Climbing History
A selected history of climbing and mountaineering through the climbers, climbs and media.
4013 Climbers
7793 Climbs
20559 Ascents
Featured
Barbara Zangerl
Barbara Zangerl is an Austrian climber best known for her trad. and multi-pitch climbing. Together with her partner Jacopo Larcher she has climbed many of the hardest big wall and multi-pitch routes in the world: Magic Mushroom (E10), The Nose (E9), Bellavista (E9), Silbergeier (8b+), Des Kaisers neue Kleider (8b+) and End of Silence (8b+) to name a few.
Babsi started off as a boulderer, notably climbing Pura Vida (8A+) in Magic Wood in 2008. This was one of the hardest problems ever climbed by a woman at the time.
While she has largely stopped bouldering at the highest level she is a very capable sport and trad climber, operating at or near the cutting edge in both disciplines. In 2014 she made the first female ascent of Prinzip Hoffnung (E9), then in 2016 she made the second ascent of Achemine (E9) at Dumbarton Rock. In 2017 she made the second ascent of Gondo Crack (E9) and the first female ascent of Muy Caliente! (E9) in Pembroke. In 2023 she repeated Meltdown (E11) in Yosemite, one of the hardest traditional pitches in the world at the time and only the fourth ascent since Beth Rodden made the first ascent in 2008.
In 2024 Babsi cemeted her place in history by becoming the first person to climb a free route on El Capitan first go by flashing Freerider (E7).
Along side being a professional climber she also works part time as a radiographer in Austria.
References
[2] Interview with Sonnie Trotter https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_KQe7o3zoc
Barbara Zangerl is an Austrian climber best known for her trad. and multi-pitch climbing. Together with her partner Jacopo Larcher she has climbed many of the hardest big wall and multi-pitch routes in the world: Magic Mushroom (E10), The Nose (E9), Bellavista (E9), Silbergeier (8b+), Des Kaisers neue Kleider (8b+) and End of Silence (8b+) to name a few.
Babsi started off as a boulderer, notably climbing Pura Vida (8A+) in Magic Wood in 2008. This was one of the hardest problems ever climbed by a woman at the time.
While she has largely stopped bouldering at the highest level she is a very capable sport and trad climber, operating at or near the cutting edge in both disciplines. In 2014 she made the first female ascent of Prinzip Hoffnung (E9), then in 2016 she made the second ascent of Achemine (E9) at Dumbarton Rock. In 2017 she made the second ascent of Gondo Crack (E9) and the first female ascent of Muy Caliente! (E9) in Pembroke. In 2023 she repeated Meltdown (E11) in Yosemite, one of the hardest traditional pitches in the world at the time and only the fourth ascent since Beth Rodden made the first ascent in 2008.
In 2024 Babsi cemeted her place in history by becoming the first person to climb a free route on El Capitan first go by flashing Freerider (E7).
Along side being a professional climber she also works part time as a radiographer in Austria.
References
[2] Interview with Sonnie Trotter https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_KQe7o3zoc
Pics + Vids
Featuring 9964 pictures and videos. Try searching for a climber, climb or summit to see pics and videos.
Hazel Findlay on Surreal Appeal E7
Tomoa Narasaki on Ashuradō 8C
Cameron Hörst on Martial Law 9a+
Will Bosi on The Palletiser 8B+
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 3899 podcasts. Try searching for a climber to see podcasts with them, or check out some of these podcasts:
- Jonathan Siegrist on TrainingBeta (2014)
- Niall Grimes on Jam Crack Podcast (2017)
- John Long on Jam Crack Podcast (2021)
- Barbara Zangerl on American Alpine Club Podcast (2024)
Library
Featuring 14933 items in the library. Try a search to see what you can find, or check out these library items:
- Pilgrimage (2003) Film
- Alpine Journal 1884 Vol 11 373-382 Bonney Address (1884) Journal
- Swanage Supplement (1989) Guidebook
Recent updates
The first 11 pitches were established ground up by Leo Houlding, but when he reached El Cap Tower he couldn't find a way to continue. Almost 20 years later Tommy Caldwell and Alex Honnold worked out a line and took the route to the top of the crag, keeping Leo's original name. Alex and Tommy apparently placed some bolts to protect parts of the run-out pitches Leo had climbed. [2]
In an unusual quirk, on pitch 4 Leo was unable to find a way past a short blank section of wall. To make the route possible, in an aid bolt hole he bolted on an Alfa Romeo badge (which used to belong to a car owned by Tim Emmett when he worked as a sales rep. for DMM) to the wall which could be used as a hold to pass the section. Caldwell and Honnold were able to climb this free by a slightly different line.
