Two Alpinist stories receive honorable mentions in Best American anthologies

Two stories from Alpinist 62 (2018) have been selected for the “Notables Lists” for Best American Essays and Best American Sports Writing, respectively: Sara Ann Aranda’s Full Value story, “Into Darkness We Go,” and Joe Whittle’s Wired story, “Adventures on the Turtle’s Back.”

In her story, Aranda writes about how she and her friend Eliza Earle headed into the Wind River Range of Wyoming to watch the solar eclipse of 2017–and how she found herself journeying into the metaphorical darkness beneath existence itself, as she confronted memories of illness and mortality in her family.

In “Adventures on the Turtle’s Back,” Whittle dissects the concept of “wilderness” and examines the history of Indigenous erasure from lands across North America, while also reclaiming–and rejoicing in–his own ancestral connection with the land during a trip in the Wal’wa-maXs (Wallowa Mountains).

This illustration by Andreas Schmidt appeared with Sara Aranda’s Full Value story, “Into Darkness We Go,” in Alpinist 62. [Illustration] Andreas Schmidt

This photo of Justin Sullivan climbing Dragon’s Tail Ridge (Class 4-5) on Sacajawea Peak (2999m), Wal’wa-maXs, Oregon, appeared with Joe Whittle’s Wired story, “Adventures on the Turtle’s Back,” in Alpinist 62. [Photo] Joe Whittle

Several other Alpinist stories have been listed or included in the Best American series over the years. Last year, two Alpinist stories from Issues 57 and 59, respectively, were on the Notables List for The Best American Sports Writing 2018: Claire Carter’s feature story “To Abandon” and Ana Beatriz Cholo’s account of “The Accidental Mountaineer.” (A second part to Cholo’s story has been published in Alpinist 67, which is currently available on newsstands and in our online store.) David Stevenson’s essay “A Late and Uninvited Correspondent Responds to Maggie Nelson’s Bluets,” which first appeared in Alpinist 56, made the “Notables List” for The Best American Essays 2017. “Going Home” by Chris Van Leuven (Alpinist 51) was republished in the 2016 edition of Best American Sports Writing. That same year, Katie Ives’s Sharp End column from Alpinist 49, “A House of Stone and Snow,” also made the Notable List for Best American Sports Writing. In 2015 Lizzy Scully made the same Notable List for her story “Birth, Sickness, Old Age, Death” in Alpinist 46. In 2014 Helen Mort was noted for her poems on Alison Hargreaves in Alpinist 44. In 2012, Barry Blanchard was noted for his story “Sanctum,” Alpinist 35, and Michael S. Reidy was included in the Notable List for The Best American Science and Nature Writing for “The Rucksack of Joseph Dalton Hooker,” Alpinist 33.

Meanwhile, two stories from Alpinist 66 were recently selected as finalists for Best Mountaineering Article at the upcoming 2019 Banff Mountain Book Competition.