Sasha DiGiulian is one of the top rock climbers in the world, but several years ago the pro athlete faced uncharted territory unlike any of her first ascents: a double hip replacement surgery.
“When you don’t have a major component of your identity, which for me was climbing, it was a really empowering moment to have a lot of introspection,” says DiGiulian, who used her surgery downtime to dive into her first memoir, “Take the Lead.”
The 30-year-old climber, who majored in creative writing as an undergrad at Columbia, had always wanted to write a book, but “I never really knew when the right inflection point would be,” she says.
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That point revealed itself in early 2020. DiGiulian, whose sponsors include Adidas and Red Bull, had recently been diagnosed with hip dysplasia and was facing surgery with significant recovery time, and there was growing uncertainty around COVID-19. She also found herself navigating the aftermath of a fatal climbing accident leading up to a planned expedition in Mexico; Nolan Smythe, who was setting lines for a photographer to document her climb, was killed when a section of the wall dislodged.
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“It felt like a real chapter change,” she adds. “My book provided space for me to really give my own voice and my own narrative to how events unfolded.”
The book opens with a reflection on her childhood, when she was introduced to rock climbing during a birthday party at a local indoor gym, and her quick ascent within the professional climbing world. DiGiulian writes about her complicated relationship with her father, who died unexpectedly while she was in college, her experience as an elite female climber and struggles with body image, a cyberbullying incident involving a climbing peer, her hip surgery, and negotiating the risks inherent to climbing.
“I’ve had my story written about by others and speculated on by others through social media and other forms like film and digital. I was excited about starting to put pen to paper to tell my story,” DiGiulian says. “As I wrote the book and went back into analyzing ways in which my career was met with pushback, I realized that it’s no wonder I have imposter syndrome, and it’s no wonder I have insecurities,” she adds. “But I’ve also had this amazing opportunity to grow and learn and to develop more calloused skin.”
DiGiulian notes that she wrote with a young female reader in mind, and the book opens with a glossary of climbing terms to establish a broader appeal outside of the climbing community. “Ideally the book can connect with young women going into high school or college, who are taking that next step in life and help navigate how to face some of life’s universal challenges,” she says.
Off the page, DiGiulian’s story continues to unfold. She recently got married — this interview took place just a couple days before her wedding, held at her home in Colorado — and has several projects on the horizon, including continuing to develop Send Bars, the adventure food company that she launched last year. This fall, she’s working toward a goal on El Capitan in Yosemite, is continuing to work on a documentary that has followed her through her injury and coming back to climb one of the hardest big walls accomplished by a female team. She also has her honeymoon to look forward to: DiGiulian and her husband plan to climb the Andes peak Aconcagua along with fellow Red Bull athlete Nimsdai.
DiGiulian, describes “Take the Lead” as her first, but likely not last, book. “This is my first set of chapters,” she says. “I have a lot of aspirations to come down the line, but I felt like this was the perfect transition point for this stage of my life, to dive in until the close of that chapter.”