![Two climbers at Chasm Lake at the base of Longs Peak. [Photo] Jeff Long](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/jeff-long-the-story-behind-the-glass-mountain.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
Jeff Long: The Story Behind “The Glass Mountain”
An interview with climber and New York Times best-selling author Jeff Long on his story “The Glass Mountain,” published in Alpinist 54.
![This photo shows Gimmigela East (7005m) from a vantage point above the team's base camp. Auer wrote, Our plan of putting up a base camp with a direct view to the mountain was shut down by our porters. They all stopped in Camp Pangpema, the base camp for Kangchenjunga (8586m). We convinced five of them to shuttle up our loads a little bit higher during a few days. [Photo] Elias Holzkenecht](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/gimmigela-east-2.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
Alpine Style: Two Austrians make the first ascent of Gimmigela East’s North Face
When Hansjorg Auer and Alex Blumel couldn’t get a permit for their original objective last November they were pointed to Gimmigela East (7005m). It turned out to be a great choice, as they became the first people to approach the mountain from the northern side and climb its previously untouched North Face (M4, 85-degree ice, 1200m).
![The Black Dike, Cannon Cliff, New Hampshire, 1970s. Laura Waterman was the first woman to climb the route, four years after John Bouchard's 1971 first ascent. [Photo] Ed Webster](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/sharp-end-issue-57.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
The Precarious World–The Sharp End, Alpinist 57
At a time when the word precarious is used increasingly to describe many aspects of our current existence, Katie Ives reflects on the differences between confronting risk in the mountains and responding to much vaster political and ecological uncertainties in the US and the world. “I think now, especially with climate change, we are without a doubt living in a precarious world,” climber and environmental advocate Laura Waterman tells her. “We have to make the right decisions, ethically, as best we can.”
![Bachelor Party: After a typical Black Canyon approach, the author (right) prepares to climb back to the rim with his buddies Jack Cody (middle) and Todd Preston (left), in June 2015, the day before the author's wedding. [Photo] Derek Franz](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/sportiva-tx2-1-1.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
La Sportiva TX2: Blurring the line between climbing and approach shoes
The La Sportiva TX2 approach shoes shine brightly on fast-and-light rock missions when you need to carry your approach shoes with you on the climb. Alpinist Digital Editor Derek Franz awards them five stars.
![Jenny Abegg and Alix Morris look on as Forest Woodward gets enthusiastic about his morning coffee in basecamp. [Photo] Graham Zimmerman](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/first-first-ascents-leaning-towers-1-scaled.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
Diving into the Unknown
Four friends spend 10 days doing first ascents in the Purcell Wilderness, British Columbia, and for some it was their first time doing a first ascent.
![[Photo] Erin Monahan collection](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/talking-enviro-1.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
Talking Environmentalism at the Summer Outdoor Retailer 2016
At the 2016 Summer Outdoor Retailer trade show, Erin Monahan wonders how far leaders in the outdoor gear industry are really willing to take their commitment to the environment.
![Nik Mirhashemi and Mark Pugliese climbed a route they called Wrong Way Bud (5.6 M4, 500m) on Norbu Peak (5634m) on October 23. [Photo] Nik Mirhashemi](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/rolwaling-trip-1.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
Two Americans climb three new routes in Nepal’s Rolwaling Valley
Americans Nik Mirhashemi and Mark Pugliese made three probable first ascents on three peaks in Nepal’s Rolwaling Valley on their first trip to the Himalaya last autumn.
![The red line shows the approximate route of Standing Room Only (Russian Alpine Grade 5a, Scottish IV, M4, 650m) on the West Face of Xialongrezha (5678m). The first four pitches are obscured below the fin of rock. [Photo] Rob Baker](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/xialongrezha-1.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
Small Australian-Chinese team explores new ground in Tibet
A team of five friends self-fund an expedition to a rarely visited area of Tibet and climb a previously unnamed 5678-meter peak they named Xialongrezha. They climbed the west face and called their route Standing Room Only (Russian Alpine Grade 5a, Scottish IV, M4, 650m).
![Tom Ballard makes the first ascent of Dust in the Wind (M8, 100m), Val di Fassa, Italy, while rope-soloing. [Photo] Tom Ballard](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/ballard-rope-solos-1.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
Tom Ballard finishes the year with back-to-back rope-solo ascents
Tom Ballard closes out the year in the Dolomites with a rope-solo first ascent of Dust in the Wind (M8, 100m) and a casual multiday rope solo of the Gogna Route (5.10, 800m) on Marmolada Punta Rocca (3309m), which he finished on New Years Eve.
![This aerial shot shows the magnitude of the Eiger North Face (3970m). Metanoia (VII 5.10 M6 A4, 1800m) takes a central line up the shadowy face. [Photo] Archive Metanoia](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/metanoia-1.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
Huber, Schaeli and Siegrist complete the second ascent of Eiger’s Metanoia
Thomas Huber, Roger Schaeli and Stephan Siegrist complete the second ascent of Metanoia (VII 5.10 M6 A4, 1800m) on the Eiger North Face (3970m), more than 25 years after Jeff Lowe established the legendary route that became a turning point in his life.