Climbing History
A selected history of climbing and mountaineering through the climbers, climbs and media.
3538 Climbers
7012 Climbs
18141 Ascents
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Hubble | 9a Sport route at Raven Tor
Hubble is a route at Raven Tor in the UK's Peak District. Ben Moon made the first ascent of the full line in 1990 suggesting a grade of 8c+, making it the hardest route in the world at the time. It is now considered closer to 9a, making it both the first 8c+ and the first 9a!
The route is unusually bouldery and powerful with the meat of the difficulty being a short section on undercuts at the start of the route that is around 8B/+ as a boulder problem. The top of the route is roughly a 7c sport route so shouldn't present any issues for a climber capable of getting through the bottom, though Ben Moon famously fell off the top the first time he managed to climb through the boulder problem.
A kneebar on the crux undercut match move was first discovered around 2014 which apparently makes this move slightly easier. It was first successfully used by Mathew Wright on his ascent in 2020. This method has now been used on several successful ascents. So far, ascentionists using the kneebar method have suggested it doesn't significantly alter the overall difficulty with leg length being a crucial factor.
References
Hubble is a route at Raven Tor in the UK's Peak District. Ben Moon made the first ascent of the full line in 1990 suggesting a grade of 8c+, making it the hardest route in the world at the time. It is now considered closer to 9a, making it both the first 8c+ and the first 9a!
The route is unusually bouldery and powerful with the meat of the difficulty being a short section on undercuts at the start of the route that is around 8B/+ as a boulder problem. The top of the route is roughly a 7c sport route so shouldn't present any issues for a climber capable of getting through the bottom, though Ben Moon famously fell off the top the first time he managed to climb through the boulder problem.
A kneebar on the crux undercut match move was first discovered around 2014 which apparently makes this move slightly easier. It was first successfully used by Mathew Wright on his ascent in 2020. This method has now been used on several successful ascents. So far, ascentionists using the kneebar method have suggested it doesn't significantly alter the overall difficulty with leg length being a crucial factor.
References
Pics + Vids
Featuring 8783 pictures and videos. Try searching for a climber, climb or summit to see pics and videos.
Ben Moon on Ben’s Extension (8A+)
Allison Vest on After Hours (8B)
Shauna Coxsey on Hazel Grace (8B+)
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Podcasts
Featuring 3934 podcasts. Try searching for a climber to see podcasts with them, or check out some of these podcasts:
- Austin Hoyt on The Testpiece Podcast, February 2025
- Chris Sharma on The Struggle Climbing Show, June 2023
- Jim Pope on The Careless Talk Climbing Podcast, August 2022
- Andy McVittie on That's Not Real Climbing, January 2025
Library
Featuring 11021 items in the library. Try a search to see what you can find, or check out these library items:
- Megatron (2025) Film
- Alpine Journal 1966 68-74 Baillie Brouillard (1966) Journal
- Dorset (1969) Guidebook
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References
References
Her first of the grade
Oslo, Norway
Reportedly named after a blacksmith from the Chatsworth estate. [1]
References
[1] https://baslowhistory.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/2.5g-gardoms-edge.pdf
The beauty and location of Lundy and the uniqueness of the climbing experience on the island, together with the fact we must leave it behind, create a perspective from which to consider our actions. I think the distance allows us to consider how we can improve upon what has gone before; it's definitely a case of not what you do but how you do it. That's no truer than when we consider what Lundy offers us to enjoy. The lesson we should learn from things like the wholesale bolting of Black Crag is that the beauty of any jewel is lost in our attempts to posses it. [1]
References
[1] Paul Harrison. Lundy. United Kingdom: Climbers' Club, 2008.
On Snowdon there is a cliff called Clogwyn Du'r Arddu. It's name is enough to frighten away many people. It is over 500 feet in height and mostly vertical, quite the most magnificent precipice in England and Wales.