About climbing-history.org

Climbing History is about gathering together interesting material on historical climbers, climbs and ascents. This covers everything from modern ascents of hard sport climbs and boulder problems to the some of the earliest explorations on rock.

It is a voulenteer led project so if you are interested in getting involved just sign up here. The only criteria for what can be included is that it is of some historical interest, so whether you want to write up a comprehensive history for a particular climber or route or you just want to add a cool picture just get in touch. I'm also interested in preserving historically interesting material such as photo collections, new route books and old magazine articles, just get in touch if this is something you are also interested in.

Climbing History...history

It originated from a fine tradition of list making on UKBouldering.com, in particular these threads

Over time the lists became more difficult to maintain (for example if the grade of something changed) and the format became a bit limiting in what information could be recorded. I fancied making something a bit more full featured so I built this.

The core structure of the site is that there are climbs and climbers, and climbers ascend those cimbs. There's some extra stuff built on top of this like grades, ascent styles and climb types (sport, boulder problems etc.) The lists are generated from the underlying data.

Acknowledgements

A website like this is only possible thanks to the combined efforts of all those who have come before. It is built on the contributions of the climbers, guidebook authors, website creators and historians who have shared their passion for climbing history in all it's forms.

In particular I'd like to thank UKClimbing.com for their kind permission to link in to their database of climbs, in particular the crag pages are powered by the excellent work they have done over the years.

I would also like to thank everyone on UKBouldering who contributed to the list threads that started it off, without the depth of climbing geekery present there this project would never have gotten started.

The following websites and organisations have also proven to be invaluable resources. Thank you for your work!

Mountain Heritage Trust

Mountain Heritage Trust is a UK-based charity who's aim is to preserve and exhibit the rich history of Brisitch climbing and mountaineering.

Planetmountain

Planetmountain is a climbing and mountaineering website that has been running since 1998, offering high quality news reports on many ascents in the mountains.

The Himalayan Database

The Himalayan Database is a fantastic project that has recorded most significant climbing expeditions in the Nepalese Himalaya. The database includes an incredible depth of information on peaks, expeditions and members of those expeditions.

MNTNFILM

MNTNFILM is a rich database and archive of films about climbing and mountaineering.