High Drama: The Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of American Competition Climbing

One afternoon in 1987, two renegade climbers in Berkeley, California, hatched an ambitious plan: under the cover of darkness, they would rappel down from a carefully scouted highway on-ramp, gluing artificial handholds onto the load-bearing concrete pillars underneath. Equipped with ingenuity, strong adhesive, and an urban guerilla attitude, Jim Thornburg and Scott Frye created a serviceable climbing wall. But what they were part of was a greater development: the expansion and reimagining of a sport now slated for a highly anticipated Olympic debut in 2020.

High Drama explores rock climbing's transformation from a pursuit of select anti-establishment vagabonds to a sport embraced by competitors of all ages, social classes, and backgrounds. Climbing magazine's John Burgman weaves a multi-layered story of traditionalists and opportunists, grassroots organizers and business-minded developers, free-spirited rebels and rigorously coached athletes.

Author: John Burgman
Publisher: Triumph Books (IL)
Published: 03/03/2020
Pages: 400
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.25lbs
Size: 8.40h x 5.50w x 1.20d
ISBN13: 9781629377759
ISBN10: 1629377759
BISAC Categories:
- Sports & Recreation | Mountaineering
- Sports & Recreation | Olympics & Paralympics

About the Author
John Burgman has been reporting on competition climbing for the better part of a decade. He writes regularly for Climbing and Climbing Business Journal. He is a Fulbright grant recipient and the author of two previous books, Why We Climb: A Dirtbag's Quest for Vertical Reason and Island Solitaire.
Kynan Waggoner is the former CEO of USA Climbing, the national governing body of the sport of competition climbing in the United States.