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Jerry Moffatt (born 18 March 1963) is a British Rock climbing and climbing author who is widely considered as being the best British rock climber from the early-1980s to the early-1990s, and was arguably the best rock climber in the world in the mid-1980s, and an important climber in the history of the sport.
As a sport climbing, Moffatt was one of the first climbers in history to onsight routes of grade , , and , and also the first in history to climb routes of grade , and probably . As a competition climber, Moffatt won several of the nascent tour events, and retired ranked first in the world. As a bouldering, Moffatt was one of the first-ever to solve problems of boulder grade , and . As a traditional climber, Moffatt established some of the most intimidating routes at the time in Britain, which are still rarely repeated, and in particular, the Master's Wall (E7 6b) in 1983.
Moffatt was noted for the intensity of his training, and the co-development of training techniques now considered mainstream in professional climbing. In 1991, Moffatt opened Britain's first indoor Climbing wall, "The Foundry" in Sheffield. He has written books on mental preparation for competition climbing.
In 1982, aged 19, Moffatt travelled to the United States, where he repeated America's hardest routes, and did the world's first-ever flash of a with Super Crack in Shawangunks, and Equinox in Joshua Tree. In 1983, on returning home, Moffatt established his most dangerous traditional climbing route, Master's Wall (E7 6b) at Clogwyn Du'r Arddu. In a later interview, Moffatt said, "At that time to be respected, you really had to be putting up really scary new routes. That was where it was at, in Britain at least. Master's Wall is probably where I risked most". Later that summer, Moffatt focused on sport climbing, establishing Masterclass at Pen Trwyn, the first British route. In September 1983, Moffatt travelled to Germany where he did the world's second-ever onsight of a with Heisse Finger, and then went on to climb the world's first-ever sport climb at , The Face, in Altmühl.
In 1984, on his 21st birthday, Moffatt flashed Chimpanzodrome at Saussois, and then did the world's first onsight of a with Pol Pot at Verdon Gorge. Later in 1984, Moffatt freed Revelations at Ravens Tor in the Peak District, Britain's first route. In June 1985, Moffatt did the first free ascent of the Yosemite's Lost Arrow Spire with Ron Kauk, as a live television event with an audience of over 30 million for ABC's Wide World of Sports. During 1985 to late 1986, Moffatt was largely out with a compressed nerve injury (initially mis-diagnosed as tendonitis), that required surgery and rehabilitation.
On returning in 1987, Moffatt spent the next two years repeating the three hardest routes in France ( Le Rage de Vivre, Le Minumum, La Spectre des Surmutant in Buoux), and in the United States ( Scarface, White Wedding, To Bolt Or Not To Be in Smith Rock), while also creating his own 8b+ route, Stone Love in the Frankenjura in Germany. In May 1990, he returned to Pen Trwyn in Wales to create Liquid Ambar, Britain's first route, and which has been regraded to , which would make it the world's first 8c+. Moffatt continued to travel widely, repeating Punks In The Gym in 1992 in Australia, establishing Canada's first , The Big Kahuna, in 1993 in Ontario, and freeing routes such as Evolution in 1995 at Ravens Tor.
In September 1990, aged 27, Moffatt retired from competition climbing and at that time was rated first on the Association of Sport Climbers International (ASCI) rankings. On retiring, he was voted most prolific competition climber 1980s in the French climbing magazine Vertical. In his 2009 autobiography he said of his retirement, "I no longer had energy the energy to keep it all up. I wanted to get myself back again. I wanted to see my friends. I wanted to climb for myself. I wanted to do first ascents. Most of all I wanted to have fun".
In 1996, Moffatt and climbing partner Ben Moon, featured in a film by Simon Tucker called The Real Thing, which is considered an important early film in the bouldering film genre, and featured the novel training techniques they were using (i.e. campus board-type installations) that are now mainstream. The pair would feature in other bouldering films, including Stick It (2001), and Stone Love (2001).
In 2017, Moffatt completed his second book, Mastermind: Mental training for climbers, focused on sports psychology for sport climbers, and built on the methods Lanny Bassham outlined (earlier).
In a British context, Moffatt (and contemporaries such as Moon and Johnny Dawes) carried on the legacy of Peter Livesey and Ron Fawcett. However, Moffatt (and Moon) soon reached the limits of what they could safely achieve with traditional climbing, and instead followed the continental European trend into bolted sport climbing, and competition climbing. Moffatt, and Moon, were also part of a new group of climbers, that included Germans Wolfgang Gullich, Kurt Albert, and Stefan Glowacz, who were using new training techniques (e.g. campus board, plyometrics), and embracing bouldering, to materially improve their technique and the standard of routes they could climb. In 2006, Moffatt told the BBC, "When I started climbing I wanted to do dangerous climbs, in my mid-20's I wanted to do really hard climbs with ropes, and then when I got to my late-30's it got shorter and I got more obsessed with trying to do the hardest move I could possibly do... It might be just one or two moves".
Moffatt was diagnosed with dyslexia at school, which led to his parents sending him to St David's College, Llandudno, a boarding school with a special programme for dyslexic children.
