![Alex Honnold speaks to a crowd of Save Red Rock supporters and media outside the Clark County Government Center before the February 22 hearing in which the County Zoning Commission ruled in favor of the concept plan for the Blue Diamond Hill development. Regardless of the outcome, the event was awesome--tons of support for our side, said Chris Weidner, a climber and freelance writer who attended the hearing. [Photo] Heather Weidner](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/blue-diamond-development-1.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
Clark County Commissioners allow a 2011 concept plan to proceed for a 5,000-home development on Blue Diamond Hill near Red Rock National Conservation Area, which is a worldwide attraction for climbers. Several more steps remain for final approval and more court hearings are anticipated.
![The north face of Kumbhakarna, above local settlements. Some names of local expedition workers are absent from written records. For a few in this article--Penuri, Ungati and Tumba--where we couldn't find other sources, we relied on climbers' memories, and it's possible the real names might be different. [Photo] Javier Camacho Gimeno](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/ghunsa-1.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
Local guide Dawa Sherpa describes what it’s like to live and work near the base of Jannu/Kumbhakarna–a mountain sacred to his culture.
Russian alpinist Sergey Kofanov recounts his 2007 encounter with the “cosmic cold” shoulder of Jannu, when he and Valery Babanov made the first ascent of the West Pillar in alpine style.
![A photo of Manhattan from the author. On the connection between the landscapes of the wild and Manhattan, Brown writes, I remember the poet John Haines looking at me like I was crazy when I told him I was leaving Homer to move to a big urban jungle. He shuddered and said, 'I don't know how you can do that.' But what Alaska and Manhattan had in common was, again, a kind of intensity. And the same river running through them both. [Photo] Chip Brown](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/chip-brown-city-1.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
In an Alpinist exclusive poetry feature, award-winning outdoor writer Chip Brown imagines the landscape of the Yukon within the sounds of the city, and in an interview he reflects on the connection between climbing and poetry.
![Shomi Suzuki atop Kumbhakarna in 1976. [Photo] Naoe Sakashita](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/jannu-remembrances.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
The great Japanese mountaineer Naoe Sakashita looks back on the first complete ascent of the north face of Jannu / Kumbhakarna to the summit of the 7710-meter Himalayan peak, and on his friendship with teammate Nobu-yuki Ogawa.
![The author attempting FM (5.11c) on Elephant Buttress in Colorado's Boulder Canyon. [Photo] Paul Gagner](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/bd-first-light-hoody-1-1-scaled.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
The Black Diamond First Light Hoody does its job but it’s bulky for climbing and some features could be improved. Chris Van Leuven gives it three stars.
In 1975 New Zealand climber Graeme Dingle joined an expedition to the legendary Wall of Shadows on Jannu / Kumbhakarna, a 7710-meter peak in Nepal. High on the mountain, he looked up at an immense ice formation that seemed about to collapse. “You can’t tell me those cliffs are safe,” he said. “This is as far as I’m going.”
Read all four essays by Graeme Dingle, Naoe Sakashita, Sergey Kofanov and Dawa Sherpa from our Mountain Profile of Jannu / Kumbhakarna in Alpinist 57–Spring 2017.
![Roland with his rack in 2010, when Ross Taylor interviewed him at his home where he made his famous brass nuts. [Photo] Craig Ingram](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/pauligk-obit-2-scaled.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
Ross Taylor grew up as a family friend of Roland Pauligk, the man who created the brass “RP” micronuts that revolutionized rock climbing in the 1970s and are still essential gear at many cliffs today. Taylor recounts an influential life well lived since Pauligk died of cancer January 22.
![Mike Lewis climbs Hidden Falls in Rocky Mountain National Park with the calf snaps closed on the Dynafit Yotei pants. Lewis reports that he liked the calf snaps because they adapted the fit of the cuffs better for ice climbing after he used the pants for ski touring. [Photo] Eric Stoutenburg](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/dynafit-yotei-pants-1-1-scaled.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
The Dynafit Yotei GTX Pants proved to be a versatile piece of outerwear for Mike Lewis, an AMGA-certified alpine guide, who reports that the pants work well for ski-touring and ice climbing while accommodating comfortable space for avalanche beacons and field books. The pants became his go-to option after testing them in Chile, Wyoming’s Grand Tetons and Canada. He awards them five stars.
