin. As she noted in one interview:
I can’t think of a better place in the country and maybe even the world where we have such amazing access to different kinds of rock for rock climbing and the snow and the skiing, both the backcountry terrain and the resort terrain that we have for skiing. So, that’s a big part of why I’m still here.
See Nancy Feagin’s oral history at the Marriott Library for more.
[1] See American Alpine Journal Vol 42, Issue 74
