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History of rock climbing

In the history of rock climbing, the three main sub-disciplines – bouldering, single-pitch climbing, and big wall (and multi-pitch) climbing – can trace their origins to late 19th-century Europe. Bouldering started in Fontainebleau, and was advanced by Pierre Allain in the 1930s, and John Gill in the 1950s. Big wall climbing, mostly free climbing but with some sections of aid pitons, started in the Dolomites, and was spread across the Alps in the 1930s by climbers such as Emilio Comici and Riccardo Cassin, and in the 1950s by Walter Bonatti, before reaching Yosemite where it was led in the 1950s to 1970s by climbers such as Royal Robbins. Single-pitch climbing started pre-1900 in both the Lake District and in Saxony, and by the late-1970s had spread widely with climbers such as Ron Fawcett (Britain), Bernd Arnold (Germany), Patrick Berhault (France), Ron Kauk and John Bachar (USA).

As a free solo exercise with no artificial aid or climbing protection, bouldering remained largely consistent since its origins. Single-pitch climbing generally stopped using artificial aid in the early 20th-century, led by Paul Preuss, so-called "free climbing". Free climbing of Big Walls started before World War I, and was advanced by in the 20s, in the 30s, and Mathias Rebitsch in the late-40s. Climbing protection was desired for single-pitch and big-wall free climbing, and it was inserted into the rock while climbing up from the bottom and then removed if possible; this is now called "traditional climbing". By the 1980s, French pioneers like Patrick Edlinger wanted to climb rock faces in Buoux and Verdon that had few cracks in which to insert traditional climbing protection. Controversially they pre-placed, on rappel from above using battery-powered drills, very strong, permanent bolts for protection (but not as artificial aid) on potential new free climbs; this became known as "sport climbing". This extremely safe form of lead climbing, along with a slow erosion of free climbing ethics (e.g. bolts, projecting, chalk, hangdogging, and pinkpointing) enabled a dramatic increase in climbing standards, grades, and tools (e.g. artificial climbing walls and campus boards), the development of competition climbing (initially dominated in the 1990s by French climbers such as François Legrand), and the "professional" rock climber.

By the end of the 20th century, the hardest sport climbs were often combinations of bouldering-moves, and some of the best challenges lay in free climbing extreme big walls; this led to greater cross-over amongst the three sub-disciplines. Leading climbers such as Wolfgang Güllich, Jerry Moffatt, Alexander Huber, Fred Nicole, Chris Sharma, Adam Ondra, and Tommy Caldwell set records in several of these disciplines. Güllich and Huber also made ever-bolder single-pitch free solo climbs, while Sharma pushed standards in deep-water soloing; Alex Honnold's big wall free soloing was turned into the Oscar-winning film, Free Solo. In 2016, the IOC announced that competition climbing would be a medal sport in the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Female rock climbing also began in the late 19th-century, but women were initially a tiny percetage of climbers. By the mid-1970s female climbers became much more common and they began leading some of the hardest routes; all-female teams were not unusual. By the 1980s, climbers such as Lynn Hill and Catherine Destivelle were closing the gap to the standard of routes being climbed by the leading men. By the 21st-century, Josune Bereziartu, Angela Eiter and Ashima Shiraishi, had closed the gap to the highest sport and boulder climbing grades achieved by men to within one/two notches; Beth Rodden fully closed the gap for traditional climbing grades in 2008 and Janja Garnbret became the most successful competition climber in history with 42 IFSC world cup golds.Today women make up about 30% of rock climbers.

Origins

There are early documented examples of people "rock climbing" to achieve various objectives. The Le Quart Livre records that in 1492, ordered by his king, Antoine de Ville used castle siege tactics to ascend Mont Aiguille, a 300-meter rock tower, near Grenoble, France. In 1695, Martin Martin described the traditional practice of fowling by climbing with the use of ropes in the Hebrides of Scotland, especially on St Kilda.

The first ascent of Mont Blanc in 1786, started mountaineering's "modern era"; however it would take another century until the fixed anchors of rock climbing appeared, including pitons, bolts, and rappel slings. By the early 19th-century, "alpine rock climbing" was developing as a pastime; the tools of the alpine shepherd guides (early mountain guides), the alpenstock and woodcutter's axe (later combined as the ice axe).

