Climbers

Adam Ondra is widely considered the best rock climber in the world.

He has established or repeated many of the worlds 9bs, established the first 9b+ with Change and the first 9c with Silence. He has onsighted multiple 9as and became the first person to flash 9a+ when he climbed Super Crackinette on his first try. He is also an extremely strong boulderer with multiple ascents of boulders up to 9A.

While his hardest ascents are notable, what sets Adam apart from his contemporaries is his depth of experience. At the time of writing he has onsighted 64 8c, 21 8c+, 3 9a and climbed 188 routes graded 9a or harder. He has also won the world cup 7 times and the world championships 5 times.

In 2025 and 2026, after some time off bouldering at the highest level, he climbed Soudain Seul for his first 9A, then during a remarkable run of form he flashed Foundation's Edge (8C), The Lion's Share (8C), Celestite (8C) and Emotional Landscapes (8C). A remarkable effort considering he was only the third climber to ever flash 8C and at the time the only climber who had flashed more than one 8C.

References

[1] Adam's logbook https://www.adamondra.com/list-of-routes

[2] Interview with Magnus Midtbø, 2021 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-5yuVuDFzU

[3] Profile in the New York Times, 2021 https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/sports/olympics/adam-ondra-climbing.html

[4] https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/interviews/adam-ondra-the-100-x-9a-or-harder-interview.html

[5] Interview with Rob Greenwood for UKClimbing.com, May 2025 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VI95jOOBBno

Daniel Woods is a boulderer and sport climber from the USA. He is notable for the longevity of his career together with the depth and breadth of his climbing CV.

He has climbed over 40 boulder problems 8C or harder as well as sport climbing up to 9b.

References

[1] Interview with 8a.nu, 4th February 2022 https://www.8a.nu/news/daniel-woods-8c+-9a-and-9a+-progress-interview

Dave Graham is an American boulderer and sport climber who is known for his extremely technical climbing style that makes a lot of use of toe hooks and knee bars, as well as his longevity in the sport and his extensive collection of first ascents.

Graham started climbing in 1997 and very quickly worked his way through the grades, climbing his first 8b+ sport route just a year later. By the end of 2000, he had climbed 9a, bouldered 8B and made a historic flash of C'Était Demain (8A). But that was just the start.

Some of his notable ascents include The Story of Two Worlds (fa), Action Directe (fourth ascent), From Dirt Grows the Flowers (fa), The Island (fa) and The Ice Knife (fa).

References

[1] Interview with Udo Neumann in Céüse https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2bZsFZdpgs

[2] Interview with PlanetMountain.com, 2001 https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/interviews/dave-graham.html

[3] Interview with climbing.com 2022, https://www.climbing.com/people/what-ive-learned-dave-graham/

[4] https://archive.org/details/climbtalk-7-9-2010a

Alex Megos is a German sport climber known for his cutting-edge first ascents, historic onsights, and astonishingly rapid repeats of some of the world’s hardest routes. Hailing from the Frankenjura, he has climbed virtually every hard route in the area. Unsurprisingly, he is exceptionally strong on pockets, though he also has notoriously poor skin.

Alex was the first person in the world to onsight 9a with his ascent of Estado Crítico in Siurana. He has also onsighted TCT (9a), Underground (9a), Intermezzo XY Gelöst (9a) and Mr. Big (9a) making him one of the best first-go climbers in the world alongside Adam Ondra. Other notably quick ascents include La Rambla (9a+) second go, Biographie (9a+) in a session, Demencia Senil (9a+) third go and Red Ram (9a+) third go.

In 2018 Alex established Perfecto Mundo (9b+) in Margalef to become only the third person in the world to have climbed 9b+. In 2020 Alex established Bibliographie (9b+) in Céüse after 60 sessions of work over multiple years. Initially he suggested 9c, though after some repeats it has since settled at 9b+.

Alex is also an experienced competitor with 45 world cup appearances and 10 podium finishes as of the start of 2026.