Many pitches free the aid route New Dawn (A2+).
References
[1] https://www.climbing.com/people/first-ascent-passage-freedom-el-cap/
[2] https://open.spotify.com/episode/4IznLeZqWsit538f4uZ9zF
[3] https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2019/11/new_free_line_on_el_capitan_for_caldwell_and_honnold-72123
The first 11 pitches were established ground up by Leo Houlding, but when he reached El Cap Tower he couldn't find a way to continue. Almost 20 years later Tommy Caldwell and Alex Honnold worked out a line and took the route to the top of the crag, keeping Leo's original name. Alex and Tommy apparently placed some bolts to protect some of the run-out pitches Leo had climbed. [2]
In an unusual quirk, on pitch 4 Leo was unable to find a way past a short blank section of wall. To make the route possible, in an aid bolt hole he bolted on an Alfa Romeo badge (which used to belong to a car owned by Tim Emmett when he worked as a sales rep. for DMM) to the wall which could be used as a hold to pass the section. Caldwell and Honnold were able to climb this free by a slightly different line.
Many pitches free the aid route New Dawn (A2+).
References
[1] https://www.climbing.com/people/first-ascent-passage-freedom-el-cap/
[2] https://open.spotify.com/episode/4IznLeZqWsit538f4uZ9zF
[3] https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2019/11/new_free_line_on_el_capitan_for_caldwell_and_honnold-72123
The first 11 pitches were established ground up by Leo Houlding, but when he reached El Cap Tower he couldn't find a way to continue. Almost 20 years later Tommy Caldwell and Alex Honnold worked out a line and took the route to the top of the crag, keeping Leo's original name. Alex and Tommy apparently placed some carrot bolts to protect some of the run-out pitches Leo had climbed. [2]
In an unusual quirk, on pitch 4 Leo was unable to find a way past a short blank section of wall. To make the route possible, in an aid bolt hole he bolted on an Alfa Romeo badge (which used to belong to a car owned by Tim Emmett when he worked as a sales rep. for DMM) to the wall which could be used as a hold to pass the section. Caldwell and Honnold were able to climb this free by a slightly different line.
Many pitches free the aid route New Dawn (A2+).
References
[1] https://www.climbing.com/people/first-ascent-passage-freedom-el-cap/
[2] https://open.spotify.com/episode/4IznLeZqWsit538f4uZ9zF
[3] https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2019/11/new_free_line_on_el_capitan_for_caldwell_and_honnold-72123
The first 11 pitches were established ground up by Leo Houlding, but when he reached El Cap Tower he couldn't find a way to continue. Almost 20 years later Tommy Caldwell and Alex Honnold worked out a line and took the route to the top of the crag, keeping Leo's original name. Alex and Tommy apparently placed some carrot bolts to protect some of the run-out pitches Leo had climbed. [2]
In an unusual quirk, on pitch 4 Leo was unable to find a way past a short blank section of wall. To make the route possible, in an aid bolt hole he bolted on an Alfa Romeo badge (which used to belong to a car owned by Tim Emmett when he worked as a sales rep. for DMM) to the wall which could be used as a hold to pass the section. Caldwell and Honnold were able to climb this free by a slightly different line.
Many pitches free the aid route New Dawn (A2+).
References
[1] https://www.climbing.com/people/first-ascent-passage-freedom-el-cap/
[2] https://open.spotify.com/show/0tNcdC2Pe8IyNfKHFLe1U4
[3] https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2019/11/new_free_line_on_el_capitan_for_caldwell_and_honnold-72123
The first 11 pitches were established ground up by Leo Houlding, but when he reached El Cap Tower he couldn't find a way to continue. Almost 20 years later Tommy Caldwell and Alex Honnold worked out a line and took the route to the top of the crag, keeping Leo's original name. Alex and Tommy apparently placed some carrot bolts to protect some of the run-out pitches Leo had climbed. [2]
In an unusual quirk, on pitch 4 Leo was unable to find a way past a short blank section of wall. To make the route possible, in an aid bolt hole he bolted on an Alfa Romeo badge (which used to belong to a car owned by Tim Emmett when he worked as a sales rep. for DMM) to the wall which could be used as a hold to pass the section. Caldwell and Honnold were able to climb this free by a slightly different line.
Many pitches free the aid route New Dawn.
References
[1] https://www.climbing.com/people/first-ascent-passage-freedom-el-cap/
[2] https://open.spotify.com/show/0tNcdC2Pe8IyNfKHFLe1U4
[3] https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2019/11/new_free_line_on_el_capitan_for_caldwell_and_honnold-72123