Jon GlassbergGuest
Ryan DevlinHost
The best moments in climbing happen when people doubt themselves and, and they don't know what's possible, and they push themselves beyond what they thought they could do.

I hope you are having a fantastic day and a fantastic season, and it's about to get even better because Jon Glassberg is our guest today.

And Jon, both in front of and behind the camera, has been on the cutting edge of climbing performance for decades now.

Like, do you wonder what goes through the minds and the bodies of the top climbers in the world? Well, Jon brings those stories and those insights and those answers to this conversation.

He was with Janja for every single session as she worked on and got heartbreakingly close, and then ultimately kind of hiked Bibliography, one of the hardest routes in the entire world, rated 5.15c or 9b+.

And he brings incredible insights from those sessions that she had out there, and some really, really fascinating behind-the-scenes stories that I had never heard before, and that in fact, nobody has ever heard before until now.

We do a deep dive into Janja's ascent of Bib, and then we explore some of the other incredible athletes that he's worked with.

In particular, a couple films that have deeply impacted me, Girl Climber with Emily Harrington.

Of course, it follows her historic ascent of the Golden Gate route of El Cap, and features her husband, Adrian, and of course Alex Honnold, and a lot of behind-the-scenes insights on that one.

And then another film that absolutely ripped my heart out in the best, best possible way, and that's called Strength to Weight, and it features Ethan Pringle in a very personal story that I'll let Jon tell you about as we get into this episode.

But it is so beautiful, and I think the hallmark of what Jon, as the creative force and founder of Louder Than 11, the production company that he runs now with his wife and a small team, and a couple kids now [laughs] that are along for the ride, uh, it, it...

That really defines the filmmaker that Jon is and, and has evolved into over the last couple of decades now, and that is that he's not just documenting the raddest stuff in our sport.

He is doing that, and he's been on the cutting edge of performance documentation for decades now.

But he really also has found a way to use his camera to see inside of climbers, to see where their hearts are at, their emotions, their minds, their struggles, their fears, and ultimately the tapestries of what these humans are as they're trying to push our sport forward.

And that, I think, is a very worthwhile discussion and exploration, and one that we dive into here today, along with Jon's personal story of being on the forefront of climbing for decades himself.

And so we talk about his early dirtbag days, his first time with a camera and documenting things, and then also the evolution and revolution of climbing documentation and filmmaking.

For those who are supporting the show as a Patreon member or Apple subscriber, we've got a banger bonus episode.

But right now, let's just get those lights, cameras, and actions going here with Jon Glassberg.
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