Tim Emmett (born 1974), is a British-born adventure climber and climbing author. Considered one of best all -round climbers, his disciplinary styles have set the tone for the new realm of today's climbing. Those include

ice-climbing Ice climbing is a climbing discipline that involves ascending climbing routes, routes consisting entirely of frozen water. To ascend, the ice climber uses specialist equipment, particularly double ice axes (or the more modern ice tools) and rig ...

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

deep-water soloing Deep-water soloing (DWS), also known as psicobloc (from "psycho-bouldering"), is a form of free solo climbing where any fall should result in the climber landing safely into deep water below the climbing routes, route. DWS is therefore considere ...

(of which he is considered a pioneer) and

alpine climbing Alpine climbing () is a type of mountaineering that uses any of a broad range of advanced climbing skills, including rock climbing, ice climbing, and/or mixed climbing, to summit typically large routes (e.g. multi-pitch or big wall) in an alpi ...

. Emmett has established the hardest waterfall ice-climbs in the world, and was the first to climb

grades 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 ...

of W10 and above.

Early life

Tim Emmett was born in Windsor in

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 ...

, and went to school a
Cothill House
and Richard Huish College, where he got his A-levels in Biology, Chemistry and Mathematics. While at Huish, Emmett started climbing on a school trip at the age of 15 to a local crag called Chudleigh Rocks. In 1993, he went on to study Marine Zoology at

Bangor University Bangor University () is a Public university, public Research university, research university in Bangor, Gwynedd, Wales. It was established by Royal charter, Royal Charter in 1885 as the University College of North Wales (UCNW; ), and in 1893 ...

, North Wales, where he became a prominent climber, featuring on the magazine cover of ''On The Edge'' while still at university.

Career

Deep-water soloing

Emmett is regarded as a pioneer of

(DWS), and in 2003, a short film on DWS called ''Psicobloc'' by American brothers Josh and Brett Lowell chronicled Emmett and Klem Loskot's 2001 development of DWS routes in Cova Del Diablo in

Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest of the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, seventh largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. The capital of the island, Palma, Majorca, Palma, i ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, which inspired US rock climber

Chris Sharma Chris Omprakash Sharma (born 23 April 1981) is an American rock climber who is considered one of the greatest and most influential climbers in the history of the sport. He dominated sport climbing for the decade after his 2001 ascent of '' Real ...

to get involved in DWS. In 2019, adventure filmmaker Jon Glassberg, created another DWS short film called ''Deep Water'' featured on Emmett and US rock-climber Kyra Condie developing DWS routes in

Ha Long Bay Ha may refer to: Agencies and organizations * Health authority, a former type of administrative organisation of the NHS in England and Wales * Hells Angels Motorcycle Club * Highways Agency (renamed ''Highways England'', now ''National Highways'' ...

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

Ice climbing

Emmett's notable ice-climbs include the first ever waterfall ice climb at grade W10 (''Spray On'', in 2010 with Will Gadd, at Helmcken Falls), at grade W11 (''Wolverine'', in 2011 with Klemen Premrl, at Helmcken Falls), at grade W12 (''Interstellar Spice'', in 2016 with Klemen Premrl, at Helmcken Falls), and at grade W13 (''Misson to Mars'', in 2020 with Klemen Premrl, at Helmcken Falls). From 2002 to 2007, Emmett made the podium 4 times in tour events of the World Ice Climbing Championships. In 2015, Emmett was the

Red Bull Red Bull is a brand of energy drinks created and owned by the Austrian company Red Bull GmbH. With a market share of 43%, it is the most popular energy drink brand as of 2020, and the third most valuable soft drink brand, behind Coca-Cola and ...

"White Cliffs Champion".

