Written in Stone: Climbing History
Written in Stone tells the (mostly) true stories of the most groundbreaking ascents in rock climbing history, one climb at a time. Hosted by Kris Hampton, you’ll hear the narrated, sound designed stories about what led to new levels, shifted the culture, and changed the game. You'll also get conversations with the climbers who were there and those who were inspired by what went down way back then. Season One: The 1990s and the explosion of sport climbing. Season Two: The 1980’s and the birth of sport climbing as we know it. Season Three: The History of Modern Bouldering. Like Todd Skinner always said, ”never let the truth get in the way of a good story.”
Episodes
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.
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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 were shaped by bouldering in Fontaineb...
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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 of bouldering.
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.
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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?
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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!
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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 on aiming for the best style ...
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 the game that is Yosemite big wall fr...
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 from the future, Sk...
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. Particularly in Yosemite Va...
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 finals that he had rec...
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 route setter and judge, and ...
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 its first International competi...
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 made an extended effort t...
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 from 13c to 14b, and the best climbers...
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 Training Method, and Mark made a p...
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