![[Photo] Cristina Pogacean](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/cosmin-andron-acp-1.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
From November 13-19, Cosmin Andron and Cristina Pogacean shared some photos and stories with the #alpinistcommunityproject. They are two Romanian alpinists. Cosmin is a former philosophy professor turned full-time mountain guide while Cristina, the saner half of the family, is a civil engineer who also moonlights as a certified mountain guide.
![The Black Diamond Access Hoody keeps Derek Franz comfortable between climbs at Main Elk, Colorado, in early March. [Photo] Mandi Franz](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/black-diamond-access-hoody-1-1.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
The Black Diamond Access Hoody has kept Alpinist Digital Editor Derek Franz comfy in a variety of temperatures and conditions since January. He’s happy with the jacket except that the zipper started having trouble after one month of light use.
![(Book cover) Found: A Life in Mountain Rescue. Bree Loewen. Mountaineers Books, 2017. Paperback, 203 pages, $17.95. [Photo] Courtesy of Mountaineers Books](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/found-book-review-1.jpg?resize=793%2C620&ssl=1)
Bree Loewen’s brilliant memoir, Found: A Life in Mountain Rescue, is a compelling tale of life and death, motherhood and wilderness, rescue and recovery–and a must-read for anyone who travels in the backcountry.
![Ryan Franz down climbs from the summit of Bridger Jack Butte to access a rappel station in April 2015. The King of Pain pinnacle is in the background. The area is part of the Bears Ears National Monument designated by outgoing President Barack Obama on December 28, 2016. [Photo] Derek Franz](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/zinke-interim-report-on-bears-ears.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s interim report on Bears Ears National Monument recommends “revising” or reducing the monument’s boundaries while keeping some areas protected. On April 26, President Donald Trump ordered Zinke to review all national monuments designated since 1996 and issue a final report by late August.
Tommy Caldwell’s autobiography, The Push, is as daring as his multitude of world-class climbing accomplishments, which range from 5.14 and 5.15 sport routes around the world, and towering free ascents on Yosemite’s El Capitan–including the first free ascent of the Dawn Wall (VI 5.14d) in January 2015 with Kevin Jorgeson–to the first completion of the Fitz Roy Traverse in Patagonia with Alex Honnold in 2014. Caldwell’s writing is honest and vulnerable, which makes his moments of triumph even more inspiring.
![In this photo that was taken through a telescope from the ground, Alex Honnold carefully makes his way across the highly technical, friction-dependent moves low on the Freerider route (VI 5.13a, 3,000') during his historic ropeless ascent of El Capitan, June 3. [Photo] Tom Evans](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/honnold-freerider-solo-1.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
Alex Honnold became the first person to free solo El Capitan via the Freerider route (VI 5.13a, 3,000′) on June 3, which is indisputably a landmark in the history of climbing. Alpinist Digital Editor Derek Franz recounts climbing with Honnold before he became famous and interviews him about scaling El Cap without a rope.
![Photo] Jay Mantri, courtesy of StockSnap](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/climate-accord-and-climate-change-1.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
“I would like to see the climbing community speak about their experiences of witnessing climate change, and their love for the mountains with anyone and everyone…. I would like them to educate us, the public,” explains climate change researcher and anthropologist Pasang Yangjee Sherpa. In this roundtable interview, climate researchers and mountaineers Pasang Yangjee Sherpa, Becky Chung, and Knut Tjensvoll Kitching respond to Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord.
![With Yosemite Falls rumbling to his left, Jon Cardwell face climbs into the final 5.12 splitter crack on Pitch 13 of the Misty Wall (5.13, 1,700') during a free ascent with Sasha DiGiulian on May 27. Cardwell had previously freed the individual pitches with Marcus Garcia last autumn, but the recent ascent is the first time the route has been free climbed in a continuous push, which took about 14.5 hours. [Photo] Marcus Garcia](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/yosemite-legacy-project-1-scaled.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
The Legacy Restoration Project is an emerging program to clean up forgotten routes as a way to remind climbers of the potential that still lies beyond the obvious classics. The program has resulted in four new high-end free climbs in Yosemite Valley since last September, starting with the West Face of the Sentinel. The most recent addition is a 14.5-hour ascent of the Misty Wall (5.13, 1,700′) by Jon Cardwell, Sasha DiGiulian and Marcus Garcia on May 27.
![The author as a girl on top of Mt. Azimiyeh, a peak she climbed many times with her dad. [Photo] Shirin Shabestari collection](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/tea-song-1.jpeg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
In this Climbing Life story from Alpinist 58, mountaineer Shirin Shabestari writes about her childhood in Iran, where her dad introduced her to snowy peaks that inspired the dreams she continues to follow.
![The Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, will host the Outdoor Retailer at least one more time this July. [Photo] hakkun, Wikimedia](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/patagonia-or-1.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
Emerald Expositions–the company that owns Outdoor Retailer–announced May 24 that it has acquired the SnowSports Industries America (SIA) Snow Show and that the winter OR trade show will now be held in conjunction with the SIA show in Denver in January. This announcement is an indication that OR is likely to leave Salt Lake City after July, though a decision about a new venue for the summer Outdoor Retailer has yet to be made.
