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

by John Burgman

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. Deeply reported and compellingly told, this is a celebration of climbing and the pivotal figures who made its growth possible, from the rock faces of Yosemite to urban bouldering gyms and beyond.

Genres: Sports, Nonfiction, Climbing

400 pages, Paperback

Published March 3, 2020

Reviews

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an extremely thorough, engaging, and well-written account of the history of competition climbing. I found the details fascinating: how specific events went down, the logistics involved, why events were or were not successful, developing a ranking system (at one point Hans Florine was doing it by hand and taking personal calls from competitors to fix their scores), the progression of routesetting as a profession, the development and production of holds throughout the years, the history of governing bodies in climbing, and who was who in the competition scene - it's fun to recognize names you know from elsewhere in climbing history.

I found a few typos and was skeptical of at least one fact (Alex Puccio is 5'5"?), but overall it's an excellent read, highlighting a facet that's often overlooked in climbing history media.

[Noah Chartier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great if youre a fan of competition climbing. Not sure why people are saying its too dense? If anything, I wish there was more detail, particularly in the 2010-2020 timeframe. But he covers over 35 years of competiton history in 300 pages so it definitely isnt too detailed like other reviews are saying

[Kirsten · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like this more. The scope of the book (only focusing on American competition climbing) was too narrow and the specificity (long lists of names) was tedious at times. However, overall it was an interesting read.

[Iris McFarlin · Rating 1 out of 5]

It took me a very long time to read this book…..because it was incredibly boring.

[Katelyn Clements · Rating 2 out of 5]

It could be that this read fell in between some very good reads and that is reflected in my rating, but for someone that absolutely loves climbing and the history of it, I found very little of this book grasped me like I thought it would. Overall dull and tedious with a narrow scope focused in on American climbing while simultaneously having too broad of a scope by having a short paragraph about every single person in America that has ever even thought about climbing. I have listened to podcasts and seen documentaries that did a better job at examining competition climbing. The book was very academic and there was definitely a lot of work put into it, unfortunately it felt like a bit of a slog to get through.

[John Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Your favorite part probably depends on your age. It's all really interesting though.

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very comprehensive but a little too tedious even for a big climbing nerd such as myself. I definitely gained an appreciation for where the sport is today!

[Scott Simmons · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really happy this book exists

This book is really well done. I had picked up bits and pieces of this history through my years of climbing and now my children's involvement with USAC, and this book helped fill in the (many) blanks. I'll now serve with a little more pride as I volunteer at the regional youth events, knowing everything that led up to this point.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

So much detail about everything and everyone involved in competition climbing in America. Better as an exhaustive history than a climbing narrative, despite the enticing cover.

[Scott Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting and detailed account of the rise of competition climbing.

[Wednesday · Rating 5 out of 5]

So well-researched. It's obvious Burgman is a diehard competition fan!

[Granny Weatherwax · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't say the writing did much to paint an interesting picture of competitive climbing, It got lost in the details sometimes.

[Kate Sokley · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars, a great encyclopedia for climbing‘s history

[Kelsey · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was very informative but rather boring and had a lot of names to keep track of. I dnf

[Andy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great in-depth history of competition climbing

[Tonya Woodbury · Rating 3 out of 5]

This seemed an appropriate book to read as climbing made its Olympic debut, which was awesome and so much fun to watch! Turns out that competitive climbing has had a dramatic history in America complete with bankruptcies, associations mergers, and large grassroot movements. I’ve been a hobbyist climber for years, and although I’ve never competed, I was interested in learning about competition climbing in America. Burgmann did a good job telling the story, but in my opinion, the pace of the book was hindered by paragraphs with long lists of names chronicling all the people responsible for organizing a competition and all the winners. I tended to skim these paragraphs. Still, a good read for anyone interested in competition climbing.

[Cara Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5 Stars. This was an interesting book. It is extremely thorough - sometimes painfully detailed with information that was really not necessary. The writing is good but I found myself losing interest at points.