It's not unusual for students to work and put themselves through nursing school. But not many do it by climbing rock faces, rappelling down cliffs and hanging onto boulders.

Kate McGinnis, a neonatal intensive care nurse at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston, said that she was born to climb.

Photos by BARRY WILLIAMS/Special (ENLARGE)

McGinnis, a nurse at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston, climbs a wall at Atlanta Rocks. She placed first in the Women Open division at the 2007 Triple Crown Bouldering Series in Chattanooga in December.

(ENLARGE)

Kate McGinnis, who has climbed rocks since she was 10, hangs from the ceiling as she plots her next move at Atlanta Rocks on Collier Road.

"I think it's in my blood and part of our DNA. I see little kids climbing at the gym, and it seems so natural to them," said McGinnis, RN, BSN.

McGinnis, who grew up in western Pennsylvania and New York, remembers wedging herself atop doorways and laughing at her parents as they passed underneath. By the time she was 10, she had persuaded them to send her to a climbing camp.

"I couldn't get enough of it, and my counselors were soon letting me go on their climbing trips. They called me their 'little rope gun' [the person who leads the climb]," she said.

When she was 16, McGinnis got two things that helped her reach higher in the sport she loves: a car to drive to climbing locations and a climbing wall that her father built in the garage.

"I started competing professionally when I was in college. By then, I had sponsors and was winning major competitions," she said.

McGinnis trained and competed while working toward her nursing degree from Kennesaw State University.

"Throughout nursing school, it was my only source of income, so winning competitions was critical," she said.

Today, McGinnis climbs for the sheer sport of it. She has won the Women Open division of the Triple Crown Bouldering Series for the last three years. The competition takes place at three events throughout the Southeast and raises money for the Southeastern Climbers Coalition and the Carolina Climbers Coalition.

"I think the Southeast has the world's best climbing," she said. "People talk about climbing out West, and I like that, too, but the landscape is better here. I need green."

One reason that McGinnis moved to Atlanta was the abundance of climbing opportunities in the Southeast. She has been a supporter of the Southeastern Climbers Coalition, which raises funds to buy and preserve natural climbing sites, many of which are on private property.

She does two types of climbing: route (rope) climbing and bouldering, which is done with no ropes.

"If you fall, you fall to the ground, but there are mats," she said. "I like bouldering, because the moves are harder, but there are less of them, and it's more of a social event with everyone spotting each other. Bouldering takes all the fluff out of climbing."

McGinnis gets great satisfaction in climbing a route that she has worked on for a long time and is especially proud of being the first woman to reach the top of a site called "The Man Show" in Alabama. Only five people have completed the route.

"It's a really powerful climb. It's not that high up [about 70 feet], but there's an almost dead horizontal roof," McGinnis said. "It took me nine months of working the moves and developing the strength to make it. The climb itself takes about 15 to 20 minutes, but the top is a beautiful view overlooking the Little River Canyon."

McGinnis has been training for the American Bouldering Series National Championships in Colorado this month, hoping to be one of three climbers to make the American team, which will compete in the International Federation of Sport Climbing World Cup in June.

"I've never qualified, but I've come close," she said. "I'm a little old [26] compared to other climbers, so my expectations are realistic, and if I don't win, I'll be perfectly happy with myself."

Competing at a high level requires work. McGinnis trains at least five days a week, working with her coach in the gym or climbing outdoors on the weekends. She also works three 12-hour shifts in the neonatal intensive care unit.

"It's an intensive workout and tiring to go to the gym before or after work," McGinnis said. "But what's wonderful about climbing is that, when you do it, you zone out and you don't think about anything else."

She loves connecting with her inner self and with natural environments.

"I've learned a lot about myself [while] climbing," she said. "I know my limits very well. You learn to trust your gut about whether you can do something or not before you pull the rope out. You learn to make really important decisions under stressful situations."

She believes those skills carry over into nursing. When McGinnis puts her toes and fingers on a rock, she's connecting to her environment and trusting herself.

"Taking care of people is like that, too," she said. "In the NICU, I feed babies and change diapers, but I also use my head and my skills. It's a good balance."