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Adam Ondra celebrates on Wino Tower after finishing the most difficult pitches of the El Capitan's Dawn Wall (VI 5.14d). [Photo] Heinz Zak and Black Diamond Equipment

Adam Ondra Frees the Dawn Wall

Adam Ondra sets a new precedent on the second free ascent of El Capitan’s Dawn Wall (VI 5.14d) by blazing up the route in fewer than eight days and leading every pitch.

Lauret Savoy's Trace: Memory, History, Race, and the American Landscape (2015). [Photo] Katie Ives

Lauret Savoy’s Trace: Exploring Landscapes of Exclusion and Inclusion in American History

Alpinist Editor-in-chief Katie Ives describes some of the reasons Lauret Savoy’s 2015 book, Trace: Memory, History, Race and the American Landscape has become deeply relevant today: “Much of prior mountain literature, all too often, has been solipsistic and exclusionary. More than ever, we need writers like Lauret Savoy, who can help us see our shared land for it has been, what it is, and the many possible futures of what it can be. In a world in which so much seems starkly uncertain, there are much greater risks to all peoples than the individual and self-chosen ones that climbers face. There are also greater responsibilities that we all share.”

Paul Bonnell crosses Dewar Creek on the approach to The Leaning Towers, Purcell Wilderness, British Columbia. [Photo] Aaron Hanson

A Backyard Big Wall Expedition

A group of Idaho climbers venture into the Canadian wilderness to complete the first ascent of a route on Wall Tower (9,560′) that was abandoned by Fred Beckey Carl Dietrich and Bill Ruch. They called their line The White Tiger (VI 5.11 A3, 1,600′).

Mike jumps out of his 1992 Subaru Loyale to open the cattle gate marking the entrance to the dirt road; we slip in and let the minivan full of friends behind us latch it closed. Our ragtag caravan rallies toward Broken Tooth Wall, a cloud of dust marking our bumpy path. The guidebook lies open on the dash, red dirt bookmarking our objectives for the day, and later, our stories shared around the evening campfire. [Photo] Forest Woodward @forestwoodward @jabegg @hollandmike

#alpinistcommunityproject: Jenny Abegg and Forest Woodward

From November 6 to 12 Jenny Abegg and Forest Woodward shared work with the #alpinistcommunityproject. Abegg cut her teeth on granite splitters in the Pacific Northwest, and made her first trip to Indian Creek in the spring of 2012. Woodward, her partner-in-crime and man behind the lens for each photo in this series, has an penchant for both climbing and photographing the elegant sandstone splitters, and relishes the chance to do both at once.