Climbers

References

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtopOC8ui9Q

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_9aoZCP0zE

References

[1] https://www.climbing.com/people/jesse-grupper-interview-2022/

References

[1] 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] Profile on EpicTV, December 2021 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIouznrgUrg

[2] Interview with 8a.nu, December 2022 https://www.8a.nu/news/martina-demmel-interview-c9k4i

References

[1] https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2016/06/pete_bridgwood_solos_600_routes_in_a_day-70537

Cameron Burns: Why do you go climbing? What's your motivation?

I don't think there really a concrete definition of motivation. It’s just fun. Sometimes I've woken up hours before dawn and Just have to go climbing - and I'll go out and climb all day long. What's most important to me is tne really big day when I can't help but go out climbing. On a big soloing day, I often find myself trying not to run up to the base of the cliff, but then I’ll just take off running up to the base of the cliff. I remember reading in Herman Buhl's book, Nanga Parbat Pilgrimage about how he was driven to do stuff and he didn’t really know why. I don’t have concrete goals in that if I do such and such then I'll be able to climb Everest or if I do this and this and this, then I'll be able to climb 5.14. The things I’m most pleased with are days when I've really pushed hard and seen how far I can go. [1]

References

[1] Mountain 143 (1992), page 19 /library/11327/mountain-143

A prolific fantasist. Unusually, he was very strong and a very capable climber (for example, he did many hard problems in the School Room) [2].

However many of his claimed ascents turned out to be fabricated. For example, he claimed to have climbed Action Directe but was unable to produce a belayer or any witnesses for the ascent.

He also made many other outlandish claims such as an unbeaten amatuer boxing record, a sub 2hr30min marathon, a sub 4 minute mile and a very quick solo ascent of the Hasse-Brandler route. None of these claims have been verified.

References

[1] Obsession https://vimeo.com/6848413 by Chris Doyle.

[2] Chris Doyle on UKBouldering.com https://ukbouldering.com/board/index.php/topic,16602.msg292502.html#msg292502

We were in the school for about 4 hours that day, he did loads of hard problems on repeat, 1-5-9 campussing loads of times etc.. He got on Perky Pinky but didn't manage to do it in a oner so i spliced two sections together. You can't deny he was bastard strong. I mean Neil Mawson has climbed 8c and he's not in the same book never mind the same page in terms of strength. Malc Smith sent me a message recently, he sounded pretty dumbfounded by it all and said that Simpson was the strongest climber he'd ever seen (and he's seen a few). None of this means much as hard proof is needed but you can't deny he was strong enough.

[3] Keith Bradbury discussing climbing with Rich https://ukbouldering.com/board/index.php/topic,31564.msg647020.html#msg647020

I also climbed with Rich outdoors. In fact, I was with him for most that fateful trip in Frankenjura where we wrote off a car, he littered his jizz tissues all over my bed, and he probably didn't do Action Direct. I belayed him on lots of different routes. I did see him warm up on 8b routes (as in, actually doing them). I belayed him on some 9a's which he later claimed although I didn't see him do them. One of those was action direct. I belayed Rich for several sessions on Action Direct. I remember how bad conditions were some days with holds turning black instantly. I remember some days he was really struggling on the route and couldn't do the moves. Other days he would link sections consistently. I also saw him climb from just after the first jump to the top. That's when I realised Rich could definitely do it and it was a case of conditions and a good go. But then I left to go the UK for a week of exams and when I came back he'd ticked off a bunch of stuff... including Action Direct.

[4] Rich Simpson by Steve McClure, Climb Issue 44, page 36

Owner of UKBouldering.com and known for his 10+ year siege of the route Austrian Oak at Malham Cove.

Dresden-based trad. and big wall free climber.

References

[1] Brave New World On The Edge Issue 84, page 32

Alan Watts is a US climber best known as one of the early proponents of sport climbing style in the US, and one of the key developers of Smith Rock in Oregon.

Together with contemporaries such as Todd Skinner and Lynn Hill, Alan was among the first climbers in the US to embrace bolting on rappel and more extensive working of routes. While these practices were common in Europe at the time, the prevailing ethic in the US had been that any bolting should happen from the ground up and that practicing routes was not allowed.

References

[1] https://www.instagram.com/p/B8ZFlVQpnjT/

[2] Interview with planetmountain https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/climbing/alan-watts-climbing-interview.html

[3] https://open.spotify.com/episode/4FjBxA5DE8uThD93tsz9XM?