Climbing History
A selected history of climbing and mountaineering through the climbers, climbs and media.
4672 Climbers
8294 Climbs
22183 Ascents
Featured
Ray Jardine
Ray Jardine is an American rock climber and pioneer of hard crack climbing. However, perhaps his most significant contribution to climbing was his invention of cams, ushering in a revolution in trad climbing, and making climbs that were previously unprotectable possible.
Ray put his new invention to excellent use, establishing routes such as The Phoenix in 1977, then one of the hardest trad routes in the world.
On a visit to the Peak District in 1977, he climbed the off-width roof crack Ray's Roof, grading it 5.11c (E4); today it is rated E7 and rarely repeated.
More controversially he was also involved in chipping on El Capitan, in particular in an early attempt to free climb The Nose he chipped holds on what is now known as The Jardine Traverse as well as purposefully using pegs to enlarge peg scars and make free climbing those pitches easier.
References
Ray Jardine is an American rock climber and pioneer of hard crack climbing. However, perhaps his most significant contribution to climbing was his invention of cams, ushering in a revolution in trad climbing, and making climbs that were previously unprotectable possible.
Ray put his new invention to excellent use, establishing routes such as The Phoenix in 1977, then one of the hardest trad routes in the world.
On a visit to the Peak District in 1977, he climbed the off-width roof crack Ray's Roof, grading it 5.11c (E4); today it is rated E7 and rarely repeated.
More controversially he was also involved in chipping on El Capitan, in particular in an early attempt to free climb The Nose he chipped holds on what is now known as The Jardine Traverse as well as purposefully using pegs to enlarge peg scars and make free climbing those pitches easier.
References
Pics + Vids
Featuring 10844 pictures and videos. Try searching for a climber, climb or summit to see pics and videos.
Liam Andrews-Bancroft on Gateway 8C
Holly Toothill on Jason's Roof 8A
Emil Abrahamsson on Power of Now 8B+
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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 4348 podcasts. Try searching for a climber to see podcasts with them, or check out some of these podcasts:
- Johnny Dawes and Nick Dixon on Jam Crack Podcast (2018)
- Joe Kinder on The Nugget (2021)
- Matt Samet on Written in Stone (2024)
- Bart van Raaij on DeKlim (2026)
Library
Featuring 16194 items in the library. Try a search to see what you can find, or check out these library items:
- Silbergier Film
- Alpine Journal42 1930 236-241 Lauper Bietschhorn (1930) Journal
- School Room Book (2014) Guidebook
Recent updates
Initially given 8c, now 8b+/c which is still one of the first in the world at that grade.
References
[1] https://fanatic-climbing.com/il-etait-une-voie-once-upon-a-line-ravage/
Initially given 8c, which would have made it one of the first in the world at that grade
References
[1] https://fanatic-climbing.com/il-etait-une-voie-once-upon-a-line-ravage/
The provocative cover line from editor Geoff Birtles on Crags magazine asked the question "Can this be Britain's first 6c" (referring to the UK technical grade, meaning somewhere upwards of French 7b+), an example of Betteridge's Law of headlines. Supersonic was a relatively sustained route for its time which perhaps excused the hyperbole. The line had been envisioned by Tom Proctor but it was left to Fawcett to complete, his last route of the long hot summer of 1976, two days before breaking his ankle.
The grade is now thought UK 6a or around French 7a.
References
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge's_law_of_headlines
[2] Kelly, P, Hoey, G, Barker B (2013) Peak Rock. p197 UK: vertebrate publishing
The provocative cover line from editor Geoff Birtles on Crags magazine asked the question "Can this be Britain's first 6c" (referring to the UK technical grade, meaning somewhere upwards of French 7b+), an example of Betteridge's Law of headlines. Supersonic was a relatively sustained route for its time which perhaps excused the hyperbole.
The grade is now thought UK 6a or around French 7a.
References
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge's_law_of_headlines
[2] Kelly, P, Hoey, G, Barker B (2013) Peak Rock. p197 UK: vertebrate publishing
The provocative cover line on Crags magazine asked the question "Can this be Britain's first 6c" (referring to the UK technical grade, meaning somewhere upwards of French 7b+) an example of Betteridge's Law. The grade is now thought UK 6a or around French 7a.
References
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge's_law_of_headlines