Although the action of rock climbing had become a component of 19th-century victorian era Alpine mountaineering, a sport of rock climbing (i.e. climbing short rock routes as a recreational activity without any summit objective), originated in the last quarter of the 19th century, and in four European locations: the Saxon Switzerland climbing region in Germany, the Lake District and Peak District in England, the Dolomites in Italy, and in the forest of Fontainebleau in France.

  • The solo first ascent of Napes Needle in the Lake District, England, by Walter Parry Haskett Smith in June 1886 is widely considered to be the start of the sport of rock climbing in the UK. In 1897, O. G. Jones climbed Kern Knotts Crack at grade VS. By the early 20th-century, groups of 60 would gather at the Wastwater Hotel in the Lake District during vacations.
  • The birth of climbing in Saxon Switzerland for nothing but sporting motivation is credited to gymnasts from nearby Bad Schandau who used ladders and other aid equipment to ascend the Falkenstein in 1864. Ten years later in 1874, O. E. Ufer and H. Frick free climbed the rock pinnacle "Mönch" with a similar motivation, consciously avoiding the use of aid equipment. Inspired by late 19th-century pioneers such as on Falkenstein, by 1903 there were 500 climbers in the Saxon Switzerland climbing region, including the well-known team of Rudolf Fehrmann and American Oliver Perry-Smith; their 1906 ascent of Teufelsturm at grade VIIb, set new standards of difficulty. By the 1930s, there were 200 climbing clubs in the area.
  • The 1887 solo first ascent of the Vajolet Towers by the 17-year-old Munich high school student Georg Winkler, encouraged the acceptance and development of the sport in the Dolomites, and in particular opened up the era of big wall climbing on the huge rock faces of the Dolomites, which spread over the wider Alps including the important centre of Chamonix in France.
  • By 1897, members of the French Club alpin français began to gather amongst the boulders of Fontainebleau to practice their rock climbing skills that they would use in the Alpine season; the boulders were shorter than the large walls being attempted in the Lake District, Saxon Switzerland or the Dolomites, but this led to the development of more advanced bouldering skills.

19th century

1900s

1910s

1920s

  • 1921 : Oswald Kunis leads the unprotected Kuniskante on Rauschentorwächter, in the Saxon Switzerland climbing region. Sax VIIIa/VIIIb, the world's first-ever .
  • 1921 : and Gustav Haber climb the 1,000-foot Ha-He Dihedral UIAA VI+ (5.9+) at , in Austria, in 2 days of climbing; would not be repeated until the 1950s.
  • 1922 : Hans Rost leads, with 2 protection rings, the run-out on Rostkante, on Hauptwiesenstein, in the Saxon Switzerland climbing region. Sax VIIIb, the world's first-ever .
  • 1922 : and party ascend the unprotected Illmerweg on Falkenstein, Sax VIIc or , in the Saxon Switzerland climbing region; famous overhang known as "the mailbox".
  • 1923 : , adding to Dülfer's five grades, creates the Roman Numeral European rating system for rock climbs (Grades I to VI); this system eventually became UIAA grading.
  • 1924 : Felix Simon and Roland Rossi climb the 850-metre North Face of Monte Pelmo, in the Dolomites, Italy, at UIAA V+, placing 11 pitons.
  • 1925 : July 28, Fritz Wiessner, Roland Rossi climb Southeast Face of Fleischbank, Austria, at VI+/5.10a, 11 difficult pitches including 4 free pitches at Grade VI, a tension traverse pitch, and an aid pitch over a roof.
  • 1925 : August 1, and Fritz Wiessner climb the 750-metre North Face of Furchetta, Dolomites, a 20-pitch route and two pitches of UIAA VI (5.9) near the top.
  • 1925 : August 7, Gustav Lettenbauer and climb the 1,200-metre NW Face of Civetta, Dolomites in a day, UIAA VI− (5.9), 44-pitches, 15 pitons; world's hardest big wall climb.
  • 1927 : designs and sells the first rock drill and climbing expansion bolt.
  • 1927 : Fred Pigott experiments with slinging natural chockstones, and later machine nuts, for protection at Clogwyn Du'r Arddu on Snowdon, and led to the modern climbing nut.
  • 1929 : , Demitrio Christomannos, Roberto Perathoner make, in 2 days and placing only 6 pitons, the first ascent of the South Pillar of Marmolada, 5.9+, 600-meters, Dolomites.
  • 1929 : Miriam Underhill and Alice Damesme make the first "manless" ascent of the Aiguille du Grépon, in Chamonix, France.

