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Echoes through the Ages

In this Sharp End story from Alpinist 86, Derek Franz contemplates the future and finds hope. He writes: “While digging through the Alpinist archive for research related to this issue, I happened upon articles whose words resonated not only with my current situation but with what today’s writers continue to express in different ways. They are reminders that we are not alone, that others have come before and survived whatever we find ourselves facing today. They emphasize greater truths that remain consistent despite all the upheaval we continue to witness in this modern age of technology, climate change and global conflict…. Rereading those stories by different people from different times and places, I noticed a more ancient story begin to emerge, as though one voice were speaking through multiple people across generations.”

Desert Visions

Left to Right: Bryan Becker, Ed Webster, Brian Shelton and Stewart M. Green at the base of Supercrack in 2008. [Photo] Stewart M. Green collection

Three Years for Seven Days on Jannu

Alan Rousseau shares the story of the first alpine-style ascent of Jannu’s north face, by a new route, Roundtrip Ticket (AI5+ M7, 2700m), with Jackson Marvell and Matt Cornell in October 2023.

With her friend Eliza Earle, Sara Aranda heads into the Wind River Range of Wyoming to watch the solar eclipse of 2017—and finds herself journeying into the darkness beneath existence itself.

Into the Darkness We Go

With her friend Eliza Earle, Sara Aranda heads into the Wind River Range of Wyoming to watch the solar eclipse of 2017—and finds herself journeying into the darkness beneath existence itself.

Onward & Upward: A century of women climbing in the Tetons

In late 2022, I learned that The Teton Climbers’ Coalition would be celebrating the 100th anniversary of the first female ascent of the Grand Teton the next year, and they were looking for suggestions on how to engage the community. This sparked the nugget of an idea in my storyteller’s brain—I could help mark this full century of women climbing in the Tetons while sharing my own love of these mountains with a wider audience. The history of climbing here feels like a living, breathing one, where friends and neighbors I see at the trailhead and the grocery store have played a part in shaping its past, present and future. Since the start of 2023 I interviewed nine women who have climbed in the Tetons from the 1950s up until today. Their stories are varied—some have notched superlatives, while others have quietly climbed these peaks without getting their names in the history books.

A fixed piton offers a lone spot of protection for Nik Berry and Hayden Kennedy on the notoriously spicy Hallucinogen Wall in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Colorado, 2014. [Photo] Andrew Burr

Climbing in Wilderness

In this Sharp End story from Alpinist 83–which is now available on newsstands and in our online store–Derek Franz examines the legal landscape and uncertain future for bolts and other fixed anchors that have been used for climbing in designated wilderness areas for nearly sixty years. Legislation such as Protect America’s Rock Climbing Act and America’s Outdoor Recreation Act is necessary, he argues, because “climbing’s place within the law is not, shall we say, fixed.”