Jerry Moffatt (born 18 March 1963), is a British rock climber 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 climber, 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 boulder climber, 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 centre, "The Foundry" in Sheffield. He has written books on mental preparation for competition climbing.
Climbing career
Routes
On leaving school in 1980, aged 17, Moffatt began to immediately attract attention in the British rock climbing media with repeat ascents of some of the hardest British traditional climbing routes, most notably Ron Fawcett's Strawberries (E7 6b). Moffatt described Fawcett as a "massive legend", but that "by 1983, I was pretty sure I was climbing better than him in terms of difficulty. I looked up to him though and we never had any problems". Aged 18, and living in an abandoned shed at Stoney Middleton crag, Moffatt started to establish his own test-pieces such as Little Plum (E6 6c, in 1981–82), one of the hardest British sport climbing routes that had repelled all attempts to free it, and one of the first British sport routes.
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. 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 Rocks), 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 Kahuua, in 1993 in Ontario, and freeing routes such as Evolution in 1995 at Ravens Tor.