References

[1] Interview with RockClimbingUK

[2] Interview with Magnus Midtbø, 2024 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMoBcKnJ_h4

[3] Interview with grimper.com (2026) https://www.grimper.com/news-alex-megos-veux-etre-moyen-veux-etre-vraiment-bon

Jimmy Webb is a prolific American boulderer known for opening up a large number of hard boulders all around the world, but particularly in Switzerland, Rocklands and the USA.

John Allen was a prolific and gifted climber who established a host of hard, classic routes on his local gritstone crags in the Peak District.

Lines that had been eyed up by many fell to this prodigious young talent. He climbed Old Friends (E4) when he was just 14 and continued adding quality new first ascents from there, such as Hairless Heart, White Wand (E5), Profit of Doom (E4) and London Wall (E5) which were climbed within a 2 week period at age 16.

From around 1977 to 1980, John lived in New Zealand where he established dozens of future classics [2]. He moved to Tahoe, USA, for 18 months (1981-82), climbing with John Bachar, John Long and Tony Yaniro. With Simon Horrox, he climbed The Nose in a day with no jumaring. [1] – the first time this had been achieved.

Shoulder surgery in early 1982 curtailed his output, but on return to the UK in 1983 he began adding a plethora of high quality gritstone 'micro-routes' such as West Side Story at Burbage West. He was clearly going well in this period, as one onlooker recounts:

I'd not been climbing that long and was up at Stanage and watched someone effortlessly float up Crescent Arête, NTBTA, Archangel, Doug [sic], White Wand (which I think he might have downclimbed) and Ulysses plus several other routes in the vicinity in about twenty minutes or less. It was John Allen not long after coming back from Australia or Yosemite. Incredible. [5]

Although his enthusiasm for climbing waned in the '90s, he returned to it in the 2010s, developing mid-grade sport routes in the limestone quarries of the Peak District.

John sadly died in a climbing accident at Stoney West in 2020 [4]. He remains a revered and fondly remembered figure in British climbing.

References

[1] Obituary on UKClimbing.com by Graham Hoey, 27th May 2020 https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/features/the_day_the_music_died_-_remembering_john_allen-12803

[2] List of John Allen routes in New Zealand https://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/ticklists/nz_john_allen_routes-2588?sort=g

[3] Interview with Geoff Birtles for Crags magazine in December 1976, shortly before John emmigrated to New Zealand https://www.climber.co.uk/people/the-john-allen-interview-crags-8-1977/

[4] UKClimbing.com news report on the accident which killed John Allen (2020) https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2020/05/john_allen_tragically_killed_at_stoney_west-72315

[5] https://ukbouldering.com/threads/the-most-impressive-piece-of-climbing-you%E2%80%99ve-witnessed.31061/post-626708

Will Bosi is a climber from Edinburgh in Scotland. He first came to prominence as a competition climber, but has since become one of the leading climbers across both sport climbing and bouldering. In 2020 he became only the second Brit to climb 9b with La Capella, and in 2025 he made the second ascent of Excalibur (9b+), becoming the first British climber to climb the grade.

Much of Will's most notable climbing since 2022 has been in bouldering. In 2022 he made the first ascent of Honey Badger (8C+) at Badger Cove, and later that year climbed Alphane (9A). He has since added Burden of Dreams (9A), Return of the Sleepwalker (9A) and Spots of Time (9A). In 2025 Will made the first ascent of Realm of Tor'ment (9A), making him the first person to climb five 9A boulders.

Will continues to push himself on projects such as Silence (9c), Terranova (8C+) and the Dumby Project.

References

[1] My Climbing Journey April 2023, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmmMbpCsSuA

[2] Interview with Lattice Training https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cn1dJNPfAfc

[3] https://www.climbing.com/people/interview-will-bosi-spots-of-time/

[4] Interview with Emil Abrahamsson Jan 2026 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OygaAqejUTg

[5] https://fanatic-climbing.com/will-bosi-sur-une-ile-deserte-will-bosi-on-a-desert-island/

Aidan Roberts is a climber from the UK. He grew up in the Lake District and was mentored by the prolific developer Dan Varian.

