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El Capitan is a vertical rock formation in Yosemite National Park, on the north side of Yosemite Valley, near its western end. The granite monolith is about 3,000 feet (914 m) from base to summit along its tallest face and is a world-famous location for big wall climbing, including the disciplines of aid climbing, free climbing, and more recently for free solo climbing.
Alexander Huber, is a German rock climber who is considered one of the greatest and most influential climbers in the history of rock climbing. Huber came to prominence in the early-1990s as the world's strongest sport climber after the passing of Wolfgang Güllich; he was the second-ever person to redpoint a 9a (5.14d) graded route with his 1992 ascent of Om, and has latterly come to be known as the first-ever person to redpoint a 9a+ (5.15a) graded route with this 1996 ascent of Open Air.
Solo climbing, or soloing, is a style of climbing in which the climber climbs a route alone, without the assistance of a belayer. By its very nature, it presents a higher degree of risk to the climber, and in some cases, is considered extremely high risk. Note that the use of the term "solo climbing" is generally separate from the action of bouldering, which is itself a form of solo climbing, but with less serious consequences in the case of a fall. The most dangerous form of solo climbing is free solo climbing, which means both climbing alone and without any form of climbing protection.
Wolfgang Güllich was a German rock climber, who is considered one of the greatest and most influential climbers in the history of the sport. Güllich dominated sport climbing after his 1984 ascent of Kanal im Rücken, the world's first-ever redpoint of an 8b (5.13d) route. He continued to set more "new hardest grade" breakthroughs than any other climber in sport climbing history, with Punks in the Gym in 1985, the world's first-ever 8b+ (5.14a), Wallstreet in 1987, the world's first-ever 8c (5.14b), and with Action Directe in 1991, the world's first-ever 9a (5.14d).
Tommy Caldwell is an American rock climber who has set records in sport climbing, traditional climbing, and in big-wall climbing. Caldwell made the first free ascents of several major routes on El Capitan in Yosemite National Park.
Royal Robbins was one of the pioneers of American rock climbing. After learning to climb at Tahquitz Rock, he went on to make first ascents of many big wall routes in Yosemite. As an early proponent of boltless, pitonless clean climbing, he, along with Yvon Chouinard, was instrumental in changing the climbing culture of the late 1960s and early 1970s by encouraging the use and preservation of the natural features of the rock. He went on to become a well-known kayaker.
Warren Harding was one of the most accomplished and influential American big wall climbers and aid climbers of the 1950s to 1970s. He was the leader of the first team to climb El Capitan, Yosemite Valley, in 1958. The route they climbed, known as The Nose, ascends 2,900 feet (880 m) up the central buttress of what is one of the largest granite monoliths in the world. Harding made many first ascents in Yosemite, some 28 in all, including The Wall of Early Morning Life.
Free solo climbing, or free soloing, is a form of rock climbing where the climbers climb solo without ropes or other protective equipment, using only their climbing shoes and their climbing chalk. Free soloing is the most dangerous form of climbing, and, unlike bouldering, free soloists climb above safe heights, where a fall can be fatal. Though many climbers have free soloed climbing grades they are very comfortable on, only a tiny group free solo regularly, and at grades closer to the limit of their abilities.
Thomas Huber is a German rock climber and mountaineer. He lives in Berchtesgaden with his family. His brother and regular climbing partner is Alexander Huber, and the two are called "Huberbuam" (Huberboys) in the Bavarian dialect; they were the subject of the 2007 film To the Limit. In 2001, Huber won the 10th Piolet d'Or award with Iwan Wolf for their ascent of the direct north pillar of Shivling.
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).
Beth Rodden is an American rock climber known for her ascents of hard single-pitch traditional climbing routes. She was the youngest woman to climb 5.14a (8b+) and is one of the only women in the world to have redpointed a 5.14c (8c+) traditional climbing graded climb. Rodden and fellow climber Tommy Caldwell were partners from 2000 to 2010, during which time they completed the second free ascent of The Nose. In 2008, Rodden made the first ascent of Meltdown, one of the hardest traditional climbs in the world and the first time in history that a female climber matched the peak of the highest climbing grades.
