Skip to content

Home » free » Page 25

free

Mt. Mizugaki, Japan. [Photo] E64, Wikimedia

Namesake: Izumi (“The Spring”)

In this Namesake story from Alpinist 48 (2014), Katsutaka “Jumbo” Yokoyama–an original member of Japan’s famous Giri-Giri Boys, who have become known for their bold and visionary ascents–writes about the first ascent of a route he named Izumi (“The Spring”) on Mt. Mizugaki.

The east face of Mt. Fay with the line of The Sound of Silence (M8 WI5, 1100m) marked in red. [Photo] Courtesy of Ines Papert, Luka Lindic and Brette Harrington

Ines Papert, Luka Lindic and Brette Harrington complete The Sound of Silence on Mt. Fay

Luka Lindic writes about a new route he completed on the east face of Mt. Fay (3234m) in British Columbia, Canada, with Brette Harrington and Ines Papert on April 2-3. After getting lucky with weather and snow conditions they managed to find a thin line of passage up through the heart of the wall. They named their route The Sound of Silence (M8 WI5, 1100m), as a tribute to their friend Marc-Andre Leclerc, who had expressed a desire to name a route after the Simon and Garfunkel song before he died in 2018.

Derek Franz discovering just how much effort it can take to activate the Beal Escaper after a short rappel from the top of Elephant Rock. [Photo] Mandi Franz

Beal Escaper: A scary but handy tool for when you need to rappel with one rope

Alpinist Digital Editor Derek Franz tested the Beal Escaper, which the company describes as a “detachable abseil system” that enables climbers to rappel on a single strand of rope and then still be able to retrieve the rope from below. Franz reports that if used properly the Escaper can be a handy tool to facilitate a fast retreat, but he also found that the device has some limitations. Three stars.

The northwest face of Chamlang (7321m) with the line of UFO (ABO M6, WI5, 2500m) marked in red. [Photo] Zdenek Hak and Marek Holecek collection

Zdenek Hak and Marek Holecek complete the first ascent of Chamlang’s northwest face

Czech climbers Marek Holecek and Zdenek Hak teamed up for another huge, demanding route on May 16-23, this time on the northwest face of Chamlang (7321m) in Nepal. They named their route UFO Line (ABO: M6, WI5, 2500m). Holecek initially declined to give a technical rating. “We have agreed on difficulty of the climb as the hardest we have done together in the mountains, ABO in other words,” is all he wrote in his initial press release. UFO appears to be one of the only routes to be completed on the northern aspect of Chamlang, despite years of interest and attempts by top climbers.

Underland: A Deep Time Journey.

Mountaineering in reverse: Tales from the Underland

“A peak can exercise the same irresistible power as an abyss,” Theophile Gautier wrote in 1868. Robert Macfarlane’s new book Underland explores the landscapes below our feet where, as Sarah Boon writes in her review, “people appear to find something similar in caves to what they experience in the mountains–clarity of thought and vision.”

She Explores. [Photo] Katie Ives

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the Outdoor Media Landscape: A Note from the Editors

As they praise the publication of She Explores–a 2019 anthology of women’s outdoor stories and photos–Alpinist editors Katie Ives, Paula Wright and Derek Franz write, “We felt struck by two thoughts: how rare outdoor publications like this book, with such a variety of women’s images and voices, were in the past; and how much the field of outdoor literature still needs to broaden to include the vast constellations of under-represented and long-silenced voices today.”

Ten-year-old Selah Schneiter leads the bolt ladder to Boot Flake on the Nose, El Capitan, Yosemite. [Photo] Schneiter family collection

10-year-old Selah Schneiter climbs the Nose of El Capitan

Ten-year-old Selah Schneiter of Glenwood Springs, Colorado, climbed the Nose of El Capitan (VI 5.8 C2, 2,900′) on June 13 after a casual five-day ascent with her dad Mike Schneiter and their close family friend Mark Regier. Selah appears to have the youngest documented ascent of the Big Stone, but the age record wasn’t part of Selah’s or her parents’ incentives. “We did this climb for us; it was her energy and her idea,” said Mike, who is an AMGA guide.