Outdoor brands court fashion media as climbers target historic European routes
The North Face’s London festival highlights the sport's crossover into mainstream lifestyle, even as top athletes focus on establishing new lines on the continent's most iconic peaks.
The North Face brought its Climb Festival to London’s Canary Wharf, hosting a deep water soloing competition that drew journalists from fashion and mainstream publications like Vogue, Hypebeast, and V-Man. The event highlights how outdoor companies are increasingly staging urban brand activations in financial districts to reach lifestyle-oriented consumers.
This crossover into mainstream fashion represents a significant commercial shift for the outdoor industry, which is leveraging the aesthetic appeal of extreme sports to broaden its market. Yet, for the elite European athletes sponsored by these brands, the core focus remains on rigorous projects tied to the continent's most historic natural landmarks.
Italian sport climber Stefano Ghisolfi is currently dividing his attention between two legendary European routes. He is attempting Ben Moon’s Hubble in the UK’s Peak District, a line established in 1990 that some consider to be the world's first 5.14d climb.
Ghisolfi is also targeting Adam Ondra’s Silence in Norway, which is graded at 5.15d. It remains one of only five routes at that extreme difficulty globally, all of which are currently unrepeated, and he plans to attempt the first repeat in August and September.
In the Swiss Alps, British alpinist Lucy Manners is preparing for a major multi-week undertaking on the Eiger North Face. Teaming up with Swiss climbing legend Roger Schäli, she aims to open a new route featuring around 20 pitches of difficult rock climbing and complex route finding.
Manners begins her attempts in early August and expects the project to take up to four weeks. She emphasized the value of establishing a climbing legacy on an iconic, accessible European mountain rather than in a remote, far-flung corner of the globe.
British Olympian Molly Thompson-Smith is also looking to make history on Hubble. Having worked on the 33-foot route for nearly six years, she is aiming to complete its first female ascent, noting that the line is full of history despite not being the most aesthetic.
While American athletes like Nathaniel Coleman and Nina Williams are focusing on high-grade projects in the US, the European contingent is deeply invested in the continent's climbing heritage. The contrast between urban brand activations in London and grueling alpine expeditions underscores the dual commercial and athletic nature of modern climbing.
