Catherine Howell Calhoun[1] (formerly Kitty Calhoun Grissom; born 1960) is an American mountain climber.
Calhoun was raised in Greenville, South Carolina. Her father, a corporate lawyer and a collateral descendant of John C. Calhoun,[2] sent her to an exclusive private school in Greenville where she excelled in sports, particularly hockey and skiing.[3] She began rock climbing through an Outward Bound course at the age of 18 and took up ice climbing at 19.[3] [4] She attended the University of Vermont and graduated in 1982 with a degree in recreation management.[3]
Calhoun's parents separated while she was in high school, and her younger brother Gib died by suicide shortly after she left college.[5]
Calhoun began her career in mountain climbing as an Outward Bound guide in Colorado after graduating from college.[3] She later became a guide for the American Alpine Institute, with whom she led climbs in Peru, Bolivia, Alaska, Argentina, and Nepal.[4] On a personal trip to Peru in 1984, she climbed Pirámide, Alpamayo and Qitarahu.[5] In 1987 she was the first American woman to climb Dhaulagiri in Nepal,[2] marking her first 8,000-meter peak, although she and her teammates had no Himalayan climbing experience.[3] [5] She subsequently received invitations to climb Mount Everest and join other high-profile expeditions, but she opted instead to lead her own expeditions with close friends. In recognition of her second 8,000-meter summit - an expedition she led up Makalu's highly technical West Pillar route - she was awarded the Robert and Miriam Underhill Award, the highest honor given by the American Alpine Club.[3] She was the first woman to climb Makalu, the world's fifth-highest mountain.[2]
In 1991 Calhoun relocated to Seattle and undertook a Master of Business Administration, which she completed in 1993.[3] After receiving her MBA, she founded Exum Mountain Adventures, a guiding company based in Salt Lake City.[2] In 2006, she climbed the Diamond Couloir on the south face of Mount Kenya with Jay Smith.[6]
Calhoun was formerly married to Colin Grissom, one of her climbing partners, with whom she has one son. She currently lives in Castle Valley, Utah.[4]