Climbing History
A selected history of climbing and mountaineering through the climbers, climbs and media.
3570 Climbers
7104 Climbs
18437 Ascents
Featured
Biographie | 9a+ Sport route at Céüse
Arnaud Petit climbed the pitch to a half height anchor in 1996 at a grade of 8c+. The full pitch was given the name Biographie but was later renamed Realization by the first ascenionist Chris Sharma. In line with French custom of routes being named by their equipper, it is now known as Biographie.
The route became famous as one of Chris Sharma's first big new routes and one of the earliest routes given 9a+, though notably not the first (several routes previously given 9a have subsequently been upgraded). His extended efforts on the route were documented in the film Dosage Volume 1.
At one point Chris wanted to call it Get a Life, thankfully he changed his mind! [3]
References
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suVH2BuFEh0
[3] https://open.spotify.com/episode/14eXBiZUrV7LetCF132iNS?
Arnaud Petit climbed the pitch to a half height anchor in 1996 at a grade of 8c+. The full pitch was given the name Biographie but was later renamed Realization by the first ascenionist Chris Sharma. In line with French custom of routes being named by their equipper, it is now known as Biographie.
The route became famous as one of Chris Sharma's first big new routes and one of the earliest routes given 9a+, though notably not the first (several routes previously given 9a have subsequently been upgraded). His extended efforts on the route were documented in the film Dosage Volume 1.
At one point Chris wanted to call it Get a Life, thankfully he changed his mind! [3]
References
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suVH2BuFEh0
[3] https://open.spotify.com/episode/14eXBiZUrV7LetCF132iNS?
Pics + Vids
Featuring 8944 pictures and videos. Try searching for a climber, climb or summit to see pics and videos.
Sonnie Trotter on Cobra Crack (E9)
Drew Ruana on Just Do It (8c+)
Aleksej Jaruta on Sammansvärjning (E10)
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Explore
Fancy a look around? You can browse by climber or by climbs, or you can check out some lists. For example
- All sport ascents of 9b or above
- British women who have climbed 7C or above
- British men who have climbed 8c or above
Podcasts
Featuring 3958 podcasts. Try searching for a climber to see podcasts with them, or check out some of these podcasts:
- Sam Avezou on CIA - Climbing Intelligence Agency, July 2024
- Jon Cardwell on The Testpiece Podcast, July 2023
- Cloe Coscoy on That's Not Real Climbing, March 2024
- Austin Hoyt on The Testpiece Podcast, February 2025
Library
Featuring 11022 items in the library. Try a search to see what you can find, or check out these library items:
- Adam Ondra - Just Do It (2018) Film
- Alpine Journal 1984 173-178 McInnes Astronomy (1984) Journal
- The Quellyn Area (1954) Guidebook
Recent updates
References
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiX8al8jOQc
[2] https://www.instagram.com/p/DH1EFoSNCAo/
[4] https://www.instagram.com/p/DMr9MpptfvU/
[5] Highpoint as of October 2025 https://youtu.be/U-1Dpypho4Q?
[6] https://www.instagram.com/p/DWBfgAlDVf7
[7] https://www.climbing.com/news/jorge-diaz-rullo-cafe-colombia-spain/
v13/14 FA. Links goldfish into a direct throw to the jug lip. Felt harder than Goldfish to me due to the necessary match and left hand throw (normal beta is to throw right hand to the next pinch). Sick power sustaining route regardless of the intricacies.
References
When I did Flashing Lights in 2021 I immediately started trying this the next day. Ive likely spent around 30 days on it, coming back to it a few times every year since. Was always very certain it was 8C but now I’m not as certain ha, classic. Maybe a slash grade fits it better? For me it feels pretty similar to Monkey Wedding difficulty wise. Every hold is basically just a incut full crimp so your fingers get pretty tired by the 20th move… named after my dog since she’s the goodest girl.