Ben Moon (climber)

Last updated

Ben Moon
Personal information
Nationality British
Born (1966-06-13) 13 June 1966 (age 58)
London
Website www.moonclimbing.com
Climbing career
Type of climber Sport climbing, bouldering
Highest grade
Known forFirst to climb consensus 9a  (5.14d)
Retired2003
Updated on 13 May 2013

Ben Moon (born 13 June 1966) is a rock climber from England. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Moon, along with climbing partner Jerry Moffatt, were the two strongest British rock climbers and were key pioneers in the development of standards in international sport climbing. In 1991, Moon made the first-ever redpoint in history of a consensus grade 8c+  (5.14c) climbing route with his ascent of Hubble.

Contents

Climbing career

Moon's first officially declared 8c  (5.14b) routes had somewhat controversial names. The routes were both in France and had been previously attempted for a long time by local climbers. After climbing them Moon named them after French military disasters, first the Maginot Line, at Volx, [1] [2] and secondly Agincourt, at Buoux. [3] On 8 June 2015, Moon redpointed the Steve McClure route Rainshadow, 9a  (5.14d), at Malham Cove in North Yorkshire, England. [4] [5]

Business ventures

In 2002, Moon founded his climbing clothing and equipment company, Moon Climbing, after splitting from his previous company, S7. [6] One of Moon Climbing's most popular products is the MoonBoard, an overhanging climbing wall used to train dynamic climbing. [7]

Notable ascents

Filmography

Bibliography

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Traditional climbing</span> Type of rock climbing

Traditional climbing is a type of free climbing in rock climbing where the lead climber places the protection equipment while ascending the route; when the lead climber has completed the route, the second climber then removes the protection equipment as they climb the route. Traditional climbing differs from sport climbing where the protection equipment is pre-drilled into the rock in the form of bolts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Action Directe (climb)</span> Sport climbing route in Germany

Action Directe is a short 15-metre (49 ft) sport climb at the limestone Waldkopf crag in Frankenjura, Germany. When it was first climbed by German climber Wolfgang Güllich in 1991, it became the first climb in the world to have a consensus 9a (5.14d) grade. Action Directe is considered an important route in rock climbing history, and is one of the most attempted climbs at its grade, where it is considered the "benchmark" for the level of 9a. The plyometric training techniques and customized equipment that Güllich used to prepare for the unique physical demands of Action Directe also revolutionized climbing and what could be achieved.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Realization (climb)</span> Sport climbing route in France

Realization, also called Biographie, is a circa 35-metre (115 ft) sport climbing route on a limestone cliff on the southern face of Céüse mountain, near Gap and Sigoyer, in France. After it was first climbed in 2001 by American climber Chris Sharma, it became the first rock climb in the world to have a consensus grade of 9a+ (5.15a). It is considered an historic and important route in rock climbing, and one of the most attempted climbs at its grade.

Steve McClure is a British rock climber and climbing author, who is widely regarded as Britain's leading and most important sport climber for a period that extends for over two decades, starting from the late 1990s. In 2017, he created Rainman, Britain's first-ever 9b (5.15b) sport route, and by that stage was responsible for developing the majority of routes graded 9a (5.14d) and above in Britain. Although mainly known for sport climbing, McClure has also been one of the most successful British traditional climbers, and British onsight climbers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Josune Bereziartu</span> Spanish rock climber

Josune Bereziartu, also known as Josune Bereciartu Urruzola, is a Basque rock climber. For a decade starting in the late 1990s, she was considered the strongest female sport climber in the world and is regarded as one of the most important female rock climbers in history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerry Moffatt</span> British rock climber

Jerry Moffatt, is a British rock climber and climbing author who is widely considered as being the best British rock climber from the early-1980s to the early-1990s, and was arguably the best rock climber in the world in the mid-1980s, and an important climber in the history of the sport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ramón Julián Puigblanqué</span> Spanish rock climber

Ramón Julián Puigblanque is a professional Spanish rock climber specializing in competition lead climbing and sport climbing. He won two World Championships, in 2007 and 2011, three European Championships, in 2004 2010 and 2015, and one Lead Climbing World Cup in 2010. From 2001 to 2016, he participated in 16 seasons of the World Cup, winning 21 World Cup stages. He has also redpointed several sport routes above 9a (5.14d), and made the first free ascent of La Rambla.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adam Ondra</span> Czech climber (born 1993)

Adam Ondra is a Czech professional rock climber, specializing in lead climbing, bouldering, and competition climbing. In 2013, Rock & Ice described Ondra as a prodigy and the leading climber of his generation. Ondra is the only male athlete to have won World Championship titles in both disciplines in the same year (2014) and is one of the two male athletes to have won the World Cup series in both disciplines.

