First ascent

File:First ascent.JPG and Martin Ploug (pictured) nearing the summit of the unclimbed peak, Ren Zhong Feng (5800m), in China via their new route Lost to Ice (grade TD M4, WI4, 1300m)]]

As mountaineering developed in the 20th century, the attainment of a summit by almost any means was replaced by ascents that reflected the style used and the conditions faced. In 2008, the most prestigious annual prize in mountaineering, the Piolet d'Or, amended its focus to small light-weight alpine-style teams using no form of aid or support, rather than on large expedition-style teams using "siege" techniques.

The most notable types of mountaineering first ascents that are chronicled are:

• First ascent. The most notable first ascents started with the golden age of alpinism when the main alpine peaks were summited (and often using aid climbing). In the 1930s, the focus moved to the first ascents of the great north faces of the Alps, and the Eiger in particular. The 1950s saw the first ascents of most of the fourteen eight-thousanders, and Everest in particular. By the 1980s, the rock spires of Trango Towers in the Karakorum, and Torres del Paine in Patagonia also had first ascents.

• First winter ascent. The winter climbing season is between December 21 and March 20.{{cite web | magazine=National Geographic | url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/article/absolute-misery-climbers-complete-the-historic-first-winter-ascent-of-nanga-parbat-the-killer-mountain | first=Andrew | last=Bisharat | title=Climbers Make History Making First Winter Ascent of Pakistan's 'Killer Mountain'| date=27 February 2016 | accessdate=8 February 2023 | archive-date=10 February 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230210084226/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/article/absolute-misery-climbers-complete-the-historic-first-winter-ascent-of-nanga-parbat-the-killer-mountain | url-status=dead }} The first winter ascents of the great north faces of the Alps were a coveted prize, particularly the "Trilogy" of the three hardest, the Eiger, the Matterhorn, and the Grandes Jorasses. The most notable first winter ascents were the Himalayan and Karakoram eight-thousanders, where the hardest, K2, was only summited in winter in 2021 (66 years after its first ascent) and considered a "holy grail" of mountaineering prizes.{{cite web | newspaper=The Guardian | first=Peter | last=Beaumont | date=6 January 2021 | accessdate=9 February 2023 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/16/nepalese-team-makes-first-successful-winter-ascent-of-k2 | title=Nepalese team makes first successful winter ascent of K2 | archive-date=10 February 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230210083843/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/16/nepalese-team-makes-first-successful-winter-ascent-of-k2 | url-status=live }}

• First alpine-style (or unsupported) ascent. In 2008, the charter of the prestigious Piolet d'Or prize was amended to focus on small teams with no support making fast, but riskier, ascents on routes that had previously been done by expeditions (called alpine style).{{cite journal | journal=Himalayan Journal | author-link=Bernadette McDonald | first=Bernadette | last=McDonald | url=https://www.himalayanclub.org/hj/72/9/piolets-dor/ | date=2017 | accessdate=2 January 2023 | title=Piolets d'Or: A Short History of the Golden Ice Axe | volume=72 | archive-date=19 February 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220219154800/https://www.himalayanclub.org/hj/72/9/piolets-dor/ | url-status=live }}{{cite web | magazine=Alpinist | url=http://www.alpinist.com/doc/web15s/newswire-23rd-piolets-d-or-highlights | title=Highlights from the 23rd Piolets d'Or | date=14 April 2015 | accessdate=1 January 2023 | first=Menno | last=Boermans | quote=The Piolets d'Or (Golden Ice Axes) were long considered to be the 'Oscars of Mountaineering' | archive-date=1 January 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230101161833/http://www.alpinist.com/doc/web15s/newswire-23rd-piolets-d-or-highlights | url-status=live }} Multiple Piolet d'Or winners, whose ascents embodied this style, included Marko Prezelj, Mick Fowler, and Ueli Steck. The charter was amended to de-incentivize excessive risk-taking after several winners died (e.g. David Lama, and Hansjörg Auer).{{Cite news|last=Levy|first=Michael|date=2021-11-29|title=A Climbing Award That May Be a Winner's Last|language=en-US|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/29/sports/piolet-dor-climbing.html|access-date=2021-11-30|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=2021-11-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211130012050/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/29/sports/piolet-dor-climbing.html|url-status=live}}{{cite web | magazine=Alpinist | url=http://www.alpinist.com/doc/ALP16/unwinnable-parnell | title=Victors of the Unwinnable | date=1 July 2006 | accessdate=2 January 2023 | first=Ian | last=Parnell | archive-date=13 January 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200113075736/http://www.alpinist.com/doc/ALP16/unwinnable-parnell | url-status=live }}

