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Born:

TBC, Region, Country

Biggest achievement:

 True second ascent of The Groove (E9 7b), Cratcliffe Tor / Free ascent of El Capitan / Approximately 100 eighth-grade boulder problems / Second ascent of Smiling Buttress (8B), Curbar

DMM athlete since:

2022

Alex Moore is a British climber, route setter and one of the most genuinely well-rounded talents in UK climbing today. Best known for his exceptional proficiency on hard highballs and bold trad lines, he has climbed approximately one hundred eighth-grade boulder problems, ground-up highballs up to 8A+ and serious trad lines up to E10. His climbing career began with a school detention for retrieving a football from a roof, an intervention that his teachers may have come to regret when Alex stopped applying that same energy to his academic studies. He has since free climbed El Capitan, made the true second ascent of The Groove (E9 7b) at Cratcliffe Tor, sixteen years after the first ascent, and notched up a remarkable list of coveted highball and trad repeats across Britain and beyond. Now working as a professional route setter, Alex brings the same breadth of vision to setting that he brings to his own climbing: no single discipline, no fixed ceiling and a healthy respect for a good crag day in good company, regardless of what gets climbed. 

"It's not the climbing that keeps me climbing. It's everything else. If you're going to be a lifer you have to make it a nice life." 

Get to know Alex

When did you start climbing?

I started climbing after being given a school detention for inappropriate climbing when I was about 12. The school decided to channel my energies more effectively and in retrospect it was probably their most successful intervention, even if my academic studies suffered as a result.

What do you consider your most significant climbing achievement to date?

Keeping up a respectable ability across all disciplines. I'm not massively outcome driven and that makes pushing the top end of any one element of climbing difficult. But I can still expect myself to boulder around 8B and lead hard-ish routes, and hold my own on bigger trips when the chance arises.

Have you ticked anything off your bucket list?

A few things. Free climbed El Cap, a few life-list boulders in Font, led E9, eaten an entire box of Crunchy Nut in one sitting.

What keeps you motivated?

I just love climbing in all its forms. It doesn't really matter what you do. If you're at the crag with your friends, a flask of tea and maybe a dog, you're already having a good time. The climbing is a bonus. If you're going to be a lifer you have to make it a nice life.

Which crag or mountain is your favourite and which do you consider the most beautiful in the world?

Caution on Gillercombe Buttress has to be up there. Even most non-climbers would appreciate it as a fantastic piece of rock. The Cumbrian on Esk Buttress is possibly the best all-rounder trad route. Sandstone and grit tend to look the best even if a bit of mountain crag is more awe-inspiring.

What are your professional plans for the coming year?

Not getting too tired setting so that I can actually climb something.

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