Climber Todd Skinner, a Big Wall Pacesetter in the 1980s and 1990s

Twenty-seven years before the Dawn Wall captured the attention of millions and five years before Lynn Hill freed The Nose, Yosemite’s biggest, baddest mega-project free ascent was Todd Skinner and Paul Piana’s 1988 free ascent of the Salathe Wall on El Capitan, a 35-pitch, 38-day effort with climbing up to 5.13b, which almost killed them …