[slackline]

Just came across The Ledge : Daniel Woods and Dave Graham

[Will Hunt]

I tried to listen to one Enormocast with Hazel Findlay and I gave up. I couldn't understand why there was so much stuff in there which wasn't Hazel Findlay talking.

[Wood FT]

I tried to listen to one Enormocast with Hazel Findlay and I gave up. I couldn't understand why there was so much stuff in there which wasn't Hazel Findlay talking.

That wasn't a particularly very good one, he just kept talking about Grit. I enjoyed the Ethan Pringle interview if you're prepared to give it another go, he seems well sad in it, poor Ethan.

[Duncan campbell]

Just came across The Ledge : Daniel Woods and Dave Graham

Only halfway through this but thought it was pretty ironic/funny when DG joins in saying he just wants to sit and listen as he always feels like he is interrupting throughout his life. Daniel then struggles to get another word in for as long as I've listened so far.

Bit of a shame as I was really enjoying Daniel's chat. I'm sure DG will make up for it but so far I'm not digging it.

I tried to listen to one Enormocast with Hazel Findlay and I gave up. I couldn't understand why there was so much stuff in there which wasn't Hazel Findlay talking.

That wasn't a particularly very good one, he just kept talking about Grit. I enjoyed the Ethan Pringle interview if you're prepared to give it another go, he seems well sad in it, poor Ethan.

I agree. Though don't remember the Hazel one being that bad. The Ethan Pringle one is really interesting. Think he has depression as I think I started listening to a TrainingBeta one with him about climbing with depression...

[slackline]

Just came across The Ledge : Daniel Woods and Dave Graham

Only halfway through this but thought it was pretty ironic/funny when DG joins in saying he just wants to sit and listen as he always feels like he is interrupting throughout his life. Daniel then struggles to get another word in for as long as I've listened so far.

Bit of a shame as I was really enjoying Daniel's chat. I'm sure DG will make up for it but so far I'm not digging it.

Yet he joined in when asked to do so. 

No idea if this fits what others define as quality as I've not listened to it...

Dan Goodwin - Conversation with Rustam Gelmanov



I'm too lazy to bother adding these in the future so I'll just add links to the Soundcloud pages...

Dan Goowdin
https://soundcloud.com/heedge-limbingifeodcast]The Ledge
MtnMeister

[rjtrials]

https://www.target10a.com/magazin/2016/03/20/podcast-weltrekordkletterer-alex-megos-und-mr-gimmekraft-patrick-matros/

can one of the german speakers translate a few of the sections, highlights provided by Google Translate...

What are the most effective and Fingerkaft- handle Board training strategies, which include Alex Mego his "steel fingers" owes?
What are the optimum balance exercises on gymnastics rings & Co.?

Thanks in advance!!

[Ged]

Anyone else think the training beta ones have been a bit poor recently? Had she run out of big names to interview? The last one (Danny Middletown?) was pretty desperate. I managed about 20 minutes before realising I was never going to get this time back. The last good one I recall was Beth rodden.

[jakk]

I've definitely got more into the power company podcast, trainingbeta always seems almost entirely dependent on the guest and can be very hit or miss whereas Kris, the power company host, seems much more knowledgeable himself. Things like the Will Anglin, Eric Horst and Steve Bechtel episodes are gold, as are the board meeting discussions. I've missed having a regular stream of Chalk Talk episodes recently too, really enjoyed the more industry-focussed episodes, lots of good setting-focused ones in there and looking forward to the world cup analysis episodes again this year

[Muenchener]

The enormocast clearly still ain't what it used to be in the glory days of the Stevie Haston interview, but I just listened to one of the better recent ones, featuring the author of the most ground breaking, jaw dropping feat in the history of solo rock climbing. That's right folks: Hans-Jörg Auer.

[psborland]

Quite long  but interesting if you're into diet / nutrition stuff. Its downloadable so good for a long journey.

https://soundcloud.com/climbsci

[cheque]

In case anyone hasn't seen this on the other channel, Factor Two Podcast episode one: Becoming the Master.

[csl]

Enjoyed that, wadded. Familiar voice at the end so sounds like the next episode will be worth a listen too!

[cheque]

Another one from Wil, this time about UKB's own (Sir) Duncan Factor Two Podcast episode two: Nine and a Half Hours

[reeve]

Another one from Wil, this time about UKB's own (Sir) Duncan Factor Two Podcast episode two: Nine and a Half Hours

Yes! Just listened to this and thought it was brilliant

[duncan]

Thanks for the positive comment here and elsewhere, to Wil for doing such a great job, and to John and Charles for embroidering the tales. I enjoyed the opportunity to spray to a bigger crowd, usually it's just the captive audience on the drive to the crag.

The Nose ascent only attracted attention in the last 10 years, since it appeared on Hans Florine's speedclimbing website (after habrich corrected my name) and wikipedia. A few years ago I randomly bumped into John Middendorf at Joshua Tree. He remembered me arriving back in camp 4 mid afternoon but had thought we'd jumared fixed lines on the first four pitches. Several others (e.g. Bachar + follower) at the time had done this. John’s take on this also contains a lovely Hans Florine vignette. This myth partially explains why our ascent was unreported at the time. I just assumed no-one was very interested, Yosemite speed-climbing was of little note in the 80s. Hans Florine's awareness of us in the 90s, as portrayed in On The Nose, may contain a certain amount of artistic licence.

