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Echoes through the Ages
In this Sharp End story from Alpinist 86, Derek Franz contemplates the future and finds hope. He writes: “While digging through the Alpinist archive for research related to this issue, I happened upon articles whose words resonated not only with my current situation but with what today’s writers continue to express in different ways. They…
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Desert Visions
Left to Right: Bryan Becker, Ed Webster, Brian Shelton and Stewart M. Green at the base of Supercrack in 2008. [Photo] Stewart M. Green collection
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Three Years for Seven Days on Jannu
Alan Rousseau shares the story of the first alpine-style ascent of Jannu’s north face, by a new route, Roundtrip Ticket (AI5+ M7, 2700m), with Jackson Marvell and Matt Cornell in October 2023.
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Local Hero: Nasim Eshqi
Nasim Eshqi trained in Bisotun and Baraghan, some of the most famous Iranian climbing areas. She traveled to the Alps, Oman, Armenia, India, Georgia, Turkey and China. She was driven by an irrepressible lust for life, a never-ending energy, techno music, books and “the power of pink.”
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Into the Darkness We Go
With her friend Eliza Earle, Sara Aranda heads into the Wind River Range of Wyoming to watch the solar eclipse of 2017—and finds herself journeying into the darkness beneath existence itself.
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Playing his own game: An Interview with Edmund February about coming of age as a climber during South Africa’s apartheid
Edmund February found success in both the mountains and academia despite being a climber of color during South Africa’s apartheid. In this story from Alpinist 85, Brandon Blackburn interviews February about how he overcame racist norms to pursue his passions, always playing his own game.
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A Drone in the Desert
In this Sharp End story from Alpinist 85—which is now available on newsstands and in our online store—Derek Franz encounters a drone on top of a desert tower and contemplates the changes brought on by the technological age, and what the future might hold for climbing in America.
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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…
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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.
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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.
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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…
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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.
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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,…
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What’s Past is Prologue: Tom Hornbein’s Winding Road to Chomolungma
To honor the life of Tom Hornbein, who died on May 6, 2023, at his home in Estes Park, Colorado, at age 92, we are sharing this feature story from Alpinist 73 (2021) by mountaineering historian Maurice Isserman. Hornbein was one of America’s greatest climbers, best known for completing the first ascent of Mt. Everest’s…
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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.
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Alpinist Community Project Flashback: Meg O’Neill
From October 24-30, 2016, Meg O’Neill shared some stories and photos with the #AlpinistCommunityProject about her path to alpinism. O’Neill died tragically on April 2, 2023, while ice climbing with two friends on Raven Falls in northeastern Utah when an ice pillar collapsed. On April 4 the Duchesne County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that a 34-year-old…
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Between safety and boldness
In this Sharp End story from Alpinist 81–which is now on newsstands and in our online store–Derek Franz seeks a balance between safety and boldness. He writes: “Climbing…is full of duality, encompassing a range of contradictory values…. There is a continual tightrope walk between the opposing values of safety and boldness, and the search for…
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What We Search For
As he struggles to cope with the death of a friend, Jason Nark becomes absorbed in the story of the search for Matthew Greene, a climber who disappeared in the Sierra Nevada in 2013.
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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…
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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…
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A Climbing Life
In this Sharp End story from Alpinist 80–which is now available on newsstands and in our online store–Derek Franz shares his journey from Alpinist reader to editor-in-chief.
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