74-Year-Old Climbs Fearsome Trad Rock Route

U.K. climber Rob Matheson has climbed The Bells, The Bells!, a notoriously fearsome trad route graded E7 6b on North Stack Wall at Gogarth. Making Matheson’s ascent even more noteworthy is that he’s 74 years old.

The Bells, The Bells! was the U.K.’s first route grade E7 due to the limited and runout protection. The second ascent came years later onsight by Andy Pollitt. And over the past 40 years, only a few recorded ascents have been made, including by Mike Owen in 1990, Doug Hall, and George Ulrich. Another ascent was in 1996 by Glenda Huxter, who became the first woman to onsight E7 with her ascent.

Matheson told UK Climbing: “On a personal level, this self-indulged media ‘frenzy’ put way more pressure on me than I would ever have imagined and, to some extent, this drove me to a lead attempt on a cold, windy March day (against all advice!!). I just managed to get a wind blown sling over the naked peg, before my shivering body gave up, and I plunged earthwards contemplating the merits of the skyhooks and ‘retreat’ protection. A month later on 24th April I successfully rang ‘The Bell’ and felt that unbelievably euphoric release of pressure, with a sense of complete calm after the turmoil of the journey. All on camera, with the usual Angry Pensioner Video to follow.”

Matheson began to inspect The Bells, The Bells! in 2024 and he’s released two videos documenting his journey with it – which you can watch below.

The Bells, The Bells!