Climbing History
A selected history of climbing and mountaineering through the climbers, climbs and media.
3740 Climbers
7412 Climbs
19328 Ascents
Featured
Ron Fawcett
Ron Fawcett was at the top of the UK climbing scene in the mid 70s and early 80s and one of the first professional climbers in the UK. He took up the mantel from climbers such as Pete Livesey and helped cement the E5 and E6 grade in the UK. He also put up some of the early hard sport routes in the UK with lines such as Sardine, Body Machine and The Prow at Raven Tor.
Ron famously climbed 100 extremes (i.e. routes graded E1 or harder on the British Trad grading scale) in a day in 1986 starting at Froggatt then going on to Stanage, Burbage and finishing at Curbar. This feat is even more impressive when you consider that Ron was not just picking the easiest routes available: Downhill Racer (E4), Heartless Hare (E5) and Ulysses or Bust (E5) feature among the hard routes that he climbed. See [3] for a full list.
References
[1] Rock Athlete, by Sid Perou https://youtu.be/tdRfqD125-g?t=1522
[2] Interview with Andy Pollitt https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/features/andy_pollitt+big_ron_fawcett-9483.
[3] Ticklist of Ron's 100 extremes in a day https://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/set.php?id=548
[4] https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/282305001835682
Ron Fawcett was at the top of the UK climbing scene in the mid 70s and early 80s and one of the first professional climbers in the UK. He took up the mantel from climbers such as Pete Livesey and helped cement the E5 and E6 grade in the UK. He also put up some of the early hard sport routes in the UK with lines such as Sardine, Body Machine and The Prow at Raven Tor.
Ron famously climbed 100 extremes (i.e. routes graded E1 or harder on the British Trad grading scale) in a day in 1986 starting at Froggatt then going on to Stanage, Burbage and finishing at Curbar. This feat is even more impressive when you consider that Ron was not just picking the easiest routes available: Downhill Racer (E4), Heartless Hare (E5) and Ulysses or Bust (E5) feature among the hard routes that he climbed. See [3] for a full list.
References
[1] Rock Athlete, by Sid Perou https://youtu.be/tdRfqD125-g?t=1522
[2] Interview with Andy Pollitt https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/features/andy_pollitt+big_ron_fawcett-9483.
[3] Ticklist of Ron's 100 extremes in a day https://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/set.php?id=548
[4] https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/282305001835682
Pics + Vids
Featuring 9375 pictures and videos. Try searching for a climber, climb or summit to see pics and videos.
Jean-Baptiste Tribout on Just Do It 8c+
Calrin Curtis on Amandla 8B+
David Fitzgerald on Shuriken 8B
Jonathan Siegrist on Hard Twisted 9a+
Support
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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
- 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 4081 podcasts. Try searching for a climber to see podcasts with them, or check out some of these podcasts:
- Emma Twyford on The Enormocast, April 2024
- Kevin Jorgeson on The Struggle Climbing Show, April 2022
- Kai Lightner on Climbing Gold, June 2024
- Stevie Haston on The Enormocast, February 2015
Library
Featuring 11034 items in the library. Try a search to see what you can find, or check out these library items:
- Mount Doom (2025) Film
- Alpine Journal 1883 Vol 11 238-243 Alpine Notes (1883) Journal
- Cwm Glas (1970) Guidebook
Recent updates
It was considered 8A until this point
Will Stanhope was a Canadian guide, trad climber, soloist and big wall climber.
He made early repeats of hard testpieces such as Cobra Crack (E9) in 2009 and The Prophet (E9), Leo Houlding's hard, bold testpiece on El Capitan, in 2012. In 2015, after 4 years of work, he established Tom Egan Memorial Route (8c) in the bugaboos with Matt Segal.
Towards the end of his life Will struggled with alcoholism and mental health issues. He was due to face trial on charges of assualt, harrassment and sexual assault amongst other offences. [6]
Will died in April 2026. While climbing Rutabaga in Squamish he took a bad fall and suffered a serious head injury which lead to his death 10 days later. [2,5]
References
[1] Soloing in Joshua Tree https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsU5PjguPgw
[2] https://www.instagram.com/p/DXha2R7lKqo/
[3] Obituary by Brandon Pullan (April 2026) https://gripped.com/news/will-stanhope-dies-after-a-climbing-accident-in-squamish/
[4] Memorial post by Colin Haley (2026) https://www.instagram.com/p/DXr-NjiDNhz/?hl=en&img_index=1
[5] https://www.climbing.com/news/will-stanhope-dies-in-accident-squamish/
[6] https://justice.gov.bc.ca/cso/esearch/criminal/partySearch.do Search for WILLIAM STANHOPE
Will Stanhope was a Canadian guide, trad climber, soloist and big wall climber.
