Ben Moon (born 13 June 1966) is a

rock climber Rock climbing is a climbing sports discipline that involves ascending routes consisting of natural rock in an outdoor environment, or on artificial resin climbing walls in a mostly indoor environment. Routes are documented in guidebooks, and ...

from

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Moon, along with climbing partner

Jerry Moffatt 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 ...

, were the two strongest British rock climbers and were key pioneers in the development of standards in international

sport climbing Sport climbing (or bolted climbing) is a type of free climbing in the sport of rock climbing where the Lead climbing, lead climber clips their climbing rope, rope — via a quickdraw — into pre-drilled in-situ bolt (climbing), bolts for their ...

. In 1991, Moon made the first-ever redpoint in history of a consensus

grade Grade most commonly refers to: * Grading in education, a measurement of a student's performance by educational assessment (e.g. A, pass, etc.) * A designation for students, classes and curricula indicating the number of the year a student has reach ...

climbing route A climbing route () is a path by which a Climbing, climber reaches the top of a mountain, a rock face or an ice-covered obstacle. The details of a climbing route are recorded in a climbing guidebook and/or in an online climbing-route database. De ...

with his ascent of '' Hubble.

Climbing career

Moon's first officially declared routes had somewhat controversial names. The routes were both in France and had been previously attempted for a long time by local climbers. After climbing them Moon named them after French military disasters, first the

Maginot Line The Maginot Line (; ), named after the Minister of War (France), French Minister of War André Maginot, is a line of concrete fortifications, obstacles and weapon installations built by French Third Republic, France in the 1930s to deter invas ...

, at

Volx Volx (; ) is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. Population See also * Coteaux de Pierrevert AOC * Luberon The Luberon ( or ; Provençal dialect, Provenç ...

, and secondly Agincourt, at

Buoux Buoux (; ) is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. Located on the north side of the Luberon, the town is known for the high cliffs that surround it, making it a popular venue for ...

. On 8 June 2015, Moon redpointed the

Steve McClure Steve McClure (born 25 July 1970) is a British rock climber and climbing author, who is widely regarded as Britain's leading and most important sport climber for a period that extends for over two decades, starting from the late 1990s. In 2017, ...

route ''Rainshadow'', , at

Malham Cove Malham Cove is a large curved limestone formation north of the village of Malham, North Yorkshire, England. It was formed by a waterfall carrying meltwater from glaciers at the end of the last Last glacial period, Ice Age more than 12,000 year ...

in North Yorkshire, England.

Business ventures

In 2002, Moon founded his climbing clothing and equipment company, Moon Climbing, after splitting from his previous company, S7. One of Moon Climbing's most popular products is the MoonBoard, an overhanging

climbing wall A climbing wall is an artificially constructed wall with manufactured grips (or "holds") for the hands and feet. Most walls are located indoors, and climbing on such walls is often termed indoor climbing. Some walls are brick or wooden constr ...

used to train dynamic climbing.

Notable ascents

* ''Statement of Youth'' , Lower Pen Trwyn (UK), first ascent (1984) * '' Hubble'' , Raven Tor (UK), first ascent (1990) * ''Voyager (low start)'' , Burbage (UK), first ascent (2006) * ''Rainshadow'' ,

(UK), repeat ascent (2015)

Filmography

* ''One Summer, Bouldering In The Peak'' (1994) * ''The Real Thing'' (1996) * '' Hard Grit'' (1998) * ''Stick it'' (2001) * ''Stone Love'' (2001) * ''Winter Sessions'' (2006)

Bibliography

References

External links

*
IFSC Profile
British rock climbers 1966 births Living people {{UK-climbing-bio-stub