Sex, Drugs, and Rock. . . Climbing? | Stonemasters Pt. 1, with John Long & Rick Accomazzo | Ep. 002

In the 1970s, a pirate group of climbers descended on the big walls of California’s Yosemite National Park and changed the world of rock climbing forever. They dubbed themselves “The Stone Masters.” This week, we’re talking to the original Stone Masters, John Long and Rick Accomazzo.

In this episode, we talk about: 

• Rick’s new book “Tobin, the Stone Masters, and Me”
• The Stone Master’s Joshua Tree genesis 
• Yosemite’s infamous Camp Four 
• Feuds between climbers and rangers 
• John as the pioneer of free-solo climbing
• Daring rescues/Rick and Dale Bard’s attempted rescue of Bob Locke
• Ascents that pushed rock climbing to new heights 
• The life of Rick’s friend and arguably the greatest climber of the era, Tobin Sorenson 

We hit all that and more, plus a sneak peak at Rick’s new book, available right now at Stone Masters Press! Climber or not, you won’t want to sleep on this.

Links mentioned in this eipsode

• Order Rick’s book here!

Connect

• Catch up with Hayden on IG, TikTok, and more
• Follow TBM on Youtube, IG, and everywhere else
• Get yer limited-run TBM X Out Yonder Co. merch
• Join the TBM Patreon Community

Partners

• Special thanks to our partners at Shared Pour! Visit SharedPour.com! Promo code "BACKCOUNTRY"!
• Special thanks to our partners (except Grady) at Out Yonder Company! Use code "BACKCOUNTRY 15" for 15% off site-wide!

Many thanks to the folks that made this episode possible

• Featuring Rick Accomazzo and John Long
• Special thanks to Stonemaster Books
• Produced by Andrew O'Neill with Hayden Sammak
• Production Assistance by John Stock
• “Welcome to the Backcountry” theme song by Logan Roth, Will Brown, Arjun Dube and produced at Treacle Mine Studios, Phila, PA