Written in Stone: Climbing History

Seb Bouin is one of only three climbers who have climbed 5.15d (9c). Following in the footsteps of leading French climbers, he established his testpiece, DNA, in 2023 in the Verdon Gorge. It may not …

Fred Rouhling was a good climber, but 5.15b? At a time when 14d was the hardest grade, Fred suggested that his half boulder/half route hybrid, Akira, was much harder than any other climb on the plane…

Nina Caprez is a weapon. Known as the ‘Swiss Machine’, and easily one of the most accomplished big wall free climbers on the planet, she had her eyes on freeing The Nose, and she had partnered up wit…

Lauren DeLaunay Miller is a climber, former YOSAR member, and award winning author of Valley of Giants: Stories from Women at the Heart of Yosemite Climbing. From her first moments in Yosemite Valley…

In 2001, Chelsea Griffie topped out on Lurking Fear on the far left side of El Capitan and became the first black woman to climb the world famous formation. But she didn’t realize that until years la…

Bobbi Bensman was one of the most dominant competition climbers of the 1990s, winning the Phoenix Bouldering Contest 13 years in a row and 20 National Championships. She’s still going strong, adding …

Lynn Hill was looking for a different kind of progression. By the mid-1990’s climbing grades had skyrocketed, and Lynn was climbing harder and harder. But the difficulty wasn’t what drove her. She wa…

Starting in the 80s, and extending well into the 90s, it seemed to be the French vs. The British for sport climbing supremacy. At the middle of this war of words and routes were Ben Moon and Jibe Tri…

Alan Watts might have bolted the best routes of the 1980s and '90s. Chain Reaction, To Bolt or Not To Be, Just Do It. He didn’t have a front row seat to the action - he was on the stage alongside Tri…

In November of 2018, at Smith Rock, Oregon, Adam Ondra made one of the most impressive onsights in the history of climbing. The first 14c in the US, Just Do It.

1990’s era technical testpieces don’t …

Brash and bold, Jibé Tribout had a futuristic vision, and he was willing to Just Do It. Even if that meant flying around the world to try a route he’d been asked to stay off of. 

He wasn’t the most t…

Merry Christmas! As a gift for listening and sharing the show, we’ve not only put together a massive list of climbing films from the 1990’s that you can watch right now for free, but we also decided …

Dorothea Karalus drove over 400 miles, repeatedly, over several years to repeat Fred Nicole’s classic V13 La Danse des Balrogs in Branson, Switzerland. Through the process, she discovered that happin…

Björn Pohl is a climbing journalist and podcaster who has covered climbing since the late '90s, and has seen the impact of Fred Nicole on bouldering for the past 20 plus years.

In this episode, Kris…

Will Anglin spends a lot of time thinking hard about hard bouldering. And good bouldering. And of course, doing as much of both as possible.

As founder of Tension Climbing, Will has made sure his com…

Fred Nicole was never simply an athlete. He was an artist.

Coming into bouldering via a different direction than you might think, Fred Nicole did indeed create art. Really, really difficult art. Firs…

Two of the legendary routes from the 90s are now at odds with each other. One of them was likely the first 9a in the world, but which was it? Hubble or Action Directe?

In this bonus episode, we’re go…

There’s no climber more qualified to discuss Action Directe than Alex Megos. He has the fastest ascent, the most ascents, and he is, in our estimation, the person who is carrying the torch that Wolfg…

One of Australia’s best and most colorful climbers, Ben Cossey is, in his words, a Wolfgang Güllich froth dog. Action Directe is a life goal that he’s come close on, and plans to return to. 

In this …

13d, 14a, 14b. (8b to 8c) Wolfgang Güllich was the first to climb them all. Now, with Action Directe, he was set to raise standards once again.

In the Waldkopf region of the Frankenjura, Wolfgang lef…