He made early repeats of hard testpieces such as Cobra Crack (E9) in 2009 and The Prophet (E9), Leo Houlding's hard, bold testpiece on El Capitan, in 2012. In 2015, after 4 years of work, he established Tom Egan Memorial Route (8c) in the bugaboos with Matt Segal.
Towards the end of his life Will struggled with alcoholism and mental health issues. He was due to face trial on charges of assualt, harrassment and sexual assault amongst other offences. [6]
Will died on 23rd April 2026. While climbing Rutabaga in Squamish he took a bad fall and suffered a serious head injury which lead to his death 10 days later. [2,5]
References
[1] Soloing in Joshua Tree https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsU5PjguPgw
[2] https://www.instagram.com/p/DXha2R7lKqo/
[3] Obituary by Brandon Pullan (April 2026) https://gripped.com/news/will-stanhope-dies-after-a-climbing-accident-in-squamish/
[4] Memorial post by Colin Haley (2026) https://www.instagram.com/p/DXr-NjiDNhz/?hl=en&img_index=1
[5] https://www.climbing.com/news/will-stanhope-dies-in-accident-squamish/
[6] https://justice.gov.bc.ca/cso/esearch/criminal/partySearch.do Search for WILLIAM STANHOPE
Will Stanhope was a Canadian guide, trad climber, soloist and big wall climber.
He made early repeats of hard testpieces such as Cobra Crack (E9) in 2009 and The Prophet (E9), Leo Houlding's hard, bold testpiece on El Capitan, in 2012. In 2015, after 4 years of work, he established Tom Egan Memorial Route (8c) in the bugaboos with Matt Segal.
Towards the end of his life Will struggled with alcoholism and mental health issues. He was due to face trial on charges of assualt, harrassment and sexual assault amongst other offences.
Will died on 23rd April 2026. While climbing Rutabaga in Squamish he took a bad fall and suffered a serious head injury which lead to his death 10 days later. [2,5]
References
[1] Soloing in Joshua Tree https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsU5PjguPgw
[2] https://www.instagram.com/p/DXha2R7lKqo/
[3] Obituary by Brandon Pullan (April 2026) https://gripped.com/news/will-stanhope-dies-after-a-climbing-accident-in-squamish/
[4] Memorial post by Colin Haley (2026) https://www.instagram.com/p/DXr-NjiDNhz/?hl=en&img_index=1
[5] https://www.climbing.com/news/will-stanhope-dies-in-accident-squamish/
Will Stanhope was a Canadian guide, trad climber, soloist and big wall climber.
He made early repeats of hard testpieces such as Cobra Crack (E9) in 2009 and The Prophet (E9), Leo Houlding's hard, bold testpiece on El Capitan, in 2012. In 2015, after 4 years of work, he established Tom Egan Memorial Route (8c) in the bugaboos with Matt Segal.
Towards the end of his life Will struggled with alcoholism and mental health issues. He was due to face trial on charges of assualt, harrassment and sexual assault amongst other offences.
Will tragically died in 2026. While climbing Rutabaga in Squamish he took a bad fall and suffered a serious head injury which lead to his death 10 days later. [2,5]
References
[1] Soloing in Joshua Tree https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsU5PjguPgw
[2] https://www.instagram.com/p/DXha2R7lKqo/
[3] Obituary by Brandon Pullan (April 2026) https://gripped.com/news/will-stanhope-dies-after-a-climbing-accident-in-squamish/
[4] Memorial post by Colin Haley (2026) https://www.instagram.com/p/DXr-NjiDNhz/?hl=en&img_index=1
[5] https://www.climbing.com/news/will-stanhope-dies-in-accident-squamish/
Will Stanhope was a Canadian guide, trad climber, soloist and big wall climber.
