Skip to content
  • Onward & Upward: A century of women climbing in the Tetons

    Onward & Upward: A century of women climbing in the Tetons

    In late 2022, I learned that The Teton Climbers’ Coalition would be celebrating the 100th anniversary of the first female ascent of the Grand Teton the next year, and they were looking for suggestions on how to engage the community. This sparked the nugget of an idea in my storyteller’s brain—I could help mark this full century of women climbing in the Tetons while sharing my own love of these mountains with a wider audience. The history of climbing here feels like a living, breathing one, where friends and neighbors I see at the trailhead and the grocery store have…


    Read Now ›

  • 1981: Katahdin in Winter

    1981: Katahdin in Winter

    As we moved higher, the fog thickened. Nancy Rich, Helen and I began putting in wands on the off chance we’d be descending this route. As the trail gained the summit plateau, called the Tableland, flat and featureless, the grade eased off and the route was marked by cairns.

  • Sharp End: Shiny Things

    Sharp End: Shiny Things

    In this Sharp End story from Alpinist 84—which is now available on newsstands and in our online store—Derek Franz weighs the pros and cons of the Piolets d’Or. “The propriety of Piolets’ “Golden Ice Axe” awards in the realm of alpinism has been debated ever since the first ceremony in 1992,” he writes. “If the Piolets d’Or fail to live up to their aspirational status as a touchstone for alpinism’s greatest ideals, they at least provide us with a weather vane for the culture.”

Current Issue

Alpinist 85 | Spring 2024

Cover: Jackson Marvell climbs the north-facing headwall of Jannu (7710m) last October during the first ascent of Roundtrip Ticket (AI5+ M7, 2700m). [Photo] Matt Cornell

Newswire


  • Two proposals threaten America’s rock climbing

    Two proposals threaten America’s rock climbing

    |

    Policy proposals are now being considered by the National Park Service (NPS) and US Forest Service (USFS) that threaten to fundamentally change the way rock climbing is managed. A comment period for these proposals has recently been extended to January 30. It is important that climbers make our presence known and kindly share our perspectives to help non-climbing land managers better understand what we do and how we do it, especially when it comes to climbing in wilderness areas.


    Read Now ›

More NEWSWIRES

  • New route on Mt. Dickey, Alaska: Aim For the Bushes

    Over a three-day push from March 31 to April 2, Matt Cornell, Jackson Marvell and Alan Rousseau climbed a new route on the east face of Mt. Dickey in Alaska’s Ruth Gorge. They named their line Aim For the Bushes (AI6 M6 X, 5,250′). Rousseau narrates their adventure.

  • Remembering Ed Webster: 1956-2022

    One of climbing’s great Renaissance men, Ed Webster, 66, died of natural causes at his Maine home on November 22. Friend and climbing historian Jeff Achey described Webster as “one of the most important rock climbers of his era, on par, in his unique way, with John Bachar, Henry Barber and Jimmy Dunn.” Webster blazed new routes from Cathedral Ledge to Colorado, to the Utah desert and, with three friends in 1988, to Chomolungma’s Kangshung Face. A route that Reinhold Messner endorsed as “the best ascent of Everest in terms and style of pure adventure.” Beyond the climbs, Webster was…

  • Alpinist hires Abbey Collins as assistant editor

    Alpinist is delighted to welcome Abbey Collins to its team as an assistant editor. She returns to the East Coast from Alaska to work from the magazine’s headquarters in Jeffersonville, Vermont. “Abbey brings a broad skillset to us, from radio to print journalism, and I’m excited about the possibilities she brings to Alpinist, and what this means for the Alpinist Podcast as well as the magazine,” says Editor-in-Chief Derek Franz. “She has reported on difficult stories in her previous jobs, is connected to the Alaskan mountaineering scene, and she is clearly the type of person who embraces challenges with enthusiasm.…

The ALPINIST Podcast

The Alpinist podcast extends our conversations with climbers and community members into a new medium: from fresh interviews to untold stories, and from humorous adventure tales to in-depth discussions of significant issues in the climbing world today.

Episode 62 | The Alpinist Podcast

Graham Zimmerman’s Balancing Act

In this episode, Graham Zimmerman speaks to the need for systemic change when it comes to climate and social issues, and how climbers see those challenges through a unique lens. He reflects on his love for the mountains, and the sense of release and joy they provide him with.

Listen Now ›

Episode 61 | The Alpinist Podcast

Len Necefer

In this episode, Len Necefer reflects on why having a sense of humor is essential when trying to communicate about heavy subjects like climate change; what it was like teaching himself to ski; and why it’s important for all of us to vote.

Listen Now ›

Mountain Standards gear reviews


Features


  • 1973: The Cilley-Barber Route

    1973: The Cilley-Barber Route

    |

    Whiteout spindrift avalanches, the cold temperature and bulletproof ice all made the climbing slow and progress doubtful as I skirted around the right side of some horizontal ice roofs. I prayed Dave wouldn’t fall following this pitch: my gear was in questionable, shattered ice, and I was belaying above the crux from my seventy-centimeter wooden-shafted…


    Read Now ›

  • Tool User: Sticky-Rubber Kneepads

    Tool User: Sticky-Rubber Kneepads

    In this Tool User story from Alpinist 83—which is available in our online store—Matt Samet traces the development of sticky-rubber kneepads.


    Read Now ›

  • Climbing in Wilderness

    Climbing in Wilderness

    In this Sharp End story from Alpinist 83–which is now available on newsstands and in our online store–Derek Franz examines the legal landscape and uncertain future for bolts and other fixed anchors that have been used for climbing in designated wilderness areas for nearly sixty years. Legislation such as Protect America’s Rock Climbing Act and…


    Read Now ›

  • Power on the Peaks

    Power on the Peaks

    In this Climbing Life story from Alpinist 81–which is available in our online store–Shehla Anjum shares stories from some of the Pakistani women finding their power amid the country’s high peaks.


    Read Now ›

  • Contemplating the Next Impossible

    Contemplating the Next Impossible

    In this Sharp End story from Alpinist 82–which is now on newsstands and in our online store–Derek Franz considers some of the hardest objectives for today’s alpinists. He writes: “When it comes to the physical limits of the human body, we are constantly wondering what is possible: What is the fastest a human can run,…


    Read Now ›