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Boreal Stetind: Light and comfy for slogging, but not well designed for technical climbing
Mike Lewis used the Boreal Stetind boots for six weeks of guiding on snowy mountains in the Pacific Northwest and reports that the boots have some significant shortcomings in technical terrain. In this review he explains in detail why he awarded them two stars out of five.
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Summer Outdoor Retailer is moving to Denver in 2018
Colorado officials and Outdoor Retailer executives announced July 6 that Denver will host the huge, lucrative OR Summer Market trade show for the next five years starting in 2018. Denver is also hosting the OR Winter Market in conjunction with the SnowSports Industries America Snow Show, a merger that was announced in May.
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Conrad Anker’s commencement speech for the University of Utah addresses current and future challenges for humanity
Renowned alpinist Conrad Anker delivered the University of Utah’s graduation commencement speech and received an honorary doctorate on May 3, 2017. This is a copy of his speech, which considers the current and future challenges faced by Earth’s citizens, and the responsibility we have to address these global problems.
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Climbers missing and presumed dead on Nanga Parbat’s Mazeno Ridge
Mariano Galvan and Alberto Zerain are presumed to have died in an avalanche at around 6000 meters on Nanga Parbat (8125m). The two climbers had gone missing on June 24 while attempting the second ascent of the long, technical Mazeno Ridge.
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Patagonia Ascensionist 40L Pack: Light, comfortable and functional
John Easterling used the Patagonia Ascensionist 40-liter backpack for backcountry ski-mountaineering, desert climbing and a few things in between. He was initially skeptical of the pack’s minimalist internal frame, but he found that the pack had the right balance between burliness and weight for technical day climbs or light overnight trips, and he awarded it…
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Less and Less Alone: Alex Honnold
This profile of Alex Honnold first appeared in Alpinist 35 (Summer 2011). In this piece, Alex Lowther cover’s Honnold’s sudden rise to fame, from his childhood and the death of his father, to how he balances the demands of his professional climbing career with his personal priorities.
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In the Bear’s Lodge
Many climbers observe the voluntary climbing ban at Bear Lodge (Devils Tower) during the month of June as their way to show respect for local Native American cultures. In this Climbing Life piece from Alpinist 57, Nick Mott speaks with Milo Yellowhair from the Oglala Lakota and Arvol Looking Horse, Chief of the Nakota, Dakota…
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#Alpinistcommunityproject Flashback: Nick Aiello-Popeo
From September 11-17, Nick Aiello-Popeo shared some photos and stories with the #alpinistcommunityproject. Aiello-Popeo made his first trip to Talkeetna, Alaska, at the age of 20. The trip catalyzed him to become a full-time climber. He now lives with his wife in New Hampshire, where he guides in North Conway. He returns to the Alaska…
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Katie Bono sets probable women’s speed record on Denali at 21 hours, 6 minutes
On June 13-14, Katie Bono completed a round-trip ascent of Denali’s West Buttress in 21 hours, 6 minutes. This is likely a female speed record, and it is the third or fourth fastest known time overall. Bono made the ascent in difficult conditions with heavy wind and drifting snow that forced her to break trail…
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Kilian Jornet completes two fast and light ascents of Everest in one week
Spanish climber and ultra-runner Kilian Jornet completed two rapid Everest ascents without using fixed ropes or bottled oxygen on the North Col route in one week, on May 21 and 27. He pushed on through illness and windy weather, summiting in 17 hours and returning to advanced base camp in 28:30 on his fastest attempt.…
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Pulled Apart
In this Full Value story from Alpinist 58, Rick Accomazzo tells the story of a mission he participated in as a member of Yosemite Search and Rescue in July 1975 that has haunted him ever since–its memory compounded by the loss of his friend and climbing partner Tobin Sorenson in 1980. Illustrations by Andreas Schmidt.
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Black Diamond Access Hoody: Simple, warm and compact
The Black Diamond Access Hoody has kept Alpinist Digital Editor Derek Franz comfy in a variety of temperatures and conditions since January. He’s happy with the jacket except that the zipper started having trouble after one month of light use.