He started out doing competitions but has more recently moved on to establishing and repeating some of the hardest boulder problems both in the UK and overseas. His problem Superpowers in the Lake District is widely considered the UK's first 8C+. As well as being the first Brit to climb 8C+, he was also the first to climb 9A with his repeat of Shawn Raboutou's Alphane in Chironico.

2024 was a particularly good year for Aidan, with him establishing first ascents of his two hardest projects to date: Spots of Time and Arrival of the Birds, both at 9A/V17. Aidan described Arrival as extremely close to his limit while still being in his style. This has led many to speculate that it could sit at the very top end of the grade.

In September 2024, Aidan made the spontaneous decision to set sail across the Atlantic Ocean. He spent multiple months travelling by sea to South America before continuing north by public transport to California. As the winter of 2024/25 arrived, Aidan made his way to Yosemite and barely left the valley for the entire winter.

In Yosemite, he sent a handful of hard problems such as The Dark Side and Rhythm and Reason. However, Aidan was most motivated by some potentially next-level projects, notably the Six Degrees Project (9A+) and the Distillery Project (9A).

Although he had only planned to visit the US for a year, he has since decided to settle in California and pursue his Yosemite projects. Outside of climbing, Aidan co-hosts the Careless Talk Climbing Podcast with Sam Prior.

References

[1] Interview with BMC, 2015 (archive) https://web.archive.org/web/20240915201832/https://services.thebmc.co.uk/aidan-roberts-interview

[2] Interview with Simon Lee for UKBouldering.com, October 2016 https://ukbouldering.com/board/index.php/topic,27531.msg535750.html#msg535750

[3] https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2025/06/aidan_roberts_on_a_winter_in_yosemite-73991

Scottish lone wolf who has performed at a very high level across many disciplines. Dave has established or repeated almost all the hard climbing in Scotland, from 8B+ boulder problems to 9a sport routes to E11 trad routes to grade XI winter routes.

Dan Varian is a British boulderer and prolific developer, particularly around Northumberland and the north of England more generally. Dan is also part owner of Beastmaker.

References

[1] https://www.flickr.com/photos/beastmaker/

[2] http://beastmakerblog.blogspot.com

[3] https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/features/dan_varian_-_first_ascensionist_extraordinaire-8744

Nalle Hukkataival is a Finnish boulderer. He made his name with first ascents and repeats of many of the hardest problems in the world in the period 2010-2020, including repeats of Gioia and Sleepwalker and the first ascents of Livin' Large and The Finnish Line.

In 2016 he established Burden of Dreams, the first 9A in the world.

Having been in the limelight for many years he has subsequently become more reclusive (by the standards of professional climbers).

Steve McClure is a British climber who was at the forefront of sport climbing from the late 1990s to until late 2010s, and in more recent years has applied his considerable talents to establishing and repeating some of the hardest trad climbs in the UK.

In 1998 he established Mutation at Raven Tor, suggesting 9a – that being the top grade in the world at the time – but it proved even harder. A repeat took until 2021 to materialise, and along with it an upgrade to 9a+, making it one of the first of the grade in the world. He then went on to further cement himself as Britain's leading sport climber of the time by climbing Ben Moon's Kilnsey project to produce Northern Lights.

Over the following decades Steve continued to almost single-handedly push hard sport climbing in the UK with routes like Rainshadow, Overshadow and his 127-day magnum opus Rainman (9b), as well as many other notable contributions to Malham Cove, Kilnsey and the Peak District.

Steve is also a very capable trad climber and has repeated and established some of the UKs hardest trad climbs. For example his onsight of Nightmayer on Dinas Cromlech is one of the most impressive ascents in this style in the UK.

