Climbing History
A selected history of climbing and mountaineering through the climbers, climbs and media.
4059 Climbers
7887 Climbs
20854 Ascents
Featured
Freerider | E7 Trad climb on El Capitan
Originally climbed as an easier variation of Salathé Wall, avoiding the hard crack pitches on the headwall, Freerider is now one of the most popular free routes on the main face of El Capitan.
In 2017, Alex Honnold made history with an audacious free solo of the route after extensive preperation. His solo was filmed for the 2018 feature film Free Solo.
In November 2024 Barbara Zangerl flashed the route, making her the first person to flash a free route on El Capitan. Cédric Lachat and Pete Whittaker both made ascents which could be considered flashes by some definitions but both ascents came with caveats.
The route's origins stem from Todd Skinner and Paul Piana's ascent of the Salathé, where they considered bypassing some of the hardest climbing via parts of what was to become Freerider, but opted to follow the original aid line as closely as they were able to. The full line was conceived by Alex Huber whilst working on his free ascent of the Salathé Wall in 1995. He rope-soloed the four-pitch variation to the headwall that year but waited three years before climbing the whole route with his brother Thomas in 1998.
There are two common variations that make up the crux of the route, The Boulder Problem at around 7c+ sport or 7B/+ boulder or The Teflon Corner at around 7c sport. The boulder problem is short and dynamic, while the teflon corner features extremely technical and insecure smearing. While the rest of the route is seldom easy, the other notable hard pitches are The Monster Offwidth and The Enduro Corner.
Dan McManus on The Monster Offwidth:
Left side in! The first time I climbed this pitch I had been told that it was crucial to climb it with a specific side in the crack, but I couldn’t remember which side. I guessed right side, I was wrong, but I did miraculously manage to chicken-wing my way up by the skin of my teeth. In doing so I removed the skin on my tricep which oozed for the next few days and made further offwidths very painful. [1]
References
[1] https://danmcmanus.blogspot.com/2016/03/a-guide-to-freerider.html
[2] https://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12199901800
Originally climbed as an easier variation of Salathé Wall, avoiding the hard crack pitches on the headwall, Freerider is now one of the most popular free routes on the main face of El Capitan.
In 2017, Alex Honnold made history with an audacious free solo of the route after extensive preperation. His solo was filmed for the 2018 feature film Free Solo.
In November 2024 Barbara Zangerl flashed the route, making her the first person to flash a free route on El Capitan. Cédric Lachat and Pete Whittaker both made ascents which could be considered flashes by some definitions but both ascents came with caveats.
The route's origins stem from Todd Skinner and Paul Piana's ascent of the Salathé, where they considered bypassing some of the hardest climbing via parts of what was to become Freerider, but opted to follow the original aid line as closely as they were able to. The full line was conceived by Alex Huber whilst working on his free ascent of the Salathé Wall in 1995. He rope-soloed the four-pitch variation to the headwall that year but waited three years before climbing the whole route with his brother Thomas in 1998.
There are two common variations that make up the crux of the route, The Boulder Problem at around 7c+ sport or 7B/+ boulder or The Teflon Corner at around 7c sport. The boulder problem is short and dynamic, while the teflon corner features extremely technical and insecure smearing. While the rest of the route is seldom easy, the other notable hard pitches are The Monster Offwidth and The Enduro Corner.
Dan McManus on The Monster Offwidth:
Left side in! The first time I climbed this pitch I had been told that it was crucial to climb it with a specific side in the crack, but I couldn’t remember which side. I guessed right side, I was wrong, but I did miraculously manage to chicken-wing my way up by the skin of my teeth. In doing so I removed the skin on my tricep which oozed for the next few days and made further offwidths very painful. [1]
References
[1] https://danmcmanus.blogspot.com/2016/03/a-guide-to-freerider.html
[2] https://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12199901800
Pics + Vids
Featuring 10131 pictures and videos. Try searching for a climber, climb or summit to see pics and videos.
Hamish McArthur on Railway 8C
Taisei Ishimatsu on Sanrinsha 8B+
Oliver Tippett on Cardiac Arrest A3
Support
If you've enjoyed using climbing-history.org please consider supporting the project by joining the patreon. Your support helps pay for the hosting required to keep the site running. Everyone who donates gets added to the supporters page.
