Climbing History
A selected history of climbing and mountaineering through the climbers, climbs and media.
4092 Climbers
7942 Climbs
21013 Ascents
Featured
Aleister Crowley
English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, novelist, mountaineer, and painter.
Crowley was a pioneer of adventurous climbing in Victorian Britain, establishing rock climbs (and early bouldering) in the Lake District and on the enormous chalk cliff of Beachy Head. He ascended Mexican volcanoes and made the first ever attempts on K2 (1902) and Kanchenjunga (1905). Both expeditions ended acrimoniously.
Some pretty unpleasant people have been great mountaineers […] In today’s celebrity circles, nastiness works for some as a career plan. But when it comes to pure, unadulterated evil, none can match the original monster of mountaineering, the Great Beast Aleister Crowley.
References
[1] https://aboutmountains.substack.com/p/aleister-crowley-magus-and-mountaineer
English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, novelist, mountaineer, and painter.
Crowley was a pioneer of adventurous climbing in Victorian Britain, establishing rock climbs (and early bouldering) in the Lake District and on the enormous chalk cliff of Beachy Head. He ascended Mexican volcanoes and made the first ever attempts on K2 (1902) and Kanchenjunga (1905). Both expeditions ended acrimoniously.
Some pretty unpleasant people have been great mountaineers […] In today’s celebrity circles, nastiness works for some as a career plan. But when it comes to pure, unadulterated evil, none can match the original monster of mountaineering, the Great Beast Aleister Crowley.
References
[1] https://aboutmountains.substack.com/p/aleister-crowley-magus-and-mountaineer
Pics + Vids
Featuring 10197 pictures and videos. Try searching for a climber, climb or summit to see pics and videos.
Yanik Chassain on Entlinge 8B+
Samuel Ometz on Le Voyage E10
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 4035 podcasts. Try searching for a climber to see podcasts with them, or check out some of these podcasts:
- Jeff Smoot on The Enormocast (2019)
- Ryan Pasquill on Jam Crack Podcast (2019)
- Paul Robinson on The Nugget (2022)
- Jenya Kazbekova on Climbing Gold (2024)
Library
Featuring 15073 items in the library. Try a search to see what you can find, or check out these library items:
- The Asgard Project (2009) Film
- Alpine Journal 2004 69-75 Briggs Greenland (2004) Journal
- Scawfell (1924) Guidebook