Assault on El Capitan - the Most Controversial Climb in Yosemite History

The way Steve reminisces about the poor treatment of Richard and Mark with a smile on his face says a lot about him

Steve is an embarrassment to the sport of climbing.

Steve, you never would have climbed this…

Steve Grossman (as portrayed in this documentary) is the distillation of everything wrong with the climbing community concentrated in to one person. I am so glad that him and his type are at the end of their direct influence over the sport and there is space for the next generation to step in and move the sport forward independent of these elitist assholes with an over inflated sense of self importance. Good riddance, Steve and his lot... Rest In Peace Ammon.

Steve comes over as an arrogant elitist, who feels he owns it all, not a good look

I'm totally on the side of Richard and Mark in this one. I've experienced the dark side of cliquishness in the Valley. I've had gear stolen, shit in front of my tent, and being shunned, thank goodness never a fight. Mainly one summer in late 70s after several other good seasons with no problems. That summer, all my partners ended up being mostly Squamish guys and Austrian and German. I was told, being a climber from the PNW, that I didn't belong there. Steve Grossman who I normally respect was a real dick in this story. Isn't it interesting how Ammon (and Kate) get so much credit for doing such a gusty difficult climb and Richard and Mark were just evil noobs. Lets get this straight, first ascents will almost inevitably take way longer than any repeats so the fact that they took so long is BS as a criticism. Grossman, it seems, would only be satisfied either with their deaths or them begging for his personal forgiveness and kiss his ***.

RIP, Ammon. I miss you, my friend!

I can't stand gate keepers like Steve Grossman. They totally put people off to different sports.

I am a surfer first and foremost, but I've climbed enough, and been lucky enough, to have had some exposure to a few climbers who, though they wouldn't admit it, were at an elite level in the sport. I must say that I did catch a whiff of the territorial/ethics thing, not on the receiving end but hearing the chatter around the campfire among the good climbers about this and that. I would also be asked about surfing's localism phenomenon, and I struggled to find parallels amongst the climbers. I always had the opinion that if resources in rock climbing became as scarce as they are in surfing, then climbers would behave the same way and climbing areas would have localism too. Of course the climbers would reject this notion, with the position that climbers are often stewards of nature, had ethics, were more respectful and peaceful, and so on. So I had to chuckle when Hans Florine mentioned surfing... To me, what went on around the first ascent is substantially and entirely identical to surf localism. It is cliquish thuggish behavior that goes far beyond what would be appropriate to the reasons they give to justify their actions. There's a difference between telling someone they're being unsafe or disrespectful of ethics, and using those virtuous motivators as excuses to choose to dislike and exclude outsiders. Most of the time the things that are done are far beyond appropriate for their given reason. You'll have a few real bullies surrounded by a large crew of simpering enablers who just want to belong. Hearing Steve Grossman talk about the route getting chopped reminded me of so many of the simpering enabler type I've known surfing. They wouldn't start anything or lead the threat but they'd be there in the background chattering. And later when they talked about their big goon friend pushing around that kook from down south or whatever, and saying yeah they were being unsafe and in the way, they would all have the same smirk Steve had. Like he was really thinking about the funny stuff that was said around the campfire after the guys that chopped the route got back. Thank goodness I learned long ago that these groups who claim things of nature as their own have built among themselves towers without foundations, and are best ignored.

steve grossman could never climb wings if steel

5:52 No Steve Grossman, your pathologies of aggression, self-importance and entitlement are what caused trouble on this climb.

Ammon's brother seems like a nice dude

I love Steve Grossman saying, "I was relieved when Ammon and Kate did the route so I wouldn't have to waste time debunking their claims." Like he could have ever climbed Wings of Steel. What a loser.

Richard and mark definitely didn’t deserve that. Seems like locals were just pretty insecure.

Fuck Steve. I mean that. I started in the 80's and never went to Yosemite back then because of this kinda bs. All anyone had to say was good luck, boys. Good on Ammon!

Steve Grossman, what a tool. They owe you nothing.

It's always nice to see petty jealousies get put to rest. Respect to both parties of climbers for persevering and achieving their objective. Some people are talkers and some people are doers.

That God for people like.Ammon.Who thru big wall climbing,lives life to the fullest.Arhh mates.

So I'm learning that no matter what extreme sport you personally choose to participate in, there will always be a "Steve," a selfish bully who looks down on people with less experience than him, or people new to a certain area as if he didn't have to start somewhere himself. You'd think after all these years that he would have matured and realized how wrong he was for treating those 2 poor climbers the way he did, but the dude literally couldn't even talk about how badly they were treated without grinning, like he totally supported it and would do the same thing again tomorrow to anyone he decides isn't worthy. Makes me fucking sick, dude is a gatekeeping bully, and seemingly proud of it. People like that can literally completely break a newbies spirit, and make them feel unwanted to the point where they give up all together. Same thing happened when I started whitewater kayaking. A person with 20 years of experience would decide that I didn't belong on a particular river, talk to the community about it, and suddenly nobody ever wants to paddle with you again despite how open you are about being a beginner and wanting to improve. I absolutely fucking despise people like that...

Never did. Never would attempt, but I was always fascinated by climbing. The gang mentality (“we own this rock”) thing caught me by surprise. Very engaging documentary.