Stephanie "Steph" Davis is an American rock climber, BASE jumper, and wingsuit flyer. She is one of the world's leading climbers, having completed some of the hardest routes in the world. She has free soloed up to 5.11a (6b+), and was the first woman to summit all the peaks of the Fitzroy Range in Patagonia, the second woman to free climb El Capitan in a day, the first woman to free climb the Salathė Wall on El Capitan, the first woman to free solo The Diamond on Longs Peak in Colorado, and the first woman to summit Torre Egger. Davis was married to fellow climbers and BASE jumpers Dean Potter and Mario Richard, and currently to sky-diving instructor, flyer, and jumper Ian Mitchard. Davis is also a blogger who writes about her interests in climbing, BASE jumping, yoga, and veganism.
Big wall climbing is a form of rock climbing that takes place on long multi-pitch routes that normally require a full day, if not several days, to ascend. Big wall routes are typically sustained and exposed, where the climbers remain suspended from the rock face, even sleeping hanging from the face, with limited options to sit down or escape unless they abseil back down the whole route. It is therefore a physically and mentally demanding form of climbing.
The Salathé Wall is one of the original big wall climbing routes up El Capitan, a 3,000-foot (900 m) high granite monolith in Yosemite National Park. The Salathé Wall was named by Yvon Chouinard in honor of John Salathé, a pioneer of rock climbing in Yosemite. The route is recognized in the historic climbing text Fifty Classic Climbs of North America and is considered a classic around the world.
Thomas "Tom" M. Frost was an American rock climber known for big wall climbing first ascents in Yosemite Valley. He was also a photographer and climbing equipment manufacturer. Frost was born in Hollywood, California, and died in Oakdale, California.
Charles Marshall Pratt was an American rock climber known for big wall climbing first ascents in Yosemite Valley. He was also a long-time climbing instructor and mountain guide with Exum Mountain Guides in the Grand Tetons.
Alex Honnold is an American rock climber best known for his free solo ascents of big walls. Honnold rose to worldwide fame in June 2017 when he became the first person to free solo a route on El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, a climb described in the New York Times as "one of the great athletic feats of any kind, ever." Honnold also holds the record for the fastest ascent of the "Yosemite Triple Crown", an 18-hour, 50-minute link-up of Mount Watkins, The Nose, and the Regular Northwest Face of Half Dome. In 2015, he won a Piolet d'Or in alpine climbing with Tommy Caldwell for their completion of the enchainment of the Cerro Chaltén Group in Patagonia over 5 days.
Hazel Findlay is a British traditional climber, sport climber and big wall climber. She was the first female British climber to climb a route graded E9, and a route graded 8c (5.14b). She did the third ascent of the Yosemite traditional route Magic Line 5.14c (8c+). She has free climbed El Capitán four times on four different routes and made many first female ascents on other routes. Climbing magazine gave her their Golden Piton Award (Alpine) for traditional climbing in 2013.
Brad Gobright was an American rock climber known for free solo climbing.
References
- ↑ Ghiglieri, Michael P. & Farabee, Charles R. "Butch" Jr. (2007). Off the Wall: Death in Yosemite. Flagstaff: Puma Press. p. 368. ISBN 978-0-9700973-6-1.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Samet, Matt; Steve Bechtel (18 December 2006). "Todd Skinner: Loss of a Legend". Climbing . Retrieved 29 December 2022.
- 1 2 Editorial (1 June 2016). "The 25 Greatest Moments in Yosemite Climbing History". Outside . Retrieved 4 December 2022.
- ↑ Smoot, Jeff (2019). Hangdog Days. Mountaineers.
- ↑ Lober, Keith (Oct 30, 2006). "Follow-up On Fatal Climbing Fall" (archived at huecotanks.com). The Morning Report for Monday, October 30, 2006. National Park Service. Retrieved 2007-03-21.
- ↑ "Fatal fall at Yosemite shocks climbing world". 26 October 2006.
- ↑ Rowell, Galen (1991). "Hooker's North Face Free-climbed". American Alpine Journal. Golden, CO, United States: American Alpine Club. 33 (65): 131–139. ISBN 0-930410-46-7.
