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

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.
He deftly brings to life the characters and events of this raucous,
revolutionary time in rock climbing, exploring, as he says, “what happened and
why it mattered, not only to me but to the people involved and those who have
followed.”

– Fast-paced history-cum-memoir about rock climbing in the wild-and-wooly
’80s
– Highlights ground-breaking achievements from the era