Pete Whittaker (born 1991) is a British professional
rock climber. He is one half of the duo known as the Wide Boyz, along with his climbing partner
Tom Randall. Whittaker came to notability from
crack climbing, including the
first ascent
In mountaineering and climbing, a first ascent (abbreviated to FA in climbing guidebook, guide books), is the first successful documented climb to the top of a mountain or the top of a particular climbing route. Early 20th-century mountaineers a ...
of the world's hardest off-width climb, the ''
Century Crack''.
Climbing career
In 2011, Whittaker and Randall made a visit to the United States, where he was the first to
flash
Flash, flashes, or FLASH may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Fictional aliases
* The Flash, several DC Comics superheroes with super speed:
** Flash (Jay Garrick)
** Barry Allen
** Wally West, the first Kid Flash and third adult Flash ...
''Belly Full of Bad Berries'' (5.13b), a highly regarded off-width in
Indian Creek. Continuing the trip, Whittaker and Randall made the first ascent of the ''
Century Crack'' (5.14b), the world's hardest off-width climb. After initially sending the route with pre-placed gear, both subsequently repeated the climb while placing their own gear. They won the 2016 ''
Climbing
Climbing is the activity of using one's hands, feet, or other parts of the body to ascend a steep topographical object that can range from the world's tallest mountains (e.g. the eight thousanders) to small boulders. Climbing is done for locom ...
''
Golden Piton Vision Award for this feat.
[
In 2014, Whittaker became the first to flash ''Freerider'' (5.12d) on ]El Capitan
El Capitan (; ) is a vertical Rock formations in the United States, rock formation in Yosemite National Park, on the north side of Yosemite Valley, near its western end. The El Capitan Granite, granite monolith is about from base to summit alo ...
.
In 2016, Whittaker made the first rope solo free-climb of ''Freerider'' in a day.
In 2021, Whittaker and Randall free-climbed the ''Great Rift'' (5.13), a 2,500-foot roof crack on the underside of a highway overpass in Devon, England. Their ascent was documented in the short film ''Bridge Boys'', which was featured in Reel Rock 16.
In 2023, Whittaker made the first ascent of the 100m crack climb ''Crown Royale'' (5.14d) in Jøssingfjord ( NOR). He proposed a grade of 9a (5.14d), making it one of the hardest trad routes in the world. He spoke on the difficulty of grading the route, describing it as "harder overall than ''Recovery Drink'', but not by much, which is why my initial feeling about the route has been 8c+/9a".
Ascents
Redpoint
:
:*''Crown Royale'' – Jøssingfjord ( NOR) – September 2023 – First Ascent
:
:*''Recovery Drink'' – Jøssingfjord ( NOR) – August 2019 – Third ascent
:*''Kaa'bah'' – Raven Tor (UK) – June 2015 – Sixth ascent[
]
Flash
8b/8b+ (5.13d/5.14a):
:* ''La Fuerza de la Gravedad'' – Vadiello (ESP) – December 2022
:
:*''Ronny Medelsvensson'' – Jøssingfjord ( NOR) – August 2019
:
:*''Belly Full of Bad Berries'' – Indian Creek (US) – 2011
Filmography
* ''Wide Boyz'' (2012), directed by Chris Alstrin and Paul Diffley[
* ''Wide Boyz II – Slender Gentlemen'' (2014), directed by Paul Diffley][
* ''Bridge Boys'' (2022), directed by Peter Mortimer and Nick Rosen][
]
Bibliography
* Whittaker, Pete. ''Crack Climbing: The Definitive Guide''. Mountaineers Books, 2019. 304 p.
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whittaker, Pete
1991 births
Living people
British rock climbers