Sport climbing
[4][6] By the early 1980s, the leading rock climbers were beginning to reach the limits of existing traditional climbing protection devices.
The United Kingdom was more reluctant to allow bolting on natural rock surfaces, and early British sport climbers such as Jerry Moffatt and Ben Moon were forced to move to France and Germany.
The bolting of external natural rock surfaces was also initially controversial in the US, although American sport climbing pioneer Alan Watts later recounted that American traditional climbers were as much against the "redpointing" techniques of sport climbers (i.e. continually practicing new routes before making the first free ascent), as they were against the use of bolts.
Climbing noted the importance of events such as the 1988 International Sport Climbing Championship at Snowbird, Utah, for introducing leading European sport climbers such as Edlinger and Jean-Baptiste Tribout to leading American traditional climbers such as Ron Kauk and John Bachar.
[12] Debates remain about the ethics of attaching permanent metal bolts on natural outdoor rock, which is also related to the broader clean climbing movement.
Many climbing areas—particularly in Continental Europe (for example notable crags such as Oliana in Spain, and Ceuse in France)—have become fully bolted.
However, many others remain emphatically non-bolted, such as Clogwyn Du'r Arddu in the United Kingdom, where only traditional climbing techniques are allowed, and attempts to make even very dangerous routes a little safer with even singular bolts (e.g. Indian Face) have been undone.
[16] On complex sport climbing routes that don't follow a straight line, the alignment and lengths of quickdraws used are important considerations to avoid rope drag.
[16] The pre-drilled bolts will degrade over time—particularly in coastal areas due to salt—and eventually, all sport climbs need to be re-fitted after several years.
German climber Wolfgang Güllich raised sport climbing grades from 8b (5.13d) in 1984 with Kanal im Rücken to 9a (5.14d) in 1991 with Action Directe.
[25] American climber Chris Sharma dominated sport climbing development in the decade after his ground-breaking ascent of Realization/Biographie at 9a+ (5.15a) in 2001 and Jumbo Love at 9b (5.15b) in 2008.
[25] By 2017, Austrian climber Angela Eiter had broken into the 9b (5.15b) grade with La Planta de Shiva, and in 2020 made the first female free ascent of a 9b (5.15b) with Madame Ching.
