Too many young climbers don't know who John Gill is. What a shame. Todd Skinner and I agree that he was a hero for our generation, which began climbing in the mid 70s. It was Gill's outrageous boulder problems and passion for training that inspired us to begin training ourselves. Certainly countless others were similarly inspired.

John Gill's feats of strength both on and off the rock have become legendary. Many of his boulder problems established in the 1960s and early 1970s possess 5.12, possibly even 5.13, moves (V5 to V9). Compared to the hardest roped climbs of that era (5.11), Gill was light years ahead of his peers. His ascents become even more impressive when you consider the glorified hiking boots then worn by climbers. Gill had it all--strength, style, vision and, best of all, a competitive, yet humble spirit. Many of today's aspiring rock jocks would do well to emulate Gill.

Following is my 1992 interview with Gill. Given the recent surge in popularity of bouldering (and training for climbing), I've decided to republish the interview on TFC. I trust you will find it both fascinating and inspiring. For more on Gill visit JohnGill.net.

HÖRST: How old were you when you started climbing? Were you already involved in gymnastics or did you begin training specifically for climbing?

GILL: I began climbing in 1953, when I was a junior in high school in Atlanta, Georgia. I was not an athlete at the time, and it was the sense of adventure and daring that I found fascinating. Later, in my freshman year at Georgia Tech, I was introduced to gymnastics and began working the apparatus for the sake of learning artistic gymnastic moves--which appealed to both my aesthetic nature and the hidden athlete in me--and also as conditioning for rock climbing.

HÖRST: Is it true that you became interested in overhanging routes back in 1959? That would put you about 30 years ahead of the rest of the country?

GILL: I became interested in overhanging rock problems around 1957. By that time I was fairly accomplished on the still rings and 20-foot rope climb, and loved the sensation of controlled motion executed by the muscles of the upper torso and arms. During the summers of 1958 and 1959, I did what were probably my first fairly difficult dynamic ascents of overhanging boulder routes--including the Red Cross overhang at Jenny Lake. I also did a few 5.10 moves on longer climbs in the Tetons and elsewhere.

HÖRST: Clearly, training is necessary to climb overhanging routes. What exercises did you find most useful? What was a typical workout session comprised of?

GILL: Although I did a lot of rope climbing for speed, I don't think that had much carryover to traditional rock climbing--too much a matter of skill and dynamic technique. To train for the dynamic start seated on the floor, I would do about ten consecutive, fast muscle ups on the high bar. This contributed to my dynamic technique on the rock, I suppose. On the rings I was more interested in learning the top strength moves for their own sake. I had not been an athlete in high school, and it was great fun to do these awesome things that very few others could accomplish. My favorite move was a butterfly mount through an L-cross from a dead hang--at one point I did, I believe, three consecutive butterfly mounts. I also did the standard slow straight-body cross mount, the slow straight body pull to a handstand from a hang, the Azaryin (a triple cross combo), front lever, back lever, and (poor) Maltese cross.

Later, as I moved away from formal gymnastic tricks, I began to develop more specific exercises for climbing. One-arm pull-ups were good for overhanging rock, and a one-arm version of the front lever was a move I had never heard of anyone else doing, but seemed to be appropriate for climbing. I did squeeze grip pull-ups on beams, pulling into a front lever occasionally, and at one time, on a really rough and slightly warped beam did a momentary one-arm hang with a squeeze grip.

HÖRST: Did you ever practice regular two-arm pull-ups, or just one-arms?

GILL: I did the requisite twenty consecutive pull-ups for a grade of "A" in that part of my gymnastic class at Tech. For bouldering, one-arm pull-ups are of more value--power over endurance.

HÖRST: Obviously the fingers are the link to the rock and must be trained, too. Unfortunately, forearm gains come so very slowly for most! Was this the case with you, or were your fingers not usually the point of failure when bouldering?

GILL: The fingers are definitely the weak link between climber and severe rock. I seem to have had some natural, latent predisposition toward finger and arm strength. At the end of a gymnastic workout I would pull into a one-arm on a "1/2 -3/4" door jamb and hold it for a moment. That's all it really took. Just a brief attempt every other day--I never pushed too hard.

HÖRST: So you did no specific training for the fingers?