1930s

  • 1930 : Jack Longland leads, onsight, Javelin Blade at Hollytree Wall, Idwal, at E1 5b (5.10a X) with forty-foot runout at the crux.
  • 1931 : Emilio Comici invents the aid ladder, solid belay anchors, taglining, and hanging bivouacs; tools that changed big wall climbing. He used them all on his 3-day, 57-pitch, 1500-metre climb of the Northwest Face of the Civetta, in the Dolomites, mostly free (5.9+ with 3 aid sections, only 35 pitons).
  • 1931 : Robert L. M. Underhill and Miriam Underhill (Miriam E. O'Brien), Early climbing couples; Robert introduced European climbing techniques in an article in the 1931 Bulletin of the Sierra Club.
  • 1932 : and Giuani Rifesser climb Furchetta North Face route, Dolomites, adding a dangerous, 5-pitch direct finish, UIAA VII− (5.10b/c X), only 5 new protection pitons.
  • 1933 : Emilio Comici, Giuseppi Dimai and Angelo Dimai climb, in 3 days, the 1,700-foot North Face Dimai Route of Cima Grande, in the Dolomites, at 5.9 and 3 aid pitches; becomes the world's most overhanging big wall climbing route.
  • 1933 : and Vincenzo Peristi climb the North Face of , in the Dolomites, UIAA VII− (5.10c) (6-pitches).
  • 1934 : Pierre Allain champions bouldering at Fontainebleau; climbs L'Angle Allain, .
  • 1934 : Dick Leonard, Jules Eichorn and Bestor Robinson made the first ascent of the Eichorn Pinnacle, at Cathedral Peak in the Sierra Nevada.
  • 1934 : , Bartolo Sandri climb, in 2 days, the 750-metre South Face of Torre Trieste, Dolomites, UIAA VIII-, maybe the world's first-ever but it is doubted that the crux was done totally free (35-pitches).
  • 1935 : Riccardo Cassin, climb the 700-metre North Face of Cima Ovest, in the Dolomites, takes 3 days and 60 pitons, 5.9 and 3 aid sections. Most committing big wall climbing to date.
  • 1935 : Pierre Allain, added a protective rubber rand to the side of a tennis shoe as a climbing shoe; later, in 1947, with Edmond Bourdonneau (EB), he markets a stiffer, flat-soled edging shoe, the "PA".
  • 1936 : and Ettore Castiglioni free climb, in two days, a 29-pitch route on the Marmolada, Dolomites, UIAA VII− (5.10c). Hardest long, totally free climb in the world.
  • 1937 : develops and sells the first leather boots with "lug-soled rubber" (called tank-tread) for rock climbing, mountaineering, and hiking; called "Vibram soles".
  • 1937 : Emilio Comici re-climbs the North Face Dimai Route on the Cima Grande alone, with some gear but no rope, mostly free-solo (5.9), but pulling on some pitons, in three and a half hours.
  • 1938 : Riccardo Cassin, Gino Esposito, Ugo Tizzoni ascend, in 3 days, the classic, alpine, 3,500-foot Walker Spur of the Grandes Jorasses "...perhaps the finest in existence" Gaston Rébuffat.
  • 1939 : David Brower and the rest of his Berkeley crew use four bolts for protection in the process of ascending Ship Rock in New Mexico.

1940s

  • 1940s : World War II leads to the development of inexpensive, army-surplus pitons, carabiners and the newly invented nylon rope, making leader falls significantly safer.
  • 1945 : Chris Preston, after a top rope, leads, with no protection, the two pitches of Suicide Wall, in on the flank of Idwal Slabs (Rhiwiau Caws), Wales, at E2 5c (5.10c X).
  • 1946 : and Sepp Spiegl create an 8-pitch route on Fleischbank, Austria, UIAA VII (5.10d) with four hard pitches: VII, VII−, VI, VI−.
  • 1946 : solves Marie-Rose, in Fontainebleau, France, considered one of the first-ever boulder problems.
  • 1947 : Pierre Allain, in France, and Raffi Bedayn, in the US, market lightweight, aluminum carabiners for climbing, significantly reducing the weight carried by climbers.
  • 1947 : , and Franz Lorenz lead a traditional climbing route Nordverschneidung, on , Austria, the world's hardest big wall climbing route at UIAA VII (21-pitches).
  • 1949 : Peter Harding leads, after a top rope, the traditional climbing route Demon Rib, at Black Rocks, in the UK, at E3 5c is one of the world's first-ever routes.

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

See also

Notes

References

External links