Big wall climbing

Big wall climbing began in the Dolomites with early pioneers such as Emilio Comici inventing many of the first techniques and tools in the 1930s, and then spreading throughout the entire European Alps by climbers such as Riccardo Cassin and Walter Bonatti with his milestone solo ascent of the Dru in 1955.

[1][2] In determining what is a "big wall", there is not only debate about the height requirements but also on whether it includes alpine climbs such as the north faces of the Eiger and the Matterhorn, which also have a lot of snow and ice.

[4][5][14] One of the earliest examples of "big wall climbing" dates from 1887 when a 17-year-old Georg Winkler free soloed the Vajolet Towers in the Dolomites.

Other pioneers such as Riccardo Cassin, himself a leading alpinist, created even harder new routes and spread big wall techniques across the Alps.

[11] In 1976, a British team led by Joe Brown ascended one of the first-ever high-altitude big wall routes with the granite Trango (Nameless) Tower in the Karakoram,[5] which was followed in 1992 by the two-man team of John Middendorf and Xaver Bongard [de] who ascended the east buttress of the neighboring Great Trango Tower, putting up The Grand Voyage (1,340-metres, 33-pitches, VII 5.10 A4+), the longest big wall route in the world.

[8] From the late 1980s, leading sport climbers began to fully free-climb major big wall routes, and establish new testpieces.

[7][16] In 1989, Wolfgang Gullich, with others, established the mega-route Eternal Flame on Nameless Tower (fully freed by the Hubers in 2009),[16] and in 1991, created Riders on the Storm on the Torres del Paine.

[7][16] During this era, new milestones were also set in big-wall free solo climbing by Alexander Huber, with Brandler-Hasse Direttissima on the Cima Grande in 2012 at 7a+ (5.12a), by Hansjörg Auer, with Fish Route on the Marmolada in 2007 at 7b+ (5.12c), and by Alex Honnold with Freerider on El Capitan in 2017 at 7c+ (5.13a).

There is overlap in the skill sets, and many famous alpinists such as Walter Bonatti, Catherine Destivelle, and Alexander Huber, were also big wall climbers.