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Betty Manning, descending the Tooth, ca. 1950s. [Photo] Courtesy of Claudia Manning

In the Wake

Alpinist 76 is now available on newsstands in our online store. In this Sharp End essay, our editor-in-chief follows in the footsteps of Harvey Manning up real mountains in the Cascades after years of research to write a book about his imaginary peaks. As she climbs the classic South Face of the Tooth, she recounts his descriptions of formative experiences in 1947 that helped inspire his efforts to preserve the land from threats of timber and mining development. Seventy-four years after Manning’s ascent, Ives strains her eyes through a haze of smoke to catch a glimpse of the range as Manning may have seen it. She writes: “While I trace more of Harvey’s hikes, I also think of what it means to write about beloved and imperiled things: to cross the arched back of a glacier and feel how much it is both living and dying, its meltwater murmuring in hundreds of voices between the blue walls of crevasses. To walk through the green shadows of giant moss-strung trees that, one hot summer day, might burst into flame.”

Mike Lewis wears the Phantom Down Parka on a cold day of ice climbing in the Colorado backcountry last winter. [Photo] Yaroslav Lototskyy

Mountain Hardwear’s Phantom Down Parka: Warm, Lightweight, Compressible

Mountain Standards Gear Review: IFMGA/AMGA guide Mike Lewis has been using the Mountain Hardwear Phantom Down Parka for several months. He writes: “Its 800 fill down is really warm, making it a good choice for the 6000-meter objectives such as Denali, Aconcagua, Ama Dablam, Cotopaxi, Elbrus–basically, anything that is not an 8000-meter monster…. It appears that few products compare to the Mountain Hardwear Phantom Down Parka in terms of its warmth-to-weight ratio at 619 grams (20 oz.)” Five stars.

A screenshot of a publicist's Facebook post announcing the upcoming media briefing for Nikita Balabanov, Mikhail Fomin and Viacheslav Polezhaiko's first ascent of the Southeast Ridge of Annapurna III (7555m). [Photo] Derek Franz

Three Ukrainian climbers complete first ascent of fabled Southeast Ridge of Annapurna III

Three Ukrainian climbers–Nikita Balabanov, Mikhail Fomin and Viacheslav Polezhaiko–have just completed the first ascent of the fabled Southeast Ridge of Annapurna III (7555m). Until now, no one had surpassed the high point of 6500 meters that was first reached by British climbers Steve Bell, Nick Colton and Tim Leach in 1981. Balabanov, Fomin and Viacheslav had only 12 days of food and took 18 days for the ascent and descent. After diverting from their original descent plan, they were eventually picked up by helicopter at 5000m.

[Image] Banff Mountain Book Competition

Doug Robinson’s story from Alpinist 74 wins Banff Book Comp for Mountaineering Article

A story from Alpinist 74 (Summer 2021)–“Letters to a Young Climber,” by Doug Robinson–was recently selected as the winner of Best Mountaineering Article at the Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival, which is happening this week. The recognition comes with $2,000 and is eligible to receive a $4,000 Grand Prize that will be selected from a pool that includes seven other category winners on November 5. A book by Alpinist contributor Chris Kalman, “Dammed If You Don’t,” won the Mountain Fiction and Poetry category. A grand-prize winner among the eight categories will be selected on November 5. Meanwhile, the film “Dream Mountain,” of which Alpinist is a sponsor, was selected for the for the 2021/22 Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival World Tour.

This photo was taken on a trip to Venezuela that was supported by an American Alpine Club Live Your Dream Grant. [Photo] Blake McCord

American Alpine Club now accepting applications for six grants

The American Alpine Club (AAC) is currently accepting applications for six grants: the TINCUP Partner in Adventure Grant, the Cutting Edge Grant, the Jones Backcountry Adventure Grant, the McNeill-Nott Award, the Mountaineering Fellowship Fund Grant, and the Rocky Talkie Search and Rescue Award. Deadlines to apply vary depending on the grant, ranging from November 8, 2021, to January 31, 2022.

