Climbing History
A selected history of climbing and mountaineering through the climbers, climbs and media.
3571 Climbers
7110 Climbs
18474 Ascents
Featured
Chris Sharma
Chris Sharma started climbing in the 1990s aged 12 before winning the US national championships 2 years later. He went on to reinvigorate hard sport climbing in the US, quickly repeating many of the hardest lines before establishing his own hard routes such as Necessary Evil in 1997, the first 8c+/14c in the USA.
Through the rest of his career he took sport climbing in to the modern era by cementing the 9a+ and 9b grades with a string of cutting edge ascents throughout Europe (Golpe de Estado, Neanderthal, Stoking the Fire and many more), as well as adding some of the hardest routes in America with climbs such as Jumbo Love and Dreamcatcher.
Somewhat uniquely amongst his contemporaries, Chris' climbing has been well documented from a young age due to a close relationship with videographers Josh Lowell and Brett Lowell.
Alongside his sport climbing Chris is a prolific deep water soloist, climbing many of the existing hard lines and then adding many of his own: Es Pontas, Alasha, Black Pearl, Big Fish and Vision Quest being some of the hardest DWS lines in the world.
In 2023 he added Sleeping Lion (9b) in Siurana. Initially suggested at 9b+ it has settled at 9b after several repeats, but remains an impressive new addition at one of Spain's most famous crags.
References
[1] Interview with Jack Geldard for UKClimbing.com, 29th August 2012 https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/features/chris_sharma_talks_9b+-4894
[2] Rampage by Josh Lowell and Brett Lowell, 1999 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cqe_w2JTlKM
[3] Best of the West, 2005 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6VZzVPnlVA
[4] Interview with Alex Honnold on Climbing Gold, 2nd April 2021 https://www.climbinggold.com/episodes/chapter-03
[5] Interview with gripped.com (2026) https://gripped.com/uncategorized/chris-sharma-on-5-16-and-how-do-you-know-when-youve-climbed-a-new-grade/
Chris Sharma started climbing in the 1990s aged 12 before winning the US national championships 2 years later. He went on to reinvigorate hard sport climbing in the US, quickly repeating many of the hardest lines before establishing his own hard routes such as Necessary Evil in 1997, the first 8c+/14c in the USA.
Through the rest of his career he took sport climbing in to the modern era by cementing the 9a+ and 9b grades with a string of cutting edge ascents throughout Europe (Golpe de Estado, Neanderthal, Stoking the Fire and many more), as well as adding some of the hardest routes in America with climbs such as Jumbo Love and Dreamcatcher.
Somewhat uniquely amongst his contemporaries, Chris' climbing has been well documented from a young age due to a close relationship with videographers Josh Lowell and Brett Lowell.
Alongside his sport climbing Chris is a prolific deep water soloist, climbing many of the existing hard lines and then adding many of his own: Es Pontas, Alasha, Black Pearl, Big Fish and Vision Quest being some of the hardest DWS lines in the world.
In 2023 he added Sleeping Lion (9b) in Siurana. Initially suggested at 9b+ it has settled at 9b after several repeats, but remains an impressive new addition at one of Spain's most famous crags.
References
[1] Interview with Jack Geldard for UKClimbing.com, 29th August 2012 https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/features/chris_sharma_talks_9b+-4894
[2] Rampage by Josh Lowell and Brett Lowell, 1999 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cqe_w2JTlKM
[3] Best of the West, 2005 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6VZzVPnlVA
[4] Interview with Alex Honnold on Climbing Gold, 2nd April 2021 https://www.climbinggold.com/episodes/chapter-03
[5] Interview with gripped.com (2026) https://gripped.com/uncategorized/chris-sharma-on-5-16-and-how-do-you-know-when-youve-climbed-a-new-grade/
Pics + Vids
Featuring 8963 pictures and videos. Try searching for a climber, climb or summit to see pics and videos.
Thomas Salakenos on Foundation's Edge (8C)
Jim Pope on Appointment with Death (E9)
Adam Long on The Angel's Share (7C)
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 3962 podcasts. Try searching for a climber to see podcasts with them, or check out some of these podcasts:
- Chris Sharma on The Enormocast, February 2023
- Solly Kemball-Dorey on The Careless Talk Climbing Podcast, November 2024
- Alex Honnold on https://open.spotify.com/episode/6BnIBgAR439rdjOKZO1typ
- Sonnie Trotter on The Struggle Climbing Show, July 2025
Library
Featuring 11022 items in the library. Try a search to see what you can find, or check out these library items:
- Reel Rock 10 Film
- Alpine Journal 2005 302-303 Jordan (2005) Journal
- Dixon School Boulders - Bouldering Guide (2025) Guidebook
Recent updates
Mike Beck is a key figure in the Utah bouldering community, best known as the "The Mayor of Little Cottonwood Canyon" and the author of the Utah Bouldering Guide, a highly sought after guide book now known as the "Black Bible". Beck has been developing routes in LCC since 1986. Some of Beck's notable first ascents feature many classics in LCC, these boulders include Twisted (V4), Beck Face (V7), Mr. Smiley (V6) along with hundreds of others. Beck is considered as a pioneer during the explosion for bouldering development in the early 1990's. Beck resides in the Salt Lake area and can still be found searching for new lines in LCC on most days throughout the year.
Roth grew up climbing in Salt Lake City, UT, and was a fixture in the competitive climbing scene during the late 90s and early 2000s. He appeared in influential climbing films like Bring the Ruckus alongside legends like Chris Sharma. Roth is known for the first ascent of Rastaman Vibration (V12) in Bishop as well as many Joes Valley classics including the Worm Turns (V10).
References
Completely hollowed out, I just got away with some bullshit. [1]
References
[1] https://gripped.com/profiles/yosemite-climbing-legends-john-bachar/