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/

Grew up at Kvam

Andy Birtwistle:

Between '78 and '81 Bob Smith dominated Northumberland climbing. A new climbs supplement in '84 stated that without his contributions it would probably not have been necessary! Quite rightly so, as the booklet contained nearly 100 Bob Smith routes, most of a high standard of difficulty. [1]

References

[1] Bob the Climber, On The Edge Issue 109 page 40

The first British woman to climb E7.

References

[1] Queens of the Stone by Lucy Ellis, 2003. On The Edge 126, page 46

[2] https://open.spotify.com/episode/6gO9VEuFebKaY2y9E6fUoL?

Bleausard, legend.

References

[1] Interview in The Project Magazine, 2017 https://www.theprojectmagazine.com/features/2017/5/13/jacky-godoffe-interview

[2] Bleau https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIreNKro7QU

[3] http://www.grimporama.com/francais/bleau/itw/bl_jg-interview.htm

Mick Fowler is a British mountaineer and climber. He is known for his adventurous, lightweight and ambitious ascents in the Himalaya as well as a range of very adventurous new routes in the UK.

Nathaniel Coleman is an American boulderer with multiple hard boulder ascents and a very impressive competition record. The early years of Nathaniel's career focused mainly on competition climbing, securing multiple boulder world cup podiums in 2015. Nathaniel's focus then switched to the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games in which he secured the silver medal.

In recent years Nathaniel has developed his rock climbing portfolio significantly. In 2020 he did the first ascent of Grand Illusion 8C+/V16 whilst training for the Olympics. Nathaniel's most notable ascent to date is that of No One Mourns the Wicked. Nathaniel proposed 9A/V17 for this in 2024 with the problem, which adds an 8B/V13 intro into Defying Gravity 8C/V15, taking him 22 sessions.

John Cleare:

But rock was his medium. On it he was superb. He was tall and slim with powerful arms and steel fingers and he moved over it with the ease and grace of an elongated leopard—never have I seen him awkward or harassed on even the most uncompromising climb. Whatever move he made it was photogenic. Bubbling with enthusiasm and assurance one could want no better companion on the rope and he was the safest climber with whom I have shared it. His death is such an ironic tragedy. [1]

References

[1] Obituary in the Alpine Journal 1977 by John Cleare. Alpine Journal 1977 265-273 In Memoriam

References

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZMyRxkvpY0

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqGsK9e7ppI