Climbing History
A selected history of climbing and mountaineering through the climbers, climbs and media.
3947 Climbers
7701 Climbs
20182 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?
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?
Pics + Vids
Featuring 9757 pictures and videos. Try searching for a climber, climb or summit to see pics and videos.
Nicholas Allan on Doomsday 8B+
Sierra Blaire-Coyle on Birch Problem 8B+
Rachel Pearce on Ring My Bell E7
Will Bosi on Land Der Hämmer 8b
Tuukka Simonen on Hypergravity 8B
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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
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Podcasts
Featuring 4163 podcasts. Try searching for a climber to see podcasts with them, or check out some of these podcasts:
- Alex Honnold on Climbing Gold, February 2026
- Tom Randall on The Mountain People Podcast, January 2022
- Pete Woods on That's Not Real Climbing, August 2025
- Neely Quinn on The Struggle Climbing Show, August 2025
Library
Featuring 14880 items in the library. Try a search to see what you can find, or check out these library items:
- Out of Sight II (2014) Film
- K7 West (6,615m), Northwest Face, Dreamers of Golden Caves (2012) Journal
- Clogwyn Du'r Arddu (1963) Guidebook
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References
References
One of the hardest problems in the world when it was first climbed in 1980. Discovered and named by Steve Foster, who climbed it first with one point of aid: manteling a peg at the start.
Walk On By is suited to my climbing style – thin, very technical steep walls, but not crazily overhanging. I think Leeds Wall was a key – Al Manson and I just used to test each other on brick-edge problems on the Leeds Wall – hence how I got good at using very small edges and rock-overs.
It was obviously hard, but I didn't think it was really any harder than some of the other problems we'd been playing on in Yorkshire, particularly with Al Manson at Caley, Almscliff and Hetchell. At that time I thought there were a couple of really hard projects at Caley that seemed much harder.
References
[1] On Peak Rock, 2013
One of the hardest problems in the world when it was first climbed in 1980. Discovered and named by Steve Foster, who climbed it first with one point of aid: manteling a peg at the start.
Walk On By is suited to my climbing style – thin, very technical steep walls, but not crazily overhanging. I think Leeds Wall was a key – Al Manson and I just used to test each other on brick-edge problems on the Leeds Wall – hence how I got good at using very small edges and rock-overs. It was obviously hard, but I didn't think it was really any harder than some of the other problems we'd been playing on in Yorkshire, particularly with Al Manson at Caley, Almscliff and Hetchell. At that time I thought there were a couple of really hard projects at Caley that seemed much harder.
References
[1] On Peak Rock, 2013
One of the hardest problems in the world when it was first climbed in 1980. Discovered and named by Steve Foster, who climbed it first with one point of aid: manteling a peg at the start.
Rob Gawthorpe:
Walk On By is suited to my climbing style – thin, very technical steep walls, but not crazily overhanging. I think Leeds Wall was a key – Al Manson and I just used to test each other on brick-edge problems on the Leeds Wall – hence how I got good at using very small edges and rock-overs. It was obviously hard, but I didn't think it was really any harder than some of the other problems we'd been playing on in Yorkshire, particularly with Al Manson at Caley, Almscliff and Hetchell. At that time I thought there were a couple of really hard projects at Caley that seemed much harder.
References
[1] On Peak Rock, 2013
One of the hardest problems in the world when it was first climbed in 1980. Discovered and named by Steve Foster, who climbed it first with one point of aid: mantelling a peg at the start.
Rob Gawthorpe:
Walk On By is suited to my climbing style – thin, very technical steep walls, but not crazily overhanging. I think Leeds Wall was a key – Al Manson and I just used to test each other on brick-edge problems on the Leeds Wall – hence how I got good at using very small edges and rock-overs. It was obviously hard, but I didn't think it was really any harder than some of the other problems we'd been playing on in Yorkshire, particularly with Al Manson at Caley, Almscliff and Hetchell. At that time I thought there were a couple of really hard projects at Caley that seemed much harder.
References
[1] On Peak Rock, 2013
One of the hardest problems in the world at the time.
Rob Gawthorpe:
Walk On By is suited to my climbing style – thin, very technical steep walls, but not crazily overhanging. I think Leeds Wall was a key – Al Manson and I just used to test each other on brick-edge problems on the Leeds Wall – hence how I got good at using very small edges and rock-overs. It was obviously hard, but I didn't think it was really any harder than some of the other problems we'd been playing on in Yorkshire, particularly with Al Manson at Caley, Almscliff and Hetchell. At that time I thought there were a couple of really hard projects at Caley that seemed much harder.
References
[1] On Peak Rock, 2013
One of the hardest problems in the world at the time.
Rob Gawthorpe:
Walk On By is suited to my climbing style – thin, very technical steep walls, but not crazily overhanging. I think Leeds Wall was a key – Al Manson and I just used to test each other on brick-edge problems on the Leeds Wall – hence how I got good at using very small edges and rock-overs. It was obviously hard, but I didn't think it was really any harder than some of the other problems we'd been playing on in Yorkshire, particularly with Al Manson at Caley, Almscliff and Hetchell. At that time I thought there were a couple of really hard projects at Caley that seemed much harder.
One of the hardest problems in the world at the time.
Rob Gawthorpe:
Walk On By is suited to my climbing style – thin, very technical steep walls, but not crazily overhanging. I think Leeds Wall was a key – Al Manson and I just used to test each other on brick-edge problems on the Leeds Wall – hence how I got good at using very small edges and rock-overs.
Jerry Moffatt, 2012:
Led with a couple of rests by Moffatt and Pollitt, an achievement which showed the possibilities of the future.
The first time I climbed on Pen Trwyn was in 1980, two days before my 17th birthday. I cycled over from school and met Andy Pollitt. He’d been going on and on about a new route he’d seen and how sure he was that it would go free. I was expecting to see a HVS or E1 crack or gully. When I saw the aid line of Mayfair, the route he was proposing to free, I thought he was mad. The wall looked smooth and hold-less, with an overhang thrown in for good measure! I belayed for what seemed like hours until Andy had freed every move on the first pitch. Having seen the sequence, I managed to follow it without a fall. I then led the top pitch, again taking hours, and again freed the moves. Andy of course followed it cleanly. We were ecstatic! It was the start of things to come and after that I thought anything could be freed. [1]
References
[1] North Wales Limestone, 2014
Jerry Moffatt, 2012:
The first time I climbed on Pen Trwyn was in 1980, two days before my 17th birthday. I cycled over from school and met Andy Pollitt. He’d been going on and on about a new route he’d seen and how sure he was that it would go free. I was expecting to see a HVS or E1 crack or gully. When I saw the aid line of Mayfair, the route he was proposing to free, I thought he was mad. The wall looked smooth and hold-less, with an overhang thrown in for good measure! I belayed for what seemed like hours until Andy had freed every move on the first pitch. Having seen the sequence, I managed to follow it without a fall. I then led the top pitch, again taking hours, and again freed the moves. Andy of course followed it cleanly. We were ecstatic! It was the start of things to come and after that I thought anything could be freed. [1]
References
[1] North Wales Limestone, 2014
Around Font 7C, pretty much the top bouldering level at the time.