Hangdog Days: Conflict, Change, and the Race for 5.14

Written by Jeff Smoot

Narrated by Danny Campbell

Hangdog Days vividly chronicles the era when rock climbing exploded in popularity, attracting a new generation of talented climbers eager to reach new heights via harder routes and faster ascents. This contentious, often entertaining period gave rise to sport climbing, climbing gyms, and competitive climbing-indelibly transforming the sport.

Jeff Smoot was one of those brash young climbers, and here he traces the development of traditional climbing "rules," enforced first through peer pressure, then later through intimidation and sabotage. In the late '70s, several climbers began introducing new tactics including "hangdogging," hanging on gear to practice moves, that the old guard considered cheating. As more climbers broke ranks with traditional style, the new gymnastic approach pushed the limits of climbing from 5.12 to 5.13. When French climber Jean-Baptiste Tribout ascended To Bolt or Not to Be, 5.14a, at Smith Rock in 1986, he cracked a barrier many people had considered impenetrable.

In his lively, fast-paced history enriched with insightful firsthand experience, Smoot focuses on the climbing achievements of three of the era's superstars: John Bachar, Todd Skinner, and Alan Watts, while not neglecting the likes of Ray Jardine, Lynn Hill, Mark Hudon, Tony Yaniro, and Peter Croft.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Jun 4, 2019
• ISBN: 9781541405394

Reviews for Hangdog Days

[Gabe O'Leary · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A must read for any American that calls themselves a climber. Awesome to hear about many of the spots I've spent my time climbing even if I'll never be worthy of the routes they speak of. Quite a few engaging stories and anecdotes for before my time. Well worth the read.

[Mike Barr · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

As someone who started rock climbing in the last five years, it’s always bewildered me how much history the sport has accrued in the last 70 years since the days of Royal Robbins and the early Yosemite crew. This book was 39 chapters of incredible storytelling, rich history, and bold climbing. Loved every minute.

[Matt Paden · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

If you're a climbing nerd like me this book will cover some familiar ground, but there's plenty of good stuff that was new to me that kept me reading. I really enjoyed the book, well written, a great profile of the prolific Todd Skinner and folks like Alan Watts. Fun to see the backstory of climbing changing from traditional roots to more modern era. Although I've never read a climbing book where the author talked about his own climbing so little! Could be subtitled: how I belayed the best climbers if a generation. :) Final dork note: the narrator gets some climbing lingo wrong, like when describing some European grades or describing an X rated death route as a '10' (Roman numeral confusion). Anyhow, if you're a climber, read this book. If you're interested in how climbing grew into the sport it is today, it's worth the read.