• First solo ascent. The most dangerous form of alpine-style ascent is the solo climbing ascent, performed by a single climber. The first solo ascents of the alpine north faces, including the first solo winter ascents, were coveted (the winter solo "Trilogy" was completed by Ivano Ghirardini in 1977–78); one of the most famous practitioners was the Italian Walter Bonatti. Himalayan solo ascents are also coveted, although problems around verification are more frequent due to the more remote nature of the routes, with notable disputes such as Tomo Česen's first solo ascent of the south face of Lhotse.{{cite book | title=Kiss Or Kill: Confessions of a Serial Climber | author-link=Mark Twight | first=Mark | last=Twight | date=2001 | isbn=978-0898867633 | publisher=Mountaineering Books | chapter=My Way: A Short Talk with Tomo Cesen | pages=63–74 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N7N-0rq_f8YC | accessdate=10 January 2023 | archive-date=10 February 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230210011146/https://books.google.com/books?id=N7N-0rq_f8YC | url-status=live }}

Image:Adam Ondra climbing Silence 9c by PAVEL BLAZEK 3.jpg making the first redpoint ascent of Silence, the world's first {{climbing grade|9c}} sport climb.]]

In rock climbing, the manner in which the first free ascent was achieved became important to chronicle by climbing journals and magazines. The key differentiators were the style on which the route was free climbed (e.g. traditional climbing, sport climbing, or free solo climbing), whether the free climb was done on the first attempt (e.g. onsighted), and whether the climber had prior information (e.g. beta) on that first attempt.

The most notable types of rock climbing first ascents that are chronicled are:

• First free ascent (traditional climbing only). Pre-1980s, the FFAs were by traditional climbing techniques. A distinction was recorded if a climber practiced the moves on a top rope, called "headpointing", although with the post-1980s dominance of "redpointing" as the definition of an FFA, such a distinction was dropped.{{efn|While headpointing was once considered a lesser form of first free ascent in traditional climbing (and an FFA that had been headpointed would be asterisked as such), leading traditional climbers eventually followed the redpointing practices of sport climbers (i.e. practicing the route over-and-over in a safe way), and dispensed with the stigma associated with headpointing.{{cite web | magazine=Climbing | url=https://www.climbing.com/places/history-headpointing-peak-district-gritstone/ | title=How the World's Boldest Climbing Area Got that Way: How headpointing became a legitimate, go-to tactic on Peak District gritstone | first=Mike | last=Huttom | date=3 November 2022 | accessdate=13 February 2023 | archive-date=28 August 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230828064122/https://www.climbing.com/places/history-headpointing-peak-district-gritstone/ | url-status=live }} }} FFAs that set new grade milestones are notable, for both male and female climbers.{{cite web | website=PlanetMountain.com | url=https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/climbing/the-evolution-of-free-climbing.html | title=The evolution of free climbing | date=23 December 2012 | first=Maurizio | last=Oviglia | access-date=4 January 2022 | archive-date=4 January 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220104131608/https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/climbing/the-evolution-of-free-climbing.html | url-status=live }}

:* First greenpoint ascent (traditional climbing only). In the 2010s, traditional climbers used greenpointing (as a counterpoint to a "redpoint"), to describe climbing a pre-bolted sport climbing route, but only using "traditional protection" (i.e. protection that is not permanently fixed via pre-placed bolts or pitons).{{cite web | website=PlanetMountain | url=https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/climbing/heiko-queitsch-greenpoint-climbing-in-the-frankenjura.html | title=Heiko Queitsch greenpoint climbing in the Frankenjura | date=3 August 2012 | accessdate=22 December 2022 | archive-date=22 December 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221222190116/https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/climbing/heiko-queitsch-greenpoint-climbing-in-the-frankenjura.html | url-status=live }}{{cite web | website=PlanetMountain | url=https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/climbing/chasin-the-trane-greenpoint-in-the-frankenjura.html | date=7 November 2011 | accessdate=22 December 2022 | title=Chasin the Trane greenpoint in the Frankenjura | quote= | archive-date=22 December 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221222190427/https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/climbing/chasin-the-trane-greenpoint-in-the-frankenjura.html | url-status=live }} Sonnie Trotter's greenpoint of The Path (5.14a R, 2007), is a notable example.{{cite web | website=PlanetMountain | url=https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/climbing/sonnie-trotter-finds-the-path-514-r-at-lake-louise-alberta-canada.html | title=Sonnie Trotter finds The Path 5.14 R at Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada | date=23 August 2007 | accessdate=8 February 2023 | archive-date=8 February 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230208235256/https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/climbing/sonnie-trotter-finds-the-path-514-r-at-lake-louise-alberta-canada.html | url-status=live }}{{cite web|last=Lambert|first=Erik|date=31 August 2007|title=Trotter Chops Bolts, Sends Marathon Project|url=http://www.alpinist.com/doc/ALP20/newswire-trotter-path-bolt-chop|access-date=8 February 2023|magazine=Alpinist|archive-date=8 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230208233826/http://www.alpinist.com/doc/ALP20/newswire-trotter-path-bolt-chop|url-status=live}}

