Artemis II Astronaut Christina Koch Climbs Rock Routes and Ice on Earth

Astronaut Christina Koch, currently onboard the Artemis II mission, is a climber. And not just a climber in passing, with rental shoes and little else. She’s a climber to her core, listing “rock and ice climbing” among her hobbies in her NASA profile. The 47-year-old first took up climbing in college at North Carolina State University. She fell in love with everything from the physical challenge of the sport, to the gear, to the trust you place in your partners.

A deep dive into the wormhole of Koch’s climbing past reveals she has been lead climbing for at least a decade, enjoys the challenge of trad routes, and gets out ice climbing in Hyalite Canyon in Montana, where she once lived. She also backpacked through Wyoming’s Wind River Range, a premier climbing destination.

What climbing and spacewalks have in common

According to Koch, climbers and astronauts share a similar skillset. In a video produced by NASA about her hobby, in 2019, she explained that spacewalking with tethers is a lot like using technical climbing-rope systems.

Before she even came onboard with NASA, however, she recalled a climbing-related highlight from her job interview. Peggy Whitson, a hero of Koch’s who once held the record for longest time in space, asked Koch in her NASA interview, “When you rock climb, have you ever been scared?”

“I felt like she was seeing right to my soul,” Koch said. “Absolutely, I have been scared,” she responded.

Koch then reflected that it was her ability to turn fear into focus that helped her excel as both a climber and as an astronaut.

Training for space on the wall

Koch has also used climbing to condition herself for spaceflights. In preparation for her time on the international space station in 2019, her training included laps of the indoor wall inside the Carmichael Gym at her alma mater. And in a 2015 Instagram post, Koch stated, “Training comes in many forms. The kind in the mountains is my favorite.” A year later, she reflected that lead climbing in particular taught her important lessons that transferred to her work as an astronaut.

“You can rely on yourself to get out of situations when they are quite frankly scary, and with enough focus and enough confidence you can actually overcome obstacles,” Koch said in an interview with North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics. “Interestingly, the one thing the [NASA] interview committee wanted to talk to me the most about wasn’t electrical engineering, it was about rock climbing, and working in Antarctica, and all these other experiences that I had that were part of my path to get there.”

After reflecting on the reciprocity between her hobby and her career, Koch went on to join the first three all-female space walks in history. She has set the record for longest spaceflight by a woman: an astounding 328 days. And now, she’s made history for traveling further away from earth than humans have ever ventured before, along with the three other astronauts onboard the Integrity ship.

A very short history of astronaut climbers

So is Christina Koch the first climber-astronaut to walk among us? Our research shows that only a handful of other humans have gravitated toward both niches. American Scott Parazynski is the only human who has been to both space and the highest point on our planet. After participating in five space flights, on May 20, 2009, Parazynski reached the top of Everest, where he left behind a small moon rock. Whether the lunar rock remains there somewhere in the snow is unknown.

Another member of the infinitely small Club of Astronaut Climbers? Warren “Woody” Hoburg who worked seasonally on Yosemite Search and Rescue (YOSAR) from 2010 to 2013 before becoming a NASA astronaut. In 2023, Hoburg served as a pilot on the SpaceX Crew-6 mission in 2023, spending 186 days in space.

As far as we know, the human data points in this obscure venn diagram stop there. But perhaps with the rising popularity of our sport and the thrust of Koch into the limelight, more earthlings will simultaneously heed the call of both rock and space.

In the meantime, climbers can contemplate one more recent climbing cameo in the world of astronomy. Just a couple days ago, two Ocún crashpads were spotted in use on a German Isar Aerospace rocket as it launched into space (Climbing is currently investigating). Could astro-climbing be the next frontier?

We have reached out to Christina Koch for an interview to learn more about her passion for climbing, but, understandably, have not yet received a response. Some time after the Artemis II mission concludes on Friday, April 10, we hope to speak with Koch and update this story accordingly. 

The post Artemis II Astronaut Christina Koch Climbs Rock Routes and Ice on Earth appeared first on Climbing.