REMEMBERING AUSTIN FRIENDS AND FELLOW CLIMBERS PAY TRIBUTE TO PROLIFIC FREE SOLOIST AUSTIN HOWELL, WHO DIED IN NORTH CAROLINA’S LINVILLE GORGE LAST SUMMER. BY HART FOWLER AND NOELLE LYNCH
n June 30, 2019, rock climber Austin Howell died after a fall while free soloing Shortoff Mountain at Linville Gorge in North Carolina. He was 31. At the time, we were in the process of editing two articles we had worked on together about Austin, a fearless and free-spirited adventurer, who was passionate about his sport. One was about free-soloing for this magazine, Blue Ridge Outdoors, the other about the climbing in video games for Electronic Gaming Monthly. After interviewing Austin multiple times, transcribing those interviews, and researching his endeavors, it has become difficult to put into words the profound effect his sudden passing had on us as writers. Moreso, it wouldn’t be right to compare our experiences to those of the many
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friends, family, and fellow climbers who were close to him. So to honor his memory almost exactly a year after his passing, we interviewed some of Austin’s friends and fellow climbers and asked them to share memories, as well as what drove him to excel and test his limits on the rocks. He’s remembered as an ambitious, extremely skilled climber, who was willing to help others that had the same dedication to the sport with a selfless nature and precocious attitude. “He definitely didn’t want to die,” says Ben Wu, a guide and photographer. “It was climbing that gave him life.”
Susan Hill
Susan is a mother of two who’s been climbing for 10 years and first met Austin at Joshua Tree in 2015.
She watched him free solo and was “oddly comfortable with it.” They were self-proclaimed “corporate dirtbags,” ascendant in their respective industries and working day jobs that allowed them to spend as much time as possible climbing. They formed an immediate bond and she counted him as a “brother from a different mother.” At the time, both lived in the Chicago area, and they climbed in the Midwest on both rock and ice. They took impromptu climbing road trips on a whim. Austin, an expert lead climber, encouraged Hill’s climbing by sending her routes and exercises, and they had planned a trip together to Linville Gorge. “At a drop of a hat he would send climbing routines for anyone he knew. He wanted to teach people everything he knew and give back. I really feel
A U S T I N H O W E L L TA K E S A M O M E N T T O A P P R E C I AT E HIS SURROUNDINGS DURING HIS FREE SOLO OF D O P E Y D U C K ( 3 5 0 F T. , 5 . 9 ) , L I N V I L L E G O R G E . PHOTO BY BEN WU
he was an artist, the smartest person and most complex and genius person I’ve ever met. Climbing for him was his way of giving back to this world. His ideas were so robust and well thought out. He could see the problem before it was actually there. He was the best problem-solver I’ve ever met.”
Jim Weck
Jim climbed at the same gym as Austin, Vertical Endeavors, which is located just outside of Chicago. The two became friends and Austin encouraged and mentored Jim’s climbing. The two were planning to meet up at the gym the weekend after Austin got back from Linville. “He liked to climb peacefully, and
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