Climbing History
A selected history of climbing and mountaineering through the climbers, climbs and media.
3493 Climbers
6885 Climbs
17867 Ascents
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Ron Fawcett
Ron Fawcett was at the top of the UK climbing scene in the mid 70s and early 80s and one of the first professional climbers in the UK. He took up the mantel from climbers such as Pete Livesey and helped cement the E5 and E6 grade in the UK. He also put up some of the early hard sport routes in the UK with lines such as Sardine, Body Machine and The Prow at Raven Tor.
Ron famously climbed 100 extremes (i.e. routes graded E1 or harder on the British Trad grading scale) in a day in 1986 starting at Froggatt then going on to Stanage, Burbage and finishing at Curbar. This feat is even more impressive when you consider that Ron was not just picking the easiest routes available: Downhill Racer (E4), Heartless Hare (E5) and Ulysses or Bust (E5) feature among the hard routes that he climbed. See [3] for a full list.
References
[1] Rock Athlete, by Sid Perou https://youtu.be/tdRfqD125-g?t=1522
[2] Interview with Andy Pollitt https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/features/andy_pollitt+big_ron_fawcett-9483.
[3] Ticklist of Ron's 100 extremes in a day https://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/set.php?id=548
[4] https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/282305001835682
Ron Fawcett was at the top of the UK climbing scene in the mid 70s and early 80s and one of the first professional climbers in the UK. He took up the mantel from climbers such as Pete Livesey and helped cement the E5 and E6 grade in the UK. He also put up some of the early hard sport routes in the UK with lines such as Sardine, Body Machine and The Prow at Raven Tor.
Ron famously climbed 100 extremes (i.e. routes graded E1 or harder on the British Trad grading scale) in a day in 1986 starting at Froggatt then going on to Stanage, Burbage and finishing at Curbar. This feat is even more impressive when you consider that Ron was not just picking the easiest routes available: Downhill Racer (E4), Heartless Hare (E5) and Ulysses or Bust (E5) feature among the hard routes that he climbed. See [3] for a full list.
References
[1] Rock Athlete, by Sid Perou https://youtu.be/tdRfqD125-g?t=1522
[2] Interview with Andy Pollitt https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/features/andy_pollitt+big_ron_fawcett-9483.
[3] Ticklist of Ron's 100 extremes in a day https://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/set.php?id=548
[4] https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/282305001835682
Pics + Vids
Featuring 8603 pictures and videos. Try searching for a climber, climb or summit to see pics and videos.
Dan Varian on Disco Inferno (8A+)
Lucky Chance on Harder Faster (E9)
Mejdi Schalck on La Force Tranquille (8C)
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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 3889 podcasts. Try searching for a climber to see podcasts with them, or check out some of these podcasts:
- Hazel Findlay on The Nugget, August 2021
- Will Bosi on Jam Crack Podcast, March 2023
- Austin Hoyt on The Testpiece Podcast, February 2025
- Drew Ruana on The Careless Talk Climbing Podcast, February 2023
Library
Featuring 11020 items in the library. Try a search to see what you can find, or check out these library items:
- Adra (2024) Film
- Alpine Journal 1909 Vol 24 564-570 Andrews Lliwedd (1909) Journal
- Moelwynion Interim Guide (1962) Guidebook
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References
References
Tried by Sébastien Bouin and Charles Albert before Alex Megos made the first ascent. Named because it's on the Face de Rat.
First bolted by Ethan Pringle who quickly abandoned it as too hard for him. It took Alex Megos a lot of effort over multiple years to finally make the first ascent. Initially proposed at 9c it later settled at 9b+ after a relatively quick repeat by Stefano Ghisolfi.