Hangdog Days

In the annals of climbing history, the ‘80s have been written off as something of a spandex-clad stepchild to the sport’s mid-century golden era, where now-legends like Royal Robbins and Yves Chouinard ruled the rock. That didn’t sit well with Smoot, who dedicated two decades to combing through modern climbing’s rowdy adolescence—and his own memories of controversial game-changers like Todd Skinner—to document both the dirtbag antics and bold innovation that paved the way for the sport’s freakishly athletic superstars of today.