The first time I came to Malham it looked like the easiest crag in the world...

References

[1] https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/features/steve_mcclure_climbs_1000th_8a_-_the_magic_grade-15509

[2] Interview with Keith Sharples On The Edge Issue 103, page 42

[3] Video with Magnus Midtbø, Jan 2026 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAmM46vFn1Y

Paul has climbed over 1000 boulder problems graded 8A or harder.

References

[1] https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/interviews/paul-robinson-climbs-1000-boulders-8a-or-harder.html

Jerry Moffatt was at the forefront of British climbing throughout the eighties and nineties. Jerry established many hard firsts in the UK, Germany, France and USA including historic ascents such as The Face, Revelations and Liquid Ambar, all at the cutting edge of difficulty at the time they were established.

In the early eighties Jerry pushed the mental side of climbing to the limit, onsight soloing mountain extremes, making a traumatising ascent of Master's Wall (E7) and soloing pretty much every hard classic on Dinas Cromlech, up to Right Wall (E5), in a single day.

A trip to America in 1983 saw him onsight some of the hardest routes there, including Psycho! (Free) (E6) and Genesis (E6).

Jerry was an early proponent of bouldering in its own right. From early ascents on The Bowderstone he went on to put up a host of hard classics such as The Ace at Stanage and Dominator in Yosemite.

Jerry pioneered training for climbing, initially spending countless hours doing reps in scrappy limestone caves, then building one of the first cellar boards in the world. He went on to open The Foundry, one of the world’s first modern climbing walls.

Jerry was one of the first professional climbers, innovating ways to make a living through sponsorship and media coverage. He starred in several much-loved climbing films, notably The Real Thing (which he co-produced) [1]. His charisma, quotability and brattish charm endeared him to a generation of acolytes who, when faced with a seemingly insurmountable challenge would invoke the mantra: “What would Jerry do?”

References

[1] The Real Thing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brbxoKEgsw0

[2] Stone Love https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FguueX9jM78

[3] 80's Birth of Extreme https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jkj3Buhfi2k

[4] Statement of Youth https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeqI9axxrco

[5] Portrait by Chris Gore https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/3456311291101688

[6] https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/2732067140192777

[7] https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/876401569092686

[8] One Summer by Ben Pritchard, 1994 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnGf69g6Igc

[9] Interview with Wedge Climbing, 2022 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBmqm3VTrn4

[10] Photoshoot for DMM 1995 https://www.instagram.com/p/Cu8uyrStQ6I/

[11] https://open.spotify.com/episode/0ixcvxW0xNrX07Hxwxw8fE

[12] https://open.spotify.com/episode/6ITuiLGEgJB8kpavKkNOIK

Chris Sharma started climbing in the 1990s aged 12 before winning the US national championships 2 years later. He went on to reinvigorate hard sport climbing in the US, quickly repeating many of the hardest lines before establishing his own hard routes such as Necessary Evil in 1997, the first 8c+/14c in the USA.

Through the rest of his career he took sport climbing in to the modern era by cementing the 9a+ and 9b grades with a string of cutting edge ascents throughout Europe (Golpe de Estado, Neanderthal, Stoking the Fire and many more), as well as adding some of the hardest routes in America with climbs such as Jumbo Love and Dreamcatcher.

Somewhat uniquely amongst his contemporaries, Chris' climbing has been well documented from a young age due to a close relationship with videographers Josh Lowell and Brett Lowell.

Alongside his sport climbing Chris is a prolific deep water soloist, climbing many of the existing hard lines and then adding many of his own: Es Pontas, Alasha, Black Pearl, Big Fish and Vision Quest being some of the hardest DWS lines in the world.

In 2023 he added Sleeping Lion (9b) in Siurana. Initially suggested at 9b+ it has settled at 9b after several repeats, but remains an impressive new addition at one of Spain's most famous crags.

