ver Cuevana 3. Dierdre Wolownick is the oldest woman to climb El Capitan in Yosemite. Never an athlete, she excelled in languages, art, music and other intellectual pursuits, but in her 60s she began climbing out of curiosity; her son, Alex Honnold, seemed to be having too much fun. Dierdre's story proves that we are never too old to try something new.