Climbing History
A selected history of climbing and mountaineering through the climbers, climbs and media.
4196 Climbers
8113 Climbs
21613 Ascents
Featured
Rhapsody | E11 Trad climb at Dumbarton Rock
Rhapsody is a trad route at Dumbarton Rock in Scotland first climbed by Dave MacLeod in 2006. It was the hardest trad route in the world at the time and maintains a substantial reputation, featuring 8c+ climbing, and potential for huge falls onto tiny gear from the 8A crux at the top of the route.
The route starts by climbing the majority of Requiem (around 7c+ to here) to a poor rest before an intensely technical sequence up the headwall above. The line is somewhat eliminate at the top, forcing a line of maximum difficulty to the very top of the crag rather than reaching out to an arête. [2]
The route has become a test piece for sport climbers who want to test their mettle, with repeats coming from an international cohort.
Around the time that he made the second ascent, Sonnie Trotter also added a variation called Direquiem which takes the headwall but finishes left, rather than going to the highest point of the crag.
References
[1] E11 2006 film by Paul Diffley
[2] https://davemacleod.blogspot.com/2008/12/home-in-winter-wonderland.html
Rhapsody is a trad route at Dumbarton Rock in Scotland first climbed by Dave MacLeod in 2006. It was the hardest trad route in the world at the time and maintains a substantial reputation, featuring 8c+ climbing, and potential for huge falls onto tiny gear from the 8A crux at the top of the route.
The route starts by climbing the majority of Requiem (around 7c+ to here) to a poor rest before an intensely technical sequence up the headwall above. The line is somewhat eliminate at the top, forcing a line of maximum difficulty to the very top of the crag rather than reaching out to an arête. [2]
The route has become a test piece for sport climbers who want to test their mettle, with repeats coming from an international cohort.
Around the time that he made the second ascent, Sonnie Trotter also added a variation called Direquiem which takes the headwall but finishes left, rather than going to the highest point of the crag.
References
[1] E11 2006 film by Paul Diffley
[2] https://davemacleod.blogspot.com/2008/12/home-in-winter-wonderland.html
Pics + Vids
Featuring 10500 pictures and videos. Try searching for a climber, climb or summit to see pics and videos.
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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
- British men who have climbed 8c or above
Podcasts
Featuring 4269 podcasts. Try searching for a climber to see podcasts with them, or check out some of these podcasts:
- Mary Eden on The Climbing Majority (2023)
- Brooke Raboutou on Climbing Gold (2024)
- Jon Glassberg on CIA - Climbing Intelligence Agency (2025)
- Andy Salo on Written in Stone (2025)
Library
Featuring 16108 items in the library. Try a search to see what you can find, or check out these library items:
- Between the Trees (2009) Film
- Alpine Journal49 245-247 Busk N Persia (1937) Journal
- High Cliff Climbs Guidebook
Recent updates
Likely first ground-up ascent
References
Norwegian big wall climber and free climber active in the early 1980s. Doseth made important ascents on the Trollveggen and climbed in Yosemite. He died on the descent after making the first ascent of the Norwegian Route on Great Trango.
References
Norwegian big wall climber and free climber active in the early 1980s.
References
Cuban-American climber, civil rights lawyer, climbing guide, and founder of the Access Fund.
Brady Robinson:
Armando Menocal’s tireless efforts to defend climbing access have shaped the landscape of climbing in the US and Latin America, enabling countless climbers to enjoy the sport. He is remembered as a passionate advocate, a visionary leader, and a champion for climbers’ freedom. Anyone who knew him can never forget his incisive curiosity, easy laugh and beaming, gap-toothed smile. [1]
References
[1] Obituary by Brady Robinson, October 2024 https://www.climbing.com/people/remembering-armando-menocal/
Sheffield based member of the Alpha club, active on Gritstone and peak limestone in the early 1960s.
References
[1] https://smhccg.org/rock-climbing/medusa/
[2] https://footlesscrow.blogspot.com/2012/08/steve-dean-reviews-alpha-males-story-of.html
Comici was the major figure of interwar Italian rock climbing, pioneering an astonishing series of new routes in the Dolomites. He took up climbing relatively late at 26 years old after ten years of exploratory caving and working in the docks. He applied the rope-work skills he had thus acquired and the physical conditioning from his work to climbing and progressed rapidly. Comici introduced or popularised the use off double ropes and rope stirrups (etriers). His fame allowed him to open a climbing school in 1932, including Riccardo Cassin amongst his pupils. Comici supported the Fascist government of Mussolini and was supported by them on lecture tours. He died on a local training cliff in an accident related to an old frayed rope.
References
[1] https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/3467957563270394
[2] https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/3428911903841627
[3] https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/3402200859846065
[4] https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/3378176785581806
[5] https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/867243840008459
[6] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6u69RdfqytM
[7] https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/features/classic_alpinism_-_emilio_comici-4782
[8] David Smart. Emilio Comici: Angel of the Dolomites. Canada: RMB Rocky Mountain Books, 2020.
