Jack Geldard on the front cover of the Climbing 2010 calendar © Keith Sharples
I’m a rock climber, mountaineer, instructor and journalist.
I live in Chamonix, in the French Alps, with my wife Emily and faithful dog Betty. I’m currently training to be an International Mountain Guide.
It’s hard to know what to say on these ‘About Me’ pages, but here’s a run down of my climbing life – I hope you enjoy it.
My climbing:
I started climbing at the age of twelve on the small gritstone outcrops of my native Yorkshire in northern England. Since then I have travelled far and wide, climbing rock faces and mountains, and writing about my adventures.
Since my early days in Yorkshire I have reached further afield for my climbing adventures, and have made first ascents across the world, from the sea cliffs of North Wales to the big walls of Madagascar, with many expeditions to far flung corners of the planet.
I’ve been active in all forms of climbing, from national indoor competitions to winter alpinism, and it is this diversity that has held my interest for so long. I have appeared in several climbing DVDs such as Onsight and Monkey See, as well as in various magazines, books and on websites.
Although I like to push myself in the mountains, both physically and mentally, I also really enjoy the places climbing takes me and I think the people you can meet through climbing are what makes it so special.
UK trad climbing has always particularly captured me, and I have climbed well over a hundred routes of E6, E7 and E8 in the UK, many of them onsight.
Jack Geldard on the front cover of the 2011 Mallorca guidebook © Mark Glaister
Some notable ascents:
UK
- Spinal Crack E8/9 6c (First Ascent)
- Rocky E8 6c (First Ascent) – Unrepeated
- The Bigger Bang E8 6c (First Ascent) – Unrepeated
- Bam Bam E8 6b (Second Ascent) – Onsight
Big Walls
- Yellow Fever 7c Madagascar (First Ascent) – Unrepeated
- Fantasia 700m 7c+ Morocco (First British Ascent)
Sport
- Several ascents up to 8b+
Alpine
Jack Geldard on the front of Climb Magazine summer 2015 © Dave Pickford
- North Face of the Eiger
- North Face of the Matterhorn
- North Face of the Droites
- North Couloir Direct of the Dru
- North Face of the Grandes Jorasses
- North Face of Cima Grande
Expeditions
- Peak 41 – Nepalese Himalaya, 2011
- Fitzroy Range – Patagonia, 2012
- You can read a little bit more about my climbing on UKClimbing.com
- You can contact me here: Jack Geldard
