![Climber representatives pose in front of the nation's capital in Washington, DC, last week during the Access Fund and American Alpine Club's third annual Climb the Hill event, which included more than 60 delegates. [Photo] Stephen Gosling](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/climb-the-hill-2018-recap-1-3.jpg?resize=640%2C620&ssl=1)
On May 9-11, some of the nation’s most prominent climbers took off their down jackets and donned suits on Capitol Hill to advocate for public lands, outdoor recreation and environmental issues. Nick Mott recaps some of the highlights along with some of the challenges ahead.
![The author wears the Ortovox Col Becchei softshell jacket on the trail in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. [Photo] Chris Wood](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/ortovox-col-becchei-1-1.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
Mike Lewis finds that the Ortovox Col Becchei softshell jacket is well designed for alpine and rock climbing as well as backcountry skiing, but he has concerns about the $320 price tag.
![Life Compass (IV 5.10a M4+ 80 degrees, TD+, 980m) on Alberta, Canada's Mt. Blane. [Image] Brette Harrington](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/life-compass-mt-blane-1.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
Brette Harrington and Rose Pearson completed a new route on Mt. Blane–Life Compass (IV 5.10a M4+ 80 degrees, TD+, 980m)–in Alberta, Canada, in a 21.5-hour car-to-car push on April 25. They named the route for the series of life events that brought them together and the solace that Harrington sought in the aftermath of a heavy loss.
![Flashback from 2017: (left to right) Sasha DiGiulian, Caroline Gleich, Libby Sauter, Quinn Brett and Katie Boue flex after a Congressional briefing in the U.S. Senate last year. All of them returned to Washington, D.C., this week for the third annual Climb the Hill event. [Photo] Derek Franz](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/climb-the-hill-7-scaled.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
The Access Fund and American Alpine club are gathering once again in Washington, D.C., this week with a host of high-profile climbers to lobby Congress on a handful of national issues affecting public lands, the environment and outdoor recreation as part of the third annual Climb the Hill event. The list of participants expected to attend this year includes Quinn Brett, Majka Burhardt, Tommy Caldwell, Sasha DiGiulian, Caroline Gleich, Margo Hayes, Lynn Hill, Alex Honnold, Bethany Lebewitz, Mikhail Martin, Maricela Rosales, Chelsea Rude, Libby Sauter, Forrest Shearer, Geoff Unger, Jessica Yang and Alina Zagaytova
![From left to right: Danika Gilbert, David Roberts, Doug Chabot and Jeff Jackson. [Image] Courtesy of the American Alpine Club](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/aac-excellence-awards-preview-1.jpg?resize=930%2C400&ssl=1)
Doug Chabot, Danika Gilbert, David Roberts and Jeff Jackson are to be honored at the American Alpine Club’s Excellence in Climbing Celebration in Denver on June 2. Tickets are now on sale for the event, which includes a dinner, auctions, live music and more, with all proceeds supporting the AAC Library and the Bradford Washburn American Mountaineering Museum.
![Tom Livingstone on the summit ridge of Jezebel after climbing a new route-- Fun or Fear (AI 6 R M6+, 90 degrees, ca. 1200m)--up the mountain's east face with Uisdean Hawthorn. [Photo] Uisdean Hawthorn](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/fun-or-fear-1.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
Tom Livingstone and Uisdean Hawthorn went to Alaska’s Revelation Range at the end of March, intent on trying a new route on Jezebel’s north face. After several runout pitches on poor snow, they reached a dead end: a giant chimney filled with vertical snow that had no apparent cracks. Consequently, they abandoned their attempt and turned their attention to the mountain’s east face, where they completed a new route called Fun or Fear (AI 6 R M6+, 90 degrees, ca. 1200m) over two days in early April.
![[Photo] Derek Franz](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/franz-image.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
Alpinist, the American Alpine Club, the Access Fund and other climbing organizations across the country are partnering to launch a survey on the occurrence of sexual harassment and sexual assault in the climbing world. Our goal is to quantify the extent of this problem in our community.
![[Photo] Kari Medig](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/a61-off-belay-1.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
In this Off Belay story from Alpinist 61, Jerry Auld imagines a close encounter with the gears of a massive mechanical system lurching under the surface of a glacier. The tale was inspired by some of his glacier travel in which he once fell into a crevasse and from a 2013 ski circumnavigation of Mt. Logan in Canada’s Kluane National Park. He writes, “When you are in the palm of such a setting, it is hard to not feel the importance of keeping these environments working. I wanted to tell that story–to visualize a wounded Earth that is starting to stall, and how tiny and bewildered we become in that situation.”
![The author wearing the Patagonia Micro Puff jacket on Prodigal Sun in Zion last October. [Photo] Derek Franz](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/patagonia-micro-puff-hoody-1-1.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
Alpinist digital editor Derek Franz tested the Patagonia Micro Puff jacket and found that the lightweight, synthetic garment outperforms those of similar weights with down feathers. “It lives up to the hype,” Franz writes. Five stars.
![Summit group photo on Langdung (6357m), Nepal, December 20. [Photo] Courtesy Dawa Yangzum Sherpa](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/langdung-first-ascent-1-1.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
A team of four Sherpa alpinists completed the first ascent of Langdung peak (6357m) in December 2017. Dawa Yangzum Sherpa, the team’s only woman and Nepal’s first IFMGA guide, was instrumental in organizing the ascent, which included Dawa Gyalje Sherpa, Pasang Kidar Sherpa and Nima Tenji Sherpa. Here is the story of their climb and an interview with Dawa Yangzum about what it’s like to be a woman in the mountains.
