Climbers from USA

Isabelle Faus is an American boulderer with many hard ascents to her name. Alongside contemporaries like Alex Puccio she was one of the first women to become established at 8B+. She was also one of the first women to start opening new, hard boulders in the 8B and upwards range.

References

[1] https://archive.org/details/climbtalk-6-23-2011

References

[1] https://www.climbing.com/people/jesse-grupper-interview-2022/

Lynn Hill is one of the most accomplished rock climbers of all time. Her pioneering ascents in the 1980s and '90s culminated in the first free ascent of The Nose on El Capitan – one of the most coveted challenges in climbing – in 1993. The infamous Changing Corners pitch is a masterclass of technical climbing which continues to challenge the very best today. Hill returned the following year to complete the whole climb in under 24 hours.

Hill was the first woman to climb 7c, 7c+ and 8b+, and was at top of the comp game throughout the 1980s and early '90s.

John Long:

I have been all over the world and have had the fortune of doing things with many special people, some famous, some anonymous. But the biggest little hero I’ve ever known is Lynn Hill. The rest of us are just holding her rope. [2]

Hill has experienced only one major accident in her climbing career. On May 9, 1989, she fell during a climb in Buoux, after forgetting to tie in, she fell 85 ft (25 m) into a tree, and was knocked unconscious, dislocated her left elbow and broke a bone in her foot. She had been training hard for the World Cup and had to stop competing for a few months to recover; she was devastated to miss the first World Cup in the sport. However, only six weeks after her fall, she was back climbing.

References

[1] Half Dome, 1977

[2] https://www.climbandmore.com/climbers/lynn-hill/

[3] Portrait by Dean Fidelman, 1997 https://www.instagram.com/p/Cr3uphIJ2Gy/

[4] Interview with Natalie Berry for UKClimbing.com March 2017 https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/features/lynn_hill_-_climbing_free-9151

[5] Interview with Hannah Morris, 2024 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IE9_oAPRTsE

[6] https://open.spotify.com/episode/3pPhmAHHd46EAjdQkfb09Z?

[7] https://open.spotify.com/episode/2xtdsDPQpUgz0nVde4a7Fs?

References

[1] https://archive.org/details/joe_kinder

Royal Robbins was an extremely influential climber from the USA in the 1950s and 1960s. He was part of a generation of climbers who established Yosemite as a world-class climbing destination and made first ascents and repeats of many now-famous routes there, such as the Salathé Wall (A2).

Robbins was also instrumental in defining an ethical approach to climbing that minimised reliance on fixed ropes, was sparing in the use of bolts, and championed climbing from the ground up. These values remain core to what is considered good style in modern big wall climbing. After visiting the UK and using nuts and chockstones for protection, Robbins, together with Yvon Chouinard, became an early proponent of 'clean climbing': the use of chocks over pitons as a means of minimising damage to the rock.

In later life, Robbins struggled with arthritis in his hands, which made climbing difficult. Because of this, he focused his energy on his business ventures and, later, on whitewater kayaking. He made first descents of several rivers in the US and further afield.

References

[1] https://www.instagram.com/p/CU4qXc5J8i7/

[2] https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=6849687261751921&set=a.126453404075374

[3] Smart, D. (2023). Royal Robbins: The American Climber. United States: Mountaineers Books.

[4] Ament, P. (1998). Royal Robbins: Spirit of the Age. United States: Stackpole Books.

[5] Robbins, R. (2010). To Be Brave: My Life. United Kingdom: Pink Moment Productions.

[6] Robbins, R. (2010). Fail Falling. United States: Pink Moment Press.

[7] https://open.spotify.com/episode/3ce65n5RTjNYnXYEBJAH1A

[8] https://archive.org/details/royalrobbins

[9] Interview with John Meek https://archive.org/details/RoyalRobbinsJohnMeekInterview_52

John Bachar was a leading figure in American rock climbing during the late 1970s and 1980s. A member of The Stonemasters, he was renowned for his solo climbing, frequently putting in long days where he would solo thousands of feet in areas such as Joshua Tree and Yosemite. In 1981, Bachar famously posted a note in Joshua Tree stating "$10,000 reward for anyone who can follow me for one full day." A challenge which no one took him up on!

Bachar was also famous for his ethical stance on climbing, where he strongly advocated an adventurous ground up ethic at a time when sport climbing was starting to become popular in the US.

Bachar was also an early proponent of specific training for climbing. He invented the eponymous Bachar ladder.

John Bachar died on 5th July 2009 while soloing at Dike Wall near Mammoth Lakes, California.

References

[1] https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/3396050157127802

[2] https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/866918260041017

[3] A Tribute to John Bachar by Lynn Hill https://lynnhillclimbing.com/media/essays/a-tribute-to-john-bachar/

[4] John Bachar timeline on supertopo forum http://www.supertopo.com/climbers-forum/898272/john-bachar-timeline

[5] Portrait by Dean Fidelman 1974 https://www.instagram.com/p/B7-bDk3jRbn/

[6] Obituary by Ed Douglas, 2009 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/jul/10/john-bacher-rock-climber

[7] Memorial thread on supertopo http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.php?topic_id=896012

[8] https://gripped.com/profiles/yosemite-climbing-legends-john-bachar/

[9] https://ukbouldering.com/threads/john-bachar-1957-2009.12063/

[10] Obituary by Michael Brick, 2009 https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/09/sports/09bachar.html

[11] https://archive.org/details/johnBachar

References

[1] Interview on The Nugget Climbing Podcast

[2] https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/925282624204580

[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPRC_DydfSk

Nathaniel Coleman is an American boulderer with multiple hard boulder ascents and a very impressive competition record. The early years of Nathaniel's career focused mainly on competition climbing, securing multiple boulder world cup podiums in 2015. Nathaniel's focus then switched to the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games in which he secured the silver medal.

In recent years Nathaniel has developed his rock climbing portfolio significantly. In 2020 he did the first ascent of Grand Illusion 8C+/V16 whilst training for the Olympics. Nathaniel's most notable ascent to date is that of No One Mourns the Wicked. Nathaniel proposed 9A/V17 for this in 2024 with the problem, which adds an 8B/V13 intro into Defying Gravity 8C/V15, taking him 22 sessions.

References

[1] Discussing Return of the Sleepwalker on the Lattice Training Podcast, March 2024 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDPA289CuO8