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Born:

1983, Belfast, Northern Ireland

Biggest achievement:

Solo first ascent of Long Runs the Fox (E9 6c) / First ascent of The Rathlin Effect (E8 6c) / Co-author of the Fair Head Rock Climbing Guidebook.

DMM athlete since:

2013

Ricky Bell is a Belfast-based trad climber and the undisputed star of the Irish climbing scene for the best part of two decades. Introduced to the hills by his parents on camping trips to North Wales, Scotland, the Lakes and the Peak, Ricky led his first trad route in the Mournes at the age of eleven and never really stopped. His deep connection to the landscape and rock of Northern Ireland has driven an extraordinary catalogue of first ascents and repeats, from bold E7s and E8s across Fair Head to the solo first ascent of Long Runs the Fox (E9 6c), an audacious highball slab at Murlough Bay that he climbed without pads. He is also the co-author of the Fair Head Rock Climbing Guidebook with Craig Hiller, cementing his role not just as a climber but as a genuine custodian of Irish climbing. Thoughtful, stoic and deeply committed to the process over the result, Ricky brings the same quiet conviction to his projects that he brings to everything else in climbing life.

"If you can hold it in your head, you can hold it in your hands."

Get To know Ricky Bell

When did you start climbing?

With my folks and sisters in the Mourne Mountains when I was around 10 years old.

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

Just still being in love with walking into the Mournes and trying to climb the cool lines, or pottering into the boulder field at Fairhead on my own. Getting to the top of that significant route is nearly always, later, just another route. The fact that you keep going back to climb something else is the real power in the whole experience.

What is the primary objective remaining on your bucket list?

Get my arse up the last great line at Buzzards Roost.

How would you describe your climbing style and your anti-style?

I am a total vertwall footwarrior who is willing to trust the balance up. My anti-style is the horizontal.

How do you manage the mental pressure of a long-term project?

I’m quite stoic about this stuff. You only have to try your best and let go enough to give yourself a chance of that. That’s it. I’m quite organised/fanatic in general with my climbing so I’ve always liked the tactical challenges. Having the right gear, being there at the right time, with the right people, with the right self belief. Then all you can do is try. I’ve always loved visualising things too, I’ve been taught that if you can hold it in your head - you can hold it in your hands. I like day dreaming about the routes or boulders I want to do. It feels like your getting more time climbing on them then.

What has climbing taught you?

How to let go. It has given me a connection with beautiful places that I can always go to and find peace and contentment.

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

The Murlough Bay boulder field at Fairhead is one of the most special places I know.

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