| From | United Kingdom 🇬🇧 |
| Gender | Male |
| Climbing | |
| Hardest Boulder (Worked) | 8A |
| Hardest Sport (Worked) | 8b |
| Hardest Trad (Worked) | E10 |
| Hardest Trad (Onsight) | E8 |
| Notable Partnerships | |
| Mary Jenner | |
| Family | |
| Leonard Birkett (parent) | |
There are hard Lakes routes, and then there are Dave Birkett routes.
Birkett has been a prolific force in the Lake District in the UK, raising the game of bold UK trad climbing throughout the 1990s and 2000s. These include the extremely bold and physical If 6 was 9 (E9) – first climbed in 1992 and still given a wide berth today – and the Scafell trilogy: Talbot Horizon (E9), Welcome to the Cruel World (E9) and Return of the King (E9).
He comes from a long line of Lake District climbing pioneers:
I'm a full time stonemason born and bred and based in the Lake District, centre of the universe. I live down the road from my uncle Bill who is reasonably famous but not as famous as Grandad Jim Birkett who was really famous as the first man to climb Extreme. [1]
Ever the non-conformist, Birkett’s career has not been without controversy. He placed a retrobolt on his own trad route Dawes Rides a Shovelhead (E8); placed a peg on his route Once Upon a Time in the Southwest (E9), when James Pearson had made a point of doing the neighbouring Walk of Life (E9) peg-free; and for some commentators, his use of a high side-runner on Hold Fast (E9) invalidated his ascent.
Beyond the headlines and controversies, Birkett’s career is perhaps most remarkable for its rootedness. While many of his contemporaries pursued professional climbing careers, he remained a stonemason, fitting world-class ascents around his work, the occasional sheep rescue, and the rhythms of the Lake District.
[2] https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/features/dave_birkett_the_weekend_warrior-8532
| From | United Kingdom 🇬🇧 |
| Gender | Male |
| Climbing | |
| Hardest Boulder (Worked) | 8A |
| Hardest Sport (Worked) | 8b |
| Hardest Trad (Worked) | E10 |
| Hardest Trad (Onsight) | E8 |
| Notable Partnerships | |
| Mary Jenner | |
| Family | |
| Leonard Birkett (parent) | |
There are hard Lakes routes, and then there are Dave Birkett routes.
Birkett has been a prolific force in the Lake District in the UK, raising the game of bold UK trad climbing throughout the 1990s and 2000s. These include the extremely bold and physical If 6 was 9 (E9) – first climbed in 1992 and still given a wide berth today – and the Scafell trilogy: Talbot Horizon (E9), Welcome to the Cruel World (E9) and Return of the King (E9).
He comes from a long line of Lake District climbing pioneers:
I'm a full time stonemason born and bred and based in the Lake District, centre of the universe. I live down the road from my uncle Bill who is reasonably famous but not as famous as Grandad Jim Birkett who was really famous as the first man to climb Extreme. [1]
Ever the non-conformist, Birkett’s career has not been without controversy. He placed a retrobolt on his own trad route Dawes Rides a Shovelhead (E8); placed a peg on his route Once Upon a Time in the Southwest (E9), when James Pearson had made a point of doing the neighbouring Walk of Life (E9) peg-free; and for some commentators, his use of a high side-runner on Hold Fast (E9) invalidated his ascent.
Beyond the headlines and controversies, Birkett’s career is perhaps most remarkable for its rootedness. While many of his contemporaries pursued professional climbing careers, he remained a stonemason, fitting world-class ascents around his work, the occasional sheep rescue, and the rhythms of the Lake District.
[2] https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/features/dave_birkett_the_weekend_warrior-8532