How Lynn Hill Proved Janja Garnbret Right About Competition Climbing
In a recent Magnus Midtbø vid, Janja Garnbret and her coach Roman Krajnik dropped a take that hit the climbing world like a clean offshore breeze: Janja could hold her own against the men in a sport-climbing showdown.
Yeah, you read that right, and honestly, if you’ve watched her climb, it doesn’t feel that wild. Sure, maybe the official mixed-field moment won’t hit until some future Masters comp, but the idea isn’t new. Way back in the wild-frontier days of comp climbing, Lynn Hill was already rewriting the rules and showing everyone what was possible.
Kris Hampton, author of Written In Stone: The 1990s: Climbing’s Most Important Ascents, dives into that gritty, groundbreaking era, reminding us that the sport’s biggest waves have always been ridden by those willing to paddle out first.