Climbers

Fred Rouhling was a controversial figure during the late 90s and early 2000s. With a string of hard ascents in a relatively off the beaten track location there were many people who doubted his ascents, not helped by the fact that many of his routes were unashamedly chipped (for example De L'Autre Côté du Ciel).

His route Akira was particularly contentious. When he made the first ascent he gave it the then unheard of grade of 9b at a time when 9a+ didn't exist.

A 2005 profile by Pete Ward [2] helped to dispel some of the more outlandish myths, and many of his routes have now received repeats which confirm their quality and difficulty. However, his route Akira did receive a notable downgrade to 9a after being repeated by Sébastien Bouin and Lucien Martinez.

References

[1] Interview with Relais Vertical Part 1 https://youtu.be/xqk0nQCNtpY

[2] Interview with Relais Vertical Part 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enFSnkF25eI

[3] The Other Side of Fred Rouhling by Pete Ward, 15th June 2012 https://www.climbing.com/people/fred-rouhling/

[4] Interview with camptocamp.org, October 2008 https://www.camptocamp.org/articles/143240/fr/interview-de-fred-rouhling-21-10-2008-

[5] https://open.spotify.com/episode/4T8j5taHKyu11HnWMKvxWT?

[6] Interview for On The Edge Issue 102, page 40

References

[1] Interview with Lucien Martinez on the 100 7A challenge in Fontainebleau, 2024 https://www.grimper.com/news-les-100-7a-aventure-xxl-facon-bleausarde

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

Gritstone headpoint wad.

Nik Jennings:

First time I met Dan was bouldering at the Foundry. The next day he suggested we go climbing outside (I was a very green, led a couple is VS’s, climber). He had me belay him on Kaluza Klein... “If I fall off just jump off this ledge”

Errrr ok....

He then proceeded to fall of the top, repeatedly... [1]

References

[1] https://ukbouldering.com/board/index.php/topic,31049.msg626044.html#msg626044

Dave sadly took his own life in 2014.

I remember laughing like a drain hearing about him smearing Vaseline on the holds of a project at Kilnsey to stop a French superstar stealing it. [1]

Dave was a lovely guy. I first met him up in Newcastle when I was just starting my climbing career, and kept in touch when he moved to Sheffield. He had lots of time and patience for a shy kid. I was once coming down to sheffield for a competition and Dave offered for me to stay in his room for the weekend. He was going away but, with typical kindness, told me to help myself to anything in his food cupboard. After he left I went to the kitchen to make myself some dinner and opened the cupboard to find six bottles of fat burner pills and a mouldy potato. [2]

References

[1] https://ukbouldering.com/board/index.php/topic,25009.msg465272.html#msg465272

[2] https://ukbouldering.com/board/index.php/topic,25009.msg465387.html#msg465387

[3] Features in The Width of Life

[4] https://www.dailycamera.com/2014/11/18/chris-weidner-a-lost-goodbye-to-colorado-climber-dave-pegg/

[5] https://rockandice.com/lates-news/dave-pegg-king-of-rifle-has-died/

[6] https://rockandice.com/lates-news/living-with-a-very-serious-climber/

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

References

[1] Interview with UKClimbing.com https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2022/07/josh_ibbertson_on_rainman_training_and_the_future-73109

Features in Statement of Youth.

References

[1] https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2010/04/neil_nige_kershaw_-_golden_feet+local_hero-53061

References

[1] http://www.grimporama.com/francais/bleau/itw/bl_sf-interview.htm