Soloing the Diamond: A Photo Essay
“It may sound strange, but it was as though a period of my life was ending this spring. At first I was grieving for the past and very lost, but eventually I had to learn how to let go, and I entered a new life.”
Summit Films Trailer
A glimpse of yesteryear: five 1960s and 1970s ski films from film icon Roger Brown and skiing and mountaineering legend Barry Corbet.
The Magic Purple Cam
November, 2006. Shawangunk Mountains, New York. Damn! The shiny Black Diamond cam slipped from my fingers. I watched as it sailed down, bounced off the cliff and disappeared into the leaves on the talus. I was nearly at the end of the second pitch of Beginner’s Delight, one of those wonderful, easy climbs found only at the Gunks, and had been feeling pretty pleased with myself. I’d gotten up the first tricky (tricky 5.3, Bill?) jam crack, led the famed traverse, and had been trying to impress my long suffering belayer (daughter Karen) with my expertise in placing cams for protection (an art I had practiced exactly once before). Oops, I thought, now I’m looking stupid. She’s going to be less than uber impressed with old Dad for dropping one of our brand new cams. “Oh, well,” I told her, trying to recover a bit of lost dignity, “We’ll just finish the climb and go back to the bottom and retrieve it.”
Aetheist, Rationalist, Believer
Climbing up Hyalite this beautiful December day with friends Geoff Heath and Carlos Buhler. Geoff an accomplished all-rounder; Carlos, world class. Me a “recreationalist” who has had the good fortune to know these guys and tag along. I haven’t been out much these past few years and feeling the effects of age sixty. They cruise “Dribbles” while I hack my way up and manage to peel off the steep second pitch. Thanks for the catch Carlos.
Inspirations, Part I: Vince Anderson
We asked fellow alpinists to reflect on literature that most inspires their climbing. Vince Anderson and Mark Twight share the darkness in this first installment.
MSR 2-Liter DromLite Bag: Adaptable Functionality
This summer while wandering around Utah, Idaho and Wyoming, I had a new item in my backpack. Although the two-liter Mountain Safety Research DromLite bag may not have had the glamour or intrepidness associated with a rope or cams, it seemed functional–and I was curious. Many of my climbing partners have long sworn by their MSR hydration bags. Would the DromLite be a suitable “fast and light” successor to the time-tested black Dromedary Bag?