He made early repeats of hard testpieces such as Cobra Crack (E9) in 2009 and The Prophet (E9), Leo Houlding's hard, bold testpiece on El Capitan, in 2012. In 2015, after 4 years of work, he established Tom Egan Memorial Route (8c) in the bugaboos with Matt Segal.
Towards the end of his life Will struggled with alcoholism and mental health issues. He was also due to face trial on charges of assualt, harrassment and sexual assault amongst other offences.
Will tragically died in 2026. While climbing Rutabaga in Squamish he took a bad fall and suffered a serious head injury which lead to his death 10 days later. [2,5]
References
[1] Soloing in Joshua Tree https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsU5PjguPgw
[2] https://www.instagram.com/p/DXha2R7lKqo/
[3] Obituary by Brandon Pullan (April 2026) https://gripped.com/news/will-stanhope-dies-after-a-climbing-accident-in-squamish/
[4] Memorial post by Colin Haley (2026) https://www.instagram.com/p/DXr-NjiDNhz/?hl=en&img_index=1
[5] https://www.climbing.com/news/will-stanhope-dies-in-accident-squamish/
Will Stanhope was a Canadian guide, trad climber, soloist and big wall climber.
He made early repeats of hard testpieces such as Cobra Crack (E9) in 2009 and The Prophet (E9), Leo Houlding's hard, bold testpiece on El Capitan, in 2012. In 2015, after 4 years of work, he established Tom Egan Memorial Route (8c) in the bugaboos with Matt Segal.
Towards the end of his life Will struggled increasingly with alcoholism and mental health issues. He was also due to face trial on charges of assualt, harrassment and sexual assault amongst other offences.
Will tragically died in 2026. While climbing Rutabaga in Squamish he took a bad fall and suffered a serious head injury which lead to his death 10 days later. [2,5]
References
[1] Soloing in Joshua Tree https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsU5PjguPgw
[2] https://www.instagram.com/p/DXha2R7lKqo/
[3] Obituary by Brandon Pullan (April 2026) https://gripped.com/news/will-stanhope-dies-after-a-climbing-accident-in-squamish/
[4] Memorial post by Colin Haley (2026) https://www.instagram.com/p/DXr-NjiDNhz/?hl=en&img_index=1
[5] https://www.climbing.com/news/will-stanhope-dies-in-accident-squamish/
Will Stanhope was a Canadian guide, trad climber, soloist and big wall climber.
He made early repeats of hard testpieces such as Cobra Crack (E9) in 2009 and The Prophet (E9), Leo Houlding's hard, bold testpiece on El Capitan, in 2012. In 2015, after 4 years of work, he established Tom Egan Memorial Route (8c) in the bugaboos with Matt Segal.
Will tragically died in 2026. While climbing Rutabaga in Squamish he took a bad fall and suffered a serious head injury which lead to his death 10 days later. [2,5]
References
[1] Soloing in Joshua Tree https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsU5PjguPgw
[2] https://www.instagram.com/p/DXha2R7lKqo/
[3] Obituary by Brandon Pullan (April 2026) https://gripped.com/news/will-stanhope-dies-after-a-climbing-accident-in-squamish/
[4] Memorial post by Colin Haley (2026) https://www.instagram.com/p/DXr-NjiDNhz/?hl=en&img_index=1
[5] https://www.climbing.com/news/will-stanhope-dies-in-accident-squamish/
Will Stanhope was a Canadian guide, trad climber, soloist and big wall climber.
He made early repeats of hard testpieces such as Cobra Crack (E9) in 2009 and The Prophet (E9), Leo Houlding's hard, bold testpiece on El Capitan, in 2012. In 2015, after 4 years of work, he established Tom Egan Memorial Route (8c) in the bugaboos with Matt Segal.
Will tragically died in 2026. While climbing Rutabaga in Squamish he took a bad fall and suffered a serious head injury which lead to his death 10 days later. [2]
References
[1] Soloing in Joshua Tree https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsU5PjguPgw
[2] https://www.instagram.com/p/DXha2R7lKqo/
[3] Obituary by Brandon Pullan (April 2026) https://gripped.com/news/will-stanhope-dies-after-a-climbing-accident-in-squamish/
[4] Memorial post by Colin Haley (2026) https://www.instagram.com/p/DXr-NjiDNhz/?hl=en&img_index=1
[5] https://www.climbing.com/news/will-stanhope-dies-in-accident-squamish/