GILL: I occasionally squeezed a rubber handball but mostly did what I have just described. I also learned a one-finger pull-up, since someone told me Herman Buhl could do one! I later found out that this claim was unfounded. The one-finger pull-up is more a "circus trick" than a necessity for climbing. I frequently added body weight on one-arm pull-ups--up to 20 pounds--but only on occasion for finger exercises. The tendons and ligaments there are too delicate for much abuse.

HÖRST: Will you briefly describe your "training philosophies"?

GILL: For years I worked out approximately every other day, resting the body on intervening days. I got too sore if I tried to exercise rigorously each day--also my commitment drifted a bit if I forced myself to push my limits so often. The every-other-day regimen gave my life more variety. I have always considered the principal value of climbing to be recreational in character--balance to the other aspects of life. When working out, I normally did not push to failure or exhaustion. Each person is unique. You must experiment with your own body to find out what works best for you. Beware the gurus who advocate one training style for all! Part of the great attraction of climbing is its appeal to individuality, its personal nature. For me, climbing has always been a solitary pursuit, even in the company of friends.

HÖRST: How do you view warm-up and stretching exercises? Have they always been a part of your workout schedule?

GILL: Here we come to my biggest failure! I've always been "tight" and stretching exercises inevitably produced painful tendons--I simply don't stretch very well! I did the best I could, and, really, I rarely encountered a move on the rock that required yoga-like contortions. That's probably changed by now with higher standards.

HÖRST: Many of today's top climbers follow strict diets. Did you adjust your diet for purposes of maximizing training/climbing performance?

GILL: Lots of animal protein and vitamins C and E. For as long as I can recall, I've eaten a can of tuna almost every day for lunch. When I was younger I ate much beef--loved a good steak or prime rib. I eat mostly fish and chicken now. Lower grades of protein leave me with a washed-out feeling and little creative energy. I probably ate too much food earlier in my career as a climber. I weighed 180 pounds for many years, occasionally going as high as 190. That's too heavy for climbing. Although most of that weight was muscle, a lot of it was not required for rock work! Had I been less a glutton, I would have done a bit better than I did.

HÖRST: I believe you're now in your mid 50s, and from what I understand you still possess incredible strength by anyone's standards! How often do you currently train/climb?

GILL: I'm 56. When my wife and I moved into our current home on the prairie ten miles west of Pueblo seven years ago, I built a compact "jungle gym" in my garage that I use once or twice a week, both for strength and aerobic conditioning. It consists of a 12' vertical ladder made with 2X4's that I can do "laps" on, a version that overhangs about 15 degrees, a severely overhanging aluminum ladder along the underside of the roof, a high bar for pull-ups, a pair of metal rings for dips, and assorted wooden and metal ledges fastened to horizontal beams for hand traverses. I can still do a modest one-arm pull-up on a 3/4" ledge if I practice for a day or so--normally I just do a hand traverse. I can still do a front lever, also. It's still fun to crawl around upside down as a middle-aged spider!

I should point out that when I was fifty I had a bad arm injury in which I pulled the bicep of my right arm away from the bone of the forearm. It was surgically reattached, but the surgeon smiled gently and shook his head when I asked if he thought I would ever do a one arm pull-up again. A year after surgery I could do one! I don't do real bouldering anymore--the biceps that separated were held to the bone primarily by scar tissue, and we surmised that there were probably other weak points in my body after 30 years of severe dynamic moves. Consequently, I have returned to solo climbing on longer, easier routes--a style of climbing I have always enjoyed, from my first solo on the east face of Long's Peak in 1954, through years of illegal soloing in the Tetons, to many enchanting and solitary adventures on obscure domes and granite bastions in Colorado. Now I train to keep fit for this fascinating and strangely spiritual undertaking. The extra upper torso strength provides that feeling of transcendent lightness that lies at the heart of climbing pleasure. Plus, I do an occasional hard move up high in the air.

HÖRST: Do you have any suggestions for middle-aged climbers interested in continuing to climb at a reasonably high level?

GILL: My only advice would be to perhaps engage in fewer dynamic moves--tendons and muscles tear more easily in middle age. They should know their body by now and understand the requirements of continued activity. I might suggest he ask himself why he wants to continue tackling difficult problems. There are, after all, a variety of ways to appreciate the climbing experience--difficulty, by itself, narrows the focus too much.

An unexamined climbers life...

HÖRST: You became well known for your amazing dynamic sequences; you were also the first climber to adopt the use of gymnastics chalk into climbing. Can you give a brief history of both?

* Read on....John Gill Interview - Part 2 *