Written in Stone: Climbing History

WATCH THIS ON YOUTUBE Perhaps the most powerful force in the early years of Fontainebleau bouldering history was the consistent changing of the guard. Every few years a new group would supplant the old, bringing new ideas, updated ethics, and stronger fingers. But when a brash group of climbers, formed from the best of several groups, the difficulty standards of the previous leaders, Pierre Allain...

WATCH THIS ON YOUTUBE Shortly after WWII, a new group formed in Fontainebleau. They called themselves the Cuvier Academic Club, but were quickly known as The Convicts of Cuvier. Led by Pierre Allain, René Ferlet, Guy Poullet and Jacques Poincenot, this group would raise standards in the forest with the first ascent of La Marie Rose, the first V3 (6A) in the world. EXCLUSIVE DISCOUNTS ➡️ https://li...

After World War 1, bouldering began to shapeshift into something that very closely resembles the modern day game. At the forefront of that movement was Pierre Allain, a climber who was openly competitive and aimed to be the best. Also a talented and accomplished alpinist, Allain invented much of the gear we take for granted today, including the first shoes specifically for climbing -- and they wer...

EXCLUSIVE DISCOUNTS ➡️ https://link.powercompanyclimbing.com/stone-yt FREE BONUS EPISODES ➡️ https://link.powercompanyclimbing.com/secretstoners-yt By 1908, people had been practicing on boulders for over 25 years, but it lacked something essential to bouldering: community. In Fontainebleau, groups of climbers with a shared passion would unite around the sandstone blocs and forever shape the game...

Was Oscar Eckenstein the first boulderer? What does that even mean? This season, we are asking and trying to answer some big questions. In this episode, I talk with our research assistant, Efix Roy, about the big question raised by the first episode of the season. EXCLUSIVE DISCOUNTS ➡️ https://link.powercompanyclimbing.com/stone-yt FREE BONUS EPISODES ➡️ https://link.powercompanyclimbing.com/secr...

WATCH THIS EPISODE ON YOUTUBE People have likely climbed on boulders for all of human history, but in the late 1800's, one man began advocating for climbing on boulders as a way to become a better climber. His name was Oscar Eckenstein, and he fundamentally changed the way we climb. Was he the first boulderer? EXCLUSIVE DISCOUNTS ➡️ https://link.powercompanyclimbing.com/stone-pod FREE BONUS EPISOD...

What is bouldering, really? What defines a "boulderer"? And how has that changed since the beginnings of the game? Are there rules, and if so, where did those "rules" start?  Coming Soon: Season 3 of Written in Stone | The History of Modern Bouldering. EXCLUSIVE DISCOUNTS ➡️ https://link.powercompanyclimbing.com/stone-pod FREE BONUS EPISODES ➡️ https://link.powercompanyclimbing.com/secretstoners-p...

Michael Kennedy is a legend of climbing media. As the editor of Climbing Magazine from 1974 to 1998, he helped to bring climbing culture to tens of thousands of climbers who otherwise didn't have access to it. He also took the photo that I believe best defines climbing in the 1980s.  Check out our website for related episodes, resources and more! Join the Secret Stoners Club for FREE and get bonus...

WATCH THIS ON YOUTUBE GET THE BOOK ➡️ https://link.powercompanyclimbing.com/wis-YT In a recent Magnus Midtbo video, Janja Garnbret mentioned that she could do well against the men in a sport climbing competition. Lynn Hill may have helped prove Janja's point - all the way back in 1990. SUPPORT THE SHOW + BONUS EPISODES ➡️ https://patreon.com/secretstonersclub  

After a few weeks of thinking about it, I've put my finger on what I learned about climbing by looking back at the 1980s, and I'm ready to reveal where we go next season. Check out our new book, Written In Stone: The 1990s! Subscribe to our YouTube Channel Join the Secret Stoners Club for FREE and get bonus episodes. Check out our website for related episodes, resources and more! -----------------...

Check out our new book, Written In Stone: The 1990s! Today, in the final interview of the season, we are talking to young legend in the making, Jordan Cannon, who is fresh off of an incredible season of big wall climbing. Most important for this conversation is his recent ascent of The Free Salathé, including the infamous Pitch 19, one of only a handful to do the route this way. Jordan’s emphasis...

Check out our new book, Written In Stone: The 1990s! Mark Hudon is a bonafide climbing legend. One of the best free climbers of the 70s and early 80s, he and partner Max Jones looked past convention and moved hard free climbing to the big walls of Yosemite. His article Long, Hard and Free inspired a whole generation of climbers, including Todd Skinner and Paul Piana, and laid the groundwork for th...

