After causing a ruckus in Yosemite Valley and Index, Todd Skinner didn’t slink away. He looked up. Way up. At El Capitan.

He and Paul Piana had been dramatically influenced by an article written by Mark Hudon called Long, Hard and Free, and the dusty disappointment of the Valley Demi-Gods wasn’t going to hold them back.

Using tactics borrowed from the future, Skinner and Piana got to work on their big objective, free climbing the Salathé Wall. Many great climbers had made free attempts. Each contributed to the mystique. Several claimed it would never go free. The two cowboys from Wyoming didn’t believe that - they had been collecting skills that made them uniquely suited for this route. The flaring cracks of Vedauwoo. The runouts of The Needles. The pin scars of City Park and The Renegade. The dynamic climbing of Hueco Tanks.

It would be, all at once, a notice of change and a love letter to the past. They weren’t going to take no for an answer, even if it killed them. It nearly did.

BIG WALLS, SIGNED BY PAUL PIANA: https://www.powercompanyclimbing.com/store/p/big-walls

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Season Two is generously supported by Rab.

This episode is supported by Tension Climbing and The Tension Board 2.

Written in Stone is co-created with Power Company Climbing.