Written in Stone: Climbing History

Kris chats with French legend David Chambre, the author of one of the best and most beautiful reference books out there for '90s climbing history, The 9th Grade. David’s previous book, co-written wit…

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

Belgian climbing leg…

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 …

As the end of the 1970’s neared, climbers, more and more, the world over, were wondering the same thing. “How hard can we climb?

In this setup episode we look at the factors that coalesced right ther…

Climbing, in the 1990s, as you’ve already heard, was all punk rock and new wave, rising standards and superstar climbers pushing each other forward through friendly – and not so friendly – rivalries.…

Remus Knowles runs https://climbing-history.org/ , and since he's a fan of the show, I asked him to come on and tell me which climbers and ascents we missed in Season 1. He showed up with a great lis…

Matt Samet is a legend of the climbing magazine world, having worked for Climbing, Rock & Ice and Alpinist as an editor, writer and general voice of credibility. Not everyone in the industry is core …

Sometimes you need time away to realize what you were in the midst of. 

In this episode Kris reflects on the season, where the true cultural shifts in climbing came, and the lessons that climbers can…

Eva Lopez is one of the top Spanish climbers in history. While she is largely known as one of the world’s foremost researchers on training for climbing, she’s also a crusher. She was the 5th woman to…

Basque superstar Josune Bereziartu first tied in as the 80’s were changing into the 90’s, after seeing a documentary showing two women climbing in the Verdon. Within those first few months of Josune …

Chris Schulte is a boulderer who is obsessed with the lines and shapes of climbing. He fell in love with Fontainebleau many years ago based on a photo of Fred Nicole climbing Karma and has cultivated…

Throughout the 90s, Catherine Miquel was the undisputed queen of bouldering. Surprised you haven’t heard her name? I was too, but we aren’t alone. Not many of the people I’ve talked to know of her or…

Josie McKee is a climbing guide, former YOSAR member, all-around big wall super badass and a climbing coach through her company Mind Athlete. She’s climbed El Cap over 20 times, set several speed rec…

If you were following Chris Kalous and The Enormocast in the early days, then you are well aware that he’s climbed Freerider. And if you follow his new show, The Runout, you know how interested he is…

In 1998, Alex and Thomas Huber climbed the first ascent of Freerider on El Capitan in just over 15 hours. Their climb ushered in a new era of big wall free climbing, and there’s no question it was a …

Today, we're featuring a great conversation between our friend Ryan Devlin, host and creator of the Struggle Climbing Show and member of the Plug Tone Collective, and Jordan Cannon. 

In this bonus ep…

In his book, Beyond the Summit, Todd Skinner wrote, “Mike Lilygren had a schoolboy face and Dennis the Menace hair, an irritatingly endless sense of humor, and a tinkerer’s mind for detail. He would …

In 2023, Yosemite big wall free climbing ace Jordan Cannon joined Matt Segal and Jesse Huey on a trip to Pakistan to test their mettle against Trango Tower. Specifically, they were looking at the unr…

In 1995, Todd Skinner began assembling a team for an audacious ascent in the Himalayan Karakoram. He’d been shown photos of a golden, rocket-ship-shaped tower that looked like it could be sitting in …

Jonathan Siegrist isn’t just one of America’s best and most prolific sport climbers, having climbed over 25 5.15’s. He’s also someone who thinks deeply about what climbing offers us, and works to mak…