Climbers

References

[1] UKC Profile of Andy Earl

[2] Andy competing at CWIF in 2008 https://www.instagram.com/p/CMXRnL7j1pW/

[3] Andy Earl on Top of the World by Steve Crowe, May 2020 https://climbonline.co.uk/2020/05/05/andy-earl-on-top-of-the-world/

References

[1] Interview with Sam Prior and Aidan Roberts, April 2024 https://open.spotify.com/episode/1j8yi1s7I8rkG5CjSqLq76?

[2] Muga (2025) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmchZGKZ93U

Kim Carrigan was a leading figure in Australian rock climbing in the late 1970s and early 1980s. He has put up hundreds of new routes around Australia, particularly at Arapiles.

References

[1] Interview with Andy Pollitt for UKClimbing.com 11th August 2017 https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/features/kim_carrigan_and_andy_pollitt-9629

Features in The Real Thing, Bleau.

https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/446421228757391

References

[1] https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/climbing/markus-bock-4-hard-new-climbs-in-the-frankenjura.html

A legendary figure in American climbing. As a youth he established himself as one of the new wave while repeating many of America's hardest climbs alongside Chris Sharma.

He went on to establish many of his own hard routes, notably Flex Luthor which some now consider to be the first 9b in America.

He has also contributed an astounding number of hard free climbs to Yosemite. The pinnacle of these efforts is The Dawn Wall which opened up a new level of difficulty in big wall free climbing.

Other notable achievements include the Fitz Traverse, a full traverse of the FItzroy range in patagonia, completed with Alex Honnold in 2014. Tommy has at at various points held many speed records for Yosemite big walls.

In August of 2000 Tommy was on a trip to Kyrgyzstan with fellow climbers Beth Rodden, John Dickey and Jason 'Singer' Smith. They were kidnapped and held hostage for 6 days, only escaping when Tommy pushed one of their captors over a cliff, believing he had killed them (though it subsequently emerged that the captor had survived the fall).

Interestingly Tommy only has 3 fingers on his left hand, having lost the index finger "in a home remodelling accident" in 2001.

References

[1] http://www.niallgrimes.com/jam-crack-climbing-podcast/2016/1/5/tommy-caldwell-dawn-wall-yawn-wall

[2] AMA on reddit.com/r/iama, September 2018 https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/9fkki7/we_are_tommy_caldwell_a_climber_who_spent_6_years/