Climbing History

A selected history of climbing and mountaineering through the climbers, climbs and media.

3532 Climbers

6975 Climbs

18081 Ascents

Featured

Action Directe | 9a Sport route at Waldkopf

Action Directe is a sport route in the Waldkopf area of the Frankenjura in Germany. It was first climbed by Wolfgang Güllich in 1991 who suggested a grade UIAA grade of XI which equates to roughly 8c+/9a. It has since settled at 9a making it one of the first of the grade in the world.

The route is famous for its brutal, uncompromising climbing on one- and two-finger pockets. While training for the first ascent Wolfgang famously made use of the first campus board in the world (the board was erected in the Campus Centre gym in Nürnberg, hence the name).

After an easier initial section leading to a ledge and hands-off rest the route consists of around 20 hand moves, a pure power-endurance testpiece.

The route is named after the French far-left militant group.

References

[1] Written in Stone, Nov 2023 https://open.spotify.com/episode/3XjUWgzU7IMJgEWPzequbq?

[2] Written in Stone interview with Ben Cossey, Nov 2023 https://open.spotify.com/episode/0jLxfy5CRlOTykTmtG7MZe?

[3] Written in Stone interview with Alex Megos, Nov 2023 https://open.spotify.com/episode/5nhDlvoMlXj4jvCROnwSh6?

After an easier initial section leading to a ledge and hands-off rest the route consists of around 20 hand moves, a pure power-endurance testpiece.

The route is named after the French far-left militant group.

References

[1] Written in Stone, Nov 2023 https://open.spotify.com/episode/3XjUWgzU7IMJgEWPzequbq?

[2] Written in Stone interview with Ben Cossey, Nov 2023 https://open.spotify.com/episode/0jLxfy5CRlOTykTmtG7MZe?

[3] Written in Stone interview with Alex Megos, Nov 2023 https://open.spotify.com/episode/5nhDlvoMlXj4jvCROnwSh6?

Pics + Vids

Featuring 8743 pictures and videos. Try searching for a climber, climb or summit to see pics and videos.

Ritsu Kayotani on Bailout (8B+)

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Adam Ondra on Wolverine (8B+)

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Nalle Hukkataival on Radja (8B+)

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Will Bosi on Janja SD (8B+)

Dai Koyamada on Bongo (8C)

Shawn Raboutou on Dark Waters (8A+)

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You may also be interested in the Mountain Heritage Trust, a charity dedicated to preserving the rich history of climbing and mountaineering. Their collection includes many unique and valuable items, from rare guidebooks through to the boots worn by Doug Scott on the 1977 Ogre expedition.

Explore

Fancy a look around? You can browse by climber or by climbs, or you can check out some lists. For example

Podcasts

Featuring 3927 podcasts. Try searching for a climber to see podcasts with them, or check out some of these podcasts:

Library

Featuring 11021 items in the library. Try a search to see what you can find, or check out these library items:

The Asgard Project (2009) Film
Alpine Journal 1986 76-77 Duff Everest (1986) Journal
Craig Yr Ysfa Interim Guide (1943) Guidebook

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Media

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Elias Arriagada Krüger's ascent of Off the Wagon

References

[1] https://www.instagram.com/p/C2feHwdty_o

Media

Colin Duffy's ascent of Mirror Reality

References

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mG_cNl3Trgw

Jonathan Siegrist's ascent of Algorithm

References

[1] 1

Paige Claassen's ascent of Algorithm

Algorithm

Paige Claassen

Media

Charles Albert

Charles Albert is one of the worlds best and most particular boulderers. Charles ability is hard to define on paper due to his unique choice in style: he typically climbs without the use of chalk, climbing shoes, and kneepads. In this style Charles is undoubtedly a master with no one repeating any of his boulders in the the same style as he climbed them.

Charles is notable for his hard first ascents, for example La Révolutionnaire Assis 8C+/V16 and Hypothèse Assis 8C+/V16. In 2018 Charles did the first ascent of No Kpote Only in which he proposed the grade of 9A/V17, however this was downgraded by both Ryohei Kameyama and Nico Pelorson. Though these ascentionists did use shoes despite the translated name being "Bareback Only".

In 2023 Charles did the first ascent of L’Ombre du Voyageur for which he proposed 9A/V17 after spending 60 sessions to complete the problem. He commented that he thought it would be 9A+/V18 for the style he did it in, without shoes or knee pads, but suggested the lower grade for an ascent in a more typical style.

Lucien Martinez:

In Font, many times I saw Charles Albert do things so out of this world I would have called them impossible without having been a witness. Like flash FAs or in a handful of runs of 8A on a move that no one else can get anywhere near, or 7B slabs in trainers by simply annihilating miserable grains of sand with his nails… [1]