1) Tommy Caldwell
“As a climber, you want to find something that looks absurd and figure out how to do it.” – Tommy Caldwell
Tommy Caldwell is an American rock climber with big dreams. In 2015, National Geographic called Caldwell “arguably the best all-around rock climber on the planet”.
5 years ago in 2014, between 12 and 16 February, Tommy Caldwell and Alex Honnold completed the first ascent of the much discussed “Fitz Traverse”, climbing across the iconic ridge-line of Cerro Fitz Roy and its satellite peaks in southern Patagonia. The route is 5 kilometers long and has approximately 4000 meters of vertical elevation, with routes ranging in difficulty up to 5.11d.
Watch “A Line Across The Sky”, documenting Tommy Caldwell and Alex Honnold’s climb of the Fitz Traverse in Patagonia:
Tommy is accomplished in sport climbing, hard traditional climbing, big-wall speed climbing, and big-wall free climbing. He is 41 this year. His recent notable ascents were the “Dawn Wall” (2015) and “The Nose” (2018). Read more (wikipedia)
2) Dag Hammarskjold
Dag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskjöld was a respected Swedish diplomat but little known to the rest of the world when, in 1953, he became Secretary General of the United Nations.
He was an all rounder who excelled in gymnastics, skiing and mountaineering, and while he had to relinquish those interests because of the pressures of his job, the mountaineer within him never died. Over the fireplaces in his New York apartment hangs a mountain climber’s pick sent to him by Tenzing Norkay, the Sherpa conqueror of Mount Everest. It bears the inscription: “So you may climb to even greater heights.”
He has a number of notable quotes and philosophies on politics, peace, and spirituality, and was also awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1961, posthumously after his death. Some of his quotes and philosophies:
“The pursuit of peace and progress cannot end in a few years in either victory or defeat. The pursuit of peace and progress, with its trials and its errors, its successes and its setbacks, can never be relaxed and never abandoned.” – United Nations Bulletin Vol. XVI, No. 4 (15 February 1954)
“The more faithfully you listen to the voices within you, the better you will hear what is sounding outside.” As quoted in Sacred Seasonings (2003) by Sherri Purdom
3) Fred Nicole
“Climbing is often a group activity and it’s always inspiring to see how other people who share your passions do things.” ~ Fred Nicole
Fred Nicole is a Swiss rock climber who has made history a number of times in the bouldering world, in 2016 with the first ascent of Radja the world’s first V14. In 2000, he sent the first V15 with his climb of Dreamtime. Then in 2016, at age 46, he established Chakijana V14/15 in Rocklands, South Africa.
Today, you won’t believe what he is working on – making climbing shoes – the Five Ten Aleon is the latest addition to his climbing shoe range.
“I’m not specifically making one type of shoe, because I don’t like the same shoe for every type of climbing,” Nicole said. “Even if I like sensitive shoes, I would like to be able to design an edging shoe that still has that sensitivity. There should be a good interaction between you and the shoe. That’s the point, I guess: to have something working and reacting well with your body.” (Source: gripped.com)
Read his story here: https://www.climbing.com/gear/fred-nicole-from-top-end-bouldering-to-the-subtle-art-of-shoe-design/
4) Stewart M. Green
“Climbing may be hard, but it’s easier than growing up.” ~ Stewart M. Green
Did you know? Stewart M. Green is a lifelong climber as well as a professional writer and photographer. He is the author of Best Climbs Moab, Rock Climbing New England, Rock Climbing Utah, Rock Climbing Colorado, and over 40 other books!
A former writer for ThoughtCo, Stewart wrote articles about rock climbing for more than eight years. As an expert climber Stewart co-owns Front Range Climbing Company where he acts as the senior rock climbing guide in the mountains of Colorado and Utah.
Stewart started writing about and photographing the outdoors around 1977, landing his first job with Springs Magazine in 1979. Since that time, his writing and photography appeared in numerous books and websites. Stewart’s experience also includes working as a digital editor for Alpinist.com where he wrote about and photographed some of the most famous climbers in the world.
Read climbing articles by Stewart Green here: https://www.liveabout.com/stewart-green-755187
Stay tuned for next month’s climbing inspirations!