Record-setting climber, Quinn Brett, speaks to Erik and Dave about the accident that left her paralyzed in 2017 and her subsequent journey back to the outdoor spaces she knows and loves. This episode is sponsored by the Winnebago Industries Foundation.
Having Minnesota roots, Quinn’s parents were committed to taking their children to national parks all over the country, gradually traveling further and further west. With her first look at El Capitan, Quinn knew that she’d climb it one day; ten years later, she did. Since that first climb, Quinn has amassed an impressive list of big wall ascents, speed records, and difficult free climbs, first in places like Yosemite and Zion and then in the larger mountains of Patagonia, Greenland, and India.
But everything changed in 2017 when Quinn took a one-hundred-foot fall while climbing the Nose of El Cap, leaving her paralyzed from the waist down. Today, Quinn lives in her beloved Estes Park, Colorado where she works for the National Park Service, using her background as an environmental advocate to speak up for increased accessibility on public lands.
Special thanks to the Winnebago Industries Foundation for their support of this podcast and their advocacy for accessibility in outdoor spaces.
Resources:
Book recommendation: Sitting Pretty by Rebekah Taussig
Follow Quinn on IG: @quinndalina
Visit Quinn’s website: https://www.quinnbrett.com/