References

[1] Interview with Jack Geldard for UKClimbing.com, 29th August 2012 https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/features/chris_sharma_talks_9b+-4894

[2] Rampage by Josh Lowell and Brett Lowell, 1999 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cqe_w2JTlKM

[3] Best of the West, 2005 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6VZzVPnlVA

[4] Interview with Alex Honnold on Climbing Gold, 2nd April 2021 https://www.climbinggold.com/episodes/chapter-03

[5] Interview with gripped.com (2026) https://gripped.com/uncategorized/chris-sharma-on-5-16-and-how-do-you-know-when-youve-climbed-a-new-grade/

Ben Bransby is a prolific all rounder with everything from hard boulders to outrageously bold alpine-style ascents in Patagonia to his name.

At one point he was attempting to climb every route on Stanage, though as of 2024 he has hit a roadblock with the final two routes Marbellous and Mother of Pearl.

References

[1] https://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/showlog.php?id=16901

[2] https://open.spotify.com/episode/1o7RLJApyhQ2CEBAwVKzvz?

Ron Fawcett was at the top of the UK climbing scene in the mid 70s and early 80s and one of the first professional climbers in the UK. He took up the mantel from climbers such as Pete Livesey and helped cement the E5 and E6 grade in the UK. He also put up some of the early hard sport routes in the UK with lines such as Sardine, Body Machine and The Prow at Raven Tor.

Ron famously climbed 100 extremes (i.e. routes graded E1 or harder on the British Trad grading scale) in a day in 1986 starting at Froggatt then going on to Stanage, Burbage and finishing at Curbar. This feat is even more impressive when you consider that Ron was not just picking the easiest routes available: Downhill Racer (E4), Heartless Hare (E5) and Ulysses or Bust (E5) feature among the hard routes that he climbed. See [3] for a full list.

References

[1] Rock Athlete, by Sid Perou https://youtu.be/tdRfqD125-g?t=1522

[2] Interview with Andy Pollitt https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/features/andy_pollitt+big_ron_fawcett-9483.

[3] Ticklist of Ron's 100 extremes in a day https://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/set.php?id=548

[4] https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/282305001835682

[5] https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/features/revisited_ron_fawcett_talks_about_soloing-16330

Ben Moon is a British sport climber and boulderer. Throughout the 80s and 90s he was at the cutting edge, establishing and repeating many of the hardest routes and problems in the UK and Europe.

Ben was an early proponent of sport climbing in the UK at a time when trad climbing dominated and the use of bolts was very controversial. Statement of Youth (8a) which he established in 1984 was one of the first 8as in the UK. While many routes relied to varying degrees on bolts and pegs from aid ascents, Statement is an early example of a route that was bolted specifically so it could be free climbed.

Alongside Jerry Moffatt, Marc Le Menestrel, Antoine Le Menestrel and others Ben was at the forefront of the 80s sport climbing revolution which saw difficulty increase massively over the course of the decade: having climbed Statement of Youth in 1984 with some difficulty, by 1989 Ben had established Agincourt (8c) and Maginot Line (8c), two of the hardest sport climbs in the world at the time. In 1990 he made the first ascent of Hubble (9a), originally suggested at 8c+ it is now a contender for one of the first 9as in the world alongside Action Directe (9a).

In the early 90s he invested significant time into what would become Northern Lights (9a) at Kilnsey. Despite a protracted siege over several years Ben was unable to make the first ascent, being beset with injuries and poor conditions on the route. It seems likely that frustration with this process partly led to him spending an increasingly large amount of time bouldering.

As with sport climbing he was a very capable boulderer and established or repeated many of the hardest problems in the UK at the time. Problems such as 8 Ball (8A+), Cypher (8B) and Voyager SDS (8B+) are enduring hard classics.

2013 saw a resurgence after a period away from serious climbing, firstly climbing Mecca Extension (8c) at Raven Tor, then in 2015 climbing Rainshadow (9a) at Malham Cove just shy of his 49th birthday.

