Articles - The ultimate climbing Twitter list
Andy McCue - Posted on 15 Apr 2011
As avid tweeters ourselves (@climbermagazine) we have trawled the Twittersphere to put together the ultimate (well, pretty comprehensive by any measure) list of the most interesting climbing people for you to follow for your fix of 140 character climbing-related tweetage.
There's a mix of top climbers, local activists and information sources, climbing walls, authors, magazines and websites and gear companies. As we're a UK-based publication there's obviously a slightly British flavour to parts of the list, but we have looked beyond these shores. Feel free to email us your own suggestions if you think we've missed anyone off and we'll update the list. What we have tried to do is only include people on the list who are active and regular tweeters and not those who signed up a year ago and have done only two tweets since. Enjoy...
CLIMBERS
@Adamlincoln
Hard young grit and trad headpointer Adam Lincoln.
@alanhinkes
British 8,000 metre peak bagger Alan Hinkes.
@anditurner
Astronomer and climber Andi Turner is the Professor Brian Cox of the climbing community. You're more likely to find Andi tweeting about the wonders of the solar system than his latest grit project.
@andypmtnguide
Climber, mountain guide and Kendal Mountain Festival compère extraordinaire...
@Beastmakers
The Twitter moniker for Beastmaker fingerboard makers and all round well hard bouldering wads Dan Varian, Ned Feehally and Dave Bowering, tweeting on projects, fingercare, training and links to blog posts and videos.
@brianphall
Famous British climber, mountaineer, mountain guide, film maker, mountain film safety and rigging consultant.
@ChrisBonington
At the sprightly old age of 76, Sir Chris is still extremely active in the hills and on the crags and takes great joy in tweeting about his latest trips and climbs. But why on earth does he follow Mary J Blige?
@Dave_Graham_
American bouldering dude, climbs quite hard...
@davemacleod09
In his characteristically understated way, Dave MacLeod describes himself simply as "a Scottish climber and blogger" on his Twitter profile. Expect lots of regular updates on his latest projects and training plus links back to useful articles and blog posts on his website.
@gazclimber
Not a hugely frequent tweeter, but ex-pat Brit climber Gaz Parry, now based in Spain, updates on route setting sessions back in the UK and what he's up to.
@Gilwad
As a regular blogger, top Canadian climber Will Gadd is a frequent tweeter when not climbing ridiculously overhanging walls of ice – tweets on everything from his latest projects and blogs, to lecture shows and TV appearances.
@highsteph
American climber, soloist, base jumper and wing suit flyer Steph Davis.
@johnredhead
Legendary climber, misogynistic route-namer and artist, John Redhead.
@kcordes
Kelly Cordes, American climber, writer, margarita aficionado.
@KentonCool
Why should you follow Kenton? Well he's climbed Everest eight times (and is about to try for his ninth) and his surname is Cool. What more reason do you need?
@leahclimb
Regular training and competition updates from top young British climber and Bouldering Champion Leah Crane.
@markmcgowan01
A former hard climber of the 80s until injury wrecked him. Now making a comeback having gone from F6a to F8a in just 180 days. Also a coach at The Reach climbing wall.
@mark_twight
Famous American alpinist and climber Mark Twight, now retired and training athletes and military personnel from his base in Salt Lake City.
@MickFowler
Taxman who climbs scary big remote peaks.
@moonclimbing
One of Britain's (and the world's) top climbers and boulderers in the late 80s and 90s, now runs his bouldering clothing and equipment business, surfs a bit.
@psychovertical
Hull's second best climber Andy Kirkpatrick is more author and speaker than climber nowadays but he's embraced Twitter more than most with regular tweets ranging from his typical dry one-liners and musings on life to updates on the long slog to write his new book and latest lecture shows. Example of a recent tweet: "Sheff to Inverness on out of date ticket. Got to edinburgh. Will I be able to get past ticket barrier?" (and, yes, he did!)
@RobbiePhillips_
Top climber and rising star of the coaching world, Robbie Phillips, based at Edinburgh's EICA: Ratho
@stemac5a
Top British sport climber and limestone legend Steve McClure – the '5a' in his Twitter handle no relation to his sport climbing grade, obviously. Expect regular updates on conditions at Malham...
@stevehouse10
Only, like, one of the greatest alpinists of modern times, US climber Steve House. If ambitious expeditions to the greater ranges are your thing then Steve's definitely worth a follow.
