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The foreshortened line of the East Face Rock Rib (5.10b M5 AI5), Taulliraju, as seen on the first ascensionists' approach. [Photo] Steve Skelton

Skelton – Dare establish a new line on the East Face of Taulliraju

by Steve Skelton

Heidi on the summit of Gasherbrum II (8,035 m), 1996.

Home: an Index

by Devi Lockwood

“There is glacial power in language, in naming things. I am here because my mother gave me a vocabulary for motion,” poet Devi Lockwood writes about her experiences growing up as the daughter of a mountaineer–in this essay for Alpinist 55. Subscribe today or preorder at the Alpinist.com store.

Tat removed from Recompense (5.9) at Cathedral Ledge, NH by the author in 2011. [Photo] Mike Lewis

Trango Piranha Knife: Sharp, Low Profile and Opens Bottles

by Mike Lewis

As a guide, I’m often asked what I carry on my harness. In addition to standard climbing hardware, plus prussic cords, a Tibloc, and a Micro-Traxion for glacier travel, I carry a knife. Once my clients see the knife, they often reference Joe Simpson’s classic mountaineering epic, Touching the Void. Unlike the moment of decision in the book when Simon cuts the rope to free himself while letting Simpson fall into a crevasse, I carry a knife for other reasons: these include to cut tat, add cordage to existing anchors, and cut the free ends from a stuck rope.

Sharing Laughter in the Andes: Pfaff and Garcia’s Route of the Solstice

by Anna Pfaff

Gobright and Bennett Blaze up Three El Cap Routes in a Day

by Stewart M. Green

Four New Lines and a Pack Raft Adventure in Alaska’s Neacola Mountains

by Drew Thayer

Local Hero: Clint Helander on Mark Westman

by Clint Helander

Why Mark Westman should be famous (A postscript to Alpinist 19). May’s everlasting sun hovered in a low, lateral arc over the Alaska Range, bathing the massive peaks in fiery light. Waves of clouds washed up the Kahiltna Glacier and flooded the lower mountains in an ever-darkening fog.