As habrich says, both stories have epilogues. I climbed The Nose again on 21st June 2014, 30 years later to the day. More spray poorly disguised as a "how to" guide. In most ways it was the antithesis to 1984: meticulously planned and rehearsed, with a climbing partner of twenty years and hundreds of routes, far less cavalier and much slower (only just In A Day). It was still a great experience with a great person. I got back on Sunkist in 1996, solo again. It took seven days, two just to get to the base of the chimney. With several big cams this was No Big Deal second time around. Being up on that golden headwall on my own was heavenly, especially after what had happened before. 

[Ged]

Trainingbeta podcast seems to have lost its way a bit recently. Seems like it's turned into the ester smith physio podcast. Has she run out of top climbers that she's friends with?

[duncan]

I really enjoyed Mark Hudon and Max Jones interviewed on enormocast. Chris Kalous mostly keeps quiet and lets them tell their tales.

Their free-as-can-be ascent of The Salathe - all bar 300' - in 1979 was a landmark in valley climbing. It's a big what-if, but it seems quite possible they could have freed it completely had they applied 1988 ethics.

Mark Hudon climbing The Phoenix (5.13/7c+) without cams 

[teestub]

Trainingbeta podcast seems to have lost its way a bit recently. Seems like it's turned into the ester smith physio podcast. Has she run out of top climbers that she's friends with?

I find the coach and physio episodes way more interesting than finding out what Nina Williams eats for breakfast!

[jwi]

Mark Hudon climbing The Phoenix (5.13/7c+) without cams 

Very good set of photos, love the last one with the mental brake-down on the slab!

Looking back, applying today's values on climbing, it seems like there was basically no progress in Yosemite from the late 70s to the early 90s that cannot be readily explained by better climbing shoes and slcds. I've asked a few old us climbers why (and those who agree with the premise are exclusively non Californians), but I'd love to hear your opinion.

[andy popp]

I've no idea about any of that, but what great pictures, and a great story. Jerry's flash remains really impressive.

[duncan]

Looking back, applying today's values on climbing, it seems like there was basically no progress in Yosemite from the late 70s to the early 90s that cannot be readily explained by better climbing shoes and slcds. I've asked a few old us climbers why (and those who agree with the premise are exclusively non Californians), but I'd love to hear your opinion.

Yosemite state-of-the-art in 1980 was Bill Price's Cosmic Debris.  A short, brutal 8a finger-crack, one of the hardest routes in the world at the time. By 1990, the hardest single pitches in Yosemite were probably Peter Croft's Excellent Adventure on The Rostrum (~8b) and the pitch above The Ear on Skinner and Piana's Free Salathe (8a+). I don't have to remind people here the big historical increase in climbing standards happened in the 80s, from 8a/+ (Yaniro’s Grand Illusion) to 9a (cough), a bigger jump than in any other decade before or since. Over the same time Yosemite standards improved marginally, given improvements in technology*, going from cutting edge to way off the pace.

Why did this happen? At the time it was suggested that Yosemite granite didn’t lend itself to harder free routes but recent events have demonstrated this was a fallacy. World-class climbers like Moffatt and Gulich visited, so it wasn’t a lack of interest. Identical stagnation occurred in other US areas like Eldorado and The Gunks. The common factor in all three places was a fierce resistance to sport climbing tactics. Smith Rocks locals embraced sport climbing and kept in touch with world standards (Just Do It, 8c+ in 1992). In Yosemite, the bolt wars still raged: the provocatively named Punchline was climbed (by Kauk) and chopped (by Bachar) in 1988. Training and bouldering became more systematic in the 1980s and both should have benefited Yosemite standards as much as Smith Rocks’. Yosemite only began to catch up a little when sport climbing strategies were applied by people like Hill (Free Nose ~8b+, 1993) and Kauk (Magic Line 8c, 1996), both climbed on pre-placed gear after practice.

Sport climbing was why 80s standards rocketed - but only in areas that embraced it. 


*I vividly remember the impact of Fire ‘sticky’ rubber shoes when they became generally available in spring 1983, the biggest climbing technology change in my lifetime. Bachar describes selling the first shipment of 265 pairs to Yosemite in 2 hours. By 1990 there was a wide range of flexible cams, which were an improvement over the solid-stem units Price using on Cosmic Debris. 1990 technology gave at least a grade advantage over 1980.

[Muenchener]

To complement the excellent Hudon/Jones podcast, here's the text of Long, Hard and Free, surely one of the the definitive Quality Chuffing Articles.

(Sadly sans pics, but easier to read than some crappy scan of a faded copy of Mountain)

UPDATE: and a scan in full Mountain Magazine technicolor glory of States of the Art (Part 2)

[jwi]

Fight or Flight must be the most storied route this year. Here's Jorg Verhoeven talking about the process...

http://www.powercompanyclimbing.com/blog/2018/6/24/episode-96-project-9b-with-jorg-verhoeven

[cheque]

Just really enjoyed listening to UKB’s own DT90 on the excellent Factor Two.

[duncan]

Strongly recommended. Not exactly fun but a thought-provoking listen. Thank you Dave and Wil.