The Finest Climbing Photos of 2025, Ranked

Climbing photographers may be the best unsung heroes of our sport. Hanging on mounted traces in howling winds. Trudging by way of deep snow overloaded with gear. And all the time patiently ready—for golden hour, for the determined crux, for the elation of topping out. This yr, photographers captured moments that transported us proper there to the crux, to the remainder, and to the summit. They appealed to our curiosity, answered our questions, and imparted a way of surprise.

Below, we share the most effective climbing photographs of 2025, the moments they depict, and the photographers who made them.

The greatest climbing photographs of 2025, ranked

13. Fighting up a primary ascent in Madagascar

In September, an American group established Famadihana (5.13a), a 300-meter line in Madagascar’s Tsaranoro Valley. In this shot, climber Luan Gaeumann fights up a 5.13a pitch. The hyper-focused expression on his face—and his forearms—say all of it.

About the photographer: One member of the four-person Famadihana group, Will Sharp is a climber and photographer.

12. Ageless on an 8,000-meter peak

Spaniard Carlos Soria Fontán broke the world file for oldest particular person to summit an 8,000-meter peak by a staggering six years on September 26. He promptly instructed Climbing: “I do not care about records.” For this lifelong climber, he does it as a result of he loves it—and you’ll see it in his eyes atop Manaslu’s summit (8,163m) right here.

About the photographer: Luis Miguel López Soriano is a Spanish photographer and videographer who works within the mountains. He has been climbing with and documenting Soria since 2011. He can also be the creator of a number of books, together with Mountains Through a Camera. Follow alongside @luis_m_soriano

11. Exposure, visualized

A steep, spare face. Hundreds of ft drift under. And lots of extra loom above. The degree of publicity captured right here is staggering. In this shot, Marianna “Mango” Ordóñez makes the primary feminine free ascent of Bravo Les Filles (5.13d; 2,000ft) in Madagascar. Lynn Hill first developed the road a long time earlier than. Ordóñez climbed the route with Sasha DiGiulian this summer season.

About the photographer: Jan Novak is a French photographer and filmmaker who focuses on pictures of climbers and skiers. Follow alongside @jan_novak_photography

10. Climbing in skirts

Last spring, we despatched Bolivian photojournalist Manuel Seoane to discover Huayna Potosi with Cecilia Llusco (pictured proper), a frontrunner of the native Cholitas Escaladores motion. Seoane facilitated an interview with Llusco about how she first started climbing in a rustic racked with gender discrimination and why she’ll all the time put on a skirt when she climbs. This picture is a examine in visible contrasts—and a panorama as stoic because the resilient topics inside it.

About the photographer: Manuel Seoane is a Bolivian freelance photojournalist and hydrologist. He is a Reuters and Pulitzer Center fellow who has labored on tasks with Bloomberg, The Guardian, and extra publications. Follow alongside @mnwlswne

9. A dyno, however make it informal

Has anybody ever regarded extra chill catching a feet-off dyno than Oriane Bertone does right here? During a day of bouldering round her native spot—Fontainebleau—the French comp climber seems like she may very well be merely considering the place to go to dinner in Paris that night time.

About the photographer: Yulen Calleja Ordiz is a contract photographer. Follow alongside @yulen.calleja

8. Sunlight by way of Century Crack

Mary Eden hangs from the crack throughout her first feminine ascent of Century Crack (5.14b). The feat blew us away as a lot because the photographs. Not everyone seems to be a solar flare fan, however we love the back-lit silhouette of upside-down Eden and the glow forged throughout sandstone.

About the photographer: Tony Archie Kim is a visible artist and photographer with a background in structure. Follow alongside @tony.archie

7. Suspense on slab

The suspense builds as Ethan Morf reaches a chalky hand upward, casting an ominous shadow on the granite slab of Free Grand (5.13a) in Squamish. Darkness sweeps throughout the valley under. In May, Morf grew to become the youngest particular person to free climb El Capitan in a day at 20 years outdated.

About the photographer: Victoria Kohner-Flanagan is a climber and photographer who lives on the open street. Follow alongside @victoriakohnerflanagan 

6. In the ether of an unclimbed peak

French alpinist Benjamin Védrines makes his means up the ultimate ridgeline resulting in a summit upon which no human has stood earlier than: Jannu East (24,501ft) within the Himalaya. This {photograph} illustrates effectively a mirrored image that Védrines shared with Climbing following his ascent: “My ego … I feel satisfied. I am a different person than I was one week ago.”

About the photographer: Thibaut Marot is a French photographer and filmmaker. He is engaged on a movie about Kelleghan and Pineau’s ascent. Follow alongside @thibaut.marot 

5. Janja Garnbret’s triumphant top-out

The phrase “dominant” is usually used to outline the astounding profession of Janja Garnbret. A working example was the Slovenian climber’s efficiency on the Seoul World Championships in September. This image exhibits Garnbret on the prime of her profitable lead climb; that very same week, she additionally took gold in Boulder. Suffused with triumphant pleasure, this comp shot made our listing of the most effective climbing photographs of 2025.

About the photographer: Caleb Timmerman is an journey and business photographer and the strategic partnerships supervisor at Access Fund. Follow alongside @calebtimmermanphoto

4. One transfer at a time

Last January, Chris Weidner wrote about how he managed to climb his first 5.14c as a 50-year-old dad. The Green Mile is a 130-foot route full of nasty kneebars, sidepulls, and underclings. “One move at a time” grew to become his mantra to the highest. Gazing at this picture, we really feel ourselves cascading backward into the remainder proper there with Weidner—pumped, respiration, prepared for the subsequent transfer.

About the photographer: A professional climber for 20 years, Jon Glassberg is now targeted on his work as a photographer and filmmaker at Louder Than Eleven, the manufacturing firm he owns together with his spouse Jess Glassberg. Recently, he directed the movie Girl Climber about Emily Harrington. Follow alongside @jonglassberg

3. Peering down from Thank God Ledge

In the midst of her first feminine Yosemite Triple Crown with Kate Kelleghan, French climber Laura Pineau friends down from her perch on Half Dome. That day, the pair had already climbed Mount Watkins and El Cap. As probably the greatest climbing photographs of 2025, this meditative shot captures a fleeting second throughout a nonstop 23 hours and 36 minutes.

About the photographer: Thibaut Marot is a French photographer and filmmaker. He is engaged on a movie about Kelleghan and Pineau’s ascent. Follow alongside @thibaut.marot 

2. Lynn misplaced and time

“If you’re always doing things in a predictable way, you lose that creativity and adaptability,” Lynn Hill shared with us this yr. Hill has develop into a legend for her creativity, seeing potentialities and contours the place no different climber might. Her energy of imaginative and prescient radiates on this timeless portrait, the place she fixes her gaze on the viewer with equal elements sagacity and Mona Lisa smile.

About the photographer: Francoise Lebeau is a French photographer specializing in documenting adventures and portraits of adventurers. Follow alongside @francoiselebeau

1. Alone on Cerro Torre in winter

Cerro Torre noticed its first winter solo ascent in early September. Here, alpinist Colin Haley navigates the ultimate pitches of the Ragni route (WI5+ M4). The climbing is extremely technical, however the surreal type of the snow-capped tower resembles a Seussian dream.

About the photographer: Ty Lekki is a photographer and filmmaker based mostly in El Chaltén, Argentina. Follow alongside @tylekki