First Ascents

This article was originally published in Climbing No 371. It's appearing now in front of the paywall for the first time.

In his “Forgotten First Ascents” series for Rock and Ice, Owen Clarke dug up cool climbs from the past and talked to the climbers who made them happen. This one: Malaria, Rhumsiki Tower, Cameroon, 2007.

A V16, a V15 first ascent, and a V14 first ascent… in just three days.

From the first women recorded in mountaineering in the late eighteenth century, to the first 5.15 female ascent by Margo Hayes in 2017.

157 years ago, today, the Matterhorn saw its first ascent. To celebrate that fact, we present 10 fun facts about Europe’s most famous summit.

Just who climbs a route first is nuanced, and with big money at stake the lines between success and failure have gotten fuzzier.

Watch one of the world’s best rock climbers choose his goals, deal with setbacks, and insist on progress.

Part III of Reel Rock's "Age of Ondra" asks how one of the world’s best rock climbers chooses his goals, deals with setbacks, and insists on progress.

According to Niky Ceria, “The ideal line [is located] not too far from the water but also not too close to it.”

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With four first winter ascents of 8,000-meter peaks, Simone Moro has taken the art of climbing in harsh conditions to new heights, but controversy plagues his climbing résumé.

The classic story of the first ascent of the East Face of Moose's Tooth by climbing legends Jim Bridwell and Mugs Stump.

An aesthetic film about Aidan Roberts putting up new hard lines in the Lake District—and repeating some classics.

Many “firsts” have always been worth something, though, and many still are, particularly cases like Sabourin’s. That’s because there are two types of firsts that matter.

Dakota Walz set out in 2019 to climb 5,280 vertical feet of first ascents in the American Southwest. Along the way, he faced uncertainty, fear, doubt, loose rock, and runouts—and many times wondered: Is the project even worth it? In the end, he learned it was the process that mattered—not just the summits.

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Tierrany is the Yosemite National Park's first boulder problem to be graded V14—though it may not be the first V14.

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The price of freedom on the East Face of Washington’s Liberty Bell

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Sílvia Vidal spent nearly two months alone in Patagonia while completing a solo first ascent on El Chileno Grande, unaware of the unfolding pandemic in the outside world.

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Kirill Belotserkovskiy and Grigory Chshukin opened a new line on Trud Peak, completing a round-trip of the 1,200 meter line in 23 hours.

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Meet the tireless climbers establishing moderate sport routes around the country.

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Sílvia Vidal made a big-wall first ascent on Cerro Chileno Grande over the course of 33 days, solo and without communication to the outside world.

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Tim Emmett and Klemen Premrl made the first ascent of the new Helmcken Falls line, proposing WI13—making it the first route of the grade.

Siegrist nails down the first ascents of two of the hardest routes in Clear Light Cave

Despite bad weather (even by Patagonian standards), Honnold and Haley still completed big objectives

A team of Brette Harrington, Quinten Roberts, and Horacio Gratton made the first ascent of Marc-André’s Visión, a line that Marc-André Leclerc first spotted two years before his death.

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The secret history and modern rebirth of Western Colorado’s sleepy Unaweep Canyon.

First ascents meet anti-hydropower activism in Albania—Europe’s wildest unknown limestone paradise.

From big wall speed records to long free climbs, Adams does it all, and he recently ticked his hardest free climb to date, the FA of the 1,300-foot Wayward Son (5.12c) on Lost Brother.

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