Weekly Feature

Clarence King (far right) with other members of the Geological Survey of California in 1864. [Photo] Silas Selleck, National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution

The Mountain of Diamonds

by Katie Ives

In this Sharp End story from Alpinist 61, Editor-in-Chief Katie Ives ponders the legend of the “mountain of diamonds” in nineteenth-century American history and the

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View of Devils Thumb (Taalkhunaxhk'u Shaa) from the front yard of Dieter Klose. [Photo] Mike McMahon

Pressure Lift

by Cole Taylor

In this story from Alpinist 61, Cole Taylor recounts his solo journey of sailing north along the Pacific coast from Washington, navigating miles of crevassed

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Marc-Andre Leclerc on a successful free ascent of El Capitan's Muir Wall (VI 5.13c 900m) with Brette Harrington and Alan Carney in 2015. [Photo] Bradford McArthur

Marc-Andre Leclerc Remembered

by Derek Franz

Brette Harrington, Luka Lindic, Sonnie Trotter, Bernadette McDonald, Tom Livingstone and others recount the impressive climbing career and profound life of beloved Canadian alpinist Marc-Andre

Fred Beckey on the summit of Mt. Goode. [Photo] Douglas McCarty

A Short Stretch of Fred’s Road

by Douglas McCarty

In this story from Alpinist 61, Douglas McCarty recalls his adventures on the road with Fred Beckey, which started in 1972 when McCarty and a

Laura and Guy Waterman are pictured here on the Franconia Ridge in New England's Presidential Range during the mid-1980s, when they were very involved with trail work under the Appalachian Mountain Club's adopt-a-trail program. We and some of our trail work friends had recently placed those rocks at the head of Walker Ravine in an attempt to reinforce the drainage and stabilize the trail, she told Alpinist. [Photo] Waterman family collection

On Becoming a Mountain Steward

by Laura Waterman

In this unabridged version of a Climbing Life story from Alpinist 61, Laura Waterman retraces the path and climbs that inspired her to become involved

Ryan Johnson rigging a rappel on an October 2015 attempt on the north face of the Main Mendenhall Tower. Johnson completed this dream line with Marc-Andre Leclerc, but the pair lost their lives on the descent. [Photo] Clint Helander

Remembering Ryan Johnson

by Clint Helander

Clint Helander remembers the life and prolific climbing career of his friend Ryan Johnson, who went missing and is presumed dead along with Marc-Andre Leclerc

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Lopsang Tshering Sherpa recalls small perks from mountaineering work: I often came back with clothes that no one else had in Kathmandu. He drank so much tea on expeditions that he was called Tea Lopsang. Now, he grows tea in his village, where everyone calls him Chiya Baje (Grandpa Tea). [Photo] Kapil Bisht

Local Hero: Lopsang Tshering Sherpa

by Kapil Bisht

In this Local Hero story from the latest issue, Alpinist 61, Kapil Bisht interviews Lopsang Tshering Sherpa, who began his storied career as an expedition

The author on the approach to Washington Column with Half Dome in the background, 2015. [Photo] Alex McKiernan collection

The Prow

by Alex McKiernan

Alex McKiernan suffered a spinal cord injury from a car crash in 2014 and he has slowly regained some use of his legs since then.

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Art of Freedom: The Life and Climbs of Voytek Kurtyka by Bernadette McDonald. Rocky Mountain Books, 2017. 326 pages. Hardcover, $32. [Image] Courtesy Rocky Mountain Books

Glimpses of Higher Worlds: Bernadette McDonald’s ‘Art of Freedom’

by Paula Wright

“‘Art of Freedom,’ is a brilliant work of insight, not only into the life of the great alpinist, but also about the questions that compel

Totality from a Mountaintop

by Christopher Elliott

In this letter to the editor from Alpinist 60, Christopher Elliott describes the solar eclipse that occurred on August 21, 2017, and the fleeting “moment

Auden in the Brooks Range

by David Roberts

In 1969, a young David Roberts buzzes the doorbell at the apartment of W. H. Auden, his literary hero, in hopes of inspiring the aging

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Hugues Beauzile and Lucien Lulu Berardini climbing at the crag they helped develop in Claret, France. [Photo] Pascal Tournaire

The Force of the Soul: Hugues Beauzile

by James Edward Mills

In this feature from Alpinist 60, James Edward Mills recounts the story of Hugues Beauzile, the son of a Haitian immigrant who became one of