Climbers

References

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFwmIi4Z9HA

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

References

[1] Interview with https://covergroundusa.com Jan 2025 https://covergroundusa.com/connorherson

[2] Interview with Sonnie Trotter, 2024 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1MdKRXzclE

References

[1] Interview with Desnivel, 2023 https://www.desnivel.com/escalada-roca/escaladores/edu-marin-este-ano-quiero-hacer-9b-y-probar-9b/

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?

Features in Statement of Youth.