Irwin began writing when his father made him keep a journal on family vacations. As he grew older, writing became an increasingly important part of his life. He coupled this passion with a love of the outdoors, and it has taken him across North America and beyond. His travels are always under the banner of climbing, skiing, fly-fishing and, of course, writing.
Recently, we at Alpinist picked the brains of the speediest climbers to learn more about speed climbing and how it fits into our grade-crazy community. “It’s all super safe as long as no one falls.”
The small minority of climbers seeking a difficult alpine experience on America’s highest peak will end up paying a steep fee along with the many climbers trudging up the West Buttress, an unfortunate side effect of the mountain’s prominence and popularity.
“Mad Scientist” Matt Maddaloni rediscovers his passion for climbing through a quirky but surprisingly functional invention: the Anticam.
In 2010, the Mugs Stump Award recipients attempted an array of bold objectives, from first ascents on obscure peaks in Tibet and Greenland; to new routes on well-known faces in the Central Alaska Range. Whether teams ultimately reached success or failure, each enterprise was undertaken with the same style and audacity as the award’s namesake.
The Banff Mountain Festival offered a week jam-packed with films, presentations, special speakers, workshops, trade shows, book fairs and panel discussions. A few events were worth highlighting, however, and Alpinist brings you those in the form of “Top 5 Bests” from the Banff Mountain Festival.
Thirteen Hundred rock climbs. Seventy climbing areas. More than 800 photos and topos. In other words: a lot of work.
Freddie Wilkinson explores the 2008 climbing disaster on the Savage Mountain.
Climber Fabiano Ventura brings awareness to receding glaciers in the Karakoram through new photographs, shot 100 years after those taken on early expeditions to the range.
