Dierdre Wolownick, mom of Free Solo star Alex Honnold, believed to be oldest woman to scale the rock formation. Dierdre Wolownick says it’s never too late to start a new hobby. And she should know. Wolownick started climbing at the age of 60 in an effort to be closer to her son, Alex Honnold, a world-famous climber and star of the documentary Free Solo. Now, 10 years later, she’s scaled the formidable El Capitan rock formation at California’s Yosemite National Park for the second time, on her 70th birthday.
The previous record holder did not hold the record very long; Dierdre Wolownick climbed it with her son when she was 66 years old.