A screenshot from the livestreamed event outside the White House on October 8 as President Joe Biden signed the proclamations restoring the protections to Bears Ears, Grand Staircase-Escalante and Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine national monuments as set by President Barack Obama. Biden handed out the pens he used to the people gathered behind him. [Photo] Derek Franz

President Biden signs proclamations to restore Bears Ears, Grand Staircase-Escalante and Seamounts Marine national monuments

President Joe Biden signed an executive order today restoring Utah’s Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments after former President Donald Trump rescinded the original designations in 2017. Trump’s rescissions had reduced Bears Ears by approximately 85% and Grand Staircase by almost 50%. Biden also reinstated protections in Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument after Trump’s 2020 decision to open it to commercial fishing. Bears Ears NM was originally designated at 1.35 million acres by President Barack Obama in 2016, and Grand Staircase was set at 1.9 million acres by President Bill Clinton in 1996.

Image 1 of 2: This photo and the one below originally appeared as a panorama across two pages in Alpinist 75; it has been split into two frames to allow for better viewing on the webpage. It shows the view from Mt. Ilse (2506m), during its first ascent by Natalia Martinez and Camilo Rada in April 2021, in the Southern Patagonian Ice Field. Mt. Ilse is named for Ilse von Rentzell, who roamed the area in 1933. Only one of the summits in this photo has been climbed, Martinez says. [Photo] Camilo Rada/UNCHARTED project

Living Maps of Patagonia: Toward a New Future of Exploration

“The Future of Alpinism,” is the theme of Alpinist 75–which is now on newsstands and in our online store. This special issue includes 18 essays from authors around the globe, along with comments and quotes from many others on the topic. We are sharing eight of these essays online, including this one by Natalia Martinez and Camilo Rada, titled “Living Maps of Patagonia: Toward a New Future of Exploration.” They write: “We decided…to create living maps. These are maps that do not adhere to official names. Instead, we follow a historical approach trying to help restore the heritage of Indigenous people and explorers. We constantly update the maps to record each new ascent, each new encounter and each new adventure. Our aim is to create maps that are not only a miniature of a place’s geography, but that convey the feelings the geography evokes as well as the passions of those who have striven to unravel it…. Many of the unclimbed peaks that appear insignificant on sheets of contour lines could present some of the finest alpine challenges of these regions.”

Phil Henderson on the summit of Denali (20,310'), Dena'ina, Upper Kuskokwim and Koyukon Dene land, in the Alaska Range, June 27, 2013. [Photo] Kt Miller

Climbers of Color Come Full Circle: The Future of Expanded Representation

“The Future of Alpinism,” is the theme of Alpinist 75–which is now on newsstands and in our online store. This special issue includes 18 essays from authors around the globe, along with comments and quotes from many others on the topic. We are sharing eight of these essays online, including this one by James Edward Mills, titled “Climbers of Color Come Full Circle: The Future of Expanded Representation.” He writes: “Through our personal initiative, skills and agency, people of color are affirming their roles as leaders in the climbing world. [Philip] Henderson is now organizing the first all-Black American team to attempt the world’s highest mountain in 2022. He calls it the Full Circle Everest Expedition…. Each member of this team aims to share their experience to inspire others to follow in their example…. US alpinists of color are also continuing to pursue cutting-edge objectives….”

A mountaineering chronicler and an occasional critic of the overuse of communications technology, Damien Gildea describes this photo of himself in the Sentinel Range of Antarctica. [Photo] Stephen Chaplin

Taking Time To Tell: The Future of Trip Reports

“The Future of Alpinism,” is the theme of Alpinist 75–which is now on newsstands and in our online store. This special issue includes 18 essays from authors around the globe, along with comments and quotes from many others on the topic. We are sharing eight of these essays online, including this one by Damien Gildea, titled “Taking Time To Tell: The Future of Trip Reports.” He writes: “Alpinism is always about choices, and new technologies keep giving us more avenues to talk about our climbs. The choice of expedition media, how we use it, but also when we use it, can have lasting impacts…. If you choose to tell, by waiting for a while after the summit, you might create a more meaningful and accurate narrative…. The ego hits from ‘Likes’ are temporary, but an honest insight, gained after a period of reflection, might last indefinitely, or at least outlast you.”