Rock climbing

Emmett's rock climbs include some of the highest-grade traditional routes with notable ascents including the 2017 repeat of Sonnie Trotter's ''Superman'' in Squamish (5.14c, F8c+), and the 2016 repeat of Trotter's ''The Path'' in Lake Louise (5.14R, F8b+). In 2010, Emmett established ''Muy Caliente!'', an early contender for the first traditional grade of E10 in Pembroke in

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

Alpine climbing

For high altitude alpine climbing, Emmett was nominated for a 2006 Piolet D'or for climbing a new route on the south east pillar of Kedar Dome in the

Garhwal Himalaya The Garhwal Himalayas are mountain ranges located in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. Geology This range is also a part of the Himalayan Sivalik Hills, the outer most hills of the Himalaya located in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Major p ...

with Ian Parnell 2006. In 2019, Emmett and his team had to abandon an expedition to

Mount Everest Mount Everest (), known locally as Sagarmatha in Nepal and Qomolangma in Tibet, is Earth's highest mountain above sea level. It lies in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas and marks part of the China–Nepal border at it ...

due to the avalanche risk on the route they were planning.

Para-alpinism

With para-alpinism, two adventure sports are merged,

BASE jumping BASE jumping () is the recreational sport of jumping from fixed objects, using a parachute to descend to the ground. BASE is an acronym that stands for four categories of fixed objects from which one can jump: buildings, antenna (radio), antenna ...

, and

big wall Big or BIG may refer to: * Big, of great size or degree Film and television * Big (film), ''Big'' (film), a 1988 fantasy-comedy film starring Tom Hanks * ''Big'', a 2023 Taiwanese children's film starring Van Fan and Chie Tanaka * ''Big!'', a ...

climbing. After ascending a large wall on vertical rock, Emmett put a parachute on to descend down. Only a handful of people do this type of climbing, and Emmett retired from it at the age of 40 due to its high risk of fatality. Emmett has also done

wingsuit flying Wingsuit flying (or wingsuiting) is the sport of skydiving using a webbing-sleeved jumpsuit called a wingsuit to add webbed area to the diver's body and generate increased lift, which allows extended air time by gliding flight rather than just ...

Media

Emmett has appeared in more than 50 magazines including ''

Outside Magazine ''Outside'' is a magazine focused on the outdoors. The first issue of the ''Outside'' magazine was published in September 1977. It is published by Outside Inc., a company that also owns various other ventures. History ''Outside'' founders were J ...

'', ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

'', ''Gripped'', ''Grip'', ''Desnivel'', '' GQ'' and others. Emmett has been the subject of several short films on climbing, including ''Psiobloc'' (2003), ''Dosage II'' (2004), ''Dosage III'' (2005), ''Welsh Connections'' (2009), ''

Mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

'' (2017), and ''Deep Water'' (2019). Emmett has made several appearances on the ''

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

'' as a presenter and guest, including: ''Ultimate Rock Climb'' with

Julia Bradbury Julia Michele Bradbury (born 24 July 1970) is an English journalist and television presenter, employed by the BBC and ITV, specialising in documentaries and consumer affairs. She is best known for presenting a series of outdoor walking progr ...

(2007), ''The Great Climb'' with British climber Dave MacLeod (2010), and '' Top Gear'' ( episode 2, season 7) with

Jeremy Clarkson Jeremy Charles Robert Clarkson (born 11 April 1960) is an English television presenter, journalist, farmer, and author who specialises in Driving, motoring. He is best known for hosting the television programmes ''Top Gear (2002 TV series), T ...

racing up a mountain with Leo Houlding (2005). Emmett has worked with

Steve Backshall Stephen James Backshall (born 21 April 1973) is a British naturalist, explorer, presenter and writer, best known for BBC Television, BBC TV's ''Deadly (franchise), Deadly...'' franchise. His other BBC work includes being part of the expedition ...

on his children's show. In 2005, Emmett wrote a book with fellow British-climber Neil Gresham called ''Preposterous Tales'', about their climbing exploits around the world. He has presented the Duke Of Edinburgh Award three times at St. James's Palace.

Personal life

As of 2016, Emmett was living in

Squamish, British Columbia Squamish (; , ; 2021 census population 23,819) is a community and a district municipality in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia, located at the north end of Howe Sound on the British Columbia Highway 99 ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and was married.

References

External links

* *
Tim Emmett Filmography
at MNTNFILM Database (2021) {{DEFAULTSORT:Emmett, Tim Living people People from Taunton Alumni of Bangor University British rock climbers English mountain climbers Ice climbers 1973 births