Climbers

Prolific explorer and first ascenionist in the peak district. Has also repeated many hard problems at home and abroad. Part owner of Beastmaker.

References

[1] Interview with Simon Lee

[2] Wedge Climbing profile

Features in 56° Underground, Life on Hold, UKC Profile of Ned.

One half of the WideBoyz.

Features in Without a Partner: Rope Solo of El Cap in Under 24rhs

Paul has climbed over 1000 boulder problems graded 8A or harder.

https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/interviews/paul-robinson-climbs-1000-boulders-8a-or-harder.html

Fred Nicole is a legend of modern bouldering having established the first 8B with La Danse des Balrogs, the first 8B+ with Radja and many of the earliest 8Cs. He is also notable for some hard sport routes, in particular he established Bain de Sang in 1993 which gets 9a.

He is also notable for developing many now-famous bouldering areas around the world, including Hueco Tanks, Rocklands and many more.

References

[1] Interview with Nicholas Hobley for planetmountain.com, 13th August 2012 https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/interviews/fred-nicole-the-bouldering-interview.html

[2] Profile with Black Diamond https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_X_oq3ZdnmU

[3] Tour de Bloc by Udo Neumann, 2006 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exAhhD0n8QU

[4] Rocklands Origins, 1996 https://vimeo.com/80004515

[5] Interview with PlanetMountain.com, May 2018 https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/interviews/fred-nicole-bouldering-at-cresciano-and-melloblocco-in-tour-2018.html

Peak district based climber's climber.

Author of the seminal Big Balls and Ground Falls.

John Gaskins is a controversial figure in British climbing. As well as an early repeat of Hubble he has claimed many ascents of hard routes and boulder problems. However for some of his hardest ascents it is unclear whether they happened. In particular he has been unable to describe the holds or sequences on his problem Shadowplay, and shortly after claiming the first ascent was unable to pull on to the problem to get photographs for his sponsors.

Similar inconsistencies exist on several other routes and problems he has claimed including Violent New Breed (9a+), Tranquilitas (8C) which John originally claimed as Karma of the Trees at 8A and Little Women Right Hand.

Despite the above John was a capable climber and almost certainly climbed several hard problems, such as Anaesthesia (8A+) at Woodwell.

References

[1] Interview with Simon Lee from UKBouldering.com https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbZALxPdjZg

[2] From the same interview as [1], footage of John climbing on his board https://vimeo.com/82936059.

[3] A Profile of John Gaskins by Simon Panton, On The Edge 120 page 48.

An early adherent of training on a woody who put his strength to excellent use, putting up many of the hardest problems in the UK from the early 90s to early 2000s. Notably he made the second ascent of Hubble aged just 18, one of the hardest routes in the world at the time.

Dave "Cubby" Cuthbertson:

He had the strength of character to turn his back on the tradition of climbing, the summit and the romance, and do his own thing. As he says, he's always got time for more training. [1]

References

[1] Dave Cuthbertson interview with Niall Grimes on The Jam Crack Podcast Jan 2023. 1hr13mins. https://open.spotify.com/episode/2cj6Zduv5LRmqwotmqg5Nd?si=42c01ce82102438f

[2] Splinter, a short portrait by Ben Pritchard

[3] Stone Love

Jakob Schubert is an Austrian climber, and one of the best all rounders of his generation with many comp achievements (Bronze in the 2020 Tokyo olympics, winning the World Championships in 2023), sport routes (third ascent of Perfecto Mundo 9b+ in 2019, first ascent of B.I.G 9c in 2023) and boulder problems (fifth ascent of Alphane 9A in 2023).

References

[1] https://www.thecrag.com/climber/jakobschubert

Born in 1930, Joe Brown was one of the pivotal figures in post-war climbing in the UK. In the 1950s and 60s, and alongside contemporaries such as Don Whillans, he pushed the standard of rock climbing in the UK to new levels with the first ascents of classic routes such as Cemetry Gates (E1), Great Slab (E3) and Right Eliminate (E3). Joe's routes frequently ventured in to territory that was previously considered off limits, often tackling bold and uncompromising features with minimal protection.

It is sometimes suggested that he was one of the inventors of jamming. Though this seems unlikely, though it is certainly true that he employed the technique to great effect on many of his new routes.

Jim Perrin:

With all the other greats of my time, I could understand how they climbed: fitness, physique, supple gymnasticism or sheer application. With Brown, there was something else at work. He was quite short, not heavily built, his muscles corded rather than developed, his movement smooth and deliberate. When I climbed with him, sometimes I would watch the way he made a move, copy it when I came to that point, and his way, that he had seen instantly, would be the least obvious and most immediately right. He was climbing's supreme craftsman, unerringly aware of the medium. [3]

References

[1] An extended biography written by Ollie Burrows is available here https://www.theclimbersshopjoebrownblog.co.uk/blog/joe-brown-biography including a list of many of Joe's first ascents.

[2] Interview with the BMC

[3] Obituary on UKClimbing written by Jim Perrin.

Nalle Hukkataival is a Finnish boulderer. He made his name with first ascents and repeats of many of the hardest problems in the world in the period 2010-2020, including repeats of Gioia and Sleepwalker and the first ascents of Livin' Large and The Finnish Line.

In 2016 he established Burden of Dreams, the first 9A in the world.

Having been in the limelight for many years he has subsequently become more reclusive (by the standards of professional climbers).

References

[1] Features in The Circuit.

[2] http://nalle-hukkataival.blogspot.com/

Jack Palmieri is a British boulderer. He started climbing relatively late in life but has rapidly established himself by repeating a huge number of hard problems in the UK and abroad.

Around 2017 Jack spent a lot of time in Parisellas Cave, repeating nearly all the hard problems (including Silk Cut and Pilgrimage) in the cave as well as adding some new link ups of his own.

Using this as a base, he has then branched out in an attempt to seemingly climb every hard boulder in the UK. In 2022 alone he climbed over 100 8th grade boulder problems in the UK [1], a very impressive feat given the weather!

References

[1] Interview with UKClimbing.com, December 2022 https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/features/jack_palmieri_on_climbing_100_8s_in_a_year-14907

[2] https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/features/jack_palmieri_on_climbing_200_8s_in_a_year-15678

Features in E96c and Clown Ascending.

On E96c:

It was from my warehouse home here that my involvement with E9 6c was filmed and recorded. This happened within the last few weeks of my departure from this special perch. John Mortimer’s son, Jeremy, produced an excellent piece for Radio Three called, ‘Between the Ears’. Dominic Clemence produced and directed the film for BBC2. This was the attempted story of The Indian Face, a fierce route on the cathedral of rock, Clogwyn Du Arddu, on the flank of Snowdon. I liked the bit where I am sat under my climbing wall in the studio flippantly explaining the image I painted on the scar where the flake had been. This small granite flake had come away in my arms whilst testing the peg that had been smashed into its side. I drew a quick sketch on the wall of ‘the hunt‘, something that had stayed with me from viewing the Lascaux Caves in France. Only two people had seen it. Paul Williams had photographed it and Johnny Dawes had scraped it off (or rather, an acolyte had scraped it off). One had died and the other had seemingly gone mad! [1]

References

[1] http://footlesscrow.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/sacred-ground.html

[2] Interview with Adrian Berry June 2004 https://web.archive.org/web/20061022044820/http://www.planetfear.com/article_detail.asp?a_id=250