Climbing Sparkling Moments: Bardonecchia and Stefan Glowacz in the first La Sportiva podcast

On 3 August 2021 a dream that began almost 40 years ago will finally come true: sport climbing will make its Olympic debut in Tokyo, Japan. Before reaching this historic milestone, sport climbing experienced a series of revolutionary moments that helped it grow and evolve, starting with the very first official international sport climbing competition organised in Bardonecchia, Italy, in July 1985.

Sport climbing was beginning to make its marks, at the time there were champions such as Patrick Edlinger, Manolo, Renault Thierry, Didier Raboutou, Wolfgang Güllich, Catherine Destivelle, Lynn Hill and Luisa Iovane. On Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 July 1985 over 5,000 spectators scrambled below the Militi crag in Valle Stretta to watch Sport Roccia 85; the winners, according to the jury comprised of Riccardo Cassin, Oscar Soravito, Maurizio Zanolla Manolo and Heinz Mariacher, were 24-year-old Destivelle and, completely unexpectedly, unknown 20-year-old Stefan Glowacz who surprised everyone with some impressive splits. Before stealing the show, on the crux of the route, by cleaning the crimp with his toothbrush ...

For this event, for episodes like these that have shaped the history of climbing, La Sportiva has now launched Climbing Sparkling Moments, the first weekly podcast that explores the moments that heralded a clear break with the past. Written by Emilio Previtali and Federico Ravassard, produced and set to music by Emanuele Lapiana of OsuonoMio and coordinated by Luca Mich of La Sportiva, these are unmissable audio pills. So here's podcast #1: The Splits.

The series is available on Spotify, Spreaker, Apple podcasts and on all digital platforms starting from Friday 2 July.

Link: La Sportiva