Bonnie Prudden (Born January 29, 1914) was a leading American rock climber in the 1940s and 1950s, with 30 documented first ascents to her credit in New York's Shawangunks mountains. Along with Hans Kraus, she was a pioneering advocate of physical fitness and later developed a form of trigger point therapy called Myotherapy.
Prudden was a tomboy as a child. Her father had lost the family money in the Great Depression. Her mother was an alcoholic,...
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Bonnie Prudden (Born January 29, 1914) was a leading American rock climber in the 1940s and 1950s, with 30 documented first ascents to her credit in New York's Shawangunks mountains. Along with Hans Kraus, she was a pioneering advocate of physical fitness and later developed a form of trigger point therapy called Myotherapy.
Prudden was a tomboy as a child. Her father had lost the family money in the Great Depression. Her mother was an alcoholic, prone to going on weekend-long binges. Growing up, her escape was in physical adventure. She was a natural climber, and delighted in climbing trees, walls, houses. A favorite escapade was escaping the house by climbing out of her second story bedroom window and traversing a six inch ledge. The nuns at her parochial school disapproved of Prudden's activities, believing strenuous physical exercise and muscles to be inappropriate for a young lady.
Prudden was a professional dancer starting at age 10 (including a stint as a chorus girl on...
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