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 competition at Snowbird in Utah's Little Cottonwood Canyon. The 115 foot artificial wall would become a battlefield. Competition ve...
Jul 07, 2025•1 hr 6 min
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 to climb Just Do It at Smith Rock - a route whose history we detailed last season and I’m sure Ted’s descriptions of the route inf...
Jun 30, 2025•1 hr 2 min
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 were all competing. To make it that much more daunting, Jerry couldn't even climb his old warmups. But he wanted to b...
Jun 23, 2025•50 min
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 pilgrimage to The Campus Center in Nuremberg to see the original campus board. He climbed some routes in the Frankenjur...
Jun 16, 2025•1 hr 22 min
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 his free solo of Separate Reality in Yosemite. After that, he established his second 14a, Wallstreet, in the Frankenjura. Being in his home area, this one ...
Jun 09, 2025•34 min
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. Written in Stone is co-created with Power Company Climbing....
Jun 02, 2025•6 min
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 Raboutou, Katie Lamb, Babsi Zangerl and Janja Garnbret are proving Rosie right. In this episode we go back to the 80s and discuss The Gunks, climbing Right...
May 27, 2025•53 min
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 climbing hotspots. And there was. Jill Lawrence in the UK, Catherine Destivelle in France, Christine Gambert, though French, was often climbing in Germany, ...
May 19, 2025•43 min
Alison Osius is easily one of the most impactful people in climbing media. She helped to shape how so many climbers learned more about and engaged with the sport from the 80s into the 20s. She’s a former editor at Climbing, Rock and Ice and Outside, the first woman president of the American Alpine Club, wrote Second Ascent: The Story of Hugh Herr and has received the AAC Literary Award. She's a climbing legend. In this episode we discuss how she discovered climbing through journalism, her first ...
May 12, 2025•1 hr 30 min
Lynn Hill is THE legend, and quite possibly the most impactful climber of all time. I could make a case that Lynn's free ascent in a day of The Nose is the greatest climbing achievement of all time. But Lynn and I aren't talking about Lynn. We're talking about the other women of the 80s: the women she climbed with, competed against and was inspired by. We also get into who is inspiring her now. More from Lynn at her website. Check out our website for related episodes, resources and more! Join th...
May 05, 2025•1 hr 17 min
Today I sit down with my good friend Amy Skinner - who, in the early 80s in Las Vegas, sort of stumbled into the scene that would eventually be called sport climbing. We discuss that movement, where she first encountered other female climbers, who her favorite female climbing partners have been, and more. Like many of the women who have been mentioned in this series, Amy is still involved in the climbing community, but has also become a pillar in her greater community. A business owner, an advoc...
Apr 28, 2025•1 hr 34 min
In Part 3 of our series on female climbers of the 1980s, we wrap up the decade with difficulty reaching new heights. We see a smart pattern start to emerge at the top of the pack as women realize how to leverage their unique strengths, and in doing so, they prove themselves with resounding success at the most futuristic crag in the world - Buoux. In this episode we discuss Christine Gambert, Catherine Destivelle, Lynn Hill, Isabelle Pattisiere, as well as many women who were involved in the busi...
Apr 21, 2025•37 min
In Part 2 of our series on women climbers of the 1980s, we focus on the middle of the decade, when difficulty soared. We take a closer look at the 1984 International Ladies Meet hosted by The Pinnacle Club in North Wales, how it connects to the women who were at the forefront of sport climbing a year later, and how standards began to skyrocket. We wrap up in Australia where Nyrie Dodd is the first to finish an often tried project. In this episode we discuss Jill Lawrence, Gill Price, Catherine D...
Apr 14, 2025•35 min
The history of women in climbing, in it’s written form, is woefully incomplete. In this, the first of a multi-part series, we attempt to correct some of these oversights by taking a look at not only the early 80s, but the years and accomplishments that laid the foundation for the women of the 80s. In this episode, we discuss Bev Johnson, Sibylle Hechtel, Diana Hunter, Coral Bowman, Beth Bennett, Barbara Devine, Louise Shepherd, Catherine Destivelle, Jill Lawrence, Mari Gingery, Lynn Hill and mor...
Apr 07, 2025•43 min
Our main sponsor this season, Rab, is giving away three of their Ascendor Light Hoodies, mens or womens, any color in stock. To enter, go to https://www.patreon.com/secretstonersclub Learn more about Rab at https://rab.equipment/us/
Mar 31, 2025•3 min
We're taking a short break because we want to make sure that we don't miss the important contributions from the women climbers of the 80's who were pushing things forward. We'll be back soon! In the meantime, there are a bunch of free bonus episodes in our Patreon, The Secret Stoners Club!
Mar 17, 2025•4 min
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 plays the antagonist for. His most recent book, All and Nothing: I...
Mar 12, 2025•58 min
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 carrying 4 million dollars worth of marijuana. Go listen. #2, he’s the o...
Mar 10, 2025•52 min
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 Bachar had an idea of how he could get this train back on track. ...
Mar 03, 2025•48 min
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. Andrea is not only a mega-crusher and one of the most accomplished c...
Feb 26, 2025•44 min
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 established the first 5.13s in Alabama and one of the first 5.14’...
Feb 24, 2025•1 hr 2 min
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 Kraft books as well as Jerry Moffat’s Mastermind book, and many other...
Feb 19, 2025•1 hr 3 min
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 special, the history of Punks and the Birdbath, a wiggle sneak to...
Feb 17, 2025•1 hr 8 min
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+, or 14a, Punks in the Gym. Save Arapiles Climbing Petition: htt...
Feb 10, 2025•47 min
While we're working hard on the next episode, an update on some changes to the remainder of the 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 . Use code WRITTEN15 at checkout. Written in Stone is co-created with Power Company Climbing....
Feb 03, 2025•4 min
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, what factors contributed to the Gunks being such a powerhouse in th...
Jan 29, 2025•1 hr 31 min
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: Lynn Hill’s arrival on the Gunks climbing scene. Working on Vandals...
Jan 27, 2025•44 min
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 next is history. Join the Secret Stoners Club for FREE and get bonus...
Jan 20, 2025•44 min
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 meeting with Jerry resulted in Jerry naked and tied to a pipe, and th...
Jan 13, 2025•1 hr 20 min
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 of Jerry Moffatt. Check out Revelations by Jerry Moffatt and Nial...
Jan 06, 2025•45 min
