What We Search For
As he struggles to cope with the death of a friend, Jason Nark becomes absorbed in the story of the search for Matthew Greene, a climber who disappeared in the Sierra Nevada in 2013.
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Weekly Feature
![Derek Franz on Ecclesiastes (IV 5.9) on Mitchell Peak, Wind River Range, Wyoming, in 2019. [Photo] Todd Preston, Derek Franz collection](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/a80-sharp-end-1.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
A Climbing Life
In this Sharp End story from Alpinist 80–which is now available on newsstands and in our online store–Derek Franz shares his journey from Alpinist reader to editor-in-chief.
![Bea Vogel forging her own pitons at the Stanford Engineering Lab in 1952. [Photo] Bea Vogel collection](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/a79-wired-1.jpg?resize=799%2C620&ssl=1)
Bea and Me
In this story from Alpinist 79 (Autumn 2022), a 1952 photo of a woman who forged pitons inspires Lauren Delaunay Miller to embark on a journey to learn more about Bea Vogel, an early Yosemite climber and ardent activist, for whom the right to choose was paramount–on the rock and in the rest of life. Delaunay Miller’s book “Valley of Giants: Stories from Women at the Heart of Yosemite Climbing” recently received the Banff Mountain Book Award Climbing Literature Award.
![Michael Kennedy in 1976, after the first ascent of the Ames Ice Hose with Steve Shea and Lou Dawson. [Photo] Michael Kennedy collection](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/a79-sharp-end-2.jpg?resize=798%2C620&ssl=1)
The World Between the Pages
In this Sharp End story from Alpinist 79–which is now on newsstands and in our online store–Alpinist’s departing editor-in-chief Katie Ives ponders the fates of climbing publications and says farewell after ten years at the helm of the magazine. She writes: “I am leaving for other paths. The magazine will go on, with your help. And I hope that I will continue to meet you, in the mountains and in our words….”
Mountains of Grief
“When the mountain community…grapples with the accidental death of one of its members,” Anna Callaghan writes, “only one thing is certain: it’s going to happen again.” Through interviews with several climbers who’ve lost loved ones to the mountains, Callaghan explores the ways in which people across the climbing community are banding together to address grief and support the bereaved.
![Photographer Bob Gaines: Werner [Braun] clowning around, ca. 1983. Scott Cosgrove was there too. Just a great day of fun-in-the-sun free soloing. [Photo] Bob Gaines](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/werner-braun-1.jpg?resize=796%2C620&ssl=1)
Fifty Years in Yosemite: The soft-spoken legacy of Werner Braun, “Mr. Astroman”
Earl Bates traces stories from the 50-year career of Werner Braun, one of Yosemite’s most reticent Stonemasters. Braun retired from his work in the Valley last year and moved to St. George, Utah, with his wife Merry. Braun was among the best free soloists of his generation and ultimately proved himself to be a significant asset to the Park Service and Yosemite Search and Rescue, but you won’t hear him say so. In his typical fashion, Braun continues to shy away from recognition, and that is why some of Yosemite’s best stories may never be told.
![[Photo] Courtesy of Science History Institute](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/a78-tool-users-sun-protection-1.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
Tool Users: Sun Protection
In this Tool Users story from Alpinist 78–which is now on newsstands and in our online store–Sarah Pickman traces the early development of sun protection. As Western scientists debated the cause of sunburn in the nineteenth century, she explains, some researchers “turned to a community with plenty of experience getting burned: alpinists.”
![Katie Ives on Pinnacle Gully, Huntington Ravine, Agiocochook, Mt. Washington, 2012. [Photo] Alan Cattabriga](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/a78-sharp-end-1.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
Melt Outs
In this Sharp End story from Alpinist 78–which is now on newsstands and in our online store–Katie Ives explores some of the many metaphors of late-season ice. She writes: “Any ice route is a land that appears and disappears, never taking an identical shape twice, leaving ghostly outlines in climbers’ memories of past forms–and posing the question of which ascent might be the last.”
![Rosie Fish, Cowlitz, on Muckleshoot and Coast Salish territories, wearing a red handprint in remembrance of her missing and murdered relatives. Fish runs with this handprint in her races at the University of Washington. [Photo] Micheli Oliver](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/a77-wired-1.jpeg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
Rematriating Our Lives: Indigeneity and What it Means to Climb
In this Wired story from Alpinist 77–which is now available on newsstands and in our online store–Micheli Oliver contemplates some of many metaphors of ascent for herself and other Indigenous women.
![Ukrainian mountaineer Alina Kosovska during her trek of the Transcarpathian Route in 2022. She finished the route on February 14, becoming the first person to complete it in winter. [Photo] Courtesy of Alina Kosovska](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/snapshots-of-ukraine-war-1.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
Ukrainian alpinists share stories of life amid the Russian invasion
From fighting in active combat on the front lines, to scrambling to find food and supplies, to struggling to find a refuge for their families abroad, Ukrainian climbers have had their lives turned upside down by the Russian invasion. Three of them share glimpses into what their day-to-day existence looks like amid war.