Check out our new book, Written In Stone: The 1990s! Steve Bechtel is a Wyoming climbing legend who moved to Lander when the limestone at Wild Iris was discovered and helped to develop it alongside Todd Skinner and Paul Piana.  In this episode we discuss the sides of Skinner and Piana that often get lost when listing accomplishments - their roles as friends and community builders. Their humanity....

Check out our new book, Written In Stone: The 1990s! After causing a ruckus in Yosemite Valley and Index, Todd Skinner didn’t slink away. He looked up. Way up. At El Capitan. He and Paul Piana had been dramatically influenced by an article written by Mark Hudon called Long, Hard and Free, and the dusty disappointment of the Valley Demi-Gods wasn’t going to hold them back.  Using tactics borrowed f...

Check out our new book, Written In Stone: The 1990s! By the middle of the 1980s, the shift to sport climbing was in full swing. Two Wyoming cowboys, Paul Piana and Todd Skinner, recognized that the strength they’d gained from sport climbing would give them an advantage on projects left behind by the previous generation. However, that previous generation wasn’t so quick to embrace the changes. Part...

Check out our new book, Written In Stone: The 1990s! Rob LeBreton wears a lot of hats. First, he’s a long time friend of the show, but he’s also a dad, husband, gym owner, former president of Sport Climbing Australia, and absolute climbing legend - the first Australian to establish climbs of 31 and 32 (13d and 14a) in Australia.  After the Snowbird episode came out, Rob sent me a video of the fina...

Check out our new book, Written In Stone: The 1990s! Alan Watts is widely recognized as the father of American sport climbing and a leading developer at Smith Rock. However, most don’t know about his impact on the indoor climbing industry in the US or the fact that in 1988 he set for the very first international climbing competition in the country - Snowbird. In this episode we discuss his role as...

Check out our new book, Written In Stone: The 1990s! In 1985, 19 of the top French climbers signed a manifesto against competition climbing. But competitions came anyway. Quickly, most of those same signees defected - becoming the climbers to beat at every event. As happens in every competitive sport, rivalries were formed, and would play out in the vertical theater.  In 1988, America would host i...

Check out our new book, Written In Stone: The 1990s! A big part of my research for any UK climber ends up being first, climbing-history.org run by Remus Knowles, but then immediately after I start reading endless threads on UKclimbing.com . While there, I often bump into an authoritative voice who obviously absolutely LOVES climbing history. Ted Kingsnorth.  I first came across Ted’s name when he...

Check out our new book, Written In Stone: The 1990s! In 1984, Jerry Moffatt was quite possibly the best climber in the world. A year later, he was out of climbing entirely, with severe elbow problems. During his couple of years off, climbing moved on without him - and it moved fast. Bolts became the norm, yo-yo ascents were all but gone, replaced by redpoint tactics, difficulty had skyrocketed fro...

Check out our new book, Written In Stone: The 1990s! Beyond being a top athlete, Wolfgang Güllich was also a training nerd and developed the campus board. Because of this, I knew I needed to talk to Mark Anderson. Mark is one of the twin Anderson Brothers - both great climbers and pioneers in the training space. They wrote The Rock Climbers Training Manual, developed the Rock Prodigy Hangboard and...

Check out our new book, Written In Stone: The 1990s! After establishing Punks in the Gym, the first 14a (8b+), Wolfgang Güllich was looking for a change. First he accepted an invitation to a competition in Bardonecchia, Italy. It left a bad taste in his mouth. Over the next year, after doing a few more hard routes, he experimented with bold climbing on gritstone and free soloing, culminating in hi...

Check out our new book, Written In Stone: The 1990s! Thanks for listening. We're back next week with our regular season.  Check out our website for related episodes, resources and more! Join the Secret Stoners Club for FREE and get bonus episodes. ---------------------------------- Season Two is generously supported by Rab .  This episode is supported by Tension Climbing and The Tension Board 2. W...

Check out our new book, Written In Stone: The 1990s! Over 40 years ago, Mountain Magazine published an article by Rosie Andrews called No Spare Rib. Filled with photos of strong women and asserting that women would eventually climb at the highest levels while explaining why they were behind in the '80s, it did two things: inspired some and ruffled the feathers of others.  Today, women like Brooke...

Check out our new book, Written In Stone: The 1990s! Louise Shepherd was and is a juggernaut for women’s climbing, particularly in Australia, where she did for climbing what Lynn Hill did in the US - make it impossible to ignore that women are excellent at this. And this was before everybody got the news from everywhere immediately - so, yes, there needed to be a palpable example in all of the cli...