Alpine Climber Speaks at Gravity Vault

Zoe Hart has made a living for herself climbing the world's mountains. She now lives in Chamonix, France, and has spent a considerable amount of time climbing in the western part of the United States. She went out west before and after she graduated from Boston College, and her primary reason for doing so was to climb.

Hart returned to her roots this week. She grew up in Princeton, and gave two slideshow presentations of photos documenting her experiences on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The first was in Princeton, but the second was in the newly-opened Gravity Vault climbing gym on Watchung Avenue, where a crowd took a break from rock climbing inside the gym to hear Hart's presentation.

"She's done some really beautiful and awesome alpine climbing," said Fred Blakeley, who was one of the climbers that came to hear Hart detail her experiences.

The event was put on by Blue Ridge Mountain Sports, a hiking and climbing store that has branches in both Madison and Princeton.

The presentation's title, "Stories of an Alpine Princess," was meant to be somewhat tongue-in-cheek. At the slideshow's beginning, Hart showed a photo of her young self dressed as a princess before she moved on to photos of her siblings. One had their hair tied up in a ponytail on top of their head.

"We were a pretty normal family," she deadpanned.

Hart stayed out west with her boyfriend after she completed a Northern Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) course on the west coast before college. After she graduated from Boston University, she thought about joining the Peace Corps, but wanted to get away from working on a strict schedule.

Instead, she went to Mount Rainier in Washington, where she became a qualified climbing guide. She makes money doing that throughout the year.

Because climbing is not an office job—instead, it's something many think of as "play" more than "work"—Hart said she wanted to remind people that it is important to keep in mind its whimsical nature.

"In the end, climbing's just something we do to fill time," Hart said. "It's fun to share the lighthearted side of it, too."

Hart hopes to visit many more places in the near future. She hasn't yet been to European countries such as Slovenia, Croatia and Spain, in part because she spends so much time in Chamonix, where she recently received a work visa. She calls the Alps surrounding the French commune her "backyard."

She comes back home often to visit her family in Princeton.

But Hart's experiences climbing have allowed her to gain a perspective on the sport many do not have. She broke her hand while ice climbing several years ago, and was laid up in bed for many weeks.

She said the time off helped her understand the right and wrong reasons to climb. It also allowed her to get in touch with the role the sport plays in her life as a whole.

To her, it's more than just a hobby.

"Climbing's not separate from your personal life and emotions," Hart said.