Airlie Anderson
Airlie Anderson was born in London, started climbing at age 14, and at age 17 became the British Bouldering Champion. In Sheffield in the pre-crash-pad days she became notorious for dragging mattresses up to make first-female ascents of gritstone headpoint routes—some of which were shorter than the Buttermilk highballs of today. Airlie emigrated to the States in 2006 as an “alien of extraordinary ability,” her favorite claim to fame. In the style of Dale Bard and others, she first visited Bishop to take a break from Yosemite Valley, stayed for a year, and soon became the ultimate Bishop “visitor,” making numerous trips to the area’s boulders, flying back to the UK just often enough to renew her visa. She also guided bouldering trips to Bishop for climbers from the UK. Airlie has been climbing for almost 30 years, and currently lives in Colorado with her partner Ned Harris and their three-year-old daughter Hazel.