I often get asked, “what is your favorite interview you’ve ever done?” Firstly, I don’t have a favorite. But if I HAD TO CHOOSE ONE, it would be this episode. Alan Watts is a fascinating character in climbing history and a personal hero of mine. This interview was such a treat. I loved revisiting it for this repost. Enjoy!

*This episode was originally published in EP 04, in February 2020.

Alan Watts is widely regarded as the founding father of Smith Rock, and was a key player in the development of sport climbing in America. He established the first 5.13d in America with ‘East Face Crack’ in 1985—just shy of the world standard. We talked about eating every other day, his paradigm shift from freeing aid climbs to face climbing, wearing Wolfgang’s shirt, meeting Adam Ondra, and his “little slice of contribution” to the sport of climbing.

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Show Notes:  

thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/alan-watts-repost

Nuggets:

0:09:16 – The evolution of dirtbagging, early road life, Smith as a safe zone, “there were no routes”

0:14:07 – Eating every other day

0:26:47 – Abstainers vs moderators

0:31:02 – Bill Ramsey, UO, and climbing “every variation imaginable” at the Columns

0:36:03 – Connecting with the people you need

0:38:40 – Inferiority complex and pushing to improve

0:40:04 – A paradigm shift from freeing aid climbs to climbing faces

0:46:11 – Stumbling upon sport climbing and going from being a decent climber to a really good climber

0:48:29 – Redpoint tactics, ethics, and borrowing from the Europeans

0:52:39 – ‘Corner No. 1’, how ‘Chain Reaction’ got its name, and reaching the world standard at Smith Rock

0:54:28 – 11b to 13d in six years, ‘Punks in the Gym’, and pushing world standards

0:55:44 – Meeting Heinz Zak and Wolfgang’s t-shirt

0:58:52 – Pioneering Smith Rock film by Hydro Flask, and going back to the summer of ’85, and ‘East Face Crack’ 5.13d

1:04:01 – Other hard crack climbs and ‘Double Stain’

1:05:25 – 7 days prepping ‘Sunshine Wall’ and the story of ‘To Bolt or Not to Be’

1:11:34 – Climbing every day, injuries, and killing the goose that laid the golden eggs

1:22:15 – Hip surgery and meeting Adam Ondra

1:31:00 – Adam’s post about meeting Alan, and Adam’s onsight of ‘Just Do It’ 5.14c

1:36:52 – Adam’s photo book (Alan-“What the hell? How did I make the cut?”)

1:38:17 – The Awl project, “I do not want to FAIL!”

1:40:44 – Bolting futuristic projects, thinking anything was possible, and bolting ‘Just Do It’ for a TV show in 1989

1:48:23 – “I used to visualize before that was what you were supposed to do”

1:52:00 – “Fucking hard green route”

1:54:15 – Alan’s finger strength, hanging from one hand for (almost) a minute, and gym vs. outdoor climbing

2:01:18 – The updated Smith Rock guidebook

2:02:26 – Alan’s box of tights

2:05:20 – The 100 book list and projecting difficult books

2:10:27 – Working on the guidebook and connecting with the people

2:15:19 – The (lack of) ways to connect with Alan

2:17:01 – A slice of contribution in a little tiny sport

2:19:53 – “He’s cheating”, and Alan’s funny recurring dream