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The Literature of Ascent
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“Literary mountain writing may now be giving way to the selfie,” Stephen Slemon writes in this essay. “But this shift towards the visual media may be opening new ground for the genre of mountaineering literature to change.” Slemon explores climbing’s ties to the written word and how the form of climbing narratives is evolving.
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Full Value: Degringolade
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In this Full Value story from Alpinist 56 Sibylle Hechtel recounts a pivotal moment in her climbing career–her first first-ascent, in Canada’s Bugaboos, 1973. She went on to become famous for the first all-female ascent of El Capitan with Beverly Johnson later that year, but her experience in the Bugs taught her “how to get up and back down” in the mountains.
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On Belay: Unattached
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In this On Belay article from Alpinist 57, Anna Pfaff describes her adventures as she becomes “unattached” from maps, expectations and conventions and learns to find her own way into some of the unknown realms beyond.
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Off Belay: Beyond Conquest
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In this excerpt from Alpinist 57 Mailee Hung explores artwork by Richard T. Walker that “casts unease on traditional aspirations” and helps us consider “how to describe the aesthetic experience of climbing beyond this inherited legacy” of alpinists as conquerors.
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Local Hero: Loulou Boulaz
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During the 1930s, one woman joined the race to climb the feared north faces of the Alps, venturing into terrain then believed to be reserved for only the boldest (and some claimed the most reckless) men. In this Local Hero from Alpinist 57, Sallie Greenwood looks back on the extraordinary, often-forgotten life of Swiss alpinist Louise “Loulou” Boulaz.
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2017: Ghunsa
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Local guide Dawa Sherpa describes what it’s like to live and work near the base of Jannu/Kumbhakarna–a mountain sacred to his culture.
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2007: Open
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Russian alpinist Sergey Kofanov recounts his 2007 encounter with the “cosmic cold” shoulder of Jannu, when he and Valery Babanov made the first ascent of the West Pillar in alpine style.
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Poetry Feature: Chip Brown
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In an Alpinist exclusive poetry feature, award-winning outdoor writer Chip Brown imagines the landscape of the Yukon within the sounds of the city, and in an interview he reflects on the connection between climbing and poetry.
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1976-2016: Jannu Remembrances
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The great Japanese mountaineer Naoe Sakashita looks back on the first complete ascent of the north face of Jannu / Kumbhakarna to the summit of the 7710-meter Himalayan peak, and on his friendship with teammate Nobu-yuki Ogawa.
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1975: New Zealand Expedition Jannu North Face
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In 1975 New Zealand climber Graeme Dingle joined an expedition to the legendary Wall of Shadows on Jannu / Kumbhakarna, a 7710-meter peak in Nepal. High on the mountain, he looked up at an immense ice formation that seemed about to collapse. “You can’t tell me those cliffs are safe,” he said. “This is as far as I’m going.”
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Alpinist 57 Mountain Profile Essays | Jannu
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Read all four essays by Graeme Dingle, Naoe Sakashita, Sergey Kofanov and Dawa Sherpa from our Mountain Profile of Jannu / Kumbhakarna in Alpinist 57–Spring 2017.
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Roland Pauligk (1938-2017): The man who changed climbing with his brass micronuts
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Ross Taylor grew up as a family friend of Roland Pauligk, the man who created the brass “RP” micronuts that revolutionized rock climbing in the 1970s and are still essential gear at many cliffs today. Taylor recounts an influential life well lived since Pauligk died of cancer January 22.
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An Interview with David Roberts
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Now facing Stage IV throat cancer, David Roberts reflects on his climbing and writing careers in this interview with Michael Wejchert. Roberts is one of the most prolific American climbing authors and has a climbing resume to match his list of titles.
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On the Nose with Hans Florine and Jayme Moye
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On the Nose chronicles Hans Florine’s “lifelong obsession” with the most iconic route on El Capitan. Herein, we interview Florine and co-author Jayme Moye about their new book documenting Florine’s pursuit of the Nose speed record.
