Lynn Hill on Letterman - 1989

[@axr-pe9di]

"She must be the strongest woman." That's a true reflection of someone who's just starting on the sport. Climbing looks deceptively easy when pros do it. And you don't understand how hard it is until you try it.

[@kiris5092]

sad that she wasn't taken seriously

[@Tac0caT0]

Maybe not on Dave Letterman, but Lynn is for sure a legend to the climbing community.

[@geometerfpv2804]

What do you mean? It's late night TV! It's always silly, even if they've got the president! She wasn't disrespected here.

[@jasonringenberg8571]

That must have been so frustrating for her.

[@AntonAdelson]

Literally harassment

[@santiagosanz4157]

Yeah, lol. Shows how to take in slack. "Can you do it again?" Lmao

[@iaincampbell5453]

Lynn was basically freesoloing that!

[@ELFanatic]

Fact

[@rara58524]

This was incredibly fun to watch in 2022 with all the knowledge of modern climbing. This was the 1989 equivalent of a youtuber climber nowadays inviting a celebrity to the channel to show them how to climb. David did pretty well all factors considering, he deserved the applause for sure. Thanks a lot, Lynn, for all you do for the climbing community!

[@mandisaeteun9251]

this is so fun to watch, haha! lynn - i love how effortlessly composed and poised you are here. such a rockstar!

[@DebateCentrals]

It's interesting how these talk show comedians always pretend to be idiots. It's just not funny to me, I wish it was.

[@vasocreta]

I agree.

[@davidmartin7163]

Siba Burck sometimes they aren’t pretending.

[@dabossman5650]

I think they do it to big up the guests too so they look better at whatever in comparison

[@abccanada6248]

I work as a guide. If he actually hasnt blayed before he did better then most people

[@thestarsof2012]

Letterman makes a fine example of bad belay partner.

[@ShowTheOreo]

I bet Lynn was real thrilled whenever the crowd cheered her on everytime she clipped in Letterman to the rope and got her hands around his crotch area. As if she needs more confirmation that Letterman is a creepy SOB

[@terraflow__bryanburdo4547]

Ahhh... the days before le Gri Gri!! I was lucky enough to belay Lynn on her first 5.13 onsight about the time of this. I was a little better on the belay than David ;) Awesome lady.

[@averageboulderer]

Onsited a 5.13! Genius and a pioneer.

[@dakiblabla]

Yeah, but did you wear a tie?

[@1122JZ]

God bless you Lynn, you're an Icon in the climbing world. Climb on.

[@bbbeans]

totally boss. lynn is such a humble badass.

[@maidenless2110]

The casual sexism lol... Imagine that shit being aired in 2019.

[@joeschmitz6836]

Letterman: "Alright, I've got chalk." *Proceeds to wipe all chalk off hands*

[@tylerlego41]

He's rubbing it in. Chalk doesn't wipe off like that, just any excess (which would actually be detrimental to leave on).

[@hectorurdiales4570]

That's how you use chalk, it might be the only thing Letterman does correctly in the whole video...

[@Tr1pMind]

worst belay ever

[@guillermofara8021]

Here we have an outstanding human being, timeless, revolutionary, powerful... And a pathetic tv clown. What a wasted chance to get Lynn to inspire more women to the beauty of mountain climbing

[@NeilMalthus]

Pathetic tv clown? Grow up.

[@arselihp]

so classic in so many ways!

[@MiguelJette]

that's hilarious! Thanks for sharing!

[@rosiebrauer424]

ugh! as my self a climber dave disgusts me! and the way he talked to Lynn

[@tianwang]

Supposed to be 'entertaining' in 1989

[@WarlordStarcraft2]

well I think there's two things you gotta understand. 1. The show isn't for climbers. 2. she had to know what she was getting into. pretty sure nobody goes on letterman to seriously discuss their shit.

[@bd-pl7oo]

@@WarlordStarcraft2 There may be two things *you* gotta understand: he was belittling and inappropriate. Facts.

[@chuajarl]

letterman does one arm lock! aahahahah 6:55

[@heavens2murgatroid1]

Awesome!! I bet that was a fun phone call...uhh we want you to climb on the Letterman show...OK!!

