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An Aerial View of Ice Climbing in Iceland’s West Fjord
Aerial footage of Dawn Glanc and Tim Emmett climbing in Iceland’s West Fjord gives us a new perspective on big ice routes. The wide-angle lens of the hovering aircraft shows the full context of the climb–the coast, turf houses, treeless landscape and snow-covered roads–not just the up-and-down views of typical climbing films. Within this setting,…
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Grivel Force Carbon: Carbon Sea Horses with a Price on Their Heads
While the design looks too strange to be functional, and the price tag steep, I have to admit the performance of this odd shape signals a notable advance in ice axe technology.
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50 Years on Everest
Each year, the Everest situation comes under greater scrutiny, with new stories of crowds and deaths and with new allegations of climbers lacking compassion for each other…. Each person’s choice of style is his or her own, a decision that has to do with highly personal variables. Regardless of how we feel about the use…
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Cairngorms: Multiple Falls on Stiff Ice
A combination of bulletproof, dinner-plating ice and poor technique give two climbers an exciting day at Coire an t-Sneachda in the Scottish Cairngorms. After taking two falls, they still finished the climb.
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64 Journey into Night
In October 2013, Ueli Steck astounded the international climbing community with a rapid solo on Annapurna’s South Face. But for him, the ascent was a kind of private, nocturnal pilgrimage, influenced by the recollection and example of departed heroes.
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Climbing Nanga Parbat in the Cold Winter Months
Daniele Nardi (Italy) and Elisabeth Revol (France) are attempting the first winter ascent of Nanga Parbat (8125m) in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. They have been capturing video footage in the midst of their cold and windy attempt, giving us a good impression of what it’s like up there this time of year.
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24 Tool User
In which our managing editor presents: George Finch and his amazing feathered dream coat.
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Future First Ascents: The Faces of the Mugs Stump Award
We already introduced their objectives. Now meet the nine teams chasing those summits with all of Mug Stump’s boldness and commitment to light and clean alpinism.
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Alpinist 41: The Cover (Back)story
We were on the North Face of the Eiger. Clint Eastwood was dangling free over an ugly overhang with his rope attached to the end of a ladder that was rigged like a diving board. It protruded about 20 feet over the edge of a rock ledge….
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Franconia Notch: The Black Dike
In 1971, a 19-year-old John Bouchard, climbed the 400-foot Black Dike up Cannon Cliff, solo, despite having a stuck rope, one mitten and a broken pick. In his time, a WI4+ was unheard of, and only four years earlier, the hardest “stepless ascent” was Mount Washington’s Pinnacle Gully at WI3+.
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Petzl Nomic: My Deep Affection (Affliction?)
Every climber has a different torso length, forearm length, wrist flexibility, posture and middle school softball trauma; everyone’s swing is different. Consequently, the swing of this tool will feel good to some and not to others. The Nomic climbs beautifully for me. It is one of the very few pieces of equipment that actually increases…
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Regulators, Episode 9: Chasing the Unknown
“Chasing the Unknown,” Episode 9 of the Regulators, takes you from the start of the ice season this year in October as my partners and I started hitting the hills in search of ice. It seems like every year we start searching earlier, yet we still expect to find ice somewhere.
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