Todd Skinner and Team Cowboy Up

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 Yosemite, except it sat at 19,000 feet and was surrounded by some of the greatest mountains on earth. But he didn’t gather a team of experienced alpinists. Instead he put together a team of young Wyoming cowboys, including one who knew almost nothing about climbing. And they trained for the trip on sport climbs and boulders. Nobody could believe it. Once in Pakistan, illness, government regulations and weather conspired with the difficulty of climbing hard at nearly 20,000 feet to pull the climbers off the wall. Their doubts grew, but so did their resolve. Every other team in the range had either bailed or died in a week long storm, but the inexperienced cowboys persisted.  After 59 days on the wall, the weather had cleared and the team could see the summit, but one hard pitch still stood in their way, and their best chance at freeing it had just ripped his finger open. Maybe it wasn’t possible after all.  Check out more here. Win a custom Tension Block, Tension Shoe Spray, a Power Company Proven Plan, and a Power Company Organic Skin Care Bundle - enter here! Join the Secret Stoners Club for FREE. ---------------------------------- 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

Om Podcasten

Written in Stone tells the (mostly) true stories of the most groundbreaking ascents in rock climbing history, one decade at a time. Hosted by Kris Hampton, you’ll hear the narrated, sound designed stories about what led to new levels in climbing, alternated with conversations with today’s top climbers about what inspired them about what went down way back then. Season Two is focused on the 1980’s. The birth of sport climbing as we know it, the struggles with changing rules and ethics, the women who paved the way for the superstars of the 90s and 00s. Patrick Edlinger, Jerry Moffatt, Wolfgang Gullich, Catherine Destivelle, Lynn Hill, and more. Like Todd Skinner always said, ”never let the truth get in the way of a good story.”