Climbing History
A selected history of climbing and mountaineering through the climbers, climbs and media.
1888 Climbers
3314 Climbs
8153 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 4376 pictures and videos. Try searching for a climber, climb or summit to see pics and videos.
Jana Švecová on Lion King (8B)
Sébastien Bouin on Suprême Jumbo Love (9b+)
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- All sport ascents of 9b or above
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Podcasts
Featuring 2110 podcasts. Try searching for a climber to see podcasts with them, or check out some of these podcasts:
- Wolfgang Güllich on Written in Stone, November 2023
- Ned Feehally on The Nugget, April 2022
- Max Milne on The Careless Talk Climbing Podcast, October 2022
- Kyra Condie on Climbing Gold, August 2021
Recent updates
10 sessions just to do the individual moves.
In terms of things I've done in climbing...I think it's the experience I'm most proud of, and I feel like it's really special to have found that so close to my home. [2]
References
[1] Helvellyn Project - Close Attempt
[2] https://www.patreon.com/posts/aidans-lakes-for-100865896
[3] https://open.spotify.com/episode/0cHKL3jWvp8A4QcZ1LS0YM?
References
[1] Interview with Sam Prior and Aidan Roberts, April 2024 https://open.spotify.com/episode/1j8yi1s7I8rkG5CjSqLq76?
Initially Caff thought it was going to be ~7b+, but fortunately he was going well at the time and still managed to finish it off quickly.
References
[1] Llanberis Slate. United Kingdom: Ground Up, 2011.
Initially Caff thought it was going to be ~7b+, but fortunately he was going well at the time and still managed to finish it off quickly.
I tried it a bit last year when I wasn't climbing that well, and at that time it felt really hard - in fact I wasn't sure I could do it. This winter I've bouldered a lot, and that gave me the edge I needed. [1]
References
One of the best routes of it's type in Britain; an awesome line with some awesome climbing, and as hard as Bungles Arete. [2]
References
[2] Llanberis Slate. United Kingdom: Ground Up, 2011.
References
[1] Llanberis Slate. United Kingdom: Ground Up, 2011.
A slab materpiece.
This was originally my project. I'd spent a while working on it, eventually doing it with one fall. I had a bunch of projects on the go, some of which were bolted, others just in my head. I got mightily fed up with it, I couldn't get the right shoes, was fed up with the weather and seeing as almost everyone had lost interest in the quarries it was incredibly difficult to get anyone to come up and belay, so in the end I let Johnny do it. I've regretted it ever since. [1]
References
[1] Llanberis Slate. United Kingdom: Ground Up, 2011.
Late 1990s.
References
[1] Llanberis Slate. United Kingdom: Ground Up, 2011.
A few days after the first ascent.
References
[1] Llanberis Slate. United Kingdom: Ground Up, 2011.
A few days after the first ascent.
[Described as having a large runout in the upper section in the 1992 guide] This comment is untrue. The route is of a similar nature to other E5s on this slab. The only reaosn Paul Pritchard managed to fall 70' off is, is due to being drunk. [1]
References
[1] Llanberis Slate. United Kingdom: Ground Up, 2011.
I was drinking whisky in the Padarn Lake Hotel with Gwion Hughes, who I was living with at the time, when suddenly I had a smart idea. ‘I have an excellent new climb to do. Why don’t we go climbing?’ The pair of us swayed and staggered up to the vast Rainbow Slab. The climb I had seen was a long hairline fracture splitting the left side of the slab. And I had the misguided notion to climb it on sight, without pre-inspection from a rope – and a little bit intoxicated. I threw a string of micro-wires, tiny brass-headed nuts, in the seam, without the least regard for my safety. The climbing was really quite difficult and became increasingly so. Nevertheless, I carried on with scant regard for my personal safety. I still remember attempting to pull on a depression into which you could place flat a fifty-pence piece: a strange, white pocket in a sea of blue-grey slate. I studied it for what seemed like an eternity and searched for my next hold. My shoe edges were set on mere ripples in the featureless slab. I began to slip and then accelerated down the slab, taking a twenty-five-metre fall. The rope burned through the lycra behind my knee. I came to a halt inches from the ground. [1]