[@otxxeden]

letterman makes me cringe I

[@marlonmendez5176]

This kind of reminds me of the first time I belayed someone. She was totally cool, and I was totally not.

[@dakiblabla]

Missed opportunity for a unique climbing accident: tie caught in the atc.

[@ArtisticAsian1014]

Thank god she climbed down. That slack in that rope... I get the whole "include the host" in the activity but I wouldn't feel safe giving basicly my life line to someone who doesn't know what to do. Thankfully she was paying attention to him not taking in slack (at least once anyhow) but imagine if she didn't and something went wrong. I mean it isn't too high of a wall but still.

[@rakatinni]

+ArtisticAsian1014 C'mon...it's Lynn Hill!

[@Lucy-ng7cw]

Ikr, why didn't the give him a quick course before the show? At least shown him someone else doing it. I guess it wasn't that high and she would have known how to fall if she did, but still

[@lewistaylor9328]

ArtisticAsian1014 she is like 10ft off the ground she will live

[@katie3867]

Lewis Taylor 10 feet with no mats you can still pretty easily break an ankle or tear up your knee.

[@bd-pl7oo]

Lynn: “Don’t worry, I won’t fall.”

[@Noise_floorxx]

If you want to know what its like for women to work in an all male field. My first day working at my city government on an internship, I got called beautiful by almost every man I met. Its a compliment, of course, but it can quickly turn into something creepy like this. Considering that Lynn uploaded this herself, im sure she has had to endure creeps like this time and time again. Unfortunately thats how life is when you're an attractive woman... or just a woman at all.

[@Terascon]

But when Brad Pitt or another good looking "chad" shows up, all women are deeply flattered to be called beautiful by him. ;-)

[@bd-pl7oo]

@@TerasconWhat you did right there, that’s called ‘gaslighting’.

[@whrikk]

You ROCK Lynn!

[@MrF4tty]

Lynn is a powerhouse.

[@ArbitraryLifestyle]

Damn, I can't believe she trusted him at ALL. It's not high and she's not likely to fall, but still.

[@calnick0]

Lynn Hill handles runouts longer and harder than that today...

[@Christakos42a]

a climber of this magnitude has extremely slim chances of falling on a climb like this. Plus, i'm confident letterman was acting and was given proper instructions prior to the show. The slack he has given at the top is a lot, but she wouldn't have hit the ground if she fell (assuming letterman held the rope properly)

[@scherenschnitt6333]

Beautiful, intelligent and mental strong lady. She is really an idol for my wife.

[@luthermclain2959]

Priceless.

[@RoleyChiu]

Watching this in 2017.

[@youngheelowrie]

love the pants Lynn!

[@saraharmstrong6319]

This video is physically painful to watch. I got to 1:40 before gagging. One of the best climbers, regardless of gender, in history and because she's a woman her accomplishments are degraded into a series of non-humorous, chauvinistic, and sexualixed jokes. Of course though, she handles herself with poise and grace despite being forced in front of David "the asshole" Letterman on national television.

[@gregpphoto]

Sarah Armstrong +1 to everything you said. I give her credit for trusting Dave with that belay!

[@lifeisgood070]

Sarah Armstrong I agree with you but I don't think Dave Letterman was particularly an asshole. In today's standards yes of course he is an asshole. But judging him from the time period he was not. Men were trained and rewarded by society to act this way back then. All he did was fall the good feeling of applause everyone gave him - both men & women from that early era. Judging him by today's standards is akin to taking a quote out of context for a newspaper headline. Can't blame just one man, societies ideals were off. I think we're both glad times have changed.

[@Braappbraaaap]

+Sarah Armstrong Granted, it was 1989. I think women like Lynn could handle such jokes!

[@rolandvasquez2501]

God what a pathetic response to this video. Do you know woman sexualize men in just the same way? Even more so today. These little subtle jokes happen all the time on television, just watch the Wendy Show or the View or some other female based show and guess what? They find men sexy and joke about it. Man let's lock up these perverts! Right? Wrong. Get over your sexual sensitivity already that shit does not fit into the context of this video. Go find a video that actually calls for a feminist rant. Sorry but this video is not the one.