@timemmett
Random topics from Tim's recent tweets include naked skydiving, presenting awards at Buckingham Palace, sports nutrition, the world's hardest ice climb and coffee. Need we say any more...
@tommycaldwell1
Famous American big wall climber, Tommy Caldwell, tweeting about his ongoing projects to free climb the hardest lines on El Capitan in Yosemite.
@TouchingTheVoid
Mountaineer Joe Simpson of Touching the Void fame, now an author and motivational speaker. We're guessing Simon Yates probably doesn't follow him...
@UeliSteck
Swiss speed machine, tweets when not racing solo up big alpine north faces. Most of tweets are in French, however.
@Venables_S
Mountaineer, writer and public speaker. First Briton to climb Everest without oxygen. Currently touring theatre show: In the Steps of Shackleton.
Listed in alphabetical order. If your local wall is on Twitter but not on this list, tell us and we'll add them.
@archclimbing – Arch Climbing Wall, London
@AWCCLiverpool – Awesome Walls, Liverpool
@AWCCStockport - Awesome Walls, Stockport
@AWCCStoke - Awesome Walls, Stoke
@beaconclimbing – Beacon Climbing, North Wales
@BouldersUK – Boulders , Cardiff
@buryclimbcentre – Bury Climbing Centre
@CastleClimbing – Castle Climbing Centre, London
@climbnewcastle – Climb Newcastle
@climbingstation – Climbing Station, Pontypridd
@ClimbingWorks – The Climbing Works, Sheffield
@craggyclimb – Craggy Island, Surrey
@depotclimbing – The Depot bouldering wall, Leeds
@DurhamClimbing – Durham Climbing Centre
@eicaratho – EICA: Ratho, Edinburgh
@GlasgowClimbing – Glasgow Climbing Centre
@HarrogateClimb – Harrogate Climbing Centre
@MancClimbCentre – Manchester Climbing Centre
@ReadingClimb – Reading Climbing Centre
@RedpointBham – Redpoint Climbing Centre, Birmingham
@RockcityHull – Rockcity climbing wall, Hull
@rockoverclimb – Rock Over Climbing, Manchester
@roktclimbinggym – Rokt Climbing Gym, Brighouse
@ClimbingAcademy – The Climbing Academy, Bristol
@TheRealBerghaus – Berghaus
@BlackDiamondUSA – Black Diamond
@dmmclimbing – DMM
@EVOLVclimbing – Evolv
@GORETEX_Outdoor – Gore-Tex
@Sportiva – La Sportiva
@lowealpineusa - Lowe Alpine
@MadRockClimbing – Mad Rock
@mammut – Mammut
@MetoliusClimb – Metolius
@MTNEQUIPMENT – Mountain Equipment
@ORGEAR – Outdoor Research
@hardwear – Mountain Hardwear
@TheNorthFaceEU– The North Face
@ParamoClothing - Páramo clothing
@patagonia - Patagonia
@Petzl – Petzl
@Polartec – Polartec
@prAnaLIFE - prAna
@Rab_outdoorgear – Rab
@ScarpaUK - Scarpa
@wildcountryuk – Wild Country
@atypicalclimber - The average climber's climbing ramblings
@ciceronepress – News on books from Cicerone Publishing, Cumbria
@climbdorset – Dorset climbing community info and news
@climbermagazine – Climber Magazine (that's us, obviously)
@ExplorersWeb – For all expedition related news and info
@Glenmore_Lodge – Glenmore Lodge, Scotland for skills and instructional courses
@HeasonEvents – info on various Sheffield-based events from Shaff to Cliffhanger
@IFSClimbing – International Federation of Sport Climbing
@isitgreasy – UK crag conditions for boulderers and climbers
@kendalmountain – Kendal Mountain Festival
@KeswickFestival – Keswick Mountain Festival
@KirkleesClimbin – Climbing conditions and weather for Kirklees/Holmfirth Cliff
@MCofS – Mountaineering Council of Scotland
@MLTAssociation - membership association for UK based climbing, walking and mountain leaders
@Psyched_Team – Updates from the world of climbing competitions from the BMC
@RockArchivist – Phil Kelly, preserving historical climbing documents and photos
@rockclimbinguk – New rock climbing blog with articles, videos and reviews
@Team_BMC – The British Mountaineering Council
@ukbouldering – ukbouldering.com
@VertebratePub – Climbing and outdoor books by Vertebrate Publishing, Sheffield
@VerticalLife – Climber, instructor, coach and blogger Mark Reeves
@WolverhamptonMC – Wolverhampton Mountaineering Club
Hard young grit and trad headpointer Adam Lincoln.
