Written in Stone: Climbing History

Because this season is focused on the 1980’s, and we are talking about the two best free soloists of their generations, Peter Croft and John Bachar,  there is a Venn Diagram that puts today’s guest squarely in the center: Jeff Smoot. 

In Jeff’s book Hangdog Days: Conflict, Change and the Race for 5.14, he tells the tale of the beginnings of sport climbing in the U.S. -  of Alan Watts and Todd Skinner - tales that John Bachar often ...

Does Alex Honnold need an introduction? No, of course he doesn’t. But he was particularly suited for this conversation about Bachar and Croft for several reasons:

#1, Alex is a student of history. He cares about this stuff. If you haven’t listened to his Climbing Gold podcast, you should. I highly recommend the Dope Lake series - it’s a 5 part series about the 1976 plane crash in the Yosemite high country - a plane that was carryin...

It was 1986, over halfway through a decade that had brought turbulent change to climbing, and it was clear to John Bachar that even in Yosemite - hallowed ground as far as he was concerned - ethics were shifting. Sure, people still traveled here to do the big walls and to climb some of the classics, but the world knew that Yosemite and the once mighty best climbers in the world who called Camp 4 home, were now WAY behind.

But John ...

Shortly after my own trip to the Grampians and Araps, where I played briefly on Punks in the Gym, just to give it, as Ben Cossey would say, a tummy rub, I went back to the Blue Mountains where I met a bunch of Australian mega-crushers. One of those crushers was Andrea Hah. And because she was the first Australian woman to climb Punks in the Gym, and Arapiles had a big impact on her life, I really wanted to have her on the show. 

An...

As I was researching Wolfgang, I would regularly come across candid photos taken inside the house he shared with Kurt Albert, and of course I read every story about Wolfgang I could find. In those photos and those stories, I often came across an American name - Jesse Guthrie. I had to try to find him and get him on the show. 

He was one of the people on the leading edge of sport climbing when it was first coming into existence, and...

Because the history of the Frankenjura can’t be told without Kurt Albert and Wolfgang Gullich, both of whom we lost too soon, I wanted to talk to someone rooted in that community to try and get an understanding of how their legacy looks. For me, the obvious choice was Hannes Huch. He’s a photographer and artist who balances a modern aesthetic with a love for history, and that’s evident in his work with Cafe Kraft and the Gimme Kraf...

There’s really no debate. In the pantheon of Wolfgang Gullich frothers, there is no person who is as much a frother as Australian superstar Ben Cossey. In May of 2024, Ben made the first ascent of a long-standing project at Mt. Arapiles in Australia, Lightweight Baby, finally finishing what became the hardest pitch in the area - and within sight of Wolfgang’s route, Punks in the Gym. 

In this episode we get into what makes Arapiles...

From the early to mid 1980's, Wolfgang Gullich was steadily discovering his own power. Spurred on by American and British climbers coming to the Frankenjura and establishing the hardest routes, he tapped into a part of himself that he rarely showed. With that competetive side on display, he went to America to do the hardest routes there, returned home to establish himself the best, and to Australia to establish the world's first 8b...

While we're working hard on the next episode, an update on some changes to the remainder of the season. 

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Season Two is generously supported by Rab. 

This episode is supported by Tension Climbing. Use code WRITTEN15 at checkout.

Written in Stone is co-created with Power Comp...

Andy Salo and Whitney Boland are modern day Gunks legends. Andy has FA’d some of the hardest routes in the area and co-written the brilliant guidebooks to the area. Whitney moved to the area and gained near instant local status, eventually writing the Flashback series about Gunks legends, which you can find both in Andy’s guidebooks and on the Rock and Snow website.  

In this episode, we discuss the scene and history at The Gunks, ...

Russ Clune is a Legend. I once introduced him as climbing's Forrest Gump, because since the 1980's he's been there for many of climbing's most impactful moments. A Gunks local who has traveled widely to climb on every type of rock, in every style imaginable, he's a living thread from before sport climbing to now, and if you're ever lucky enough to meet him, will eagerly regale you with those stories. 

In this episode, we discuss:

In 1983, after years of climbing on Yosemite's granite cracks with John Long and the Stonemasters, Lynn Hill went on a roadtrip. First to Arizona, then to Colorado and finally Red Rock, outside of Las Vegas. While on the road, she and Long established some of the most classic routes in the country. After a brief foray into Hollywood stunts, Lynn traveled to the Gunks to climb for a magazine article and photoshoot.

What happened nex...

Many climbers put Jerry Moffatt’s book, Revelations, on the top of their list. This is in no small part due to the work of Niall Grimes, who co-wrote the Banff Mountain Book Festival Grand Prize Winner. Niall is an Irish climbing legend who lives in Sheffield, and the host of the hilarious, story filled Jam Crack Climbing Podcast. 

In this episode we discuss what Jerry Moffatt’s name meant in the early days, why Niall’s first meeti...

In 1983, one climber was more dominant than any other: Jerry Moffatt. Filled with confidence, he traveled the world not only to quickly repeat the hardest routes, but to put up his own routes - often the hardest in the country. A trip to the US let the world know that he had arrived, but it was a trip to Germany with one of the brightest German stars that really cemented his place as the best. And this wouldn't be the last we hear ...

There’s nobody better than Bill Ramsey to discuss the impact that Alan Watts had on climbing. Not only is he a philosophy professor, but he was born in the same hospital as Alan, just a few hours later. Their fathers climbed together at Smith Rock, their mothers shared a recovery room, and together they found a love of climbing that helped bring Smith Rock into the future. 

We discuss:

• Bill and Ala...

In early 1983, in a small backwater area in Oregon with less than stellar rock, Smith Rock, sport climbing history was quietly being made. Alan Watts had all but climbed out the cracks in the area and had turned his attention to the blank faces and lasercut aretes. He would have to bend the rules to get it done, but with nobody around to tell him otherwise, he got to work. The result would be not only the climb recognized as the fi...

Kris chats with French legend David Chambre, the author of one of the best and most beautiful reference books out there for 90’s climbing history, The 9th Grade. David’s previous book, co-written with Jibe Tribout, The 8th Grade, is a treasure trove of French climbing history of the late 1970’s and early to mid 1980’s. They discuss the influence of Patrick Edlinger on both French and world climbing history. 

Discussed in the episod...

Kris sits down in Wyoming with two absolute legends from the 80’s, Jibé Tribout and Arnould T’Kint, to talk about Patrick Edlinger and the birth of sport climbing as we know it. 

Belgian climbing legend Arnould T’Kint did the third 8a in the world, and the first outside of the US, as well as reportedly being the first to onsight 8a. 

Jibé Tribout is a french and world climbing legend who, through the 80’s and 90’s, was always at th...

There is no icon of 1980's climbing with the starpower of Patrick Edlinger. Known as Le Blonde, it's estimated that by the mid 1990's, Edlinger was responsible for inspiring 80% of France's climbers to join the sport. Not only was he one of the first to embrace sport climbing, he defined the style and movement of the era.

But the life of the rock star is often one of tragedy. The higher the rise, the further the fall. How would Edl...