Didier Berthod (born 1981, in Bramois, Valais), ^[1] is a Swiss rock climber and priest. He specializes in traditional climbing, and crack climbing in particular. ^[2]

In 2003, Berthod came to international prominence when he pinkpointed the unfinished sport climbing route Greenspit 8b+ (5.14a) in the Orco Valley in Italy, as a traditional climbing route. ^[3] Converting a sport route to a traditional route is known as " greenpointing" (although the route's name came from its green colored sport bolts). ^[3] In 2005, Berthold returned to do the route without any pre-placed protection, ^[3] and Greenspit was recognized as one of the hardest traditional crack climbs in the world. ^{[2] [4] [5]}

Berthod then made trips to America where he put up new traditional climbing routes such as Learning to Fly and From Switzerland with Love, both at grade 5.13+ in Indian Creek in Utah. ^[6]

The 2006 cult climbing film First Ascent, ^[7] followed Berthod's unsuccessful efforts to make the first free ascent of Cobra Crack, a 5.14b (8c)-graded traditional climbing route in Squamish, British Columbia, Canada; ^[8] which was at the time considered the world's hardest traditional crack climb (it was later free climbed by Sonnie Trotter). ^{[2] [5]} The film also documented Berthod’s other climbs in Europe (including Greenpoint) and also his frugal lifestyle such as working in a hostel between attempts. ^[5]

After quitting climbing for over a decade, Berthod returned to international climbing attention in June 2023, when he went back to Squamish where he completed the first pinkpoint of a long-standing open project called The Crack of Destiny that he graded as being harder than 5.14a (8b+). ^{[9] [10] [11]} In May 2024, Berthod returned to Cobra Crack to make the 20th ascent of the route saying "It is more so the end of a book, than a chapter". ^[12]

After completing First Ascent, Berthod, then aged 25 and carrying a serious knee injury, decided to completely abandon rock climbing and joined Nicolas Buttet [ fr]'s Franciscan-community, the Eucharistein [ fr] fraternity, in Saint-Maurice, Switzerland (close to where Berthod was born), ^[6] as a monk. ^{[5] [13] [14]} In 2016, Berthod was ordained as a priest, shortly afterward had started some climbing again. ^{[2] [5]}

In a 2018 documentary on Berthod called Fissure, he explained his reasons for leaving climbing: "I felt like a junkie, someone who craved a daily dose of climbing. If I didn't get it, I got angry. I hated that feeling because it kept me from being truly free. I needed to be free, and that’s what my faith gave me – that and spiritual healing". ^[5] On his return to climbing, he told German TV: "In recent years I quit this [monastic] way of being Christian and I embraced a way more humanistic way of being Christian". ^[6] By 2020, Berthod had completed a new 8c (5.14b) bolted route on Petit Clocher du Portalet. ^[6]

• Documentary featuring Berthod on Cobra Crack in Squamish, British Columbia: Peter Mortimer (2006). First Ascent (Motion picture). Sender Films.
• Documentary on Berthod: Christophe Margot (2018). Fissure (Motion picture). Cine Margot. Retrieved 4 January 2023.

• Dave MacLeod, Scottish traditional climber
• Sonnie Trotter, Canadian traditional climber

• Didier Berthod at IMDb
• FISSURE: The story of Didier Berthod, "Alp & Ism" Trento Film Festival (2020)
• VIDEO: Didier Berthod, Swiss crack climbing legend, PlanetMountain (2021)