Climbing History

Ben Moon is a British sport climber and boulderer. Throughout the 80s and 90s he was at the cutting edge, establishing and repeating many of the hardest routes and problems in the UK and Europe.

Ben was an early proponent of sport climbing in the UK at a time when trad climbing dominated and the use of bolts was very controversial. Statement of Youth (8a) which he established in 1984 was one of the first 8as in the UK. While many routes relied to varying degrees on bolts and pegs from aid ascents, Statement is an early example of a route that was bolted specifically so it could be free climbed.

Alongside Jerry Moffatt, Marc Le Menestrel, Antoine Le Menestrel and others Ben was at the forefront of the 80s sport climbing revolution which saw difficulty increase massively over the course of the decade: having climbed Statement of Youth in 1984 with some difficulty, by 1989 Ben had established Agincourt (8c) and Maginot Line (8c), two of the hardest sport climbs in the world at the time. In 1990 he made the first ascent of Hubble (9a), originally suggested at 8c+ it is now a contender for one of the first 9as in the world alongside Action Directe (9a).

In the early 90s he invested significant time into what would become Northern Lights (9a) at Kilnsey. Despite a protracted siege over several years Ben was unable to make the first ascent, being beset with injuries and poor conditions on the route. It seems likely that frustration with this process partly led to him spending an increasingly large amount of time bouldering.

As with sport climbing he was a very capable boulderer and established or repeated many of the hardest problems in the UK at the time. Problems such as 8 Ball (8A+), Cypher (8B) and Voyager SDS (8B+) are enduring hard classics.

2013 saw a resurgence after a period away from serious climbing, firstly climbing Mecca Extension (8c) at Raven Tor, then in 2015 climbing Rainshadow (9a) at Malham Cove just shy of his 49th birthday.

Moon Climbing

Ben is the founder and sole owner of Moon Climbing. Born out a previous business called S7, the brand initially focused on clothing and bouldering accessories. They are now best known for the Moonboard which spawned an entire category of climbing wall products, where users can climb on a standardised board and share problems via an app.

References

[1] Interview with Simon Lee, September 2013 https://vimeo.com/75374593

[2] Training in the cellar with Jerry Moffatt, 1989 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LceV005nte0

[3] The Real Thing

[4] Stone Love, 2001 film by Ben Pritchard https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FguueX9jM78

[5] 80's Birth of Extreme by Al Hughes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jkj3Buhfi2k

[6] Statement of Youth, 2019 Film by UKClimbing and Nick Brown https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeqI9axxrco.

[7] https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/942618999137609

[8] https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/876401569092686

[9] One Summer by Ben Pritchard, 1994 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnGf69g6Igc

[10] A Sport Climbing Pioneer: The Story Of Ben Moon, Interview with Matt Groom, 2023 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfyU4KHvioM

[11] Interview with Adrian Berry March 2005 https://web.archive.org/web/20061022044659/http://www.planetfear.com/article_detail.asp?a_id=460

[12] https://open.spotify.com/episode/7b64enKBPgbOPR9gK7T4nZ?

[15] On The Edge Issue 84, page 40

[16] https://moonclimbing.com/News/post/trad-ethics-ben-moon