An Interview with Jerry Moffatt About Comp Climbing

Jerry Moffatt was born in 1963 in Leicestershire, England, and has become one of the most well-known names in the sport of rock climbing. His autobiography, Jerry Moffatt: Revelations, won the Grand Prize at the Banff Mountain Book Festival in 2009. In the early 1980s, he made the second ascent of Ron Fawcett’s Strawberries E6 6b at Tremadog and repeats of some of the world’s hardest routes such as Genesis and Equinox in the U.S.A, Super Imjin in Japan, Bidule in France and The Face in Altmühl Valley Nature Park in Germany.

Some of his other big sends were: first ascent of Helmut Schmitt E6 6b at Stoney Middleton in 1981, first ascent of Ulysses E6 6b at Stanage in 1983, and the first ascent of The Face at Altmühltal in 1983 (considered the first 5.13c ever). Watch this short clip by OnBouldering featuring Moffatt at the recent Legends Only competition in Sweden. Moffatt notes that he prefers steep crimpy problems over big parkour-style ones.