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Suzana EL Massri in Scotland with Slovenian climbers Sara Jaklic (pictured) and Marija Jeglic (photographer). [Photo] Marija Jeglic

Call It Dreaming

In this Climbing Life story from Alpinist 73–which is now on newsstands and in our online store–Suzana EL Massri reexamines her dreams during years of conflict and pandemic. She writes: “A multitude of decisions, chaos and chance forms our existence. Any sense to it is created by us, and it requires a daring belief in the future. We don’t get to carry a map for every corridor we enter. Sometimes the close-up reality of attaining visions requires the repetition of simple tasks. Doing a lot of almost nothing until it becomes something. Until we make it into something more, something worth hoping for.”

Climb United graphic

American Alpine Club moves forward with its Climb United Initiative with a public forum April 21

The American Alpine Club (AAC) announced the formation of their Climb United initiative in February of this year. In March, Alpinist participated in a meeting of the Climb United Route Naming Task Force, which was formed to try “to build the best publishing practices to avoid harm caused by discriminatory or oppressive route names,” according to the AAC’s website. The AAC will host a public forum on the draft guidelines on April 21 at 6 p.m. MDT.

Chevon Powell, organizer of the Refuge Outdoor Festival. [Photo] Earica Brown

Local Hero: Chevon Powell

In this Local Hero story from Alpinist 73–which is now available on newsstands and in our online store–Anaheed Saatchi celebrates the work of Chevon Powell, organizer of the Refuge Outdoor Festival, to create spaces for “healing and belonging” in nature and ” to advocate for a broader picture of who recreates outside.”

The author slides the pinky rest up the shaft and rest steps up snow to approach the next pitch of ice. [Photo] Yaroslav Lototskyy

Blue Ice Akila Ice Axe: An excellent hybrid multitasker

Mountain Standards Gear Review: IFMGA/AMGA mountain guide Mike Lewis has been using the Blue Ice Akila ice axes for a variety of missions. He writes: “The Akilas kick butt for skiing and light and fast technical mountaineering because they are light, have technical picks and curved shafts (so knuckles don’t slam into ice when ice climbing), and are short and can fit either on the back of a small pack, or even in it. Whip them off the pack for some low-angled ice or even a steep bulge, and then plunge them in 50-degree snow to top out a major mountaineering objective. An effortlessly slidable plastic pinky rest makes for easy gripping on technical ice, yet can be moved out of the way, further up the shaft or completely off the axe, when sinking into deep snow.” Five stars.

Evelio Echevarria in 2018. [Photo] Cameron M. Burns

Remembering Evelio A. Echevarria (1926-2020)

One of the greatest South American mountain scholars has passed. Evelio Echevarria died in October 2020 of colon cancer. Echevarria stands out in the mountaineering world for the massive amount of exploration and research of the Andes he did over the course of his life. He wrote more than 90 reports for the American Alpine Journal and sent a similar amount of information to the British Alpine Journal. “He was one of a small, select handful of mountain writers who were worth their weight in gold, in terms of their depth of interest and rigorous approach,” said Alpine Journal editor Ed Douglas. “His loss might go unremarked by many climbers but those operating in South America will have benefited from his effort and attention to detail.”

The first Make it Real (MIR) student team visits Robert Goh's Shishapangma base camp in 2002. [Photo] Robert Goh

Make It Real

In this story from The Climbing Life section of Alpinist 73–which is now available on newsstands and in our online store–Lim Joel and his friends train for Himalayan peaks in their tropical Singapore home.

[Book cover] Hooking Up: The Ultimate Big Wall and Aid Climbing Manual (2019), by Peter Zabrok and Fabio Elli, $59.95. [Cover photo] Tom Evans

Peter Zabrok and Fabio Elli’s “Hooking Up” big wall aid climbing manual is fun as well as informative

Of Peter Zabrok and Fabio Elli’s recent book “Hooking Up: The Ultimate Big Wall and Aid Climbing Manual,” John Climaco writes: “Until recently and despite 40 years of climbing, I knew almost nothing about big walls. Oh sure, I’ve managed to drag myself up Leaning Tower, Half Dome and even an El Cap route…. But my real big wall skills? By the standards of ‘Pass the Pitons’ Peter Zabrok, aka Dr. Piton…they might as well have been non-existent…. Like any good teachers, the authors go to great lengths throughout the book to break up what are often extremely technical (and necessary) discussions with fun and funny stories and anecdotes.”

George Whitmore in the Canadian Rockies, 1962. [Photo] Ed Cooper

Remembering George Whitmore (1931-2021)

George Whitmore, one of the first ascensionists of the Nose of El Capitan (Tu-Tok-A-Nu-La) in 1958, passed away on New Year’s Day in Fresno, California, from complications of COVID-19 at age 89. Steve Grossman recounts his influential life.

Ethan Berman looking at the Emperor Face from their camp by the river. This was the best view he and Uisdean Hawthorn had before the mist returned. The Texqakallt Nation name for the 3954-meter peak, Yexyexescen, roughly translates to striped rock, a reflection of the multilayered horizontal striations. [Photo] Uisdean Hawthorn

Running into the Shadows

In this On Belay story from Alpinist 73–which is now available on newsstands and in our online store–Uisdean Hawthorn writes about a new route that he and Ethan Berman climbed on the Emperor Face of Yexyexescen (Mt. Robson), which they named Running in the Shadows (VI AI5 M6 A0, 2000m). Hawthorn writes: “People will say, ‘They timed it perfectly and got perfect conditions.’ But in reality, we’d just stood there bleary-eyed in the dark, had a bit of confidence or perhaps a fear of failure, and we’d gone for it. It was only our curiosity that let us discover if the Emperor would be willing to accept our passage.”

This copyrighted topo shows the route of La Chaltenense (5.11+, 500m) on Fitz Roy. The playlist of songs on the left corresponds to the pitches where they were played. Patagonia guidebook author (and creator of this image) Rolando Garibotti said he came up with the idea after learning that first ascensionist Jon Griffin had carried speakers and played music on almost every pitch. [Image] © Rolando Garibotti @rolo_garibotti @patagoniavertical

Sean Villanueva O’Driscoll and Jon Griffin complete big (and wide) new line on Fitz Roy

On March 3, Sean Villanueva O’Driscoll and Jon Griffin completed the first ascent of a 350-meter offwidth that splits Fitz Roy’s south face. They topped out at 3:40 a.m. on March 4 and shiver-bivied on the summit for a few hours before heading down. Both suffered frost-nipped toes. They named the crack La Chaltenense (5.11+, 500m) in homage to El Chalten where the Belgian and American have been living for more than a year.