Paul Piana and Todd Skinner Partner Up and Push the Boundaries (Part 1)

2025-07-28

Check out our new book, Written In Stone: The 1990s! By the middle of the 1980s, the shift to sport climbing was in full swing. Two Wyoming cowboys, Paul Piana and Todd Skinner, recognized that the strength they’d gained from sport climbing would give them an advantage on projects left behind by the previous generation. However, that previous generation wasn’t so quick to embrace the changes. Particularly in Yosemite Valley, resistance was massive – they wanted their walls preserved in a time that was already in the p...

Check out our new book, Written In Stone: The 1990s!

By the middle of the 1980s, the shift to sport climbing was in full swing. Two Wyoming cowboys, Paul Piana and Todd Skinner, recognized that the strength they’d gained from sport climbing would give them an advantage on projects left behind by the previous generation. However, that previous generation wasn’t so quick to embrace the changes. Particularly in Yosemite Valley, resistance was massive – they wanted their walls preserved in a time that was already in the past.

It would take a new age maverick to push through the noise, but that maverick would need a calming and realistic voice beside him.

BIG WALLS, SIGNED BY PAUL PIANA!

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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.

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