Climbing History

A selected history of climbing and mountaineering through the climbers, climbs and media.

4096 Climbers

7948 Climbs

21033 Ascents

Featured

Katie Lamb

Katie Lamb is an American boulderer, currently based in the Yosemite area. She was the first woman to climb 8C+ with her ascent of The Dark Side (8C+) in 2025. She had previously climbed Box Therapy in 2023 which was regarded as 8C+ at the time, though now rated 8C.

Lamb was a successful youth lead comp climber, winning the PanAmerican Youth Championships. She went on to study computer science at Stanford University, which left less time for climbing. After graduating, she turned her focus to outdoor bouldering, steadily working through an enviable ticklist of hard problems.

Her ascent of The Dark Side (8C+) was the culmination of 20–25 sessions:

In 2026 she made the first ascent of 130 BPM (8C) in Yosemite, one of the hardest problems in the Valley.

Her older brother Andy Lamb is also a notable boulderer.

References

[1] Interview with Katie Lamb, Climbing.com https://www.climbing.com/people/katie-lamb-interview/

[2] Katie Lamb's 8C+ Ascent of The Dark Side, YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STfiakiPNCY

[3] Interview with Sam MacIlwaine (2025) https://www.climbing.com/culture-climbing/golden-piton-2025-katie-lamb/

Her ascent of The Dark Side (8C+) was the culmination of 20–25 sessions:

In 2026 she made the first ascent of 130 BPM (8C) in Yosemite, one of the hardest problems in the Valley.

Her older brother Andy Lamb is also a notable boulderer.

References

[1] Interview with Katie Lamb, Climbing.com https://www.climbing.com/people/katie-lamb-interview/

[2] Katie Lamb's 8C+ Ascent of The Dark Side, YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STfiakiPNCY

[3] Interview with Sam MacIlwaine (2025) https://www.climbing.com/culture-climbing/golden-piton-2025-katie-lamb/

Pics + Vids

Featuring 10212 pictures and videos. Try searching for a climber, climb or summit to see pics and videos.

Nalle Hukkataival on Burden of Dreams 9A

Bruce Zou on The Game 8C

Pol Roca Lopez on Cryolite 8C

Chris Sharma on Black Pearl 9a+

Elias Iagnemma on Burden of Dreams 9A

Seb Bouin on La Rage d'Adam 9b

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

Podcasts

Featuring 4042 podcasts. Try searching for a climber to see podcasts with them, or check out some of these podcasts:

Emil Abrahamsson on The Careless Talk Climbing Podcast (2024)
Charles Albert on The Careless Talk Climbing Podcast (2025)
Tyler Nelson on The Struggle Climbing Show (2022)
Benn Wheeler, Josh Horsley and Michael Rosato on The Testpiece Podcast (2026)

Library

Featuring 15080 items in the library. Try a search to see what you can find, or check out these library items:

Gone West (2004) Film
Alpine Journal 1967 355-361 In Memoriam (1967) Journal
North Wales Limestone (1987) Guidebook

Recent updates

Media

David Bermudez's ascent of Mona Lisa Integral

References

[1] https://www.instagram.com/p/Dbasq6EMsAW/

Media

Wolfgang Güllich

A sport climbing pioneer. Wolfgang established the first 8b with Kanal im Rücken, 8b+ with Punks in the Gym and 8c with Wallstreet as well as one of the first 8c+/9as with Action Directe.