Climbing History
A selected history of climbing and mountaineering through the climbers, climbs and media.
4746 Climbers
8434 Climbs
22722 Ascents
Featured
Fred Nicole
Fred Nicole is a legend of modern bouldering having established one of the first 8Bs with La Danse des Balrogs, the first 8B+ with Radja and many of the earliest 8Cs. He is also notable for some hard sport routes, in particular he established Bain de Sang in 1993 which gets 9a.
He is also notable for developing many now-famous bouldering areas around the world, including Hueco Tanks, Rocklands and many more.
References
[1] Interview with Nicholas Hobley for planetmountain.com, 13th August 2012 https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/interviews/fred-nicole-the-bouldering-interview.html
[2] Profile with Black Diamond https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_X_oq3ZdnmU
[3] Tour de Bloc by Udo Neumann, 2006 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exAhhD0n8QU
[4] Rocklands Origins, 1996 https://vimeo.com/80004515
[5] Interview with PlanetMountain.com, May 2018 https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/interviews/fred-nicole-bouldering-at-cresciano-and-melloblocco-in-tour-2018.html
[6] Fred Nicole, On The Edge Issue 105 page 42
[7] Interview with Kyle Dunsire, 2000 https://www.australianbouldering.com/interviews/fred.html
Fred Nicole is a legend of modern bouldering having established one of the first 8Bs with La Danse des Balrogs, the first 8B+ with Radja and many of the earliest 8Cs. He is also notable for some hard sport routes, in particular he established Bain de Sang in 1993 which gets 9a.
He is also notable for developing many now-famous bouldering areas around the world, including Hueco Tanks, Rocklands and many more.
References
[1] Interview with Nicholas Hobley for planetmountain.com, 13th August 2012 https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/interviews/fred-nicole-the-bouldering-interview.html
[2] Profile with Black Diamond https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_X_oq3ZdnmU
[3] Tour de Bloc by Udo Neumann, 2006 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exAhhD0n8QU
[4] Rocklands Origins, 1996 https://vimeo.com/80004515
[5] Interview with PlanetMountain.com, May 2018 https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/interviews/fred-nicole-bouldering-at-cresciano-and-melloblocco-in-tour-2018.html
[6] Fred Nicole, On The Edge Issue 105 page 42
[7] Interview with Kyle Dunsire, 2000 https://www.australianbouldering.com/interviews/fred.html
On this day 8th November
1996 Steve McClure climbed Evolution 8c+ at Raven Tor
From Steve's diary:
Felt OK, and had plenty left too. But very pleasing. First route that I've ever been blown away by. This is proper hard. I feel like I've crossed a threshold. Where will this lead me?
- 1953 Wolfgang Fietz was born
- 1985 Jack Osbourne was born
- 1997 Christophe Laumone climbed Karma 8A+ at Franchard Cuisiniere
- 2006 Mathis Chappe was born
- 2013 Taylor Parsons made the first ascent of Belly of the Beast 8B at Raven Tor
- 2017 Ned Feehally made the first ascent of Ill Behaviour 8B at Froggatt Edge
- 2024 Thilo Schröter made the first ascent of Panties Low 8B+ at Foten
Pics + Vids
Featuring 11111 pictures and videos. Try searching for a climber, climb or summit to see pics and videos.
Tom Peckitt on Hustled SDS 8B
Sachi Amma on Power Inverter 9a+
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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 4401 podcasts. Try searching for a climber to see podcasts with them, or check out some of these podcasts:
- Eric Hörst on TrainingBeta (2021)
- Yves Gravelle on The Nugget (2022)
- Nina Caprez on The Curious Climber (2022)
- Kev Shields on The Mountain People Podcast (2023)
Library
Featuring 16251 items in the library. Try a search to see what you can find, or check out these library items:
- Depth Charge - Discussion on Grading Film
- Alpine Journal 1961 100-117 Lunn Winthrop Young (1961) Journal
- Great Langdale and Buttermere (1926) Guidebook
Recent updates
Dave suggested it was easier than his route Mind Riot which he gave E10. [3]
References
[1] https://www.davemacleod.com/blog/lexicon
[2] https://www.instagram.com/p/CbyDeR3KQlo/
[3] https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2022/03/lexicon_e11_7a_repeated_by_dave_macleod-73022
References
My feeling is that But Nothing is Lost is E10 6c, maybe making it into the top five hardest routes in Scotland and definitely the hardest in Caithness and Sutherland. [6]
MacLeod gives a vivid account of his ascent:
At the mono match, I went from ‘I’m doing this right now’ to ‘Oh shit I’m going to hit the ground’ within a couple of moves. The rock was too warm, I was burning too much power to stay on, and it caught up with me while trying to reach back and place the blue cam in the mono-match pocket. My feet, still too weak after injury for a route like this, had numbed out and the right foot just wouldn’t bite on the critical foothold. I was basically one-arming the two finger pocket and by the time I’d got the cam off my harness, both feet were coming off. I got the cam half in, frantically rearranged my feet, and repeated the same wobbly fiasco trying to clip it. The right foot slipped one nano second after I got the cam clipped, but saved it with an equally rapid pinch grab of the left edge of the pocket.
After improvising a new position to relieve my melting left arm, I spotted that the cam was still only half-in and crossed under to shove into the back of the pocket and finally ensure that I was only going to fail on the attempt and not at surviving the day. With that, composure was restored, but forearm power was not and I could only stare at the hard last move and then slump onto the cam in bitter disappointment. [6]
References
[1] https://www.instagram.com/p/DfKePu7iHBp/
[2] https://www.instagram.com/p/DfMy5hRiC8c/
[3] https://ukbouldering.com/threads/significant-repeats.10607/post-729697
[4] Franco Cookson discusses Dave's thoughts on the route https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/rock_talk/dave_macleod_but_nothing_is_lost_e12-794147?v=1#x10191091
[5] https://www.instagram.com/p/DfXKWO0iJ7O/?img_index=1
[6] https://www.davemacleod.com/blog/but-nothing-is-lost-second-ascent