The Cutting Edge

In late August, Will Stanhope and Leo Houlding linked the three biggest faces on the Howser Towers in British Columbia's Bugaboos, climbing them all free in 23 and a half hours. Will had been dreaming about this unprecedented enchainment for eight years. The AAJ's Chris Kalman spoke with Will about the planning for the linkup, how to free climb so much ground so quickly, and the primal energy boost from an alpine sunrise after 23 hours on the go. The Cutting Edge is produced by the American Alpine Club. Special thanks to Jason Burton (www.jasontylerburton.com) for the sound effects and original music.

In early July, Brandon Adams and Roger Putnam set a new speed record for climbing Mescalito, the classic El Cap aid route. In fact, they smashed the previous mark (which had stood for more than two decades) by nearly 10 hours. But to hear them tell it, the day was all about laughs and tunes. In Episode 31 of the Cutting Edge, AAJ correspondent and YOSAR team member Lauren DeLaunay gets their thoughts on the joys of speed climbing, modern aid gear, risk, and a stellar partnership. The Cutting Edge is presented by Hilleberg the Tentmaker (hilleberg.com). This podcast is produced by the American Alpine Club.

Yuh-hai-has-kun (Mt. Robson) is one of North America's greatest peaks, despite rising to less than 4,000 meters or 13,000 feet. In early October, Ethan Berman (U.S.) and Uisdean Hawthorn (Scotland) completed a rare new route to the summit, climbing a 2,000-meter line up the Emperor Face, left of the classic Infinite Patience. In this episode, we speak with both men about their profound experience on the mountain, and we also chat with Barry Blanchard, who put up Infinite Patience in 2002 with Eric Dumerac and Philippe Pellet, after many attempts. It's a Robson double-header! The Cutting Edge is presented by Hilleberg the Tentmaker (hilleberg.com). This podcast is produced by the American Alpine Club.

Lynn Hill needs no introduction to the Cutting Edge audience: She is arguably the most ground-breaking female rock climber and big-wall free climber in the history of the sport. We asked Lynn to come onto the show not to talk about her climbs, however, but about her experiences as a woman climber, both at her peak as a professional (she free climbed the Nose of El Capitan in a day in 1994) and today. About the unconscious bias she and other women have faced in climbing, and about the challenges that remain. This episode kicks off a special series of the Cutting Edge called "In Her Own Words: Conversations With Female Alpinists." These interviews were conducted by Canadian climber Sarah Hart, who wrote a major article in AAJ 2020 about the state of the art of women's alpinism and a new system for increasing coverage of high-level women's climbs in the pages of the AAJ. As part of this project, Sarah interviewed several women about the unique challenges they have faced as leading female climbers. More episodes in this series will appear in the coming months. The Cutting Edge is presented by Hilleberg the Tentmaker, with additional support from Polartec. This podcast is produced by the American Alpine Club. Photo of Lynn Hill by Bob Carmichael.

Thirty-one-year old Barbara "Babsi" Zangerl is one of the world's most accomplished all-around rock climbers. She started climbing at age 14, and early on she focused on bouldering. After herniating a disk in her back in 2009, she switched to roped climbing and rapidly expanded her horizons. She was the first woman to complete the so-called Alpine Trilogy of long, often run-out 5.14 testpieces in Europe. And in June she completed her fourth El Cap free climb. Only Hazel Findlay from Great Britain has done as many. Babsi has done the first female free ascents of Zodiac and El Niño, both 5.13+, and in December 2017 she and her partner Jacopo Larcher did the second ever ascent of Magic Mushroom, said to be El Cap’s second most difficult free route. In June this year, she free climbed PreMuir with Jacopo. This wasn’t Babsi’s most difficult El Cap free route, but it exemplified the style she prefers: ground-up ascents of extremely difficult big walls. Chris Kalman caught up with Babsi at her home in Austria, shortly after she returned from a climbing trip to South Africa. They debriefed the PreMuir climb, including the many double dynos the 5-foot-3-inch climber required to free the route, and spoke about her future ambitions on the world's great walls. The Cutting Edge is presented by Hilleberg the Tentmaker, with additional support for this episode from Black Diamond Equipment. This podcast is produced by the American Alpine Club.