Climbers

References

[1] https://www.scarpa.co.uk/pages/team-member-rob-matheson

Will Stanhope was a Canadian guide, trad climber, soloist and big wall climber.

He made early repeats of hard testpieces such as Cobra Crack (E9) in 2009. In 2011 Will had a nasty fall on Parthian Shot (Pre-2011 Break) (E9) where the famous flake finally detached and he decked out from 40ft, picking up some serious injuries. After recovering from his injuries he put a couple of seasons in to The Prophet (E9), Leo Houlding's hard, bold testpiece on El Capitan and eventually climbed the full line in 2012. In 2015, after 4 years of work, he established Tom Egan Memorial Route (8c) in the Bugaboos with Matt Segal.

Will was a popular member of climbing community; however towards the end of his life he struggled with alcoholism and mental health issues. He was due to face trial on charges of assault, harassment and sexual assault amongst other offences. [6]

Will died in April 2026. While climbing Rutabaga in Squamish he took a bad fall and suffered a serious head injury which lead to his death 10 days later. [2,5]

References

[1] Soloing in Joshua Tree https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsU5PjguPgw

[2] https://www.instagram.com/p/DXha2R7lKqo/

[3] Obituary by Brandon Pullan (April 2026) https://gripped.com/news/will-stanhope-dies-after-a-climbing-accident-in-squamish/

[4] Memorial post by Colin Haley (2026) https://www.instagram.com/p/DXr-NjiDNhz/?hl=en&img_index=1

[5] https://www.climbing.com/news/will-stanhope-dies-in-accident-squamish/

[6] https://justice.gov.bc.ca/cso/esearch/criminal/partySearch.do Search for WILLIAM STANHOPE

Wallasey-born rock climber, alpinist, and bonne viveur. Rouse cut his teeth on Cheshire sandstone and in North Wales with cutting-edge ascents on rock in the late-1960s and early 1970s. Soloing close to the highest standards on rock was a prevailing ethos of the time and Rouse was part of a group that pursued this including Alan Richard McHardy and Eric Jones. Whilst studying for a BSc in Mathematics at Cambridge University he developed an interest in winter climbing and Alpinism. Later in life he focused on expeditions and was an inspiration to and unofficial ringleader of the post-Bonington generation of UK alpinists before his death on K2 in 1986.

The first olympic gold medalist in climbing (Tokyo 2020).

References

[1] https://www.instagram.com/p/Cbo2sSjp0mN/

Prolific North Wales developer and Ormes-man. Chris' youtube channel offers a wealth of esoteric material.