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 already pre-drilled into the rock in the form of bolts.
Joseph Brown was an English mountaineer who was regarded as an outstanding pioneer of rock climbing during the 1950s and early 1960s. Together with his early climbing partner, Don Whillans, he was one of a new breed of British post-war climbers who came from working class backgrounds in contrast to the upper and middle class professionals who had dominated the sport up to the Second World War. He became the first person to climb the third-highest mountain in the world when he was on the 1955 British Kangchenjunga expedition. Some of his climbs were televised and he assisted with mountaineering scenes in several films; Brown died on 15 April 2020 at the age of 89.
Black Rocks, is a small outcrop of ashover gritstone, between Cromford and Wirksworth in Derbyshire, the Peak District, England. It is an important crag in the history of British rock climbing, and has some of the most extreme climbing routes in Britain, including Gaia.
Fair Head or Benmore is a 5-kilometre (3.1 mi) long, 200-metre (660 ft) high, mountain cliff, close to the sea, at the north-eastern corner of County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The cliff's sheer and vertical 100-metre (330 ft) high dolerite rock face is shaped into distinctive vertical columns like organ pipes, which formed 60 million years ago when a sill of igneous rock was injected between horizontal Carboniferous sediments.
Johnny Dawes is a British rock climber and author, known for his dynamic climbing style and bold traditional climbing routes. This included the first ascent of Indian Face, the first-ever route at the E9-grade. His influence on British climbing was at its peak in the mid to late-1980s.
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.
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.
Pete Livesey, was an English rock climber who raised the standard of technical difficulty in traditional climbing in Britain during the early to mid-1970s. Livesey was renowned for the intensity and competitiveness he brought to the development of his sport as well as a mischievous sense of humor, and during the mid-1970s, Livesey was regarded as Britain's leading rock climber.
Master's Edge is an 18-metre (59 ft) gritstone arête that is a rock climbing route in the "Corners Area" of Millstone Edge quarry, in the Peak District, England. When English climber Ron Fawcett completed the first free ascent of the route on 29 December 1983, it was graded E7 6c, and one of the hardest traditional climbing routes in the world; it remains one of the hardest gritstone climbs.
The Llanberis Pass in Snowdonia carries the main road (A4086) from the south-east to Llanberis, over Pen-y-Pass, between the mountain ranges of the Glyderau and the Snowdon massif. At the bottom of the pass is the small village of Nant Peris.
Clogwyn Du'r Arddu, or "Cloggy", is a north-facing rhyolite set of cliffs located on the northern flank of Snowdon mountain. Cloggy is considered to be one of the best traditional climbing areas in Britain, and has been called "The shrine of British climbing", and a "crucible for the development of most of the finest climbers in Britain and the scene of many of their finest achievements".
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 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).
Dalkey Quarry is a long-disused 19th century granite quarry located on Dalkey Hill in the Dublin suburb of Dalkey, which was used to build several large maritime structures in south Dublin. Since passing into public ownership in the early 20th century and becoming part of Killiney Hill Park, it has become one of the most important rock climbing venues in Ireland, with over 350 graded routes, some of which are amongst the hardest single-pitch rock climbs in the country such as Indecent Assault. The climbs are all traditional climbing routes and no bolted sport climbing routes are permitted, although some metal pegs are tolerated on the most extreme routes.
Pot Hole quarry is a former limestone quarry close to Llanferres, near Mold, in Denbighshire, North Wales. The quarry is popular with rock climbers due to its rural setting, ease of access and selection of routes on good quality limestone. The average height of the quarried rock is approximately 12 metres (39 ft).
Ailladie, is an 800-metre-long (2,600 ft) west-facing limestone sea cliff, that varies in height from 8 metres (26 ft) to 35 metres (115 ft), situated on the coast of The Burren in County Clare, Ireland. Ailladie is one of Ireland's most highly regarded rock-climbing locations, particularly for high technical grade single pitch traditional climbing routes and deep-water soloing routes. It is also a location for shore-angling competitions, and, with its cliffs and view of the Aran Islands, is a popular photography stop for tourists.
Hard Grit is a 1998 British rock climbing film directed by Richard Heap and produced by Slackjaw Film, featuring traditional climbing, free soloing, and bouldering on gritstone routes in the Peak District in Northern England. It is considered an important film in the genre and regarded as a historic and iconic film. The film starts with a dramatic fall by French climber Jean–Minh Trinh-Thieu on Gaia at Black Rocks. Hard Grit won ten international film festival awards.
Peter Reginald James Harding was a British rock climber who was prominent in the sport during the period following World War II.
Ron Fawcett is a British rock climber and rock climbing author who is credited with pushing the technical standards of British rock climbing in traditional, sport, bouldering and free soloing disciplines, in the decade from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s, and of pioneering the career of being a full-time professional rock climber. At the end of the 1970s to the early 1980s, Fawcett was widely considered the best and most notable rock climber in Britain.
Philip "Jimmy" Jewell was a British rock climber and free soloist who was active during the 1970s and 1980s.
Aill na Cronain is an inland west-facing limestone crag in The Burren in County Clare, Ireland. It is popular with novice rock climbers due to the number of short single-pitch 10–20 metre rock climbing routes in the S to HS rock climbing grades. It is beside the Aillwee Caves.
