![[Photo] Jeremy Joseph](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/la-sportiva-trango-tower-1-1.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
Photographer Jeremy Joseph used the La Sportiva Trango Tower GTX boots for miles of hiking to access the most scenic locations in Colorado’s fourteeners. He was mostly happy with the boots’ performance, and he awarded them four stars.
Alpinist contributor Nick Bullock was recently named the winner of Banff Mountain Book Awards’ “Mountaineering Article” category for his story, “Threshold Shift,” which appeared in Alpinist 57.
![Hayden Kennedy and Inge Perkins [Photo] Inge Perkins collection](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/hayden-inge-1.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
Alpinist Digital Editor Derek Franz recounts memories of the lives of his friends Hayden Kennedy and Inge Perkins after their recent deaths in Montana.
![Hayden Kennedy, Marko Prezelj and Manu Pellissier descend into shadows after the first ascent of Light Before Wisdom. [Photo] Urban Novak](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/hk-1.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
“Light Before Wisdom”: In this article from Alpinist 54, Hayden Kennedy shared moments of laughter and uncertainty from his 2015 ascent of the east face of Cerro Kishtwar with Marko Prezelj, Urban Novak and Manu Pellissier.
![Franek Knez on the first ascent of Hudieva Zajeda/Diedro del Diablo (5.10 A2 90 degrees, 900m), Fitz Roy (3405m), with Silvo Karo and Janez Jegli in 1983. [Photo] Silvo Karo](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/knez-1.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
On October 6, Slovenian alpinist Francek Knez passed away. During the course of his lifetime, Knez completed over 5,000 international climbs, including the first ascent of Hell’s Direttissima on the east face of Cerro Torre. Bernadette McDonald profiled the visionary and reclusive mountaineer in Alpinist 52: “He seemed to draw energy from the natural landscape, tending his soul and feeding his imagination. Or maybe he garnered strength, not from the landscape, but from his inner core.”
![The north face of Mt. Hooker in Wyoming's Wind River Range. [Photo] Austin Siadak](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/mt-hooker-original-sin-1.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
On August 10-21, Jesse Huey and Maury Birdwell free climbed Original Sin (V 5.12+, 1,800′) on the north face of Mt. Hooker in Wyoming’s Wind River Range. Their line mostly follows the 1964 Royal Robbins route, which was the country’s first Grade VI climb outside of Yosemite. Huey and Birdwell climbed the crux pitch with pre-placed beaks to avoid adding bolts to the original route. “Freeing an old Robbins route from 1964 ground-up is certainly a lifetime achievement for both Jesse and I,” Birdwell said.
