Climbing History
A selected history of climbing and mountaineering through the climbers, climbs and media.
3563 Climbers
7098 Climbs
18395 Ascents
Featured
Johnny Dawes
Johnny Dawes is a very influential climber in the British climbing scene, with many of his routes from the 1980s helping to define the era. Alongside contemporaries such as Jerry Moffatt and Ben Moon he helped take over the mantel from the likes of Ron Fawcett and pushed the standards in trad climbing to new levels, culminating in his ascent of Indian Face on Clogwyn Du'r Arddu (Cloggy).
Whilst Johnny's trad climbing was cutting edge he did not embrace sport climbing in the way that many did in the early 90s, though he did still climb up to 8b+, a very respectable level for the time.
Jon Barton: Do you think you ever shocked anybody Johnny?
Well I'd been at this mad party over in Wales. I left in the early hours to drive over to Sheffield, I like driving at night when the roads are quiet. I could tell you about the Snake Pass first thing at dawn, but that's boring hippy stuff. I got to Sheffield, and broke into the back of Al Rouse's house. I was in the kitchen making coffee, admiring Al's new decorating efforts, I went up stairs and jumped into his room and onto the bed, to be faced by two worried looking strangers hiding under the duvet. Al had moved out some weeks earlier.
JB: No Johnny, did you ever shock anybody with your climbing?
References
[1] Interview with Niall Grimes and Nick Dixon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gfAxYENlmU
[2] Features in 80's Birth of Extreme
[3] Interview for the film Stone Monkey, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdeaV_vfp5Q
[4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D88mEgfHJ-I
[5] Interview with Jon Barton, On The Edge 63 (1996) /library/11066/on-the-edge-63
[6] What Climbing Has Taught Me (2025) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5L_uSJH7-30
Johnny Dawes is a very influential climber in the British climbing scene, with many of his routes from the 1980s helping to define the era. Alongside contemporaries such as Jerry Moffatt and Ben Moon he helped take over the mantel from the likes of Ron Fawcett and pushed the standards in trad climbing to new levels, culminating in his ascent of Indian Face on Clogwyn Du'r Arddu (Cloggy).
Whilst Johnny's trad climbing was cutting edge he did not embrace sport climbing in the way that many did in the early 90s, though he did still climb up to 8b+, a very respectable level for the time.
Jon Barton: Do you think you ever shocked anybody Johnny?
Well I'd been at this mad party over in Wales. I left in the early hours to drive over to Sheffield, I like driving at night when the roads are quiet. I could tell you about the Snake Pass first thing at dawn, but that's boring hippy stuff. I got to Sheffield, and broke into the back of Al Rouse's house. I was in the kitchen making coffee, admiring Al's new decorating efforts, I went up stairs and jumped into his room and onto the bed, to be faced by two worried looking strangers hiding under the duvet. Al had moved out some weeks earlier.
JB: No Johnny, did you ever shock anybody with your climbing?
References
[1] Interview with Niall Grimes and Nick Dixon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gfAxYENlmU
[2] Features in 80's Birth of Extreme
[3] Interview for the film Stone Monkey, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdeaV_vfp5Q
[4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D88mEgfHJ-I
[5] Interview with Jon Barton, On The Edge 63 (1996) /library/11066/on-the-edge-63
[6] What Climbing Has Taught Me (2025) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5L_uSJH7-30
Pics + Vids
Featuring 8918 pictures and videos. Try searching for a climber, climb or summit to see pics and videos.
Dave Diegelman on Sea of Dreams (A4+)
Bryce Viola on Baboon Master (8A)
Will Bosi on Practice of the Wild (8B+)
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
- 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 3958 podcasts. Try searching for a climber to see podcasts with them, or check out some of these podcasts:
- Davis Ngo on The Struggle Climbing Show, December 2024
- Allison Vest on The Nugget, September 2021
- Brooke Raboutou on Climbing Gold, July 2024
- Josie McKee on Written in Stone, March 2024
Library
Featuring 11022 items in the library. Try a search to see what you can find, or check out these library items:
- Dosage Vol. III (2005) Film
- Alpine Journal 1910 Vol 25 80-83 New Expeditions (1910) Journal
- Bulletin of New Climbs (1964) Guidebook
Recent updates
It was going really bad and I had basically decided that I had gotten too weak on one of the moves to do be able to do it. I then decided to change one thing as a last ditch effort and out of nowhere I found myself into the stand for the first time ever!
I tried to keep my cool but I started to numb out. On the penultimate move I completely missed the hold and in that moment I thought I was off. Somehow I stayed on and couldn’t quite believe that I had finally done it. All the pressure just washed away standing on top and it was honestly the best feeling I’ve had in climbing. [3]
References
[1] https://youtu.be/pNBX-sKv2_k
[2] https://www.instagram.com/p/DEDJIg6NYFR/
[3] https://www.8a.nu/news/nathan-philips-fas-deep-fake-8c%2B
Essentially the first half of Cafe Colombia.
Yet another close flash attempt, falling 3 moves before the lip.
References
[1] https://www.adamondra.com/emotional-landscapes-8c-flash/
Adam Ondra is widely considered to be the best rock climber in the world.
He has established or repeated many of the worlds 9bs, put up the first 9b+ with Change and the first 9c with Silence. He's onsighted multiple 9as and became the first person to flash 9a+ when he climbed Super Crackinette on his first try. He is also an extremely strong boulderer with multiple ascents of boulders up to 9A.
While his hardest ascents are notable what sets Adam apart from his contemporaries is his depth of experience. At the time of writing he has onsighted 64 8cs, 21 8c+s, 3 9as and climbed 188 routes graded 9a or harder. He has also won the world cup 7 times and the world championships 5 times.
In 2025 and 2026, after some time off bouldering at the highest level, he climbed Soudain Seul for his first 9A, then during a remarkable run of form he flashed Foundation's Edge (8C), The Lion's Share (8C), Celestite (8C) and Emotional Landscapes (8C). A remarkable effort considering he was only the third climber to ever flash 8C and at the time the only climber who had flashed more than one 8C.
References
[1] Adam's logbook https://www.adamondra.com/list-of-routes
[2] Interview with Magnus Midtbø, 2021 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-5yuVuDFzU
[3] Profile in the New York Times, 2021 https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/sports/olympics/adam-ondra-climbing.html
[4] https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/interviews/adam-ondra-the-100-x-9a-or-harder-interview.html
[5] Interview with Rob Greenwood for UKClimbing.com, May 2025 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VI95jOOBBno
Another impressive flash go, where Adam dropped the last move.
References
Celestite has never been on my mind as a candidate for a flash try. I mean, looking at a video of the absolute kneebar master and wizard himself, Dave Graham, who put up the first ascent of this incredible boulder, it doesn't look flashable at all. I was there with Pietro Vidi and Giuliano Cameroni, who showed me all the beta and I set off for my flash try, with nobody, including me, really expecting that I would get very far on this boulder. But somehow, I felt all the body positions really well, my kneepads were sticking and even though my biceps were about to give in, all of a sudden I was on the lip, not really knowing what to do and with my hands being really sweaty. Luckily, I kept together and made it to the top. Regarding the grade, we agreed with Pietro, who did it a few days before me, that the boulder is 8C. Dave's beta was slightly harder. [3]
References
[1] https://www.youtube.com/shorts/5LKo50oA37s
[2] https://www.instagram.com/p/DVi7bJmjNhO/
[3] https://www.adamondra.com/celestite-8c-flash-and-lion-s-share-8c-flash/
[4] https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/interviews/adam-ondra-flashes-another-two-8c-boulders.html