@alanhinkes
British 8,000 metre peak bagger Alan Hinkes.
@anditurner
Astronomer and climber Andi Turner is the Professor Brian Cox of the climbing community. You're more likely to find Andi tweeting about the wonders of the solar system than his latest grit project.
@andypmtnguide
Climber, mountain guide and Kendal Mountain Festival compère extraordinaire...
@Beastmakers
The Twitter moniker for Beastmaker fingerboard makers and all round well hard bouldering wads Dan Varian, Ned Feehally and Dave Bowering, tweeting on projects, fingercare, training and links to blog posts and videos.
@brianphall
Famous British climber, mountaineer, mountain guide, film maker, mountain film safety and rigging consultant.
@ChrisBonington
At the sprightly old age of 76, Sir Chris is still extremely active in the hills and on the crags and takes great joy in tweeting about his latest trips and climbs. But why on earth does he follow Mary J Blige?
@Dave_Graham_
American bouldering dude, climbs quite hard...
@davemacleod09
In his characteristically understated way, Dave MacLeod describes himself simply as "a Scottish climber and blogger" on his Twitter profile. Expect lots of regular updates on his latest projects and training plus links back to useful articles and blog posts on his website.
@gazclimber
Not a hugely frequent tweeter, but ex-pat Brit climber Gaz Parry, now based in Spain, updates on route setting sessions back in the UK and what he's up to.
@Gilwad
As a regular blogger, top Canadian climber Will Gadd is a frequent tweeter when not climbing ridiculously overhanging walls of ice – tweets on everything from his latest projects and blogs, to lecture shows and TV appearances.
@highsteph
American climber, soloist, base jumper and wing suit flyer Steph Davis.
@johnredhead
Legendary climber, misogynistic route-namer and artist, John Redhead.
@kcordes
Kelly Cordes, American climber, writer, margarita aficionado.
@KentonCool
Why should you follow Kenton? Well he's climbed Everest eight times (and is about to try for his ninth) and his surname is Cool. What more reason do you need?
@leahclimb
Regular training and competition updates from top young British climber and Bouldering Champion Leah Crane.
@markmcgowan01
A former hard climber of the 80s until injury wrecked him. Now making a comeback having gone from F6a to F8a in just 180 days. Also a coach at The Reach climbing wall.
@mark_twight
Famous American alpinist and climber Mark Twight, now retired and training athletes and military personnel from his base in Salt Lake City.
@MickFowler
Taxman who climbs scary big remote peaks.
@moonclimbing
One of Britain's (and the world's) top climbers and boulderers in the late 80s and 90s, now runs his bouldering clothing and equipment business, surfs a bit.
@psychovertical
Hull's second best climber Andy Kirkpatrick is more author and speaker than climber nowadays but he's embraced Twitter more than most with regular tweets ranging from his typical dry one-liners and musings on life to updates on the long slog to write his new book and latest lecture shows. Example of a recent tweet: "Sheff to Inverness on out of date ticket. Got to edinburgh. Will I be able to get past ticket barrier?" (and, yes, he did!)
@RobbiePhillips_
Top climber and rising star of the coaching world, Robbie Phillips, based at Edinburgh's EICA: Ratho
@stemac5a
Top British sport climber and limestone legend Steve McClure – the '5a' in his Twitter handle no relation to his sport climbing grade, obviously. Expect regular updates on conditions at Malham...
@stevehouse10
Only, like, one of the greatest alpinists of modern times, US climber Steve House. If ambitious expeditions to the greater ranges are your thing then Steve's definitely worth a follow.
@timemmett
Random topics from Tim's recent tweets include naked skydiving, presenting awards at Buckingham Palace, sports nutrition, the world's hardest ice climb and coffee. Need we say any more...
@tommycaldwell1
Famous American big wall climber, Tommy Caldwell, tweeting about his ongoing projects to free climb the hardest lines on El Capitan in Yosemite.
@TouchingTheVoid
Mountaineer Joe Simpson of Touching the Void fame, now an author and motivational speaker. We're guessing Simon Yates probably doesn't follow him...
