The Next 40 Years of Climbing

At the 40th Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival in 2015, top climbers speculated about the next 40 years of climbing.

Climbing has seen amazing advances in the past 40 years of the Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival. British author and climber Ed Douglas moderates a panel of cutting-edge climbers and discusses the past four decades and then next four.

The panel included Sonnie Trotter, Sarah Hueniken, Raphael Slawinski, Simone Moro, Tommy Caldwell and Majka Burhardt.

In Canadian climbing, many “firsts” remain. From the first Canadian to climb 5.15a to the first ascents of the hundreds of unclimbed walls in Yukon, Baffin, the Rockies and Coast Mountians.

There are still many unrepeated routes in Canada and around the world. The next 40 years will bring big advancements in gear and communications, grades will be pushed, big solos will go down and climate change will open up new routes and close old ones.