Climbers

Charles Albert is one of the worlds best and most particular boulderers. Charles ability is hard to define on paper due to his unique choice in style: he typically climbs without the use of chalk, climbing shoes, and kneepads. In this style Charles is undoubtedly a master with no one repeating any of his boulders in the the same style as he climbed them.

Charles is notable for his hard first ascents, for example La Révolutionnaire Assis 8C+/V16 and Hypothèse Assis 8C+/V16. In 2018 Charles did the first ascent of No Kpote Only in which he proposed the grade of 9A/V17, however this was downgraded by both Ryohei Kameyama and Nico Pelorson. Though these ascentionists did use shoes despite the translated name being "Bareback Only".

In 2023 Charles did the first ascent of L’Ombre du Voyageur for which he proposed 9A/V17 after spending 60 sessions to complete the problem. He commented that he thought it would be 9A+/V18 for the style he did it in, without shoes or knee pads, but suggested the lower grade for an ascent in a more typical style.

Lucien Martinez:

In Font, many times I saw Charles Albert do things so out of this world I would have called them impossible without having been a witness. Like flash FAs or in a handful of runs of 8A on a move that no one else can get anywhere near, or 7B slabs in trainers by simply annihilating miserable grains of sand with his nails… [1]

References

[1] https://fanatic-climbing.com/interview-lucien-martinez-irreductible-acharne-interview-lucien-martinez-inveterate-and-tenacious/

[2] Reel Rock 16: Barefoot Charles https://www.redbull.com/int-en/episodes/reel-rock-s8-e2

[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVSC9vIb-PU

[4] https://www.8a.nu/news/qa-with-charles-albert-6net8

References

[1] https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2025/10/pietro_vidi_on_the_grit-74044

References

[1] Second 8a.nu account https://www.8a.nu/user/peter-satt/bouldering

Mark Pretty on the first time he met Andy:

One grey and rather bleak day I had hitched in and met, by chance, Stevie Haston. We'd gone up to Windy Ledge [at Stoney Middleton] where a team had assembled to attempt Circe. I was well out of my depth so settled down to watch the heroics on display. A young lad with lots of hair and enthusiasm who had repeated the route the day before (as he kept reminding everyone!) volunteered to clip the bolt. At the wire before the bolt he had a bit of a wobble, grabbed the wire which promptly came out and he then hit the ledge and bounced off it! The belayer fell over and was dragged towards the 70 foot drop. The quick thinking of Stevie, who jumped on the belayer and stopped his slide, saved the day. The youth re-emerged on the ledge, brushed himself down and was keen to go again...! Needless to say he wasn't allowed that opportunity! [5]

References

[1] North Stack Wall, 1980s https://www.facebook.com/climbing.in.the.80s/photos/a.270388289694020/3463204157079068

[2] Andy in Longland's Cafe, Hathersage 1987. By Bernard Newman https://www.instagram.com/p/CZYqXzmNuWS/

[3] https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/climbing/goodby-to-british-rock-climbing-icon-andy-pollitt.html

[4] https://www.thebmc.co.uk/remembering-andy-pollitt

[5] Interview with Mark Pretty September 2017, https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/features/mark_zippy_pretty_and_andy_pollitt-9762

Hazel Findlay is one of the UK's most accomplished female climbers with many hard sport and trad ascents to her name.

The daughter of Steve Findlay, she started climbing at an early age and was active around the south west of the UK. In 2011 she climbed Once Upon a Time in the Southwest at Dyers Lookout and became the first British woman to climb E9, and in 2014 she climbed Fish Eye at Oliana to become the first British woman to climb 8c.

Hazel has continually expanded the limits of her climbing with a long string of impressive sport and trad climbs. Of particular note is her ascent of Magic Line E10/8c+ in 2019, a Ron Kauk route in Yosemite with a reputation born from repelling a slew of very capable aspirants. Hazel's ascent was only the third in 25 years, and the second placing the gear on lead.

In 2022 she became the second British woman (after Emma Twyford) to climb 9a with her ascent of Escalatamàsters.

Alongside her climbing she has a deep interest in the mental aspects of climbing and runs Strong Mind, a coaching company focused on mental techniques for improving your climbing.

References

[1] Interview with Soline Kentzel for grimper.com, May 2023 https://www.grimper.com/news-femmes-falaises-hazel-findlay-you-don-need-balls-to-be-bold

[2] https://open.spotify.com/episode/7ckmpivT5UIrFCU7idZqNg?

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

References

[1] Ask Me Anything on reddit, 2014 https://www.reddit.com/r/climbing/comments/1whcrp/hi_folks_im_ethan_pringle_ask_me_anything_be_my/

Tyler Landman is considered by many as one of the greatest British boulderers of all time, and at one point one of the world’s best. Ty has displayed excellent ability from a young age with him impressively repeating Voyager (8B), The Ace (8B) and Dreamtime (pre break) (8B+) at 15!

The following year he repeated the legendary Jade (8B+) and Ode to the Modern Man (8B+). Over the next year he would repeat serval hard boulders including Practice of the Wild (8B+), New Base Line (8B+) and Radja (8B+).

In February of 2009 Ty went to Fontainebleau where his exploits were captured in Between The Trees by Keith Bradbury, in which he ascended multiple hard boulders, but most notably Satan i Helvete Assis (Pre December 2013) (8C). He was also the 2017 British Bouldering Champion.

Interestingly with Ty despite being at the top of the global bouldering world his focused switched to that of a career as a doctor. In 2024 Ty achieved this goal graduating as a doctor in America.

References

[1] https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/features/outspoken_-_tyler_landman-13258

[2] https://soundcloud.com/user-569917310/outspoken-tyler-landman

References

[1] https://fanatic-climbing.com/babsi-zangerl-nous-parle-trad-et-grimpe-en-general-babsi-zangerl-on-trad-and-climbing-in-general/

[2] Interview with Sonnie Trotter https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_KQe7o3zoc

[3] https://www.onsight.com.au/2014/04/barbara-zangerl/

References

[1] A previous 8a.nu account https://www.8a.nu/user/buster-martin/sportclimbing

A prolific force in the Lake District in the UK, establishing many hard and bold trad lines throughout the 1990s and 2000s.

Sam is the co-host of the Careless Talk Climbing Podcast alongside Aidan Roberts. He also owns the Social Climbing, chain of climbing centres, in Solihull, Coventry and Leicester

References

[1] Interview with Xa White for ukclimbing.com, May 2023 https://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/features/sam_prior_on_projects_parenthood_and_new_perspectives-15173

References

[1] https://www.climbing.com/people/katie-lamb-interview/

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

Welsh prodigy living in the shadow of his father Rich Skinner.

References

[1] https://open.spotify.com/episode/5d7YwIqK2q5RnOEOLeD9bX?