Berghaus Athlete Team

Berghaus Athlete Team

The Berghaus Athlete Team

From world renowned climbers to female bouldering champions the Berghaus athlete team are a group of outdoor fanatics who constantly push themselves to the limits, tackling epic expeditions and adventures worldwide. Berghaus has over 20 athletes in their team and you can meet some of them below.

Chris Bonington

The icon of British climbing Sir Chris is Berghaus very own living legend. He has an unquenchable thirst for adventure which has led him to the top of the highest mountains and in to the most remote and unexplored regions in the world.

Here are just a few expeditions Chris has been involved in:

Led nineteen expeditions to the Himalayas and succeeded in climbing Mount Everest at the age of 50

Made the first ascent of the South Face of Annapurna in 1960 when no other Himalalyan wall had been climbed

Made the first British ascent of the South West pillar of the Drus

In 1966 he made the first ascent of the Old Man of Hoy which was televised live by the BBC over three days and was watched by 23 million people.

In 1977 he made the first ascent of the Ogre with Doug Scott, but the pair had a hellish descent when Doug broke both his legs, and Sir Chris broke two ribs shortly after leaving the summit.

These are just snippets of his amazing life and at the age of 77 he has not given up he is still a source of inspiration to many new adventurers and everyone at Berghaus.

Leo Houlding

A famous climber and adventurer, Leo is at the cutting edge of extreme sports. Since the age of 10 he has been on an adrenaline-fuelled adventure to push himself and his sport to the limits, and has staggered the world with his exploits...

Leo has climbed some of the hardest routes in the world, and pioneered para alpinism which is climbing up a route and then BASE jumping from the top.

Just a few of Leo’s achievements include:

In 2010 Leo Houlding successfully completed his long-term project by making the first ascent of The Prophet on El Capitan, Yosemite.

In 2009 he climbed Mount Asgard on Baffin Island. The team climbed the North West Face, which is in the shade 23 hours day, battling ice storms, severe frosts and rock falls

Climbed the sacred Mount Huashan in China the first person to do so.

Madean alpine-style ascent of Fitzroys 1400m North Pillar in Patagonia, which included a 17 hour abseil. This horrendous experience was the start of Leo’s interest in para-alpinism.

These are just a taster of Leo’s accomplishments; and he has more exciting expeditions planned for the future.

Mick Fowler

Named the "mountaineer’s mountaineer" for his innovative and inspirational first ascents Mick has a reputation as an innovative and inspirational climber and has many achievements under his belt including:

In 2010 Mick achieved the first ascent of the north face of Sulamar, China.

Winning the prestigious Piolet d’Or (France) and Golden Piton (USA) awards (for the best mountaineering achievement of the year) for his route on Siguniang with Paul Ramsden.

Being voted the Mountaineers’ Mountaineer by UK national newspaper The Observer.

The first free ascent and first one day ascent of the highest vertical cliff in Britain.

All of Mick’s impressive achievements have been done while working full time and supporting his family.

Leah Crane

A first class British climber, 22 year old Leah is making a big impact on the UK climbing scene. She has taken on tough routes in the UK and Europe and became the UK’s number one female boulderer by winning the British Bouldering Championship in 2009.

Leah started climbing at 6 years old and at 15 she climbed the grade 7c+ Orion route, Kalymnos, and was placed 3rd in the International Masters Bouldering Competition in 2007.

In 2010 Berghaus sponsored Leah to travel Europe for a year-long climbing trip to raise her skills to a much higher level. During the trip Leah passed through 10 countries and took in some of the most famous and iconic European climbs to push herself to the limit.

Alastair Lee

A Leading film maker and photographer, producing superb photography and innovative film work which has earned him over 30 international film making awards.

Alastair captured every moment of Berghaus sponsored athlete Leo Houlding’s ambitious expedition to make the first free ascent of Mount Asgard’s daunting north face, which he turned in to the stunning film The Asgard Project.

The Asgard Project now boasts an impressive collection of awards. Recently Alastair has also captured Leo’s latest conquest, the award-winning Prophet film all about his epic new route on El Capitan.

Philippe Gatta

From the top of Everest to the sands of the Sahara, from French sport routes to the Amazon rainforest Philippe has done it all, pushing himself to the limit to raise the bar year-on-year.

During the last 20 years Philippe has travelled the world setting himself new challenges in mountaineering, running and rock climbing.

Here are just some of Philippe’s achievements:

Climbed over 200 peaks in the Alps.

30 solo ascents of the Mont Blanc Massif. Eight routes on Mont Blanc itself, including the Central Pillar of Freney (ED- 55º/A2/7b/500m).

7th Frenchman to complete the Seven Summits challenge during which he climbed; Mt. Everest, Vinson, Carstensz, McKinley, Aconcagua, Kilimanjaro and Elbrus.

Climbed more than 1,500 sport climbing routes on 60 cliffs.

Philippe has also completed some of the most challenging ultra distance and trail running races in the world including:

Himal Race (Nepal): 405 miles / 23,000 m of elevation gain

Marathon des Sables (Morocco): 140 miles in 6 days in the Sahara desert

Defi de l’Oisans (France): 125 miles / 12,000 m of elevation in 6 days in the Alps