• First redpoint ascent (sport climbing only). In the 1980s, climbers wanted to ascend routes that had no opportunities for traditional climbing protection, and they had to be pre-bolted with protection (but not aid), which was called sport climbing. Sport climbing has since set all new grade milestones in rock climbing. The "redpoint" became the accepted definition for what determined a "first free ascent" in sport climbing.{{cite web | magazine=Gripped Magazine | url=https://gripped.com/profiles/redpoint-pinkpoint-and-headpoint-what-do-they-mean/ | title=Redpoint, Pinkpoint, and Headpoint – What Do They Mean? | first=Aaron | last=Pardy | date=5 November 2022 | accessdate=21 December 2022 | archive-date=22 December 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221222142957/https://gripped.com/profiles/redpoint-pinkpoint-and-headpoint-what-do-they-mean/ | url-status=live }}{{cite magazine | magazine=Climber | url=https://www.climbernews.com/what-is-a-redpoint-in-climbing/ | title=What Is A Redpoint In Climbing? – Climbing Jargon Explained | date=2 October 2020 | accessdate=1 January 2022}}

File:Heinz Zak, Separate Reality 5,11d, Free Solo, Yosemite-Nationalpark, Kalifornien, USA.jpg ascent of Separate Reality in Yosemite]]

• First repeat ascent (traditional or sport climbing). The grading of a route can be complicated as the person making the FFA had no prior information or beta. The first repeat is therefore chronicled for confirmation of a grade, particularly when a new grade milestone is proposed. For the highest grades, the first repeat can take years (e.g. Action Directe or Jumbo Love), or even decades (e.g. {{ill|Open Air (climb)|lt=Open Air|de|Open Air (Kletterroute)}}).

• First onsight ascent (traditional or sport climbing). An FFA that was onsighted, means it was done at the very first attempt, and without prior information (or beta). Climbing journals chronicle the progression of grade milestones of onsights both male and female climbers.

:* First flash ascent (traditional or sport climbing). An FFA that was flashed, means it was done at the first attempt, but with prior information (or beta). Climbing journals chronicle the progression of grade milestones for flashed routes by male and female climbers. With the availability of route beta online (e.g. videos of prior ascents), the distinction between onsight and flash ascents has diminished.{{cite web | magazine=Gripped Magazine | url=https://gripped.com/profiles/onsight-and-flash-what-do-they-mean/ | first=Aaron | last=Pardy | title=Onsight and Flash – What Do They Mean? | date=2 November 2022 | accessdate=8 February 2023 | archive-date=28 January 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230128015604/https://gripped.com/profiles/onsight-and-flash-what-do-they-mean/ | url-status=live }}

• First free solo ascent (independent of traditional or sport climbing). Free soloing is practiced by a smaller community of climbers and is a controversial area given the risks undertaken and whether such risks should be recorded and thus implicitly endorsed. Free solo climbing grade milestones are chronicled, the most notable being Free Solo, the Oscar-winning film of Alex Honnold's first free solo ascent of Freerider in Yosemite.{{cite web | magazine=Climbing | url=https://www.climbing.com/people/free-solo-rock-climbing-alex-honnold-history/ | title=Free Solo Rock Climbing and the Climbers Who Have Defined the Sport | first=Alison | last=Osius | date=4 June 2022 | accessdate=26 November 2022 | archive-date=30 October 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221030032222/https://www.climbing.com/people/free-solo-rock-climbing-alex-honnold-history/ | url-status=live }}

File:Josune Bereziartu 2012.jpg on the FFA and FFFA of Yeah Man (8b+ 5.14a, 300-metres, 9 pitches), on the Grand Pfad in Bern, Switzerland]]