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
- 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 4022 podcasts. Try searching for a climber to see podcasts with them, or check out some of these podcasts:
- Favia Dubyk on The Nugget (2022)
- Mat Wright on The Nugget (2023)
- Alannah Yip on The Nugget (2024)
- Jacopo Larcher on CIA - Climbing Intelligence Agency (2025)
Library
Featuring 15057 items in the library. Try a search to see what you can find, or check out these library items:
- Masters of Stone I (1991) Film
- Alpine Journal63 1958 102-116 In Memoriam (1958) Journal
- Chair Ladder And The South Coast (1975) Guidebook
Recent updates
Climbing at Céüse started remarkably late considering it has emerged as one of the best sport climbing crags in the world. Early exploration at the start of the 1980s focused on Face Est and consisted largely of adventurous trad routes and pistons and natural gear.
Patrick Edlinger spotted the potential early on, equipping routes such as Blocage Violent (7b+), La Femme Noire (7c+) and La Femme Blanche (8a+) in 1984. While development continued slowly through the 80s, it took until the 1990s and the introduction of the power drill for development to really accelerate.
In 2001 the cliff was thrust into the limelight with Chris Sharma's first ascent of Biographie (9a+). Although he did not offer a grade at the time, it was widely taken to be the first 9a+ in the world. While this title has shifted around with retro-upgrades, it remains a shining example of a beautiful, pure line of immaculate difficulty.
After making short work of Biographie (9a+) in 2014, climbing the route in a single session, Alex added his own mark to the cliff with his ascent of the neighboring Bibliographie (9b+), one of the hardest routes in the world at the time and another route of incredible quality. Janja Garnbret's ascent in June 2026 made her only the second woman to ever climb 9b+.
Céüse will undoubtedly continue to offer more lines of the highest quality and difficulty to future generations.
Climbing at Céüse started remarkably late considering it has emerged as one of the best sport climbing crags in the world. Early exploration at the start of the 1980s focused on Face Est and consisted largely of adventurous trad routes and pistons and natural gear.
Patrick Edlinger spotted the potential early on, equipping routes such as Blocage Violent (7b+), La Femme Noire (7c+) and La Femme Blanche (8a+) in 1984. While development continued slowly through the 80s, it took until the 1990s and the introduction of the power drill for development to really accelerate.
In 2001 the cliff was thrust into the limelight with Chris Sharma's ascent of Biographie (9a+). Although he did not offer a grade at the time, it was widely taken to be the first 9a+ in the world. While this title has shifted around with retro-upgrades, it remains a shining example of a beautiful, pure line of immaculate difficulty.
After making short work of Biographie (9a+) in 2014, climbing the route in a single session, Alex added his own mark to the cliff with his ascent of the neighboring Bibliographie (9b+), one of the hardest routes in the world at the time and another route of incredible quality. Janja Garnbret's ascent in June 2026 made her only the second woman to ever climb 9b+.
Céüse will undoubtedly continue to offer more lines of the highest quality and difficulty to future generations.
Climbing at Céüse started remarkably late considering it has emerged as one of the best sport climbing crags in the world. Early exploration at the start of the 1980s focused on Face Est and consisted largely of adventurous trad routes and pistons and natural gear.
Patrick Edlinger spotted the potential early on, equipping routes such as Blocage Violent (7b+), La Femme Noire (7c+) and La Femme Blanche (8a+) in 1984. While development continued slowly through the 80s it took until the 1990s and the introduction of the power drill for development to really accelerate.
In 2001 the cliff was thrust into the limelight with Chris Sharma's ascent of Biographie (9a+). Although he did not offer a grade at the time it was widely taken to be the first 9a+ in the world. While this title has shifted around with retro-upgrades it remains a shining example of a beautiful, pure line of immaculate difficulty.
After making short work of Biographie (9a+) in 2014, climbing the route in a session, Alex added his own mark to the cliff with his ascent of the neighboring Bibliographie (9b+), one of the hardest routes in the world at the time and another route of incredible quality. Janja Garnbret's ascent in June 2026 made her only the second woman to ever climb 9b+.
No doubt Céüse will continue to offer more lines of the highest quality and difficulty to future generations.