In April 1987, his younger brother Toby died aged 21 in the United States (in his autobiography, Moffatt says that he named his climb Liquid Ambar after the tree Liquidambar – although Moffatt spells it as two words – in memory of Toby, who was a keen gardener and wished to plant such a tree on his return to England).
Competitions
In 1989 and 1990, Moffatt concentrated on the emerging sport of competition climbing, winning ten international events over two years, and never finishing worse than fifth in any competition he entered. He won the first-ever UIAA Climbing World Cup Grand Prix event that was held in 1989 in Leeds, and finished third overall, in the inaugural 1989 IFSC Climbing World Cup that concluded in Lyon. In a 2009 interview, Moffatt noted that his initial competition form was poor until he began to study the mental side of competing, saying, "I found out how your mind works under pressure and immediately after reading that book I competed in Leeds and won my first competition". The book that Moffatt was referring to was With Winning in Mind (1988), by American Olympian, Lanny Bassham.
Bouldering
Moffatt had been an early adopter of bouldering from the outset of his career, saying in a 2009 interview, "My early boulder problems weren't publicized, no one seemed to be interested in them at all". In 1988, he solved Superman at Cressbrook, one of the first-ever boulder problems in the world. In 1991, Moffatt traveled to Yosemite and at Camp 4 solved Sick It at , and The Force at , two of the hardest in America at that time. He returned to Yosemite in 1993, and added The Dominator at , considered one of the first-ever boulders ever climbed. In 1997, he climbed the 12-metre high Samson (E8 7b) at Burbage South, while technically the hardest gritstone route at that time, with Bouldering mat is now a highball bouldering problem at . In 2002, on Stanage Edge in the Peak District Moffatt solved the long-term boulder problem The Ace at , the hardest boulder problem in Britain at the time, and effectively Moffat's last major new route.
Free soloing
Moffatt is also known for his free soloing of challenging British traditional climbing routes, telling The Guardian in 2011, "You have to have an insane confidence in your own ability to go soloing". In 1983, Moffatt was particularly active in pushing his limits, soloing Scarab (E6 6b) at Stoney Middleton, Right Wall (E5 6a) at Dinas Cromlech, and days before he climbed Master's Wall at Clogwyn Du'r Arddu, free soloing the neighboring Great Wall (E4 6a), The Boldest (E4 5c), and Curving Arete (E4 5c). However, the death of his friend Neil Molnar, who died soloing that year, saw Moffatt scale back his soloing.
Writing
Moffatt's 2009 autobiography, Revelations, written with co-author Niall Grimes, won the Grand Prize at the 2009 Banff Mountain Book Festival, and was shortlisted for the 2009 Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature. In 2015, it was listed in Climbing magazine's "33 Must Read Climbing Books", saying, "If you ever want to be inspired to train, just read any chapter. What a hardman!".
The Foundry
In 1991, Moffatt and Paul Reeve opened The Foundry Climbing Centre ("the Foundry"), in Sheffield, and was the first of its type in the UK with leading, top-roping, bouldering, and interchangeable holds. They were originally financially supported by Wild Country, which owned 51%, but Moffatt and Reeve later bought out Wild Country's share, and now own it equally.
Legacy
Moffatt is widely considered to be the best British rock climber from the early-1980s to the early-1990s and was arguably the best rock climber in the world during the mid to late 1980s. In 2006, the BBC said: "Jerry is one of, if not the greatest climbers of all time, and his name is known and highly respected in the global world of rock climbing". In 2009, PlanetMountain called him "one of the most successful climbers in the world during the 1980s and 1990s", and "Jerry Moffatt is, in short, a climber who like few others left his lasting mark, worldwide, on the early development of this vertical game". In 2009, Jens Larssen of climbing website 8a.nu said "Jerry Moffat was probably the best climber in the world during the 1980s", while Climbing magazine called him a "world rock climbing legend". In 2011, The Guardian said of him, "That's Jerry Moffatt, once the best rock climber in the world". In 2018, Gripped said, "Moffatt was the best climber of the 1980s and early 1990s".
Personal life
Moffatt is married to his wife Sharon with whom he has two children. Outside of climbing, he is an avid surfer, a sport he took up while injured on a 1993 climbing trip to Yosemite
(2026). 9781906148119, Vertebrate Publishing. ISBN 9781906148119
Notable ascents
Bibliography
(2026). 9781906148119, Vertebrate Pub. ISBN 9781906148119
Filmography
See also
Notes
External links
Categories: 1963 Births, Living People, People Educated At St David's College, Llandudno, British Rock Climbers, Free Soloists, English Male Non-fiction Writers, 21st-century English Male Writers, English Non-fiction Outdoors Writers, Sportspeople From Leicester, Sportspeople With Dyslexia, Writers With Dyslexia, British Writers With Disabilities, Ifsc Climbing World Cup Overall Medalists, Boulder Climbers, English People With Disabilities, Climbing And Mountaineering Writers, 21st-century English Writers
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