John Ewbank (climber)
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John Ewbank (1948 - 2 Dec 2013[1]) was an English-born Australian rockclimber. He was born in Yorkshire, England in 1948, but emigrated to Australia at the age of 15. He is best known for his development of the Ewbank System, which was used in Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa for grading climbs.
Having learned to climb in his native country, he quickly became involved in the fledgling Australian rockclimbing scene and went on to pioneer hundreds of new routes on crags around the country, particularly in the Blue Mountains in his home state of New South Wales. Many of Ewbank's first ascents are still regarded as classics of Australian climbing such as the Totem Pole in Tasmania and Janicepts (21) at Mount Piddington, which stood as the hardest climb in Australia for many years.[2]