Climbers

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/

References

[1] Features in Am Limit (German) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgjwhkE67to

[2] Interview in On The Edge 118, page 40

[3] https://open.spotify.com/episode/5RyHgKL5QS3eThUoWPOrZ8?

[4] Interview with Magnus Midtbø 2018 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSepsUJKdHs

References

[1] https://www.climbing.com/people/allison-vest-poem-female-climbers/

References

[1] Becoming a Climbing Champion, EpicTV https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-zacvJbNiw

Jon Fullwood is a climber with a long history of access, conservation and development work in the UK. In particular in the Peak District where he has added many new routes and boulder problems.

References

[1] Access All Areas, an interview with Sam Pratt, April 2024. Summit Issue 113, page 35.

Karen Magog is a strong British female sport and trad climber. She has onsighted or flashed over 100 E5s and over 20 E6s as well as headpointing up to E8 with her ascent of Bleed in Hell at Bowderstone Crags. On sport she has climbed up to 8b+ with her ascent of Mundo Feliz at Villanueva Del Rosario. [1]

References

[1] https://climbonline.co.uk/2020/05/02/climbing-is-my-passion-by-karin-magog/

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

Prolific gritstone developer, especially active in the 1980s. His boulder problems and micro-routes have become some of the most popular classics in the Peak District.

References

[1] First Climbs: Martin Veale https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04diiBAdmL0

[2] https://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/ticklists/martin_veale_fab_boulders-6400