History of rock climbing


In the history of rock climbing, the three main sub-disciplines – bouldering, single-pitch climbing, and big wall 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, Bernd Arnold, Patrick Berhault, Ron Kauk and John Bachar.
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 Emil Solleder in the 20s, Batista Vinatzer 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-drilled very strong, permanent bolts from above on rappel, using battery powered drills, into potential new routes for every lead climber's protection ; this became known as "sport climbing". This safer form of lead climbing, along with a slow erosion of free climbing ethics, enabled a dramatic increase in climbing standards, grades, and tools, the development of competition climbing, 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 developed later in the 20th-century but 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.

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, the alpenstock and woodcutter's axe.
Although the action of rock climbing had become a component of 19th-century victorian era Alpine mountaineering, a sport of rock climbing, 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.

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+ 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 ; 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 near the top.
  • 1925 : August 7, Gustav Lettenbauer and climb the 1,200-metre NW Face of Civetta, Dolomites in a day, UIAA VI−, 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

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, Wales, at E2 5c (5.10c X).
  • 1946 : and Sepp Spiegl create an 8-pitch route on Fleischbank, Austria, UIAA VII 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.
  • 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