Climbing History
A selected history of climbing and mountaineering through the climbers, climbs and media.
4258 Climbers
8245 Climbs
22018 Ascents
Featured
Captain Invincible | E9 Trad climb at Burbage South
Despite being one of the most striking lines on grit and ‘the best 8b in the Peak’, according to second ascensionist Robin Barker [2], Captain Invincible has seen very few ascents. Masquerading as an E8, it was likely the hardest trad route in the UK in 1991.
The route takes an obvious line up the centre of The Cioch at Burbage South, with a run out start worth E7 in its own right, into a desperate peg-protected crux section.
Originally an aid route, persons unknown are reported to have climbed the line repeatedly with pegs with a view to enlarging the crack to the point it was free climbable. [1] Paul Mitchell and John Allen then filled the scars with mortar to repair the damage before Allen had second thoughts and tried to remove the mortar in the hope of free climbing it, though he was unsuccessful.
Once the mortar was out, the race was on. A number of leading climbers tried the route, but only Sean Myles succeeded, working the route in 1990 and making the first ascent in 1991, grading it E8.
Robin Barker was in for a repeat a couple of years later, confirming the grade and finding it comparable to Transcendence – another complete sandbag at E8, which is now rated E9. Burning off Jean-Minh Trin-Thieu, who had also been trying the route, provided some motivation.
A decade passed, Hard Grit arrived and yet the repeats did not. By the noughties, Parthian Shot (Pre-2011 Break) (E9) had become a trade route, yet Captain Invincible – supposedly a grade easier – lived up to its name and proved impervious to ascents.
It took until 2014 for a third ascent from crack master Tom Randall, who, after considerable effort, confirmed the route to be ‘hard E9 7a or 8b/+’.
References
[1] Mountain Issue 141 (1991), page 10 https://climbing-history.org/library/11320/mountain-141
[2] Peak Rock, Vertebrate Publishing, 2013.
Despite being one of the most striking lines on grit and ‘the best 8b in the Peak’, according to second ascensionist Robin Barker [2], Captain Invincible has seen very few ascents. Masquerading as an E8, it was likely the hardest trad route in the UK in 1991.
The route takes an obvious line up the centre of The Cioch at Burbage South, with a run out start worth E7 in its own right, into a desperate peg-protected crux section.
Originally an aid route, persons unknown are reported to have climbed the line repeatedly with pegs with a view to enlarging the crack to the point it was free climbable. [1] Paul Mitchell and John Allen then filled the scars with mortar to repair the damage before Allen had second thoughts and tried to remove the mortar in the hope of free climbing it, though he was unsuccessful.
Once the mortar was out, the race was on. A number of leading climbers tried the route, but only Sean Myles succeeded, working the route in 1990 and making the first ascent in 1991, grading it E8.
Robin Barker was in for a repeat a couple of years later, confirming the grade and finding it comparable to Transcendence – another complete sandbag at E8, which is now rated E9. Burning off Jean-Minh Trin-Thieu, who had also been trying the route, provided some motivation.
A decade passed, Hard Grit arrived and yet the repeats did not. By the noughties, Parthian Shot (Pre-2011 Break) (E9) had become a trade route, yet Captain Invincible – supposedly a grade easier – lived up to its name and proved impervious to ascents.
It took until 2014 for a third ascent from crack master Tom Randall, who, after considerable effort, confirmed the route to be ‘hard E9 7a or 8b/+’.
References
[1] Mountain Issue 141 (1991), page 10 https://climbing-history.org/library/11320/mountain-141
[2] Peak Rock, Vertebrate Publishing, 2013.
Pics + Vids
Featuring 10719 pictures and videos. Try searching for a climber, climb or summit to see pics and videos.
Jorge Díaz-Rullo on Bibliographie 9b+
Yuta Imaizumi on Caricature 8B+
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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 4315 podcasts. Try searching for a climber to see podcasts with them, or check out some of these podcasts:
- Dean Fidelman on The Enormocast (2018)
- Alan Watts on The Nugget (2022)
- Greg Loh on The Testpiece Podcast (2024)
- Michael Rosato, Josh Horsley and Max Zolotukhin on The Testpiece Podcast (2026)
Library
Featuring 16160 items in the library. Try a search to see what you can find, or check out these library items:
- Out of Sight II (2014) Film
- Alpine Journal58 1951 16-48 Coddington Hydrographic & Alps pt ii (1951) Journal
- Mel Tor Guidebook
Recent updates
North Lakes 1970s powerhouse, steely fingered from bouldering on Armathwaite sandstone. Emigrated to Australia where he died in a climbing accident in 1983 or 1984 according to different sources.
References
[1] https://www.thecrag.com/en/climbing/australia/frog-buttress
References
References
Carlisle based 1970s Lakes activist and inventor of the E-grade.
A master technician
References
[1] https://www.mntnfilm.com/en/filmography/pete-botterill