Passions Great and Small

Holly Gerrald Climbs the World’s Tallest Mountains and Raises Money for NICU Patients
By Brandon Shoemaker

photo by shane darby

Holland “Holly” Gerrald was two-thirds up Argentina’s Aconcagua—the highest mountain in the Americas—when her fingers went numb. The wind blasted her face with frozen air as she moved higher into thinner oxygen and deeper into self-doubt. Around her, climbers pressed on through the ice-crusted void, heads down, one step at a time. She had trained for this; she had visualized it. But the mountain wasn’t interested in her plans, and neither was her body. 

“I was freezing,” she recalled. “I thought, ‘Why am I here?’”

This is Holly’s favorite picture from the Aconcagua trip. In the distance are mules and muleteers. The hike to base camp stretches through the Andes and takes 8–10 hours. submitted photo

Just 500 meters from the summit, Holly turned back—not in a moment of fear but in a moment of wisdom. “I had to make the smart decision to get back down safely, for my kids,” she said.

But failure didn’t define her climb. In fact, that decision became one of the most powerful steps in her journey—a journey that has taken her from humble tents in the Caribbean to the slopes of some of the tallest mountains in the world, all in service of something greater than herself.

A Different Kind of Ascent

The journey to high altitudes for Holly began in unlikely terrain: under a tent, in the Caribbean Netherlands. “I lived there for a while in 2007, on the side of an extinct volcano, called Mount Mazinga, and I climbed that,” she said. She was in her mid 20s.

Guadalupe Peak, the tallest point in Texas, is located in the Guadalupe Mountains National Park. It is 8,751 feet, and Holly summited it on March 11th, 2023. submitted photo

Years later, after building a life in Texarkana as the owner of De Queen dance studio Company Dance, Holly still itched for the thrill of the summit. She spent much of her free time climbing in the Ouachita Mountains and completing other local summits, but those didn’t satisfy her yearning for the rush of a big climb. “I wasn’t bored, but I needed more,” she said. “That wasn’t enough for me.”

In March 2023, she decided, rather suddenly, that the time was now or never. 

“One day, I was like, ‘This weekend I’m going to Guadalupe Peak,’” she recalled. After spending the night in a yurt in the desert, she was on the mountain by 6 a.m. and back down by early afternoon. 

“It’s about 8,500 feet tall, and she’s brutal. I call her the queen of switchbacks,” Holly said, describing Texas’ tallest mountain. “People die on Guadalupe, either from dehydration or the wind knocking them off. But that was my first win . . . That felt good.” 

A few months after conquering Guadalupe Peak, Holly set her sights on Peru’s Salkantay Trek, which culminates in a particularly rewarding vista at the end: Machu Picchu. She completed that hike in June 2023. One year later, Holly set out to scale the first of her Seven Summits—the name given to the group of the highest peaks on each of the seven continents. 

Holly trekked the Salkantay Trek for approximately 46 miles through the Andes Mountains to Machu Picchu in Peru. submitted photo

In June 2024, Holly and her sister set off for Africa’s Kilimanjaro. They were in a group which, by happenstance, turned out to be a party entirely of women climbers. “I love getting to hang out with other strong women!” she wrote on her blog, where she documented her journey. Their eight-day trek tested Holly’s fortitude by throwing illness in her way, along with the anticipated challenges of high-altitude climbing. “Once you get that high, even at 5,000 meters, it’s hard just to walk,” she explained. “Just lifting your leg, it’s kind of like walking through a milkshake.”Add to that a bout with altitude sickness, and Holly discovered just how strong she was over the course of that trip. 

Holly summited Uhuru Peak on Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, June 26th, 2024, at 19,341 feet. Kilimanjaro is the tallest mountain in Africa, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and a Natural Wonder of Africa. submitted photo

At the conclusion of her climb, along with the memories and photos of some of the most beautiful views she had ever seen, Holly gained something else that meant a great deal to her: a certificate. “It’s on paper. I did it, you know?” she said. “It took me three days to get home from Africa, and I carried my certificate in my hand the whole way so it would not bend.”

Finding Her Purpose

Big mountains require big motivation. For Holly, the drive to summit isn’t just about glory—it’s also about giving. When preparing for the second of her Seven Summits—South America’s Aconcagua—she decided to tie her ascent to her longtime charity efforts supporting the CHRISTUS St. Michael neonatal intensive care unit.

Holland said that, through Company Dance, she has raised around $20,000 for the NICU.

“I love babies, so I landed on the NICU [as a place to donate],” she said. “They’re so helpless and innocent and pure, and when you’re in the NICU, you need more than your parents, and so I wanted to be a part of that.”

Her most recent donation contributed to the purchase of a sophisticated webcam system that allows families to see their babies in the NICU at any time from home—a substantial benefit when in-person visitations are heavily limited for the health of the baby. 

Before leaving for Argentina, Holly set up a donations page, where people could sponsor her climb. All proceeds went to the NICU.

Holly likes to go to White Cliffs, just northeast of Ashdown, Arkansas, for practice and conditioning between trips. photo by shane darby

Altitude and Attitude

Mountaineering is a sport that punishes weakness—mental and physical. It requires gear, grit, and a deep respect for risk. Holly has had to learn it all on her own in the process of becoming the climber she is today. At the heights that Holly climbs, most living things cannot survive. “No trees. No life,” she said. “It’s just you and the mountain.”

Holly with her team at Base Camp, Plaza de Mulas, about to head up to the high camps for the summit. submitted photo

Her drive to climb is similar to that of others she has encountered on her adventures. “[Other climbers and I] would sit at breakfast all together and talk about why we’re here,” Holly said. “The theme for everybody was: how far can I push myself? How high can I go? How much pain can I put myself through? What can I achieve mentally?”

Holly arrived at Camp One, one of the three high camps on Aconcogua, on January 7th. This camp is 16,240 feet. submitted photo

That self-daring mindset kept Holly going on Aconcagua, the tallest mountain in South America, in the Andes of Argentina, towering over the continent at nearly 23,000 feet. The gruelling cold winds bit through even her warmest gear, with temperatures averaging between 0 and 4 degrees Fahrenheit above the 5,000-meter mark. “I cannot express to you the pain I put myself through,” Holly said, recalling the frigid mountainside. 

Nevertheless, the payoff was worth it. “The view up there is really nice,” she said. “Being above the clouds is pretty phenomenal.” 

The Summit Isn’t Everything

Turning back on Aconcagua taught Holly something most climbers take years to accept: the climb isn’t always about the summit; rather, it’s about the accomplishment of going as high as you can, regardless of whether or not a peak happens to be there. 

“I missed the summit by 500 meters,” she said. “But I’ll be back.” That climb still took her higher than she had ever gone before, and making the wise decision of turning around only gave her a challenge to work toward for future climbs. “You gotta keep getting bigger. Go forward. Don’t go back.”

Holly is seen here standing at Independencia, 21,400 feet high, on Aconcagua on summit day on January 11th. submitted photo

For her next climb, Holly has her newfound friends in the mountain-climbing community for inspiration and encouragement. “I have one that wants me to go to Nepal in November to climb Mount Mera, and there’s [a mountain] in France she wants me to go to in June,” she said. But Holly is ever-cognizant of her limitations and sets her sights on realistic goals. “France is a little early—a little bit more technical climbing,” she said. “So I think we’ll wait ‘til Nepal.” 

In the meantime, Holly plans to focus on ways to grow her NICU contributions through her future climbs by building her online presence. She described herself as “a little bit social-media shy,” but she is determined to learn how to expand her digital footprint so that she can pursue her two passions with vigor. Others can follow and support Holly via her website, down2roam.com.