Malcolm Smith is a Scottish rock climber and competition climber who won the bouldering IFSC Climbing World Cup in 2002.

Jean-Baptiste Tribout, or J.B. Tribout is a French rock climber and competition climber.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angela Eiter</span> Austrian professional climber

Angela "Angy" Eiter is an Austrian professional rock climber who specialises in competition climbing and sport climbing. In competition lead climbing, she won three IFSC World Cups in a row (2004–2006), and four IFSC World Championships. In 2011, she achieved her 25th win in World Cup and her 42nd podium. She is also one of the strongest sport climbers in the world, and in 2017, became the first-ever female in history to climb a 9b (5.15b) route, La Planta de Shiva. In 2020, she became the first-ever female in history to complete the first free ascent (FFA) of a 9b (5.15b) route, Madame Ching.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander Megos</span> German rock climber

Alexander Megos is a German rock climber specializing in sport climbing, bouldering and competition climbing. In 2013, he became the first-ever climber to onsight a 9a (5.14d) graded route. He has made the first free ascent (FFA) of some of the hardest sport climbing routes in the world, including two 9b+ (5.15c) routes, three 9b (5.15b) routes, and several boulders with a boulder 8C (V15) rating.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kilian Fischhuber</span> Austrian rock climber

Kilian Fischhuber is a professional Austrian rock climber who specializes in bouldering, sport climbing and competition climbing, where competes in bouldering and lead climbing. From 2005 to 2011, he won five Bouldering World Cups. No other male climber was ever able to win it more than three times, or win it three times in a row. Due to his outstanding career, he was awarded the La Sportiva Competition Award in 2009, together with Chris Sharma.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patxi Usobiaga</span> Spanish rock climber (born 1980)

Patxi Usobiaga Lakunza, best known as Patxi Usobiaga, is a Spanish professional rock climber, sports climber and boulderer. He is known for winning two Lead Climbing World Cups in a row, and for being the first-ever climber in history to onsight an 8c+ (5.14c) route.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexandre Chabot</span> French rock climber

Alexandre Chabot is a French professional rock climber, specialising in lead climbing. He won three consecutive Lead Climbing World Cups and three consecutive Rock Masters. In France, he was awarded seven times the national Lead Climbing Champion title.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">François Legrand (climber)</span> French rock climber

François Legrand is a French professional rock climber who specializes in sport climbing and competition climbing, who is known for winning five Lead Climbing World Cups, and three consecutive Lead Climbing World Championships. As of 2022, no other climber has matched his achievement in IFSC lead climbing, and as of the end of 2022, Legrand had won the third most IFSC gold medals of any competitive climber in history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hubble (climb)</span> Sport climbing route in England

Hubble is a short 10-metre (33 ft) bolted sport climb at the limestone crag of Raven Tor in Millers Dale, in the Peak District in Derbyshire, England. When Hubble was first redpointed by English climber Ben Moon on 14 June 1990, it became the first-ever climb in the world to have a consensus climbing grade of 8c+ (5.14c); and the highest grade in the English system at E9 7b.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Bosi</span> Scottish rock climber (born 1998)

William (Will) Bosi is a Scottish professional rock climber specializing in sport climbing, bouldering and competition climbing. Bosi is only the second British sport climber in history to redpoint a 9b (5.15b) graded sport climbing route, and by 2023, was one of only a small group of climbers in the world to have completed a V17 (9A) boulder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toby Roberts</span> British rock climber (born 2005)

Toby Roberts is an English rock climber who specializes in competition climbing and in outdoor sport climbing. He is the youngest British climber to redpoint a 9a (5.14d)-graded sport climbing route, and in 2023 became the first British male climber to qualify for the Olympics.

References

  1. "Sport Climbing World Powers". ukclimbing.com. July 2006. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
  2. "Entrevista a Ben Moon" (in Spanish). desnivel.com. 25 June 2001. Archived from the original on 13 March 2013. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
  3. Jim Thornburg (22 April 2010). "Buoux: Revisiting France's Crag of the 1980s". climbing.com. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
  4. "Ben Moon storms through Rainshadow 9a at Malham Cove - Planetmountain.com, climbing, News, mountaineering". planetmountain.com. 2015. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
  5. "INTERVIEW: Ben Moon on Rainshadow 9a - "I'm Over the Moon!"". ukclimbing.com. 2015. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  6. "About Moon Climbing". moonclimbing.com.
  7. "How and Why to Train on the Moonboard". Climbing. 2 December 2017. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  8. "Ben Moon". DMM Climbing. Retrieved 15 July 2021.