• First female free ascent (abbreviated FFFA).{{cite journal | journal=American Alpine Journal | url=https://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12199922702 | title=North America, United States, Nevada, Rainbow Wall, Various Activity | date=1999 | quote=A month later, Roxanna Brock teamed up with Bobbi Bensman to do the first female free ascent (FFFA) of the route in a day. | page=228 | volume=41 | issue=73 | access-date=2023-02-11 | archive-date=2023-02-11 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230211095248/https://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12199922702 | url-status=live }} Important female climbers emerged in the 1980s including Lynn Hill and Catherine Destivelle and climbing journals began to chronicle milestones in female first free ascents. In some cases, an FFFA is also an FFA, the most famous example being Lynn Hill's 1993 FFA/FFFA of the 3,000-foot Nose on El Capitan (5.14a/b), considered the biggest prize in big wall climbing, announced by Hill to the world's climbing media by: "It goes, boys".{{cite web | magazine=Outside | title=The 25 Greatest Moments in Yosemite Climbing History | date=1 June 2016 | access-date=4 December 2022 | url=https://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/climbing/25-greatest-moments-yosemite-climbing-history/ | author=Editorial | archive-date=4 December 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221204003915/https://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/climbing/25-greatest-moments-yosemite-climbing-history/ | url-status=live }} By the 2000s, Josune Bereziartu, Angela Eiter, and Ashima Shiraishi closed the gap to the highest sport climbing grades achieved by men to within one/two notches,{{cite magazine | magazine=National Geographic | url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/article/american-woman-reaches-a-new-milestone-in-rock-climbing | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220104202217/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/article/american-woman-reaches-a-new-milestone-in-rock-climbing | url-status=dead | archive-date=January 4, 2022 | date=1 March 2017 | accessdate=20 January 2022 | first=Andrew | last=Bishart | title=American Woman Reaches a New Milestone in Rock Climbing}} while Beth Rodden had fully closed the gap for traditional climbing.{{cite magazine | magazine=Climbing| title=Can't Keep Her Down: A Consolidated History of Women's Climbing Achievements | first=Megan | last=Walsh | url=https://www.climbing.com/people/cant-keep-her-down-a-consolidated-history-of-womens-climbing-achievements/ | date=14 November 2017 | accessdate=29 January 2022 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220129204338/https://www.climbing.com/people/cant-keep-her-down-a-consolidated-history-of-womens-climbing-achievements/ |archive-date=29 January 2022 }}

There have been notable disputes over claims of a first ascent (or first free ascent), for various reasons (disputes over the style employed, issues with verifiability, accusations of bad faith and fraud), and the most notable are where a new grade milestone and/or major advancement in difficulty is being proposed:{{cite web | magazine=Climbing | url=https://www.climbing.com/people/who-did-it-first-style-grades-and-dispute-in-first-ascents/ | title=Who Did It First? Style, Grades and Dispute in First Ascents | first=Francis | last=Sanzarro | date=22 March 2022 | accessdate=8 February 2023 | archive-date=10 February 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230210095821/https://www.climbing.com/people/who-did-it-first-style-grades-and-dispute-in-first-ascents/ | url-status=live }}

• First ascent of Everest: Arguably the most famous case of an unverified first ascent is whether George Mallory and/or Andrew Irvine reached the summit of Everest on the 1924 Everest expedition. Subsequent Everest expeditions have not been able to answer the question including the 1999 Mallory and Irvine Research Expedition, and the 2007 Altitude Everest expedition.

• First ascent of Cerro Torre: In 1959, Cesare Maestri claimed he and {{ill|Toni Egger|it}} summited, but that Egger who had the camera, was swept to his death by an avalanche on the descent. Lionel Terry called it "the greatest climbing feat of all time". Inconsistencies in Maestri's account, and the lack of equipment on the route, led most to doubt his claim.{{cite web | magazine=National Geographic | url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/article/patagonias-cerro-torre-climbing-controversy-maestri-unbolted | title=Patagonia's Cerro Torre Gets the Chop: Maestri Unbolted | first=David | last=Roberts | author-link=David Roberts (climber) | date=29 January 2012 | accessdate=8 February 2023 | archive-date=10 February 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230210135029/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/article/patagonias-cerro-torre-climbing-controversy-maestri-unbolted | url-status=dead }} Maestri further inflamed the controversy by returning in 1970 and drilling 400 bolts onto his new Compressor Route, to claim the second ascent. In 2012, yet more controversy followed when American climbers Hayden Kennedy and Jason Kruk, removed Maestri's bolts, enabling David Lama and Peter Ortner to make the FFA, for which all four won a 2013 Piolet d'Or.