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Our Eiger Drama
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In a letter to the editor, longtime Alpinist reader Tad Welch examines our looming environmental crisis from the perspective of a roped team braving the odds on the Eiger Nordwand. He writes, “As we enter what may be one of the darkest times of our country’s history, I feel an obligation to subject my most basic values to the utmost scrutiny…. I must never put my rope mates in harm’s way because I expect the mountain to become benign–when history proves otherwise–simply because I think it will. Off the hill, I am roped to more than a close friend or…
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The Glass Mountain: A Fable
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During the nineteenth century, Jim Bridger was well known for tall tales about the ranges of the American West. Herein, the modern climbing writer Jeff Long retells Bridger’s attempt on “Glass Mountain,” examining the aspirations and consequences of frontier mythology.
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Jeff Long: The Story Behind “The Glass Mountain”
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An interview with climber and New York Times best-selling author Jeff Long on his story “The Glass Mountain,” published in Alpinist 54.
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The Precarious World–The Sharp End, Alpinist 57
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At a time when the word precarious is used increasingly to describe many aspects of our current existence, Katie Ives reflects on the differences between confronting risk in the mountains and responding to much vaster political and ecological uncertainties in the US and the world. “I think now, especially with climate change, we are without a doubt living in a precarious world,” climber and environmental advocate Laura Waterman tells her. “We have to make the right decisions, ethically, as best we can.”
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Diving into the Unknown
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Four friends spend 10 days doing first ascents in the Purcell Wilderness, British Columbia, and for some it was their first time doing a first ascent.
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Talking Environmentalism at the Summer Outdoor Retailer 2016
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At the 2016 Summer Outdoor Retailer trade show, Erin Monahan wonders how far leaders in the outdoor gear industry are really willing to take their commitment to the environment.
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Lives of the Volcano Poets
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The author climbs after the volcano poets. This piece originally appeared in Alpinist 40.
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After the Expedition
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In this work of short fiction from Alpinist 18, Stevenson weaves a tale about a driftless climbing guide balancing his successes “against an unwritten page of his climbing resume, against the darkness.”
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Axe of Contrition
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Stevenson contemplates the axe of God in this Climbing Life story from Alpinist 20.
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The Adventure Gap and Narratives of Inclusion: James Edward Mills talks about why the face of outdoor adventure must change
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Brad Rassler interviews author James Edward Mills about current events and the disparity of opportunities for minorities to try outdoor activities like climbing.
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Poetry Feature: Experiencing Ice
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In this poetry feature, writer and adventurer Manasseh Franklin shares work from Experiencing Ice, a series of images and poems about glaciers and “vastness to ponder.”
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The Country of Winter: Nitassinan, Quebec
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Pete Takeda ventures into some of the vast realms of ice, and the countries within countries of Nitassinan and northeastern Quebec.
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Beyond the Guide: White Mountains, New Hampshire
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For years, Alan Cattabriga has roamed the White Mountains of New Hampshire, exploring the spaces between the contour lines of maps and creating long, arabesque-like enchainments of classic ice routes. Herein, a tale from one of the East Coast’s most imaginative wanderers.
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Nakamura unveils hidden mountains of southern Tibet
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Eighty-two-year-old Japanese mountaineer Tamotsu “Tom” Nakamura has been exploring and documenting the seldom-visited regions of Tibet for the last 25 years. In this feature he shares photographs of southern Tibet’s “hidden” mountains.
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Beyond the Dusk: El Hermano, Andes, Chile
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After the death of her brother Michael in June 2012, Suzanne Ybarra noticed a reference to a mysterious “El Hermano” amid his files, along with photos of a massive unclimbed wall. In 2014 one of Michael’s friends, Libby Sauter, organized an expedition to make the first ascent and complete his dream.
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Freedom in the Hills
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For decades, female alpinists have made extraordinary ascents from remote big walls to storm-swept peaks. In an article from Alpinist 52 (Winter 2015), Charlotte Austin explored some of the lingering barriers of the past and the growing potential for the future.