Written in Stone: Climbing History

Chelsea Griffie on Leading the Way and Being the First Black Woman to Climb El Cap

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 later. She was just looking for things to challenge her.
In this episode, Kris and Chelsea discuss the path of her climbing that led to El Cap, what being the first feels like, and the importance of representation in the outdoors. 
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Thank you to our partner, Tension Climbing. Tension creates tools to help you elevate your climbing experience. Check out the goods here and use code STONE for 10% off anything but the full Tension Board set-ups, hardware, and gift cards. When you support Tension, you're supporting the team at Plug Tone creating this show. 
Written in Stone is co-created with Power Company Climbing. Use code STONE at checkout for 20% off. Details at www.powercompanyclimbing.com/stone

Bobbi Bensman on Lynn Hill and 1990s Competition Climbing

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 every year to a 5.13 ticklist that’s now over 250 routes long.
In this episode, Kris and Bobbi discuss her years as a competition climber, her greatest rivalry, when she realized that Lynn Hill, who she’s known since 16, was on another level, and how their friendship has grown over the years.
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Thank you to our partner, Tension Climbing. Tension creates tools to help you elevate your climbing experience. Check out the goods here and use code STONE for 10% off anything but the full Tension Board set-ups, hardware, and gift cards. When you support Tension, you're supporting the team at Plug Tone creating this show. 
Written in Stone is co-created with Power Company Climbing. Use code STONE at checkout for 20% off. Details at www.powercompanyclimbing.com/stone

Lynn Hill Proves It Goes

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 wanted adventure. Partnership. To push into the unknown. Something BIG. And there was one prize that had been talked about for decades with the air of a fairy tale: Freeing The Nose of El Capitan. 
Many people had tried, and most of the easier climbing had been done. Variations had been figured out. But still, two of the pitches seemed futuristic. The scale was daunting. And the route would demand a skill set that nobody on the planet could match. 
Nobody that is, except for Lynn Hill. 
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Thank you to our partner, Tension Climbing. Tension creates tools to help you elevate your climbing experience. Check out the goods here and use code STONE for 10% off anything but the full Tension Board set-ups, hardware, and gift cards. When you support Tension, you're supporting the team at Plug Tone creating this show. 
Written in Stone is co-created with Power Company Climbing. Use code STONE at checkout for 20% off. Details at www.powercompanyclimbing.com/stone

BONUS: The French vs. The British | A Battle of Route Names

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 Tribout, and the greatest battles would play out at Buoux and Raven Tor, two of the most legendary crags of the era.
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Thank you to our partner, Tension Climbing. Tension creates tools to help you elevate your climbing experience. Check out the goods here and use code STONE for 10% off anything but the full Tension Board set-ups, hardware, and gift cards. When you support Tension, you're supporting the team at Plug Tone creating this show. 
Written in Stone is co-created with Power Company Climbing. Use code STONE at checkout for 20% off. Details at www.powercompanyclimbing.com/stone

Alan Watts on Jibe Tribout, Just Do It and Climbing at Smith in the 90s

Alan Watts might have bolted the best routes of the 1980’s 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 Tribout and every other superstar who came to Smith Rock to try his routes.
In this episode, Alan and Kris discuss Jibe Tribout and whether he was the villain he seemed to be, as well as the true story of America’s first 14c, Just Do It.
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Thank you to our partner, Tension Climbing. Tension creates tools to help you elevate your climbing experience. Check out the goods here and use code STONE for 10% off anything but the full Tension Board set-ups, hardware, and gift cards. When you support Tension, you're supporting the team at Plug Tone creating this show. 
Written in Stone is co-created with Power Company Climbing. Use code STONE at checkout for 20% off. Details at www.powercompanyclimbing.com/stone

