EP 264: Tony Yaniro
Mar 17, 2025
Tony pumped after 7 laps on the Equinox crack 5.12d in Joshua Tree, circa 1980 | Photo by Randy Leavitt
Tony Yaniro is a climbing legend and the first-ever person to redpoint a 5.13b with his ascent of The Grand Illusion in 1979. We talked about his early years, handmaking cams in his garage, developing The Needles, inventing the first campus board, training for 5.14 using tin foil, the controversy of chipping routes at Leslie Gulch, his legendary homewall on wheels, building a climbing gym, the importance of respecting your body, and much more.
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Show Notes:
Related Podcast Episodes:
EP 261: Chris Sharma & Ron Kauk
Tony’s Links:
Nuggets:
00:00:00 – Intro
00:01:49 – Tony’s early climbing
00:11:01 – Sticky rubber & homemade cams
00:15:32 – 5 steps ahead
00:21:12 – Hangdogging & The Grand Illusion (world’s first 5.13b)
00:26:45 – Snowbird, backlash, & soloers
00:30:08 – The Needles
00:37:40 – Training for Scarface with tin foil
00:40:58 – Pull-ups & Jim Collins
00:45:57 – Quitting climbing the second time
00:49:59 – The Winnebago
00:52:50 – Making climbing holds
00:57:07 – Leslie Gulch
01:05:11 – City of Rocks
01:10:24 – Drawing the line
01:16:12 – Old school bolting
01:24:40 – Riggins
01:28:08 – Hideous Thing
01:30:32 – Tony’s career & weekend climbing
01:36:29 – Building a climbing gym
01:41:41 – Tony’s climbing these days
01:43:13 – Listen to your body
01:46:17 – Respect your body
01:47:50 – What excites Tony