Climbing History
A selected history of climbing and mountaineering through the climbers, climbs and media.
2021 Climbers
3545 Climbs
8953 Ascents
Featured
Ben Moon
Ben pushed the cutting edge of sport climbing in the 1980s and 1990s as well as establishing hard boulder problems in the early 2000s. He made many notable ascents in the UK including Statement of Youth at Lower Pen Trwyn, one of the earliest examples of a pure sport route in the UK (previously many routes were climbed in a sport style but relied on old aid gear. Ben equipped Statement with bolts specifically to free climb it).
1980s
Ben established or repeated many of the hardest sport routes in the world at the time, most notably in the UK and the France. Agincourt at Buoux, first climbed by Ben in 1989, was one of the hardest lines in the world at the time and still has a fierce reputation featuring extremely hard moves on tiny pockets.
1990s
in 1990 Ben established Hubble at Raven Tor, at the time the first 8c+ in the world but now considered to be 9a.
Around 1995 he put considerable effort in to what would become Northern Lights at Kilnsey but despite an extended campaign couldn't get it done. This marked a bit of a turning point where he started to focus more on bouldering.
2000s
In 2005 he established Voyager an 8B boulder in the Peak DIstrict, then almost exactly a year later Ben succeeded in climbing the low start Voyager SDS to give the peak district one of it's hardest problems to date and an enduring testpiece that took 9 years before seeing a second ascent.
Ben continues to climb hard. In 2015 he climbed Rainshadow for his second 9a, 25 years after making the first ascent of Hubble.
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
Ben pushed the cutting edge of sport climbing in the 1980s and 1990s as well as establishing hard boulder problems in the early 2000s. He made many notable ascents in the UK including Statement of Youth at Lower Pen Trwyn, one of the earliest examples of a pure sport route in the UK (previously many routes were climbed in a sport style but relied on old aid gear. Ben equipped Statement with bolts specifically to free climb it).
1980s
Ben established or repeated many of the hardest sport routes in the world at the time, most notably in the UK and the France. Agincourt at Buoux, first climbed by Ben in 1989, was one of the hardest lines in the world at the time and still has a fierce reputation featuring extremely hard moves on tiny pockets.
1990s
in 1990 Ben established Hubble at Raven Tor, at the time the first 8c+ in the world but now considered to be 9a.
Around 1995 he put considerable effort in to what would become Northern Lights at Kilnsey but despite an extended campaign couldn't get it done. This marked a bit of a turning point where he started to focus more on bouldering.
2000s
In 2005 he established Voyager an 8B boulder in the Peak DIstrict, then almost exactly a year later Ben succeeded in climbing the low start Voyager SDS to give the peak district one of it's hardest problems to date and an enduring testpiece that took 9 years before seeing a second ascent.
Ben continues to climb hard. In 2015 he climbed Rainshadow for his second 9a, 25 years after making the first ascent of Hubble.
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
Pics + Vids
Featuring 4741 pictures and videos. Try searching for a climber, climb or summit to see pics and videos.
Shauna Coxsey on Hitchhiker's Direct SDS (7C+)
Molly Thompson-Smith on Corridors of Power (7C+)
Nicholas Milburn on Dreamcatcher (9a)
Support
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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 2620 podcasts. Try searching for a climber to see podcasts with them, or check out some of these podcasts:
- Kyra Condie on Climbing Gold, August 2021
- Yannick Flohé on The Careless Talk Climbing Podcast, January 2024
- Thomas Cunningham on The Struggle Climbing Show, June 2023
- Ethan Pringle on The Enormocast, March 2015
Recent updates
References
[1] https://www.8a.nu/news/sara-simekova-ticks-rustam-direct-8b
Anna initially suggested E8 but after some consideration thought E9 was more appropriate.
References
Dave suggested E8 after finding (and testing!) a filed down slider to protect the route.
References
[1] https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2013/08/birkett_repeats_cooksons_route_and_rescues_sheep-68270
If it's the best climb I ever do I'll retire a happy man, if it's the hardest, likewise. All I know is that it was a joy seeing through the process. This to me is why I boulder, for the difficulty and intricacy that can only be felt without distractions, to climb up lines like this.