Comici was the major figure of interwar Italian rock climbing, pioneering an astonishing series of new routes in the Dolomites. He took up climbing relatively late at 26 years old after ten years of exploratory caving and working in the docks. He applied the rope-work skills he had acquired and the physical training to climbing and progressed rapidly. Comici introduced or popularised the use off double ropes and rope stirrups (etriers). His fame allowed him to open a climbing school in 1932, including Riccardo Cassin amongst his pupils. Comici supported the Fascist government of Mussolini and was supported by them on lecture tours. He died on a local training cliff in an accident related to an old frayed rope.
References
[1] https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/3467957563270394
[2] https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/3428911903841627
[3] https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/3402200859846065
[4] https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/3378176785581806
[5] https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/867243840008459
[6] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6u69RdfqytM
[7] https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/features/classic_alpinism_-_emilio_comici-4782
[8] David Smart. Emilio Comici: Angel of the Dolomites. Canada: RMB Rocky Mountain Books, 2020.
Comici was the major figure of interwar Italian rock climbing, pioneering an astonishing series of new routes in the Dolomites.
References
[1] https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/3467957563270394
[2] https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/3428911903841627
[3] https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/3402200859846065
[4] https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/3378176785581806
[5] https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/867243840008459
[6] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6u69RdfqytM
[7] https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/features/classic_alpinism_-_emilio_comici-4782
[8] David Smart. Emilio Comici: Angel of the Dolomites. Canada: RMB Rocky Mountain Books, 2020.
One of the earlier recorded problems at The Buttermilks, now a well-travelled classic.
Pratt was one of the key players in the Yosemite golden age, felt by many to be the best crack climber of them all, with a particular strength in offwidths. He was notably shy and unwilling to publicise his exploits but one of the best writers of his time. His essay The View From Dead Horse Point highlights the importance discovery in climbing by not climbing.
Pratt, more than perhaps anyone I have known, has always climbed, first and foremost, and last and finally, for the climbing experience itself, for the rewards that come directly from the dance of man and rock. Climbing, for Chuck, is a life-giving elixir, and he has always wanted to keep it as pure as possible, uncorrupted and unalloyed by gain, fame, or ambition, or any sort of debasement. Chuck has kept his integrity [4].
References
[1] Roper, S ed. (2002). Ordeal by Piton. USA: Stanford University Library p121
[2] http://www.supertopo.com/a/Chuck-Pratt/a146n.html
[3] https://www.instagram.com/p/Cjs2sdWrB_6/
[4] https://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12200146000/Charles-Marshall-Pratt-1939-2000
Pratt was felt by many to be the best crack climber of the Yosemite golden age with a particular strength in offwidths. He was notably shy and unwilling to publicise his exploits but one of the best writers of his time.
Pratt, more than perhaps anyone I have known, has always climbed, first and foremost, and last and finally, for the climbing experience itself, for the rewards that come directly from the dance of man and rock. Climbing, for Chuck, is a life-giving elixir, and he has always wanted to keep it as pure as possible, uncorrupted and unalloyed by gain, fame, or ambition, or any sort of debasement. Chuck has kept his integrity [4].
References
[1] Roper, S ed. (2002). Ordeal by Piton. USA: Stanford University Library p121
[2] http://www.supertopo.com/a/Chuck-Pratt/a146n.html
[3] https://www.instagram.com/p/Cjs2sdWrB_6/
[4] https://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12200146000/Charles-Marshall-Pratt-1939-2000
Keswick based Borrowdale pioneer in the 1950s-1980s. Brought up in a rough area of Carlisle, climbing saved him from juvenile delinquency or worse, although not before he lost an eye in a pub brawl. His first climb was Kern Knotts Crack (HVS), soloed onsight after a foot injury meant he could not go fell-walking. You can see how this might have influenced his son James's exploits. Thereafter, based in Keswick, he was guardian of Borrowdale climbing, contributing over 250 new routes to the valley on days off from his job maintaining footpaths for the National Trust.
His physical characteristics were considerably outweighed by is key defining feature, his ability to talk. On leaving the house in Keswick once to go climbing down Langstrath I remember returning home flabberghasted at his ability to talk, non stop, all day, some kind of circular breathing going on. [3]
References
[1] https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/ray-mchaffie-520345.html
[2] https://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/jan/05/obituaries.ruralaffairs
[3] https://www.jamesmchaffie.com/caffs-blog/climbing-with-ray
Keswick based Borrowdale pioneer in the 1950s-1970s responsible for more than 250 new routes in the region. Brought up in a rough area of Carlisle, climbing saved him from juvenile delinquency or worse, although not before he lost an eye in a pub brawl.
References
[1] https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/ray-mchaffie-520345.html
[2] https://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/jan/05/obituaries.ruralaffairs
His first rock climb, soloed onsight.
References
[1] https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/ray-mchaffie-520345.html