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Anna Piunova. [Photo] Marko Prezelj

Local Hero: Anna Piunova

Alpinist Digital Editor Derek Franz profiles Anna Piunova, editor-in-chief of Mountain.ru. Piunova was instrumental in coordinating the helicopter rescue of Alex Gukov from 6200 meters on Latok I (7145m) in July 2018.

The author with a standard New Mexico rack, ca. 1982--hexes and saddle wedges...sad times, he reflects. [Photo] Nestor Solano

Catching Ludwig

In this Climbing Life story from Alpinist 65, Cameron M. Burns learns to belay from an eccentric mentor before braving his way up Castleton Tower with a couple of friends and a few hexes.

Tom Ballard, left, and Daniele Nardi. [Photo] Ballard, Nardi collections

Tom Ballard and Daniele Nardi’s bodies found on Nanga Parbat

The bodies of Tom Ballard, 30, of Britain, and Daniele Nardi, 42, of Italy, were spotted through a telescope above Camp III on Nanga Parbat’s Mummery Rib at around 5900 meters on March 9. A BBC.com story posted today, March 11, quoted Italian Ambassador to Pakistan Stefano Pontecorvo as saying there might be a possibility of recovering the bodies.

Smugglers' Notch, Vermont. [Photo] John Pitocco

The Ice Mirror

In recognition of International Women’s Day, we’re now sharing this Sharp End story by Alpinist Editor-in-Chief Katie Ives that first appeared in Alpinist 65, which is now available on newsstands and in our online store. Ives writes, “I became fascinated by recurring myths and images in the ways that climbers interpret fragments of existence. And as I looked for more examples, I grew absorbed by the sheer volume of alpine fiction written by and about women…. For authors [during the turn of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries], alpine settings seemed to offer their heroines a level of empowerment that they rarely found in cities…. ‘Why do we want to have alternate worlds?’ asked the fantasy writer Joan Aiken in Locus Magazine (1998), ‘You have to imagine something before you do it.'”

Cannon Cliff in winter. In a crag profile of Cannon Cliff for Alpinist 21, Freddie Wilkinson wrote, Welcome to New England's biggest wall, where 1,000 feet of rivalry, bad weather and exfoliating granite never felt so good. [Photo] Sarah Audsley

An Astonishing Plentitude

This poem first appeared in Alpinist 65, which is now available on newsstands and in our online store. Sarah Audsley is a climber and poet living in the White Mountains region of New Hampshire. In January 2019, she completed an MFA in Creative Writing from Warren Wilson College. She has received support for her creative work from the Rona Jaffe Foundation and the Vermont Studio Center. In this feature, we asked her to tell us a little about the inspiration for “An Astonishing Plentitude.”

Tom Ballard, left, and Daniele Nardi. [Photo] Daniele Nardi's Facebook page

Rescuers search for Tom Ballard and Daniele Nardi on Nanga Parbat

Tom Ballard, 30, of Britain, and Daniele Nardi, 42, of Italy, are missing on Nanga Parbat (8126m) in Pakistan. According to updates on Nardi’s Facebook page, helicopters are attempting to deliver a rescue team “as close as possible” to Camp 3 today, where a tent “invaded by snow” was spotted amid “traces of an avalanche” during a morning reconnaissance. The climbers were last heard from on Sunday, February 24, while attempting a winter ascent via a new route up the Mummery Rib, which is prone to avalanches. Their last known position is somewhere around 6300 meters between Camp 3 and Camp 4.

A climber rappels in Utah's San Rafael Swell, one of many areas across the country that will soon have wilderness designations if President Donald Trump signs the Natural Resources Management Act, which was passed by Congress on February 26. [Photo] John Easterling

Congress passes historically large public lands bill that sets a legal precedent for climbing in wilderness areas

Yesterday the House of Representatives passed a historic bipartisan bill titled the Natural Resources Management Act, 363-62. It cleared the Senate, 92-8, on February 12, and it is anticipated that President Donald Trump will soon sign it into law. The legislation combines more than 100 previously existing bills that affect public lands all over the country, and it includes provisions that pertain directly to climbers and climbing areas.