![Tom Higgins belaying Shake and Bake, Pinnacles National Park, California, 1976. [Photo] Tom Higgins collection, Courtesy Friends of Pinnacles](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/tom-higgins-1.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
Tom Higgins, an influential climber and writer, passed at age 73 on March 21. In his memory, we present a story in which he recounts the 1976 first ascent of Shake and Bake, a classic three-pitch 5.10a R in Pinnacles National Park, California.
![Clarence King (far right) with other members of the Geological Survey of California in 1864. [Photo] Silas Selleck, National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/a61-sharp-end-1.jpg?resize=699%2C620&ssl=1)
In this Sharp End story from Alpinist 61, Editor-in-Chief Katie Ives ponders the legend of the “mountain of diamonds” in nineteenth-century American history and the obsession with the idea of hidden riches: “How quickly visions of distant summits turn into longings for conquest, exploitation and gain. But if an imaginary peak is a creation of desire, its elusiveness might also hint at more insubstantial or transcendent things.”
![View of Devils Thumb (Taalkhunaxhk'u Shaa) from the front yard of Dieter Klose. [Photo] Mike McMahon](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/pressure-lift-1.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
In this story from Alpinist 61, Cole Taylor recounts his solo journey of sailing north along the Pacific coast from Washington, navigating miles of crevassed glaciers and pulling off the second ascent of the North Pillar of Devils Thumb (Taalkhunaxhk’u Shaa) with borrowed gear, 40 years after it was first done by Bob Plumb and Dave Stutzman.
![The author wearing the Grivel Stealth Hardshell helmet on the second-to-last pitch of Prodigal Sun in Zion, October 2017. [Photo] Derek Franz](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/grivel-stealth-hs-helmet-1-1.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
The Grivel Stealth Hard Shell helmet offers the protection of a hard shell and a foam helmet in one, making it durable against repeated knocks as well as from side impacts. Alpinist Digital Editor Derek Franz found it to be a worthy brain bucket for big-wall, ice and alpine climbing, but the strap system and one-size fit left a bit to be desired. Four stars.
Anthony Marra, Jessica Kelley and Alex Gaber are the first recipients of the inaugural Kyle Dempster Solo Adventure Award, which was created to honor the legacy of the revered alpinist and soloist. These three adventurers plan to climb, bike, ski and surf in New Zealand, Alaska and the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.
![Marc-Andre Leclerc on a successful free ascent of El Capitan's Muir Wall (VI 5.13c 900m) with Brette Harrington and Alan Carney in 2015. [Photo] Bradford McArthur](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/leclerc-remembered-1.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
Brette Harrington, Luka Lindic, Sonnie Trotter, Bernadette McDonald, Tom Livingstone and others recount the impressive climbing career and profound life of beloved Canadian alpinist Marc-Andre Leclerc.
![Fred Beckey on the summit of Mt. Goode. [Photo] Douglas McCarty](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/a-short-stretch-of-freds-road-1.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
In this story from Alpinist 61, Douglas McCarty recalls his adventures on the road with Fred Beckey, which started in 1972 when McCarty and a friend hopped a freight train from Montana to Seattle, where the 17-year-olds subsequently met Beckey. Since then, McCarty joined the legendary mountaineer on trips to Alaska, China, Kenya, Mexico and Tanzania, with urban bivies at public parks in between.
![Mike Lewis carrying the Blue Ice Warthog 40L pack in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. [Photo] Chris Wood](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/blue-ice-warthog-backpack-1-1.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
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](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/mountain-steward-1.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
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](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/ryan-johnson-1.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
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.
