Climbing History
A selected history of climbing and mountaineering through the climbers, climbs and media.
4176 Climbers
8102 Climbs
21560 Ascents
Featured
Jerry Moffatt
Jerry Moffatt was at the forefront of British climbing throughout the eighties and nineties. Jerry established many hard firsts in the UK, Germany, France and USA including historic ascents such as The Face, Revelations and Liquid Ambar, all at the cutting edge of difficulty at the time they were established.
In the early eighties Jerry pushed the mental side of climbing to the limit, onsight soloing mountain extremes, making a traumatising ascent of Master's Wall (E7) and soloing pretty much every hard classic on Dinas Cromlech, up to Right Wall (E5), in a single day.
A trip to America in 1983 saw him onsight some of the hardest routes there, including Psycho! (Free) (E6) and Genesis (E6).
Jerry was an early proponent of bouldering in its own right. From early ascents on The Bowderstone he went on to put up a host of hard classics such as The Ace at Stanage and Dominator in Yosemite.
Jerry pioneered training for climbing, initially spending countless hours doing reps in scrappy limestone caves, then building one of the first cellar boards in the world. He went on to open The Foundry, one of the world’s first modern climbing walls.
Jerry was one of the first professional climbers, innovating ways to make a living through sponsorship and media coverage. He starred in several much-loved climbing films, notably The Real Thing (which he co-produced) [1]. His charisma, quotability and brattish charm endeared him to a generation of acolytes who, when faced with a seemingly insurmountable challenge would invoke the mantra: “What would Jerry do?”
References
[1] The Real Thing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brbxoKEgsw0
[2] Stone Love https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FguueX9jM78
[3] 80's Birth of Extreme https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jkj3Buhfi2k
[4] Statement of Youth https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeqI9axxrco
[5] Portrait by Chris Gore https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/3456311291101688
[6] https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/2732067140192777
[7] https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/876401569092686
[8] One Summer by Ben Pritchard, 1994 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnGf69g6Igc
[9] Interview with Wedge Climbing, 2022 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBmqm3VTrn4
[10] Photoshoot for DMM 1995 https://www.instagram.com/p/Cu8uyrStQ6I/
[11] https://open.spotify.com/episode/0ixcvxW0xNrX07Hxwxw8fE
[12] https://open.spotify.com/episode/6ITuiLGEgJB8kpavKkNOIK
Jerry Moffatt was at the forefront of British climbing throughout the eighties and nineties. Jerry established many hard firsts in the UK, Germany, France and USA including historic ascents such as The Face, Revelations and Liquid Ambar, all at the cutting edge of difficulty at the time they were established.
In the early eighties Jerry pushed the mental side of climbing to the limit, onsight soloing mountain extremes, making a traumatising ascent of Master's Wall (E7) and soloing pretty much every hard classic on Dinas Cromlech, up to Right Wall (E5), in a single day.
A trip to America in 1983 saw him onsight some of the hardest routes there, including Psycho! (Free) (E6) and Genesis (E6).
Jerry was an early proponent of bouldering in its own right. From early ascents on The Bowderstone he went on to put up a host of hard classics such as The Ace at Stanage and Dominator in Yosemite.
Jerry pioneered training for climbing, initially spending countless hours doing reps in scrappy limestone caves, then building one of the first cellar boards in the world. He went on to open The Foundry, one of the world’s first modern climbing walls.
Jerry was one of the first professional climbers, innovating ways to make a living through sponsorship and media coverage. He starred in several much-loved climbing films, notably The Real Thing (which he co-produced) [1]. His charisma, quotability and brattish charm endeared him to a generation of acolytes who, when faced with a seemingly insurmountable challenge would invoke the mantra: “What would Jerry do?”
References
[1] The Real Thing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brbxoKEgsw0
[2] Stone Love https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FguueX9jM78
[3] 80's Birth of Extreme https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jkj3Buhfi2k
[4] Statement of Youth https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeqI9axxrco
[5] Portrait by Chris Gore https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/3456311291101688
[6] https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/2732067140192777
[7] https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/876401569092686
[8] One Summer by Ben Pritchard, 1994 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnGf69g6Igc
[9] Interview with Wedge Climbing, 2022 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBmqm3VTrn4
[10] Photoshoot for DMM 1995 https://www.instagram.com/p/Cu8uyrStQ6I/
[11] https://open.spotify.com/episode/0ixcvxW0xNrX07Hxwxw8fE
[12] https://open.spotify.com/episode/6ITuiLGEgJB8kpavKkNOIK
Pics + Vids
Featuring 10481 pictures and videos. Try searching for a climber, climb or summit to see pics and videos.
Pete Dawson on Dandelion Mind 8B+
Brett Walker on Get Railed 8B+
Oliver Tippett on Reticent Wall A4+
Ryuichi Murai on Daihang Project ~ 9A project
Luis Gerhardt on Quimera 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 4257 podcasts. Try searching for a climber to see podcasts with them, or check out some of these podcasts:
- Isabelle Faus on TrainingBeta (2015)
- Tom Herbert on The Nugget (2021)
- Jesse Firestone on The Nugget (2023)
- Jordan Cannon on Written in Stone (2025)
Library
Featuring 16096 items in the library. Try a search to see what you can find, or check out these library items:
- McBeast (2025) Film
- Upigma Tepui (2,200m), South Face, The Hospital Breakout (2012) Journal
- Dartmoor Miscellany Guidebook
Recent updates
References
A pioneering 'very high highball' with V5 climbing, done ground-up in 1961 by John Gill. It is alternatively considered as a route which probably makes it the first 5.12 in the USA. The car park fence originally extended into the landing zone but has since been removed. The climb is now usually attempted above a large stack of pads.
Ironically, the climb is somewhat outside Gill's normal style: it is thin, technical and high whereas John would more typically focus on large gymnastic moves.
The rock is somewhat fragile and it is likely the route has changed since it was first done. Most notably a large hold around half height seems to have broken off. [2]
References
[1] https://americanalpineclub.org/legacy-series
[2] Kris Hampton talks about trying the line in 2026 https://open.spotify.com/episode/1P4yKmMiwDLWXdJ2ka2VR4
References
With the crux after 60 meters! It's a real mind game. There's a long section, about 25m high, where there is no single good hold or foothold. A continuous series of really tiny crimps that lead to the crux, a really thin sequence that's extremely technical. Super. Power won't get you anywhere here, what you need is precision and good footwork on these dodgy moves.
The first 9a in Peru, and the highest at 4500m at the time it was established.