Climbers

Oriane Bertone is one of the most successful comp climbers of the 2020s and represented France at the Paris Olympics in 2024. She was also a Bleausard child prodigy, ticking many of the forest’s hard classics, and was the youngest person to climb 8B+ with her ascent of Golden Shadow in Rocklands, aged 12.

Bertone was born in Nice and grew up on the French island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean in a family that loved the outdoors:

When you are a child, you just want to climb everywhere in trees and walls. That is what was fun about it. It was just natural. I started climbing outside and being outside just felt amazing. I've always liked nature, and we used to go hiking all the time with my parents.

Having dominated the youth comps in 2019, in 2020, aged 15, she focused again on rock where highlights included the first ascents of Satan i Helvete (Bas) (8B+) and Panonoramix et les Cyclopes (8c). The following year, the focus returned to comps, placing second in two boulder world cups, but she still found time to make a rapid repeat of Super Tanker (8B+).

Over the next five years Bertone racked up over a dozen IFSC podium finishes, with her first win in Prague in 2023. In 2024 she made the finals of the Paris Olympics, placing 8th. In 2026 she won the inaugural Pro Climbing League bouldering event in London and made the first female ascent of Gecko (assis) (8B+).

Her younger brother Max Bertone is also a notable comp and outdoor climber.

References

[1] Interview with Arthur Delicque for Grimper, August 2024 https://www.grimper.com/news-une-tisane-oriane

[2] The Ascent, a 2025 documentary about Oriane https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mL8HmtR--Fk

[3] https://www.olympics.com/en/news/french-sport-climber-oriane-bertone-2023-interview

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/

Grew up at Kvam

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

References

[1] Interview with 8a.nu, 2018 https://www.8a.nu/news/james-litz-9b-profile

References

[1] Ask Me Anything, 2016 https://www.reddit.com/r/climbing/comments/52l8e3/hi_there_im_jorg_verhoeven_ask_me_anything/

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