Climbing History

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


1812 Climbers

3207 Climbs

7850 Ascents


Featured

Johnny Dawes

© Simon Nadin

Johnny Dawes is very influential in British climbing, particularly in the 1980s and particularly in the Peak District and North Wales. Alongside contemporaries such as Jerry Moffatt and Ben Moon he helped take over the mantel from the likes of Ron Fawcett and pushed the standards in trad climbing to new levels, culminating in his ascent of Indian Face on Clogwyn Du'r Arddu (Cloggy).

Whilst Johnny's trad climbing was cutting edge he did not embrace sport climbing in the way that many did in the early 90s, though he did still climb up to 8b+, a very respectable level for the time.

References

[1] Interview with Niall Grimes and Nick Dixon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gfAxYENlmU

[2] Features in 80's Birth of Extreme

[3] Interview for the film Stone Monkey, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdeaV_vfp5Q

© Simon Nadin

Johnny Dawes is very influential in British climbing, particularly in the 1980s and particularly in the Peak District and North Wales. Alongside contemporaries such as Jerry Moffatt and Ben Moon he helped take over the mantel from the likes of Ron Fawcett and pushed the standards in trad climbing to new levels, culminating in his ascent of Indian Face on Clogwyn Du'r Arddu (Cloggy).

Whilst Johnny's trad climbing was cutting edge he did not embrace sport climbing in the way that many did in the early 90s, though he did still climb up to 8b+, a very respectable level for the time.

References

[1] Interview with Niall Grimes and Nick Dixon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gfAxYENlmU

[2] Features in 80's Birth of Extreme

[3] Interview for the film Stone Monkey, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdeaV_vfp5Q

See More


Pics + Vids

Featuring 4205 pictures and videos. Try searching for a climber, climb or summit to see pics and videos.


Support

If you've enjoyed using climbing-history.org please consider supporting 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 1979 podcasts. Try searching for a climber to see podcasts with them, or check out some of these podcasts:


Recent updates

Media
Media
Media
Media
Media
Will Bosi's ascent of 4X+1
Media
Media
Will Bosi's ascent of Home
Media
Media
Media

Desperate!!! was a proper battle reckon it could be 8B+ now

References

[1] https://youtu.be/Y7AoI8zN6cA?t=436

Media
Media
Media
Media
Media

Will Bosi is a climber from Edinburgh in Scotland. He started out as a competition climber, first progressing through national competitions and then European youth comps where he had a string of podium finishes. He struggled somewhat to replicate the successes of the youth comps in the adult circuit, with his performance being two 4th place finishes in 2019.

Since retiring from comps he has turned to sport climbing and bouldering outdoors, where he has been extremely successful. In 2020 he became the second British climber to climb 9b sport with his repeat of La Capella. He then replicated this success in 2021 with hard first ascents and repeats including among others:

Since 2022 he has focused more on bouldering, where he has also excelled. For example he flashed Charizard 8B+ and, as of 2024, has repeated three 9A boulders:

References

[1] My Climbing Journey April 2023, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmmMbpCsSuA

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cn1dJNPfAfc