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The Threshold Effect
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Alfred Mummery wrote in his 19th century classic book, My Climbs in the Alps and Caucasus, “It has frequently been noticed that all mountains appear doomed to pass through the three stages: An inaccessible peak – The most difficult ascent in the Alps – An easy day for a lady.” While the misogynistic temper of this famous quote is obsolete, its more general point seems to ring true.
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Alexander Odintsov on Latok III
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Steve House New Hampshire Video
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Video: Grabbing The Dragon By The Horns
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In the last days of April, David Kaszlikowski and Eliza Kubarska hacked their way through the Malaysian jungle to reach the twin granitic towers that dominate the island Tioman–Dragon’s Horns.
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The Original ‘Mountain’ Bikers
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The brothers climbed the face. At 4478 meters they stood, triumphant and utterly spent. And yet, there was probably some quiet, persistent voice whispering an unpleasant reminder in the back of their minds: Nice job. Now get down there and ride back home.
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AAC Five-Year Plan: The Long-Awaited Remodel
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A look at “the most significant changes to AAC programs in its 109-year history.”
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Talented Alpinist Joe Puryear Dies at Age 37
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Mark Westman reflects on the life of Joe Puryear, who died last October after falling through a cornice on Labuche Kang, Tibet.
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The Asgard Project: A Q&A with Alastair Lee
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Hauling 30-plus pounds of equipment up the 1000m face of Mt. Asgard, Filmmaker Alastair Lee foregoes light-and-fast style in order to produce a film that is visually outstanding and leaves the audience with sweat-drenched palms and a hankering to seek out epic of their own.
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Speed Series Part IV: Hans Florine
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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. “I think we may have [speed climbed] before we called it that… We were in college, and we wanted to get in as much climbing as we could before classes on Monday.”
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Piolet d’Or Nominees
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Since the Piolet d’Or’s rebirth, multiple awards have become standard, and it seems likely that on April 15 there could be several given out. Each of the teams exhibited good style in a committing environment. The Piolet d’Or’s festivities will run from the weekend April 9-10 through April 16 with evening events open to the public. In an age when guided ascents and commercial fiascos on Everest seem to dominate the mainstream media’s view of climbing, honoring the alpinists mentioned above could be a chance to show off the climbing community’s values to the general public.
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Golden Decade: The Birth of 8000m Winter Climbing
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Winter in the Himalaya is difficult for many reasons. Temperatures at base camp can plummet to minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit, and much lower farther up. Because of the cold, climbing at night is virtually impossible, and the days are short. The winds are much stronger and more persistent because of the jet stream, which blows almost constantly from December through the end of March. Tents are constantly being destroyed or blown away. The wind also strips away the snow, exposing rock and hard ice, making easier slopes more technical and time-consuming. Lower barometric pressure leads to less oxygen in the…
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Speed Series Part III: Ueli Steck
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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. “I think it is nice to be able to climb a peak in several hours instead of several days. You don’t have to suffer so much.”
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Jeff Lowe’s Metanoia
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In the early 1990’s Lowe struggled through a divorce, a failed business and deep remorse for neglecting his two-year-old daughter. Needing an escape from this emotional crisis, he made a solo pilgrimage to the Eiger’s Nordwand. When one of the world’s greatest climbers makes a solo winter attempt on the most legendary north face in the world, an extraordinary story is inevitable.
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Speed Series Part II: Sean Leary and Dean Potter
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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. “We’re always filled with the knowledge that if we fall, it’s a minimum 100-footer and probably way more. You’re going to kill your friend and probably mutilate or kill yourself.”
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Book Review: Recompense: Streams Summits and Reflections
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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.
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Speed Series Part I: Alex Honnold
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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.”
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Thoughts on the Denali Fee Hike
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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.
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Tinkering with the Guillotine
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“Mad Scientist” Matt Maddaloni rediscovers his passion for climbing through a quirky but surprisingly functional invention: the Anticam.
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2010 Mugs Stump Update: Success, Tragedy and Savage Peaks
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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.
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Banff Mountain Festival: Top 5
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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.
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Kevin McLane’s Canadian Rock: What It Takes to Write a Guidebook
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Thirteen Hundred rock climbs. Seventy climbing areas. More than 800 photos and topos. In other words: a lot of work.
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Book Review: One Mountain Thousand Summits
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Freddie Wilkinson explores the 2008 climbing disaster on the Savage Mountain.
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On the Trails of the Glaciers
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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.
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Climbing and Art
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Peter Beal grapples with ethics, beauty and the ever-evolving art of climbing.
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Reel Rock Film Tour: Boulder
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Reporting in from the Boulder premiere of the fifth annual Reel Rock Film Tour.
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Monte Sarmiento: Photos from Tierra del Fuego
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Ralf Gantzhorn presents 16 striking images from the top of the bottom of the world.
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Book Review: The Mountain Within
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It is reasonable to say at this point in history–now that popular climbing media has existed for decades–that there are climbing superstars: athletes that combine a definitive personality with difficult and stylistically charged climbs. Alexander Huber is certainly one of those superstars…
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The Warrior’s Way: Arno Ilgner Discusses Fear in Climbing
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In his quest to discover why some climbers are fearful and others brazen, Ilgner developed the Warrior’s Way, a program to help climbers become aware of–and deal with–their apprehensions.
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Book of Dreams
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Dozens of Yosemite Valley pioneers have been mailing a single book among them for months, gathering signatures to produce a unique retrospective and a way to raise money for Jim Bridwell.
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Pen, Paper and a Mountainside: Expedition Diaries from Mt. Logan
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Open the mountain journals of four climbers–John Evans, Jock Glidden, David Jones and Steve House–to find their past and future inspirations and motivations.