![A fixed piton offers a lone spot of protection for Nik Berry and Hayden Kennedy on the notoriously spicy Hallucinogen Wall in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Colorado, 2014. [Photo] Andrew Burr](https://dev.alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/a83-sharp-end-1-2-800x620.jpg)
In this Sharp End story from Alpinist 83–which is now available on newsstands and in our online store–Derek Franz examines the legal landscape and uncertain future for bolts and other fixed anchors that have been used for climbing in designated wilderness areas for nearly sixty years. Legislation such as Protect America’s Rock Climbing Act and America’s Outdoor Recreation Act is necessary, he argues, because “climbing’s place within the law is not, shall we say, fixed.”
In this Climbing Life story from Alpinist 81–which is available in our online store–Shehla Anjum shares stories from some of the Pakistani women finding their power amid the country’s high peaks.
In this Sharp End story from Alpinist 82–which is now on newsstands and in our online store–Derek Franz considers some of the hardest objectives for today’s alpinists. He writes: “When it comes to the physical limits of the human body, we are constantly wondering what is possible: What is the fastest a human can run, the highest someone can jump?… There will always be those who wonder: What is the limit of human ability on high peaks and technical faces?”
![Tom Hornbein in 2011. [Photo] Claudia Camila Lopez](https://dev.alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/tom-hornbein-1-930x620.jpg)
To honor the life of Tom Hornbein, who died on May 6, 2023, at his home in Estes Park, Colorado, at age 92, we are sharing this feature story from Alpinist 73 (2021) by mountaineering historian Maurice Isserman. Hornbein was one of America’s greatest climbers, best known for completing the first ascent of Mt. Everest’s West Ridge with Willi Unsoeld in 1963. He also earned distinction in his long career as an anesthesiologist and advanced research on the effects of altitude on the human body. The American Alpine Club awarded him the AAC President’s Gold Medal twice and bestowed him with an honorary membership and special recognition for service to the club. In this story, Isserman interviews Hornbein about the youthful adventures that led him to the world’s highest peak and the meanings that he still sought in the mountains at age 90.
![Reinhold Messner holds the Maestri bolts from Cerro Torre that were given to him in Aspen, Colorado, on November 23, 2022. [Photo] Derek Franz](https://dev.alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/a81-sharp-end-1-830x620.jpeg)
In this Sharp End story from Alpinist 81–which is now on newsstands and in our online store–Derek Franz seeks a balance between safety and boldness. He writes: “Climbing…is full of duality, encompassing a range of contradictory values…. There is a continual tightrope walk between the opposing values of safety and boldness, and the search for optimal balance between the two has always shaped the evolution of our pastime. Questions that seem to have been settled at various times in the past reemerge. There is now a fast-growing population of climbers, with increasing numbers of them going into the mountains strong from gym training but short on outdoor experience. The mindset in which people approach the wild places is changing, and the duality of our values is becoming more pronounced.”
As he struggles to cope with the death of a friend, Jason Nark becomes absorbed in the story of the search for Matthew Greene, a climber who disappeared in the Sierra Nevada in 2013.
![Derek Franz on Ecclesiastes (IV 5.9) on Mitchell Peak, Wind River Range, Wyoming, in 2019. [Photo] Todd Preston, Derek Franz collection](https://dev.alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/a80-sharp-end-1-930x620.jpg)
In this Sharp End story from Alpinist 80–which is now available on newsstands and in our online store–Derek Franz shares his journey from Alpinist reader to editor-in-chief.
![Bea Vogel forging her own pitons at the Stanford Engineering Lab in 1952. [Photo] Bea Vogel collection](https://dev.alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/a79-wired-1-799x620.jpg)
In this story from Alpinist 79 (Autumn 2022), a 1952 photo of a woman who forged pitons inspires Lauren Delaunay Miller to embark on a journey to learn more about Bea Vogel, an early Yosemite climber and ardent activist, for whom the right to choose was paramount–on the rock and in the rest of life. Delaunay Miller’s book “Valley of Giants: Stories from Women at the Heart of Yosemite Climbing” recently received the Banff Mountain Book Award Climbing Literature Award.
![Michael Kennedy in 1976, after the first ascent of the Ames Ice Hose with Steve Shea and Lou Dawson. [Photo] Michael Kennedy collection](https://dev.alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/a79-sharp-end-2-798x620.jpg)
In this Sharp End story from Alpinist 79–which is now on newsstands and in our online store–Alpinist’s departing editor-in-chief Katie Ives ponders the fates of climbing publications and says farewell after ten years at the helm of the magazine. She writes: “I am leaving for other paths. The magazine will go on, with your help. And I hope that I will continue to meet you, in the mountains and in our words….”
“When the mountain community…grapples with the accidental death of one of its members,” Anna Callaghan writes, “only one thing is certain: it’s going to happen again.” Through interviews with several climbers who’ve lost loved ones to the mountains, Callaghan explores the ways in which people across the climbing community are banding together to address grief and support the bereaved.
