Climbing History

Steve McClure is a British sport climber and boulderer who was at the forefront of English and Welsh sport climbing from the late 1990s to until late 2010s and in more recent years has applied his considerable talents to establishing and repeating some of the hardest trad climbs in the UK.

In 1998 he established Mutation at Raven Tor, at the time he suggested 9a but it steadfastly stood the test of time with a repeat taking until 2021 to materialise and along with it an upgrade to 9a+ making it one of the first of the grade in the world. He then went on to further cement himself as Britain's leading sport climber of the time by climbing Ben Moon's Kilnsey project to produce Northern Lights.

Over the following decades Steve continued to almost single-handedly push hard sport climbing in the UK with routes like Rainshadow, Overshadow and Rainman as well as many other notable contributions to Malham Cove, Kilnsey and the peak district.

Steve is also a very capable trad climber and has repeated and established some of the UKs hardest trad climbs. For example his onsight of Nightmayer on Dinas Cromlech is one of the most impressive ascents in this style in the UK as of 2021.

The first time I came to Malham it looked like the easiest crag in the world...

References

[1] https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/features/steve_mcclure_climbs_1000th_8a_-_the_magic_grade-15509

[2] Interview with Keith Sharples On The Edge Issue 103, page 42

[3] Video with Magnus Midtbø, Jan 2026 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAmM46vFn1Y