Climbing History
A selected history of climbing and mountaineering through the climbers, climbs and media.
4207 Climbers
8133 Climbs
21659 Ascents
Featured
Freerider | E7 Trad climb on El Capitan
Originally climbed as an easier variation of Salathé Wall, avoiding the hard crack pitches on the headwall, Freerider is now one of the most popular free routes on the main face of El Capitan.
In 2017, Alex Honnold made history with an audacious free solo of the route after extensive preperation. His solo was filmed for the 2018 feature film Free Solo.
In November 2024 Barbara Zangerl flashed the route, making her the first person to flash a free route on El Capitan. Cédric Lachat and Pete Whittaker both made ascents which could be considered flashes by some definitions but both ascents came with caveats.
The route's origins stem from Todd Skinner and Paul Piana's ascent of the Salathé, where they considered bypassing some of the hardest climbing via parts of what was to become Freerider, but opted to follow the original aid line as closely as they were able to. The full line was conceived by Alex Huber whilst working on his free ascent of the Salathé Wall in 1995. He rope-soloed the four-pitch variation to the headwall that year but waited three years before climbing the whole route with his brother Thomas in 1998.
There are two common variations that make up the crux of the route, The Boulder Problem at around 7c+ sport or 7B/+ boulder or The Teflon Corner at around 7c sport. The boulder problem is short and dynamic, while the teflon corner features extremely technical and insecure smearing. While the rest of the route is seldom easy, the other notable hard pitches are The Monster Offwidth and The Enduro Corner.
Dan McManus on The Monster Offwidth:
Left side in! The first time I climbed this pitch I had been told that it was crucial to climb it with a specific side in the crack, but I couldn’t remember which side. I guessed right side, I was wrong, but I did miraculously manage to chicken-wing my way up by the skin of my teeth. In doing so I removed the skin on my tricep which oozed for the next few days and made further offwidths very painful. [1]
References
[1] https://danmcmanus.blogspot.com/2016/03/a-guide-to-freerider.html
[2] https://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12199901800
Originally climbed as an easier variation of Salathé Wall, avoiding the hard crack pitches on the headwall, Freerider is now one of the most popular free routes on the main face of El Capitan.
In 2017, Alex Honnold made history with an audacious free solo of the route after extensive preperation. His solo was filmed for the 2018 feature film Free Solo.
In November 2024 Barbara Zangerl flashed the route, making her the first person to flash a free route on El Capitan. Cédric Lachat and Pete Whittaker both made ascents which could be considered flashes by some definitions but both ascents came with caveats.
The route's origins stem from Todd Skinner and Paul Piana's ascent of the Salathé, where they considered bypassing some of the hardest climbing via parts of what was to become Freerider, but opted to follow the original aid line as closely as they were able to. The full line was conceived by Alex Huber whilst working on his free ascent of the Salathé Wall in 1995. He rope-soloed the four-pitch variation to the headwall that year but waited three years before climbing the whole route with his brother Thomas in 1998.
There are two common variations that make up the crux of the route, The Boulder Problem at around 7c+ sport or 7B/+ boulder or The Teflon Corner at around 7c sport. The boulder problem is short and dynamic, while the teflon corner features extremely technical and insecure smearing. While the rest of the route is seldom easy, the other notable hard pitches are The Monster Offwidth and The Enduro Corner.
Dan McManus on The Monster Offwidth:
Left side in! The first time I climbed this pitch I had been told that it was crucial to climb it with a specific side in the crack, but I couldn’t remember which side. I guessed right side, I was wrong, but I did miraculously manage to chicken-wing my way up by the skin of my teeth. In doing so I removed the skin on my tricep which oozed for the next few days and made further offwidths very painful. [1]
References
[1] https://danmcmanus.blogspot.com/2016/03/a-guide-to-freerider.html
[2] https://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12199901800
Pics + Vids
Featuring 10517 pictures and videos. Try searching for a climber, climb or summit to see pics and videos.
