Climbers

Niccolò Ceria is an Italian boulderer. He is known for his aesthetic approach to bouldering which focuses on the quality of the problem and the movement, as well as the difficulty.

Gary Gibson is a massively prolific first ascentionist. He started new routing in 1977 and continued to establish many new routes up until the first half of 2020, where ill-health significantly slowed his efforts. In 2021 he surpassed 5000 new routes, and at the time he had climbed approximately 17600 routes in total. [2]

In more recent years Gary has worked extensively to equip (and re-equip) many lower grade sport climbing venues which have subsequently become extremely popular. Crags such as Horseshoe Quarry and Masson Lees Quarry are prime examples of this, containing many of the most popular lower grade sport routes in their respective areas.

Gary's new routing activities have proved controversial at times with accusations of retro-claims, unsubstantiated ascents and poor quality routes being levelled at various times.

Alongside his new routing activities Gary also somehow found time to contribute extensively to many guidebooks to the UK.

Mark Pretty:

While the elite of British climbing have consistently ignored or dismissed his achievements … they cannot be so easily ignored. He is someone who, more than anybody else, has advanced easy to mid-grade sport climbing in this country — not to mention his trad routes. [3]

References

[1] https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Blood_Sweat_and_Smears/Dvn7xAEACAAJ?hl=en

[2] https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2021/09/gary_gibson_climbs_his_5000th_first_ascent-72866

[3] https://footlesscrow.blogspot.com/2019/10/gary-gibsons-blood-sweat-and.html

Owner of climbing's most iconic moustache.

References

[1] https://www.jamesclucas.com/portraits/blog-post-title-three-tfa7m-p9hwd

References

[1] Interview with UKClimbing.com on his very productive 2024/25 grit season https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2025/05/mike_adams_talks_about_an_incredible_season_on_the_gritstone-73958

Alex Honnold is one of the most accomplished solo climbers of all time. His ascents throughout North America and the rest of the world have pushed the soloing standard to new heights.

Most notably Alex was the first person to free solo a route on El Capitan in Yosemite with his ascent of Freerider in 2017.

In January 2026 Alex soloed Taipei 101 in Taiwan in an event that was live streamed on Netflex. [1]

Other Work

Alex co-presents the Climbing Gold podcast alongside Fitz Cahall.

In 2012 Alex founded The Honnold Foundation. The foundation's aim is to improve access to solar electricity.

References

[1] https://www.netflix.com/watch/81987107

[2] Honnold Foundation https://www.honnoldfoundation.org/

[3] Free Solar? Alex Honnold's Other Mission by Natalie Berry (2023) https://www.ft.com/content/fdc13b02-43de-4fce-9068-0d613fa83760

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]

As well as his hard bouldering exploits he also repeated many of the hardest sport routes of the time including making the second ascent of Evolution at Raven Tor, the second ascent of Progress at Kilnsey as well as early repeats of Bat Route and Cry Freedom at Malham Cove. In 2010 he established Scotland's first 9a with his ascent of Hunger at The Anvil.

References

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

[2] Splinter, a short portrait by Ben Pritchard

[3] Stone Love

[4] Interview with Neil Mann, 2017 https://www.theprojectmagazine.com/features/2017/2/14/interview-malcolm-smith

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 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.

Bold English trad. climber. Coined the term "Headpoint" for his ascent of Face Mecca to describe climbing trad. routes after top-rope practice. Has headpointed at least one E8 or harder every year from 1986-2025.

References

[1] Interview with Niall Grimes.

[2] https://ukbouldering.com/threads/re-benchmarks-for-the-elderly.32130/page-10

[3] https://services.thebmc.co.uk/big-issues-2-ethics

John Dunne is a British climber who established many hard, high quality sport and trad routes in the UK in the 1980s and 1990s. In particular routes like Austrian Oak and Magnetic Fields at Malham Cove were some of the hardest in the UK at the time.

John also put up many excellent trad routes. For example The New Statesman at Ilkley included very difficult climbing in a dangerous position and was one of the hardest routes on gritstone when it was put up.

John's climbing attracted a degree of controversy with some not believing his claimed ascents, though these doubts now appear to be unfounded.

References

[1] Interview with Adrian Berry March 2005 https://web.archive.org/web/20061022044419/http://www.planetfear.com/article_detail.asp?a_id=466

[2] John Dunne - The Big Issue 1996 film by Sid Perou

References

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cc264zE7jGA

Very capable comp climber who has a solid track record on rock too.

References

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPhG_yXpZp8