Surface Tension : Part 01

Surface Tension is a series about rubber technology in climbing, tracing traction from nature’s first templates to the chemical age. Part 1 begins when rubber entered the story and rewired what footwear could do. Climbers soon discovered that sensitivity underfoot was its own kind of safety, and the sport began demanding friction as a feature. This chapter starts at the hinge point, when tragedy met necessity and new materials reshaped how people moved through the mountains.