The Woman Behind Free Solo: How Dierdre Wolownick Redefined Courage at Any Age

When people hear the name “Free Solo,” they often think of Alex Honnold—the man who stunned the world by scaling El Capitan without a rope. But few know the quiet force who shaped his spirit of focus, perseverance, and courage: his mother, Dierdre Wolownick. While the documentary spotlighted one man’s fearless climb, Dierdre’s own journey, documented in her book Success in 7 Steps, reveals a stronger kind of bravery—the kind that comes not in a single leap, but in the steady, determined steps of a woman who decided it was never too late to rewrite her story.

Dierdre didn’t grow up climbing mountains. She grew up climbing expectations. A mother, teacher, linguist, writer, and artist, she wore many hats throughout her life—but none of them shouted “adventurer.” For decades, her courage showed up in quiet places: in classrooms, on stages, in the pages of manuscripts. But something shifted in her fifties. Watching her son pursue the extreme edges of possibility, Dierdre began to ask: Why not me? That question didn’t come from envy—it came from awakening. She realized that courage doesn’t have to look like scaling granite walls. Sometimes, it looks like saying yes to the unknown. At 58, Dierdre started climbing. She took on one challenge after another, building strength and skill with the same discipline she had always brought to music and writing. And then, at 66, she made history. She became the oldest woman to climb El Capitan. But what makes this story unforgettable isn’t just the summit. It’s everything she had to let go of to get there: fear, doubt, and most importantly, the belief that she was too late to start.

In Success in 7 Steps, Dierdre lays out the exact mindset and structure that helped her achieve the impossible—not just on the mountain, but in every area of her life. Her message is powerful: courage isn’t a personality trait. It’s a decision. One you make not once, but every day, in small, deliberate ways. You don’t become brave by waiting to feel ready. You become brave by acting before you feel prepared. She explains that most people wait for permission. They wait to be told they’re good enough, strong enough, or deserving enough. But no one ever gives that permission. You have to claim it for yourself. “All the ‘baby steps’ in the world won’t get you anywhere,” she writes, “if you don’t know how to arrange them.” Her method—what she calls a life-tested blueprint for progress—reminds us that courage becomes possible when you organize your dreams into real steps.

What sets Dierdre apart from many motivational voices is her honesty about fear. She doesn’t pretend to be fearless. She admits the moments of hesitation, the loneliness of being a beginner, the sting of comparison. But she also shows how courage is built not in the absence of fear—but in the presence of it. Courage, in her world, is doing the thing anyway. Taking one step. And then another. Her story isn’t just a personal triumph—it’s a call to everyone who’s ever thought, “It’s too late for me.” Through her 7-step framework, she dismantles that belief and replaces it with a much more powerful one: It’s never too late to become more of who you are. Whether you want to run a marathon, launch a creative project, start a business, or simply feel alive again—Dierdre’s process gives you the structure to do it. She teaches that success doesn’t come from luck or personality. It comes from clarity, action, and belief.

And belief, she admits, must often be borrowed before it’s earned. That’s why the first step in her system is learning. Learning what’s possible. Learning how others did it. Learning what you need to know to begin. It’s a gentle but firm way of reminding us that you don’t need to know everything—you just need to be willing to start. What’s remarkable about Dierdre is how she redefines the idea of what a mother is “supposed” to be. She’s supportive, yes—but she’s also independent. She’s nurturing, but she’s fierce. Watching her son climb a 3,000-foot vertical wall without ropes could have filled her with fear. Instead, it filled her with a fire of her own. Rather than live in the shadow of someone else’s greatness, she chose to honor her own potential.

And that’s what makes her story so universal. It’s not just about climbing rocks. It’s about climbing back into your own life—after years of caregiving, or self-doubt, or survival mode. It’s about remembering that reinvention is possible at 46, 56, 66, and beyond. It’s about realizing that your courage doesn’t have to look like someone else’s. It just has to look like you, taking one brave step. In the pages of Success in 7 Steps, Dierdre doesn’t just teach us how to build dreams—she teaches us how to reclaim ourselves. Her story invites us to stop asking for permission and start building structure. To replace doubt with direction. To see courage not as something rare and unreachable, but as something we already have access to—if we’re willing to use it.