Nina Williams

Nina Williams is one of the most accomplished female boulderers of this generation and a mindset coach. Williams is especially known for her accomplishments in highball bouldering, in which the climber attempts a 20 foot or higher boulder problem without rope protection, combining the physicality of bouldering with the mental discipline of free soloing. Williams is a Certified Professional Coach (CPC) in Leadership and Development, working with women and people of color to build confident, intentional lives. She has worked with Color the Crag, Flash Foxy, and the London Women's Climbing Symposium, worked as a climbing coach for Team ABC in Boulder, and has led additional clinics at climbing gyms across the country.

At 5’3”, Nina climbs with a necessary dynamic style and an ethos to match. In 2015, she completed her first V13 (8B) in Rocklands, South Africa, on the Ray of Light problem. This was the first female ascent of this route. In 2017, Williams successfully completed the first female ascent of the Ambrosia route in the Buttermilks of Bishop, California in what Climbing magazine called "one of the hardest free solos ever done by a woman.” The V11 route tops out at 50 feet, so tall that the lack of ropes creates a formidable mental challenge for the climber. That was after climbing two other difficult routes on the same boulder: the north facing Footprints (V9) in 2014 and the south facing Evilution Direct (V11) in 2015, completing the Grandpa Peabody Trifecta. And you guessed it - she was the first woman to do so. By 2019, she had completed seven first female ascents on boulders across the globe. Williams was featured in 2019's The High Road, a short film that was selected for the Banff Film Festival and shown during the REEL ROCK 14 tour.

However, the path to success has not been simple for Williams. At age 14, her intense desire to succeed as a climber—and fear of failure—nearly derailed her budding career when she forged a signature saying she completed a climb at a national qualifying competition. She got away with cheating until months later she was caught and subsequently kicked out of competition for a year. For a young climber who thrived on praise, the shame was excruciating, but it also motivated her to come back stronger than ever. Williams would not be the climber she is today if she did not have to confront her need for external validation and learn to climb for herself. Williams said: “I don’t want the next generation of climbers to feel like they have to cheat or be ultra-achieving. I want us to speak to them and say, we are proud of you because you are doing this for yourself.”

Williams graduated from The University of Colorado Boulder in the spring of 2021 with a degree in Communications and Leadership. She is now running a coaching program for climbers focused on mindset and inner dialogue. As a climber who has been trained in the art of falling, she provides a new perspective on overcoming the fear of letting go.