Adidas Outdoor said elite rock climber and slackliner Libby Sauter, 29, has joined its roster of athletes. In the fall of 2013, Sauter, along with climber Mayan Smith-Gobat, set the female speed record for climbing The Nose of El Capitan, an historic route in Yosemite Valley, in five hours and 39 minutes, beating the previous record by one hour and 47 minutes. In July 2007, she was the first female slackliner to cross the iconic Lost Arrow Spire Highline, also in Yosemite Valley.
“Libby is an ideal ambassador to represent the Adidas Outdoor brand. She is focused and successful in not only her climbing and slacklining but also her career as a pediatric nurse,” said Greg Thomsen, managing director for Adidas Outdoor, U.S. “As an athlete and a professional we see her as a great inspiration to young outdoor enthusiasts.”
In February of this year, Sauter accomplished a 4,000-foot first ascent of Cenizas a Cenizas (5.10R A3) in Northern Patagonia. Additional accomplishments include the female speed record for climbing Lurking Fear route of El Capitan in 13 hours and 33 minutes with Chantel Astorga and completing El Capitan and Half Dome link up, valley to valley, with Fernando Motta in 23 hours and 47 minutes. As a slackliner, she was the first female to cross Yosemite Falls Highline, Dean Potter’s BASEline in Moab, Utah, and is a World Slackline Federation (WSFED) certified slackline judge.
She was born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada, and graduated in 2006 with honors with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, School of Nursing. Since 2013, she has worked as a nurse educator in Benghazi, Libya, for the International Children’s Heart Foundation, and previously worked as a Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit staff nurse at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford in Palo Alto, CA.