@UeliSteck
Swiss speed machine, tweets when not racing solo up big alpine north faces. Most of tweets are in French, however.
@Venables_S
Mountaineer, writer and public speaker. First Briton to climb Everest without oxygen. Currently touring theatre show: In the Steps of Shackleton.
UK CLIMBING WALLS
Listed in alphabetical order. If your local wall is on Twitter but not on this list, tell us and we'll add them.
@archclimbing – Arch Climbing Wall, London
@AWCCLiverpool – Awesome Walls, Liverpool
@AWCCStockport - Awesome Walls, Stockport
@AWCCStoke - Awesome Walls, Stoke
@beaconclimbing – Beacon Climbing, North Wales
@BouldersUK – Boulders , Cardiff
@buryclimbcentre – Bury Climbing Centre
@CastleClimbing – Castle Climbing Centre, London
@climbnewcastle – Climb Newcastle
@climbingstation – Climbing Station, Pontypridd
@ClimbingWorks – The Climbing Works, Sheffield
@craggyclimb – Craggy Island, Surrey
@depotclimbing – The Depot bouldering wall, Leeds
@DurhamClimbing – Durham Climbing Centre
@eicaratho – EICA: Ratho, Edinburgh
@GlasgowClimbing – Glasgow Climbing Centre
@HarrogateClimb – Harrogate Climbing Centre
@MancClimbCentre – Manchester Climbing Centre
@ReadingClimb – Reading Climbing Centre
@RedpointBham – Redpoint Climbing Centre, Birmingham
@RockcityHull – Rockcity climbing wall, Hull
@rockoverclimb – Rock Over Climbing, Manchester
@roktclimbinggym – Rokt Climbing Gym, Brighouse
@ClimbingAcademy – The Climbing Academy, Bristol
CLIMBING GEAR COMPANIES
@Alpkit - Alpkit
@TheRealBerghaus – Berghaus
@BlackDiamondUSA – Black Diamond
@dmmclimbing – DMM
@EVOLVclimbing – Evolv
@GORETEX_Outdoor – Gore-Tex
@Sportiva – La Sportiva
@lowealpineusa - Lowe Alpine
@MadRockClimbing – Mad Rock
@mammut – Mammut
@MetoliusClimb – Metolius
@MTNEQUIPMENT – Mountain Equipment
@ORGEAR – Outdoor Research
@hardwear – Mountain Hardwear
@TheNorthFaceEU– The North Face
@ParamoClothing - Páramo clothing
@patagonia - Patagonia
@Petzl – Petzl
@Polartec – Polartec
@prAnaLIFE - prAna
@Rab_outdoorgear – Rab
@ScarpaUK - Scarpa
@wildcountryuk – Wild Country
MAGS, WEBSITES, BOOKS, BLOGS, CLUBS, EVENTS & INFO
@atypicalclimber - The average climber's climbing ramblings
@ciceronepress – News on books from Cicerone Publishing, Cumbria
@climbdorset – Dorset climbing community info and news
@climbermagazine – Climber Magazine (that's us, obviously)
@ExplorersWeb – For all expedition related news and info
@Glenmore_Lodge – Glenmore Lodge, Scotland for skills and instructional courses
@HeasonEvents – info on various Sheffield-based events from Shaff to Cliffhanger
@IFSClimbing – International Federation of Sport Climbing
@isitgreasy – UK crag conditions for boulderers and climbers
@kendalmountain – Kendal Mountain Festival
@KeswickFestival – Keswick Mountain Festival
@KirkleesClimbin – Climbing conditions and weather for Kirklees/Holmfirth Cliff
@MCofS – Mountaineering Council of Scotland
@MLTAssociation - membership association for UK based climbing, walking and mountain leaders
@Psyched_Team – Updates from the world of climbing competitions from the BMC
@RockArchivist – Phil Kelly, preserving historical climbing documents and photos
@rockclimbinguk – New rock climbing blog with articles, videos and reviews
@Team_BMC – The British Mountaineering Council
@ukbouldering – ukbouldering.com
@VertebratePub – Climbing and outdoor books by Vertebrate Publishing, Sheffield
@VerticalLife – Climber, instructor, coach and blogger Mark Reeves
@WolverhamptonMC – Wolverhampton Mountaineering Club