Adam Ondra on Just Do It and the Importance of Climbing History

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 make for easy redpoints, more or less onsights, but Adam has made a point of trying to do just that as often as possible. And there’s no climber in the world who is better at it. 
In this episode, Kris and Adam discuss the importance of history, how Just Do It checks all of the boxes for a classic, the value of competition, and the impeccable vision of Alan Watts in bringing Smith Rock into the new age.
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Thank you to our partner, Tension Climbing. Tension creates tools to help you elevate your climbing experience. Check out the goods here and use code STONE for 10% off anything but the full Tension Board set-ups, hardware, and gift cards. When you support Tension, you're supporting the team at Plug Tone creating this show. 
Written in Stone is co-created with Power Company Climbing. Use code STONE at checkout for 20% off. Details at www.powercompanyclimbing.com/stone

Jibe Tribout Just Does It

Brash and bold, Jibe 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 talented of the French superstar climbers. That title belonged to Patrick Edlinger or one of the Le Menestrel brothers. But he worked the hardest. He put in the hours and the effort, and he got the results. He didn’t take no for an answer, even if he maybe should have. That attitude made him sometimes a target, often a villain, but always a dedicated, hardcore climber who loved it all. 
So when he went to Oregon and sent Just Do It to create the second 14c in the world, the locals didn’t hate on it. They threw him a party.
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Thank you to our partner, Tension Climbing. Tension creates tools to help you elevate your climbing experience. Check out the goods here and use code STONE for 10% off anything but the full Tension Board set-ups, hardware, and gift cards. When you support Tension, you're supporting the team at Plug Tone creating this show. 
Written in Stone is co-created with Power Company Climbing. Use code STONE at checkout for 20% off. Details at www.powercompanyclimbing.com/stone

Bonus: Mike Call on Filming and Shaping 90’s Era Climbing

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 to chat with Mike Call - one of the key figures in 1990’s hold shaping, innovation, and filmmaking. 
We hear about the shaping of The Boss and the early days of Pusher, what it was like filming and editing back then, and MANY of the best stories about filming with Boone Speed, Chris Sharma and more superstars from that era, including the landmark first ascent that Mike accidentally recorded over.
Learn more at our website.
90's Climbing films that are free to stream
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Thank you to our partner, Tension Climbing. Tension creates tools to help you elevate your climbing experience. Check out the goods here and use code STONE for 10% off anything but the full Tension Board set-ups, hardware, and gift cards. When you support Tension, you're supporting the team at Plug Tone creating this show. 
Written in Stone is co-created with Power Company Climbing. Use code STONE at checkout for 20% off. Details at www.powercompanyclimbing.com/stone

Dorothea Karalus on Fred Nicole and Climbing La Danse des Balrogs

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 happiness wasn’t sending - it was a separate thing - and maybe, just maybe, this is what allowed her passage on the boulder.
In this episode, Kris asks Doro to set the scene in Branson and describe the boulder field, the view, the atmosphere, and the boulder itself. They discuss passion reignited and the mental battle of a long-term, long-distance project.
Check out more here!
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Thank you to our partner, Tension Climbing. Tension creates tools to help you elevate your climbing experience. Check out the goods here and use code STONE for 10% off anything but the full Tension Board set-ups, hardware, and gift cards. When you support Tension, you're supporting the team at Plug Tone creating this show. 
Written in Stone is co-created with Power Company Climbing. Use code STONE at checkout for 20% off. Details at www.powercompanyclimbing.com/stone

Bjorn Pohl on Fred Nicole and What Makes a Climbing Legend

Bjorn Pohl is a climbing journalist and podcaster who has covered climbing since the late 90’s, and has seen the impact of Fred Nicole on bouldering for the past 20 plus years.
In this episode, Kris and Bjorn discuss Fred’s contributions, how he was also a top sport climber, the importance of hard repeats and Fred’s continued legacy. We also hear Fred’s response when his resume was questioned by one of the top climbers of the 1990’s!
Check out more here!
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Thank you to our partner, Tension Climbing. Tension creates tools to help you elevate your climbing experience. Check out the goods here and use code STONE for 10% off anything but the full Tension Board set-ups, hardware, and gift cards. When you support Tension, you're supporting the team at Plug Tone creating this show. 
Written in Stone is co-created with Power Company Climbing. Use code STONE at checkout for 20% off. Details at www.powercompanyclimbing.com/stone