
ROCK CLIMBER
ANNA PFAFF
TRUCKEE, CALIFORNIA
In 2017, Anna Pfaff,Ā alpinist, expedition climber, and nurse who has climbed in some of the most remote alpine terrain in the world, led an all-star crew of female climbers on a month-long expedition to a remote valley deep in Indiaās Zanskar Range. Despite some unfavorable conditions, Anna and the team managed three new routes, including a first ascent of Peak 5400, which included 400 meters of unknown terrain up to 5.10. It marked her third trip to the region of Kashmir she finds challenging and fascinating.Ā
Annaās happiest when sheās in remote parts of the largest ranges in the world, setting new routes, climbing first ascents and learning about the people and culture surrounding the peaks sheās climbing. Sheās completed multiple expeditions to the Karakorum Range of Pakistan, Tibetan Himalaya, Nepal and India, the Tian Shan of Kyrgyzstan, the Sierra Nevada del Cocuy in Colombia, and the Peruvian, Bolivian and Patagonian Andes. In 2017, she was one of two women on TNFās Expedition Antarctica and in 2018, Anna, along with TNF teammate Andres Marin and David Allfrey, climbed The Eternal Flame on The Nameless Tower and The American Route on the Great Trango Tower.Ā
Rural northeast Ohio isnāt a breeding ground for alpinists, but thatās exactly where one of the worldās premiere alpinists was born and raised. When Anna Pfaff, 37, moved to Colorado to finish her nursing degree at the University of Colorado Denver, she joined her classmates for a trip to Indian Creek, Utah where she instantly was hooked on climbing. After graduating in 2003, Pfaff relocated to Boulder where she honed her skills on multi-pitch routes in Eldorado Canyon and the cracks of Indian Creek. The following year, she made the pilgrimage to Yosemite and within a year had climbed El Capitan. When she headed south one winter and first climbed in the Fitz Roy range, she was hooked on alpine climbing.
Anna has funded most of her expeditions working as a trauma nurse. She spent a decade working as a travel ER nurse, choosing posts near challenging crags, and is now based in Truckee, California, where the registered nurse works shifts when sheās not on the road. In both her nursing and climbing lifestyles, she thrives on organized chaos in unexpected situations. One thing thatās not disorderly are Annaās workouts. During training blocks she spends six days a week running, climbing or in the gym. Annaās coach, who calls her a ātraining superwomanā guesses sheās only missed two workouts in two and a half years, and in both instances, sheād just pulled a 12-hour nursing shift in the ER.
Accomplishments:
- Fitz Roy, PatagoniaĀ
- Holtanna Peak, AntarcticaĀ
- First Ascent, Apocalypse Now, Newfoundland, 2015
- First Ascent, Lungartse Peak, 6,070 meters, āColombian Directā, TD, AI4, 1,200 meters, 90ā, 2013
- Over 20 expeditions around the globe with multiple new routes and first ascents