[@gJonii]

Sarah Armstrong I've never seen anyone miss a joke with such a huge safety margin. Let's try to explain this: Show hosts interviewing experts of any field generally act like fools. This first of all is somewhat funny in itself, and second, it enables expert to take control of the scene to share whatever expertise on the situation they deem important enough. I have trouble comprehending how desperately you have to be searching for sexism to misinterpret it that badly.

[@sattenstall]

WHAT ANN ABSOLUTE PRAT

[@crux321]

pretty sure he already knew how to belay, hes just a showman

[@EncinoLIVE]

its hard to watch letterman pre cheating on his wife, such a sleeze

[@ELFanatic]

He's not much easier to watch now, maybe less sleeze but that's about it.

[@Racingmix]

All class!

[@Johnnyhumbkr]

Dave did the best he could. I don't think he's actually smart enough to figure it out. Lynn could have done the same climb one handed (safely ) Great interview segment anyway!!!

[@ELFanatic]

Letterman is cringe. Constantly interrupting Hill. His jokes are bad. Just all kinds of no.

[@akuperberg]

Respect!

[@ornerybuddha1]

Awesome.

[@cabanford]

She was just free soloing. Never going to trust him

[@LynnHillClimbing]

I certainly didn't expect him to catch a fall - even on top rope!

[@scottsnyder8196]

what a gumby...

[@vladbcom]

Sexism just oozes from Letterman... that outfit comment is cringe worthy,,,

[@grnnrhanes4005]

Her trying to explain belaying and his reaction had me nervous

[@blacksun32]

Great!

[@TheK7aloha]

This is hilarious! Sweet boots!

[@henrimatisse7481]

I hope she got serious money for that big ole joke with the big joke.

[@Picklejam08]

Typical Goofy Letterman......always all about him.

[@caitmack1178]

Icon 💪

[@shatteredsquare]

GIVE ME SOME ROPE -Dave Grohl, 1989

[@octavia2]

God, this is embarrassing. You don't really notice the advances feminism has made until you see how it used to be.

[@celineremy8554]

I agree. But also, this was 2019 : kzbin.info/www/bejne/inWrhJdrnc2Em7s&ab_channel=DailyMail

[@lalagummybearcarrot]

she's awesome. Too bad she had to deal with LEtterman. He has the stupidest, most annoying sense of humor.

[@idali6144]

I surely know who Lynn Hill is, a great inspiration for many generations of climbing women. But I don't have any idea of who that nasty guy is, trying to do the sexist clown for that unknown tv show. Lynn is the queen 👑, she is in an other level.

[@cornholius]

I wish the world still had a good sense of humor. great clip

[@leapofaith2012]

Wasn't this the year she took a ground fall because of a improperly tied knot?

[@cannonball9478]

Wasted interview with an intelligent athlete. Whooping and whistling when she clipped on 🤦‍♂️

[@evanmiles2652]

The insets😂😂😂

[@Marauder1981]

Just look up Google how both aged.

[@civedm]

I surely hope he's paid to be that stupid.

[@alexandernelsen8250]

You're new here aren't you?

[@johnparla6252]

She is a werewolf 🐺🌕🐺

[@chrisaxford7851]

jimmy saville ?

[@Lucy-ng7cw]

Who's that?

[@tj2375]

It's appalling what passed for humor.

[@thewilliams714]

Honnold really over sold this

[@geordieharrower53]

Such lazy humour.

[@drdr64f]

Not liking that Letterman character. He really doesn't seem to take it seriously.

[@ronl7131]

Articulate….lovely Athlete….

[@frostgfx]

Somehow... I can't picture Dave with a camel's toe...

[@bcrowell3]

totally peurile

[@ronl7131]

…..the slack….yikes….I’ve been at the Lodge….🤪….make a wish….

[@Roosyer]

#metoo

[@megadestroyer454]

Should've used a gri-gri.

[@ahkwhebeuoq89272]

I'm not sure they existed

[@jonathanroberts6110]

She is so cool. And he's a creep.

[@illampu100]

😁

[@anthonysears871]

She shouldn't have even wasted her time on this left wing show!

[@quinoa123123]

Letterman is gross 🤮

[@gregwheat2356]

What a lame show...... who'd want to watch that?

[@createaccount974]

Dave was dumb..

[@JohnDoe-xu2vx]

Letterman used to be so funny and witty before he became woke.