Moon Climbing

Ben is the founder and sole owner of Moon Climbing. Born out a previous business called S7, the brand initially focused on clothing and bouldering accessories. They are now best known for the Moonboard which spawned an entire category of climbing wall products, where users can climb on a standardised board and share problems via an app.

References

[1] Interview with Simon Lee, September 2013 https://vimeo.com/75374593

[2] Training in the cellar with Jerry Moffatt, 1989 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LceV005nte0

[3] The Real Thing

[4] Stone Love, 2001 film by Ben Pritchard https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FguueX9jM78

[5] 80's Birth of Extreme by Al Hughes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jkj3Buhfi2k

[6] Statement of Youth, 2019 Film by UKClimbing and Nick Brown https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeqI9axxrco.

[7] https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/942618999137609

[8] https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/876401569092686

[9] One Summer by Ben Pritchard, 1994 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnGf69g6Igc

[10] A Sport Climbing Pioneer: The Story Of Ben Moon, Interview with Matt Groom, 2023 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfyU4KHvioM

[11] Interview with Adrian Berry March 2005 https://web.archive.org/web/20061022044659/http://www.planetfear.com/article_detail.asp?a_id=460

[12] https://open.spotify.com/episode/7b64enKBPgbOPR9gK7T4nZ?

[15] On The Edge Issue 84, page 40

[16] https://moonclimbing.com/News/post/trad-ethics-ben-moon

Few climbers have experienced both the highs and lows of elite climbing as publicly as James Pearson.

As a teenager growing up in the Peak District, UK, Pearson established his reputation as a 'keen youth' with fast – and often sketchy – repeats of the boldest grit routes of the day, such as Equilibrium (E10) and a terrifying skyhook-only ascent of Knockin' on Heaven's Door.

He went on to establish hard grit routes of his own, most notably The Groove (E9) at Cratcliffe Tor, a longstanding 'last great problem' with desperate climbing which has seen very few repeats.

In 2008 James famously courted controversy when he established The Walk of Life at Dyers Lookout and gave it the unprecedented grade of E12, suggesting it was far harder than any other trad route in the world at the time. However, the 50m slab pitch was in a style he was unfamiliar with; the route was swiftly down graded to E9 and James became the subject of online vitriol. As a consequence, he left the UK and moved to Innsbruck, where he began to work on widening his abilities.

Around the same time he met his now-wife, competition star Caroline Ciavaldini, who mentored him in sport climbing and training. Moving to France and putting his newfound fitness to good use, Pearson repeated and established a slew of hard sport and trad routes.

In 2012 he climbed his first 9a, Esclatamàsters. On a quick trip home in September 2014 he flashed Something's Burning (E9) in Pembroke, a high water mark for trad style at the time. Later that month he repeated Rhapsody (E11) – a route that 6 years earlier he had publicly dismissed as easy and eliminate, but had been unable to climb.

He made the second ascent of trad super-route Tribe (E11) in 2020, repeated Lexicon (E11) with frighteningly little preparation 2022, and made the long-awaited second ascent of the near-mythical Echo Wall (E11) in 2024.

Undoubtedly Pearson's swansong is his trad route Bon Voyage, climbed in 2023: a fortuitous line of micro-pockets breaking out left from his earlier route Le Voyage (E10). With 9a climbing in a spicy position, Pearson once again suggested E12 – and this time the grade stuck, heralding a new level in trad climbing.

As well as climbing hard trad, Pearson is a devoted boulderer. In 2007 he flashed three problems in the 8A+/B range Ganymede Takeover, The Great Shark Hunt and Schule des Lebens. At the time, each of these was considered 8B which would make these ascents some of the hardest flashes in the world, though the problems have subsequently been downgraded. In more recent years he has consolidated the 8C grade, with repeats of the world class Mystic River (8C) and The Finnish Line (8C).

References

[1] Interview with Tom Randall

[2] Interview with PlanetMountain, 2008 https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/climbing/james-pearson-climbing-interview.html