Steve McClure (born 25 July 1970) is a British rock climber and climbing author, who is widely regarded as Britain's leading and most important sport climber for a period that extends for over two decades, starting from the late 1990s.
McClure started climbing early as both parents were keen climbers, and by age 16 was onsighting E6.
[b][5][12] In June 2017, aged 46, McClure completed long term project Rainman, Britain's first-ever 9b (5.15b),[5][13][14] with PlanetMountain saying: "Steve McClure is the climber who almost single-handedly has dictated the pace of cutting-edge sport climbing in the UK.
[20][21] In 2009, he was unlucky not to become the first British climber to onsight an 8c (5.14b) failing at the final move of Amistad in Rodellar, Spain.
[25][26] In 2013, McClure became the first-ever British nominee for a Salewa Rock Award at the 2013 Arco Rock Legends, and a citation calling him: "a true legend of this sport and his nomination rewards a lifetime of cutting-edge climbing";[27] the four nominees were Steve McClure, Chris Sharma, Alex Megos, and Adam Ondra (who won).