2000
Leo Houlding (United Kingdom)
Leo Houlding starting climbing with his father in the English Lake
district when he was ten years old. His first achievement was 9 months later, when he
became the youngest person to free climb an exposed Scottish sea stack in the Orkney Isles
called the' Old  Man of Hoy'. He raised a considerable amount for charity, as a result of
this climb. He spent the next few years climbing most weekends with his dad in the Lakes
District, Peak District and most notably North Wales.
Houlding moved to Wales and spent the summer of 1996, at
the age of sixteen, burning through hard Welsh classics in good style. The classics
include the first on-sight of the 'Master Wall' a famously bold E7 6b (5.12dx).
As a junior, Houlding competed on plastic. He won the 1994
Birmingham world cup and the British Indoor Climbing Competitions in 1996. He attended
several International competitions but soon decided that they were a far cry from rock
climbing and a poor representation of it. He is not opposed to climbing on bolts but has
vowed never to place one.
In September of 1998, Houlding and climbing partner Patch
Hammond climbed a route on 'El Cap' called 'El Nina'. It was their first big wall and
Houlding climbed the 30-pitch 5.13c virtually on-sight. Houlding has climbed and traveled
in India, Thailand, Norway and Europe and is now completely committed to big walling. He
claims "to want to spend the foreseeable future free climbing fierce new freelines in
far out locations."
Leo Houlding has something of a reputation for lighthearted
fun and fierce stunts, such as Lord of the Flies in the dark (a well respected E6 6a
(5.11dR)) and 200ft rope jumps off El Cap. His philosophy for climbing and life is simple,
"Don't take it too seriously, life might be too short".
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