Nettie McLanaghan on Air Bahal 8a
Anna Wild on Indian Summer 8b+
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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 4274 podcasts. Try searching for a climber to see podcasts with them, or check out some of these podcasts:
- Jemma Powell on Jam Crack Podcast (2022)
- Chris Sharma on The Enormocast (2023)
- Hazel Findlay on The Nugget (2023)
- Heather Weidner on The Mountain People Podcast (2023)
Library
Featuring 16114 items in the library. Try a search to see what you can find, or check out these library items:
- Ty Landman - Fontainebleau (2009) Film
- Alpine Journal 2002 364-370 Index (2002) Journal
- The Climbs on Lliwedd (1909) Guidebook
Recent updates
German mountaineer and civil engineer. Most famous for making the first ascent of the eponymous route (ED1) on the Matterhorn, one of the six Great North Faces of the Alps. Schmid died while attempting to climb the northwest face of the Wiesbachhorn in 1932.
German mountaineer and civil engineer. Most famous for making the first ascent of the eponymous route (ED1) on the Matterhorn, one of the six Great North Faces of the Alps.
German mountaineer and civil engineer. Most famous for making the first ascent of the eponymous route on the Matterhorn, one of the six Great North Faces of the Alps.
Chiropractor and training social media influencer.
One of the foremost German rock climbers and mountaineers of the interwar period. "The father of modern ice climbing" [2] who was first to use ice pitons and developed his own crampons and bivi tent. UIAA rock climbing grades were invented by Welzenbach as a I to VI scale, and it was only in the late 1960s that this was expanded to VII and harder. Welzenbach died on Nanga Parbat.
References
[1] https://www.alpinwiki.at/portal/navigation/erst-besteiger/erstbesteigerdetail.php?erstbesteiger=8877
[2] Unsworth, W (1986). Savage Snows: Story of Mont Blanc. UK, Hodder & Stoughton. pp. 133–137
[3] https://www.deutsche-biographie.de/gnd118631144.html#ndbcontent
One of the foremost German rock climbers and mountaineers of the interwar period. "The father of modern ice climbing" [2] who developed the first ice piton. UIAA rock climbing grades were invented by Welzenbach as a I to VI scale, and it was only in the late 1960s that this was expanded to VII and harder. Welzenbach died on Nanga Parbat.
References
[1] https://www.alpinwiki.at/portal/navigation/erst-besteiger/erstbesteigerdetail.php?erstbesteiger=8877
[2] Unsworth, W (1986). Savage Snows: Story of Mont Blanc. UK, Hodder & Stoughton. pp. 133–137
[3] https://www.deutsche-biographie.de/gnd118631144.html#ndbcontent
One of the foremost German rock climbers and mountaineers of the interwar period. "The father of modern ice climbing" [2] who developed the first ice piton. UIAA rock climbing grades were invented by Welzenbach as a I to VI scale, and it was only in the late 1960s that this was expanded to VII and harder. Welzenbach died on Nanga Parbat.
References
[1] https://www.alpinwiki.at/portal/navigation/erst-besteiger/erstbesteigerdetail.php?erstbesteiger=8877
[2] Unsworth, W (1986). Savage Snows: Story of Mont Blanc. UK, Hodder & Stoughton. pp. 133–137
One of the foremost German rock climbers and mountaineers of the interwar period.
The epitome of the dark horse, though rarely appearing in the climbing media of the time his onsighting ability and capacity for climbing were legendary in the 1980s.
Leading French rock and competition climber of the 1980s to mid-1990s. Tribout travelled extensively and pushed climbing standards both in France and the USA.
Tribout started climbing in Fontainebleau and Le Saussois. Visiting southern France often with fellow Parisians like Marc and Antoine Le Menestrelhe competed for new routes and early repeats with local climbers like Patrick Edlinger. He enjoyed the rivalries he provoked celebrating his combative approach with route names like Badman (8b+). His competitive nature made him an early adopter of the practice of working routes extensively and sometimes strayed into enhancing or manufacturing hold, a practice he now decries.
References
[1] https://www.grimpavranches.com/les-plus/biographies/jean-baptiste-tribou/