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#alpinistcommunityproject: Cosmin Andron and Cristina Pogacean
From November 13-19, Cosmin Andron and Cristina Pogacean shared some photos and stories with the #alpinistcommunityproject. They are two Romanian alpinists. Cosmin is a former philosophy professor turned full-time mountain guide while Cristina, the saner half of the family, is a civil engineer who also moonlights as a certified mountain guide.
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Bree Loewen describes ‘a job for a human, not a hero’ in ‘Found: A Life in Mountain Rescue’
Bree Loewen’s brilliant memoir, Found: A Life in Mountain Rescue, is a compelling tale of life and death, motherhood and wilderness, rescue and recovery–and a must-read for anyone who travels in the backcountry.
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Zinke’s interim report recommends reducing Bears Ears National Monument
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s interim report on Bears Ears National Monument recommends “revising” or reducing the monument’s boundaries while keeping some areas protected. On April 26, President Donald Trump ordered Zinke to review all national monuments designated since 1996 and issue a final report by late August.
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Tommy Caldwell is honest and vulnerable in his autobiography ‘The Push’
Tommy Caldwell’s autobiography, The Push, is as daring as his multitude of world-class climbing accomplishments, which range from 5.14 and 5.15 sport routes around the world, and towering free ascents on Yosemite’s El Capitan–including the first free ascent of the Dawn Wall (VI 5.14d) in January 2015 with Kevin Jorgeson–to the first completion of the…
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The world gasps in the aftermath of Alex Honnold’s free solo of El Capitan’s Freerider (5.13a, 3,000′)
Alex Honnold became the first person to free solo El Capitan via the Freerider route (VI 5.13a, 3,000′) on June 3, which is indisputably a landmark in the history of climbing. Alpinist Digital Editor Derek Franz recounts climbing with Honnold before he became famous and interviews him about scaling El Cap without a rope.
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Researchers, activists and climbers respond to Trump’s withdrawal from Climate Accord
“I would like to see the climbing community speak about their experiences of witnessing climate change, and their love for the mountains with anyone and everyone…. I would like them to educate us, the public,” explains climate change researcher and anthropologist Pasang Yangjee Sherpa. In this roundtable interview, climate researchers and mountaineers Pasang Yangjee Sherpa,…
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Legacy Restoration Project begets another high-end route: Yosemite’s Misty Wall (5.13)
The Legacy Restoration Project is an emerging program to clean up forgotten routes as a way to remind climbers of the potential that still lies beyond the obvious classics. The program has resulted in four new high-end free climbs in Yosemite Valley since last September, starting with the West Face of the Sentinel. The most…
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Outdoor Retailer winter trade show is merging with SIA Snow Show in Denver
Emerald Expositions–the company that owns Outdoor Retailer–announced May 24 that it has acquired the SnowSports Industries America (SIA) Snow Show and that the winter OR trade show will now be held in conjunction with the SIA show in Denver in January. This announcement is an indication that OR is likely to leave Salt Lake City…
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Marek Raganowicz solos two new routes on the Ship’s Prow in Baffin Island
Though he intended to do some solo climbing, Marek Raganowicz hadn’t planned on spending the entire six weeks alone among the polar bears on Baffin Island between mid-March and May, but that’s what happened after his partner, Marcin Tomaszewski, had some problems with light frostbite on his toes and had to leave a couple weeks…
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Quinn Brett makes probable first female free ascent of Spaceshot (5.13a) in Zion
Quinn Brett made what is likely the first female free ascent of Spaceshot (IV 5.13a, 9 pitches) in Zion National Park, Utah, on May 1-2, leading all the pitches with Max Barlerin in support.
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K’e yil yal tx’i: Saying Something
In this Climbing Life story from Alpinist 58, Leslie Hsu Oh takes her kids climbing and observes them learning lessons that took her a lifetime to learn. After Oh lost her birth mother and brother to cancer, her adoptive mother had encouraged her to seek a sense of kinship in the mountains.
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