StevenAS

I disagree, in some ways it does make a big difference in pushing grades. It is much easier to plug a cam in then pound a piton when you're free climbing. To me it seems very few hard off widths would be climbed if your pro was a bong or chockstone you place. People do trad 5.11s now and think no big deal but the routes were often runout and bold leads back in the day.

The first two people to free El Cap were Todd Skinner and Paul Piana. The climbed the Salathe Wall in 1988. In 1993 or so Lynn Hill free climbed the Nose.