Skip to content
Home » free » Page 34

free

Mike Lewis carrying the Blue Ice Warthog 40L pack in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. [Photo] Chris Wood

The Blue Ice Warthog 40L Pack: a worthy, alpine-specific workhorse

After lugging the Blue Ice Warthog 40L backpack around the mountains for several months, IFMGA/AMGA guide Mike Lewis came to some conclusions: the pack is ideal for ice, rock and alpine climbing (5 stars for that category), but the lack of a padded hip belt makes it less comfortable to carry long distances when you’re not wearing a harness and you want to load more of the pack weight onto the hips instead of the shoulders. “For someone who is specifically looking for a pack with an unpadded, removable hip belt for technical climbing, this pack is a slam-dunk,” Lewis writes.

Laura and Guy Waterman are pictured here on the Franconia Ridge in New England's Presidential Range during the mid-1980s, when they were very involved with trail work under the Appalachian Mountain Club's adopt-a-trail program. We and some of our trail work friends had recently placed those rocks at the head of Walker Ravine in an attempt to reinforce the drainage and stabilize the trail, she told Alpinist. [Photo] Waterman family collection

On Becoming a Mountain Steward

In this unabridged version of a Climbing Life story from Alpinist 61, Laura Waterman retraces the path and climbs that inspired her to become involved in conservation work with her husband, Guy Waterman, in New England’s Presidential Range during the 1970s. Laura Waterman outlines the environmental challenges the area has faced in the past and now faces again in the form of a new hotel that is being proposed by the Cog Railway near the summit of Mt. Washington (Agiocochook).

Ryan Johnson rigging a rappel on an October 2015 attempt on the north face of the Main Mendenhall Tower. Johnson completed this dream line with Marc-Andre Leclerc, but the pair lost their lives on the descent. [Photo] Clint Helander

Remembering Ryan Johnson

Clint Helander remembers the life and prolific climbing career of his friend Ryan Johnson, who went missing and is presumed dead along with Marc-Andre Leclerc after the pair climbed a new route on the north face of the Main Mendenhall Tower in Alaska in early March.

Lopsang Tshering Sherpa recalls small perks from mountaineering work: I often came back with clothes that no one else had in Kathmandu. He drank so much tea on expeditions that he was called Tea Lopsang. Now, he grows tea in his village, where everyone calls him Chiya Baje (Grandpa Tea). [Photo] Kapil Bisht

Local Hero: Lopsang Tshering Sherpa

In this Local Hero story from the latest issue, Alpinist 61, Kapil Bisht interviews Lopsang Tshering Sherpa, who began his storied career as an expedition worker in 1959 as a kitchen helper on the 1959 international women’s Cho Oyu expedition; three years later he was among those bridging the gap for Lionel Terray and the first ascent of Jannu.

Wading across the Virgin River in Zion with the Lowa Approach Pro Los in hand. [Photo] Derek Franz

Lowa Approach Pro GTX Lo: A go-everywhere shoe

If Alpinist Digital Editor Derek Franz had to pick just one type of shoe to wear for the rest of his life, there’s no doubt it would be a pair of approach shoes. The Lowa Approach Pro Los have become his first choice to wear everywhere, all the time. Five stars.

David Allfrey, Kieran Brownie and Paul McSorley's route, El Abrazo de la Serpiente (Embrace of the Serpent; V 5.11c R/X 660m), on Cerro Pajarito is shown in red, as seen from Cerro Diablo. [Photo] Paul McSorley

A sweltering, runout adventure on Colombia’s Cerro Pajarito

On February 1, Dave Allfrey, Kieran Brownie and Paul McSorley completed a new route up the unclimbed northwest face of Cerro Pajarito in the Cerros de Mavecure in Guainia, Colombia. El Abrazo de la Serpiente (Embrace of the Serpent; V 5.11c R/X 660m) was established ground up, onsight, over two trips. The rainforest heat was the crux.

The author on the approach to Washington Column with Half Dome in the background, 2015. [Photo] Alex McKiernan collection

The Prow

Alex McKiernan suffered a spinal cord injury from a car crash in 2014 and he has slowly regained some use of his legs since then. In this story from Alpinist 60, he details the path of his recovery, and how he climbed a Yosemite big wall in 2016.

Art of Freedom: The Life and Climbs of Voytek Kurtyka by Bernadette McDonald. Rocky Mountain Books, 2017. 326 pages. Hardcover, $32. [Image] Courtesy Rocky Mountain Books

Glimpses of Higher Worlds: Bernadette McDonald’s ‘Art of Freedom’

“‘Art of Freedom,’ is a brilliant work of insight, not only into the life of the great alpinist, but also about the questions that compel us to the mountains in the first place,” writes Alpinist Associate Editor Paula Wright in her feature about Bernadette McDonald’s award-winning biography, “Art of Freedom: The Life and Climbs of Voytek Kurtyka.”

[Photo] Paul Zizka

Totality from a Mountaintop

In this letter to the editor from Alpinist 60, Christopher Elliott describes the solar eclipse that occurred on August 21, 2017, and the fleeting “moment of totality” that he and his fellow observers experienced from the top of a mountain.