First ascent

In mountaineering and climbing, a first ascent (abbreviated to FA in guide books), is the first successful documented climb to the top of a mountain or the top of a particular climbing route. Early 20th-century mountaineers and climbers were focused on reaching the tops of iconic mountains (e.g. the eight-thousanders) and climbing routes (e.g. the great north faces of the Alps) by whatever means possible, often using considerable amounts of aid climbing, or with large expedition style support teams that laid "siege" to the climb.

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Climbing
Henry Barber on the first free ascent (FFA) of Savage Journey 22 Mt. Wellington, Tasmania, 1975
Lists
Climbers Piolet d'Or winners IFSC victories Equipment Knots Historical events Grade milestones Eight-thousanders Terminology
Types of rock climbing
Aid Big wall Multi-pitch Bouldering Highball Competition Speed Free Sport Traditional Solo Free solo Deep-water solo Rope solo Top roping
Types of mountaineering
Alpine Mixed Via ferrata Himalayan Alpine style Expedition style Ice Dry-tooling Scrambling Hillwalking
Other types
Buildering Canyoning Crane Grass Commercial Parkour Pole Rock hopping Rooftopping Roof hacking Slide Tree
Key terms
Abseiling Belaying First ascent Grades Leading Flashing Greenpointing Headpointing Onsighting Pinkpointing Redpointing Traversing
v t e

As all the key tops were summited, the manner in which the top was reached became important, particularly the ability to complete the ascent without artificial aid, which is called free climbing. In free climbing, the term first free ascent (abbreviated FFA) is used where a mountain or climbing route was ascended without any artificial aid (devices for protection in the event of a fall could be used as long as they did not aid progression). Completing the FFA of a climbing route is often called freeing (or more latterly sending) a route.