• In 1995, French climber Fred Rouhling created a major controversy when he proposed {{ill|Akira (climb)|lt=Akira|fr|Akira (escalade)}} as the world's first-ever {{climbing grade|9b}} route, when the highest grade at the time, Action Directe, was only at {{climbing grade|9a}}. Rouhling faced an unprecedented level of personal vilification from parts of the climbing community on whether he had actually climbed the route, as all other attempts had failed.{{cite web | magazine= Climbing | url=https://www.climbing.com/people/fred-rouhling/ | title=The Other Side of Fred Rouhling | first=Pete | last=Ward | date=2004 | accessdate=22 June 2022 | archive-date=22 June 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220622205227/https://www.climbing.com/people/fred-rouhling/ | url-status=live }} In 2020, Sébastien Bouin made the first repeat of Akira and estimated its grade at {{climbing grade|9a}}, a grade Rouhling has climbed on other routes, and thus his FFA became accepted.{{cite web | magazine= Climbing | url=https://www.climbing.com/news/fred-rouhlings-akira-sees-first-repeats-since-1995-fa-receives-downgrade/ | title=Fred Rouhling's Akira Sees First Repeats Since 1995 FA, Receives Downgrade | first=Keven | last=Corrigan | date=23 November 2020 | accessdate=22 June 2022 | archive-date=22 June 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220622205220/https://www.climbing.com/news/fred-rouhlings-akira-sees-first-repeats-since-1995-fa-receives-downgrade/ | url-status=live }}{{cite web | website=PlanetMountain | url=https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/climbing/fred-rouhling-akira-finally-repeated-after-25-years-sebastien-bouin-lucien-martinez.html | title=Fred Rouhling's Akira finally repeated after 25 years by Sébastien Bouin, Lucien Martinez | date=23 November 2020 | accessdate=22 June 2022 | archive-date=22 June 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220622210022/https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/climbing/fred-rouhling-akira-finally-repeated-after-25-years-sebastien-bouin-lucien-martinez.html | url-status=live }}

• In 2003, Spanish climber Bernabé Fernández proposed {{ill|Chilam Balam (climb)|lt=Chilam Balam|fr|Chilam Balam (escalade)}} as the world's first-ever {{climbing grade|9b+}} route, when the highest grade at the time, Realization, was at {{climbing grade|9a+}}. As with Fred Rouhling on Akira, his claim provoked a significant backlash from parts of the climbing community and even accusations that he never completed an FFA (the person who belayed him could not be identified to help verification). The route was repeated in 2011 by Adam Ondra who downgraded it,{{cite web | magazine=Climbing | url=https://www.climbing.com/news/ondra-grabs-ascent-of-chilam-balam/ | title=Ondra Grabs Ascent of Chilam Balam | first=Amanda | last=Fox | date=13 April 2011 | accessdate=9 February 2023 | archive-date=10 February 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230210150423/https://www.climbing.com/news/ondra-grabs-ascent-of-chilam-balam/ | url-status=live }} and further repeats reduced its grade to circa {{climbing grade|9a+}}.{{cite web | magazine=Rock & Ice | url=https://www.rockandice.com/climbing-news/sebastian-bouin-claims-third-ascent-of-chilam-balam-5-15b-spain/ | date=2014 | accessdate=8 February 2023 | title=Sébastian Bouin Claims Third Ascent of Chilam Balam (5.15b), Spain | archive-date=10 February 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230210151459/https://www.rockandice.com/climbing-news/sebastian-bouin-claims-third-ascent-of-chilam-balam-5-15b-spain/ | url-status=live }}{{cite web | magazine=Climber | url=https://www.climber.co.uk/news/dani-andrada-does-fourth-ascent-of-chilam-balam/ | title=Dani Andrada does fourth ascent of Chilam Balam | date=16 November 2015 | accessdate=10 February 2023 | archive-date=10 February 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230210151500/https://www.climber.co.uk/news/dani-andrada-does-fourth-ascent-of-chilam-balam/ | url-status=live }}

{{commons cat|First ascent (climbing)}}

• List of first ascents in the Alps
• First ascent of the Matterhorn
• List of first ascents of mountain summits
• List of first ascents of eight-thousander mountains
• List of grade milestones in rock climbing

{{notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book | title=First Ascent | author=Stephen Venables | publisher=Cassell Illustrated | date=May 2014 | isbn=978-1844037582}}

• [http://www.alpinist.com/doc/ALP17/verite-mortimer Peter Mortimer's film First Ascent on Didier Berthod's failed first free ascent of Cobra Crack] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080904231021/http://www.alpinist.com/doc/ALP17/verite-mortimer |date=2008-09-04 }}, Alpinist (Issue 17, 2006)

{{Climbing}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Climbing terminology

Category:Mountaineering