| From: | United Kingdom 🇬🇧 |
| Date of birth: | 12th October 1875 |
| Age: | 72 years old |
| Date of death: | 1st December 1947 |
| Gender: | Male |
| Hardest Trad (Onsight): | VS |
| Notable Partnerships | |
| Oscar Eckenstein | |
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), 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.
[1] https://aboutmountains.substack.com/p/aleister-crowley-magus-and-mountaineer
4 recorded ascents.
| Climb | Grade | Style | Ascent Date | Suggested Grade |
|---|
| Climb | Grade | Style | Ascent Date | Suggested Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The South Arête | 3 | Boulder | 18th Apr 1898 | |
|
First ascent.
One of 22 recorded problems. References[1] https://web.archive.org/web/20190217031248/http://www128.pair.com/r3d4k7/Bouldering_History1.1a.html |
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| Climb | Grade | Style | Ascent Date | Suggested Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crowley's Crack | E2 (approx) | Lead | did not finish | 1894 | |
|
Crowley lead the first two-thirds of the route (P1), but was forcibly rescued by the coastguard and top-roped the remainder of the climb. The standard of climbing to achieve his high point was likely the most difficult achieved in Britain at the time. |
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| Ethelreda's Pinnacle Route 1 | VS (approx) | Lead | onsight | 1894 | |
|
First ascent.
|
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| The Crowley Route | HS | Lead | 1893 | |
|
First ascent.
|
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| Climb | Grade | Style | Ascent Date | Suggested Grade |
|---|