Climbers

Yosemite big wall pioneer and blacksmith. His hand-forged hard steel - and thus reusable - pitons were the technological breakthrough that enabled long routes to be climbed on the granite walls of Yosemite.

References

[1] https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/off_belay/john_stainforth-784965

Californian activist and free-soloist. Credited with conceptualising Midnight Lightning and an early proponent of the bouldering sit-start.

References

[1] Portrait by Dean Fidelman, 1978 https://www.instagram.com/p/Bz_TXWJjs6R/

[2] https://www.climbing.com/people/bouldering-sit-start-john-yablonski/

References

[1] https://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12200307600/The-Tree-of-Life

[2] http://www.supertopo.com/climbers-forum/13571/Jose-Pereyra-dies-on-Potrero-Chico

[3] https://math.unm.edu/~crisp/PICTURES/JOSE/jose.html

Kazimierz 'Kaz' Pucia began his climbing career in the Tatra Mountains before immigrating to New Zealand in the early 1990s. He became a dominant figure in the domestic sport climbing and bouldering scenes, widely recognised for his extreme physical strength, high athleticism, and strict gymnastic training regimens.

Pucia won numerous national sport climbing competitions, frequently campusing cruxes. During the 1990s, he pushed limits of New Zealand climbing by establishing both the hardest sport route (Spaceboy[1] Extension) and the hardest boulder (The Joker[2] ) problem in the country at the time.

References

[1] https://climbing-history.org/climb/8099/space-boy

[2] https://climbing-history.org/climb/8227/the-joker