![The author biking on Trail Ridge Road, Rocky Mountain National Park. [Photo] Zach Zehr](https://dev.alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/suunto-9-1-1-930x620.jpg)
Longtime climber and endurance athlete Quinn Brett tested the Suunto 9 wristwatch and found it to be mostly user-friendly, offering a wealth of data to assist mountain go-getters. Her main criticisms about the watch are its bulky size and some difficulty synchronizing the watch with her phone. Four stars.
![Alan Rousseau, pictured here on the first ascent of Rungofarka's north ridge, India, in 2017, was a 2018 recipient of the American Alpine Club's Cutting Edge Grant. Applications for the 2019 Cutting Edge Grant are due by November 30. [Photo] Tino Villanueva](https://dev.alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/rungofarka-6-930x620.jpg)
The American Alpine Club is now accepting applications for its Cutting Edge Grant, the Jones Backcountry Adventure Grant and the Jones Live Like Liz Award–due by November 30. In partnership with the Access Fund, the AAC also recently awarded $10,000 to replace aging bolts at nine US climbing areas.
![Smith at the belay on Cyber Pasty Memorial (WI5+ M7+), Icefields Parkway, Alberta. [Photo] John Price](https://dev.alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/alp59-contraindications-7-930x620.jpg)
For the second year in a row, an Alpinist story has been selected for the Best Mountaineering Article Award in the Banff Mountain Book Competition. Alison Criscitiello’s story from Alpinist 59, titled “Contraindications,” was selected for the top prize in this category out of four finalists. “Contraindications,” is about Criscitiello’s close friend Anna Smith, who died at age 31 during an expedition in the Indian Himalaya.
![The northeast face of Cerro Kishtwar (6173m) with All Izz Well (VI WI5 M6, 1500m) marked in red with the team's first bivy site. [Photo] Genki Narumi, Yusuke Sato and Hiroki Yamamoto collection](https://dev.alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/cerro-kishtwar-all-izz-well-1-930x620.jpg)
Going light and fast during a short weather window, Japanese climbers Genki Narumi, Yusuke Sato and Hiroki Yamamoto squeaked in a new route on the northeast face of Cerro Kishtwar (6173m) in Himachal Pradesh, India, between September 20-25. They named their route All Izz Well (VI WI5 M6, 1500m).
![Szu-ting Yi crosses Bonney Pass, with Mt. Helen (13,620') in the background. [Photo] Dave Anderson](https://dev.alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/a63-on-belay-ride-the-wind-1-930x595.jpg)
In this On Belay story from Alpinist 63, Szu-ting Yi recounts an attempt she made with her husband Dave Anderson to traverse 100-plus miles of the Wind River Range while climbing all 43 of its peaks that rise along the Continental Divide (and that are named in 2015 USGS maps). What started as a whimsical project for Yi soon transformed into a deeper search for independence as a woman and a climber.
![[Photo] Mandi Franz](https://dev.alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/climbing-addicts-colored-chalk-1-1-930x620.jpg)
A review of Climbing Addicts “Yosemite Gray” and “Wall Street Gold” Chalk prompts a treatise on climbing chalk by Alpinist Digital Editor Derek Franz. He found the camouflaged chalk to be as effective as anything else he’s used, and the grey and brown varieties blend in well with a range of rock types, including limestone, granite and sandstone. Five stars.
![Cover design by Sarah Nicholson. [Photo] Jimena Peck](https://dev.alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/as-above-so-below-1-930x620.jpg)
About four years ago, Chris Kalman found himself struggling with heavy emotions while living with his girlfriend and her father who was dying of cancer. Kalman started writing what became a 103-page novella titled “As Above, So Below.” The fictional story weighs on matters of death, grief, risk and family relationships.
Two Alpinist stories from 2017 are included on the Notables List for The Best American Sports Writing 2018: Claire Carter’s feature story “To Abandon” appeared in Alpinist 57 and “The Accidental Mountaineer” by Ana Beatriz Cholo appeared in The Climbing Life section of Alpinist 59.
![Ichimura and Yokoyama at the end of Day 6 on the upper pitches of the Slovak Direct. [Photo] Yusuke Sato](https://dev.alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/giri-giri-boys-8-930x620.jpg)
Ten years ago, in May 2008, an unassuming group of five Japanese climbers who jokingly dubbed themselves the Giri-Giri Boys caught the world’s attention for their bold and visionary enchainments in the Alaska Range. This story by Katsutaka Yokoyama about that expedition originally appeared in Alpinist 26 (Spring 2009), simply titled “The Giri-Giri Boys.”
![Morning view of Trisul (7120m), Nanda Devi (7816m) and Nanda Kot (6861m), from Kaser Devi in the Garhwal Himalaya of India. [Photo] Coni Horler](https://dev.alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/a63-sharp-end-1-930x422.jpg)
In this Sharp End essay from Alpinist 63, Editor-in-Chief Katie Ives contemplates the varying meanings of awe as she delves into mountain darkness and solitude in search of peace.
