Climbing History
A selected history of climbing and mountaineering through the climbers, climbs and media.
4222 Climbers
8170 Climbs
21785 Ascents
Featured
Bellavista | E9 Trad climb on the Tre Cime
Bellavista pushed multi-pitch climbing in the Dolomites to new levels of difficulty via some wildly overhanging territory. The route tackles the enormous roofs of Cime Ovest overhanging some 60m over its 283m length. Lead protection comes primarily from pegs and some trad gear. Alexander Huber spent 5 weeks working the route prior to making the first ascent, describing it as “by far the wildest route on an alpine face”. [2]
In 2014 Huber suggested that holds on the crux pitch were better than when he made the first ascent:
... the crux pitch was heavily manipulated. There are many crystallized fossils in the dolomite rock of Tre Cime and if you work hard, you can break out many of these. Then remains a pocket or hole which looks basically natural. But for cleaning a toothbrush is definitely not enough: you need hammer and chisel. In the former crux traverse in the middle of the pitch you had to crimp thin edges where you find now big pockets, some of more than 10 centimeters in diameter. The character is heavily changed even though it remains to be a great and fantastic climb. The grading is somewhere in between 8b and 8b+. [1]
References
[1] https://www.8a.nu/news/bellavista-chipped-from-8c-to-8b-+
Bellavista pushed multi-pitch climbing in the Dolomites to new levels of difficulty via some wildly overhanging territory. The route tackles the enormous roofs of Cime Ovest overhanging some 60m over its 283m length. Lead protection comes primarily from pegs and some trad gear. Alexander Huber spent 5 weeks working the route prior to making the first ascent, describing it as “by far the wildest route on an alpine face”. [2]
In 2014 Huber suggested that holds on the crux pitch were better than when he made the first ascent:
... the crux pitch was heavily manipulated. There are many crystallized fossils in the dolomite rock of Tre Cime and if you work hard, you can break out many of these. Then remains a pocket or hole which looks basically natural. But for cleaning a toothbrush is definitely not enough: you need hammer and chisel. In the former crux traverse in the middle of the pitch you had to crimp thin edges where you find now big pockets, some of more than 10 centimeters in diameter. The character is heavily changed even though it remains to be a great and fantastic climb. The grading is somewhere in between 8b and 8b+. [1]
References
[1] https://www.8a.nu/news/bellavista-chipped-from-8c-to-8b-+
Pics + Vids
Featuring 10568 pictures and videos. Try searching for a climber, climb or summit to see pics and videos.
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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
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Podcasts
Featuring 4287 podcasts. Try searching for a climber to see podcasts with them, or check out some of these podcasts:
- Will Anglin on The Careless Talk Climbing Podcast (2025)
- Tyler Nelson on TrainingBeta (2018)
- Steve Bechtel on The Nugget (2020)
- Michaela Kiersch on The Enormocast (2021)
Library
Featuring 16128 items in the library. Try a search to see what you can find, or check out these library items:
- Robin Ud - Adam Ondra Film
- Alpine Journal 1974 279-286 In Memoriam (1974) Journal
- Tremadoc Update (1956) Guidebook
Recent updates
Cathedral is a climbing area situated in the Canadian Rockies. Although it is in British Columbia, it is very near the provincial border and thus tends to see much more traffic from Albertan climbers due to its proximity to Canmore and Calgary.
Cathedral is a climbing area in British Columbia, Canada near the provincial border with Alberta. It tends to see much more traffic from Albertan climbers due to its relative closeness to Calgary.
Josh Muller is a Canadian climber and owner of Bolder Climbing in Calgary, Alberta.
References
[1] Interview with Sonnie Trotter, 2024 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfUmNZHEpSg
Josh Muller is a climber and owner of Bolder Climbing in Calgary, Alberta.
References
[1] Interview with Sonnie Trotter, 2024 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfUmNZHEpSg
A hold broke between the FA and this ascent. Muller proposed V15 and invited further input on the grade.
References
References
References
References
Nearly three decades elapsed between Muller's first encounter with the boulder and his send.