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Sunset from the flanks of Mozodepowadso (Abenaki name for Mt. Mansfield), Green Mountains (Askaskwiwajoak), Vermont, Abenaki territory. [Photo] Katie Ives

Years of Sunsets

In this Sharp End story from Alpinist 74–which is now available on newsstands and in our online store–Editor-in-Chief Katie Ives ponders her obsession with mountaintop sunsets, and the question posed to her by a college professor years ago: “How many more sunsets will you see?”

Karen Stolz guiding on the North Face of Pitchoff, Adirondacks, 2015. [Photo] R.L. Stolz, Vertical Perspectives Photography

Remembering Karen Stolz (1955-2021)

A bright light in the Adirondacks went out on April 1 with the passing of Karen Stolz from pancreatic cancer. She was 65. Karen co-owned Adirondack Alpine Guides with her husband R.L., and she was one of the earliest and longest-serving female guides in the region. “All told, she guided 37 years and around 5,000 days,” said R.L.

Suzana EL Massri in Scotland with Slovenian climbers Sara Jaklic (pictured) and Marija Jeglic (photographer). [Photo] Marija Jeglic

Call It Dreaming

In this Climbing Life story from Alpinist 73–which is now on newsstands and in our online store–Suzana EL Massri reexamines her dreams during years of conflict and pandemic. She writes: “A multitude of decisions, chaos and chance forms our existence. Any sense to it is created by us, and it requires a daring belief in the future. We don’t get to carry a map for every corridor we enter. Sometimes the close-up reality of attaining visions requires the repetition of simple tasks. Doing a lot of almost nothing until it becomes something. Until we make it into something more, something worth hoping for.”

Chevon Powell, organizer of the Refuge Outdoor Festival. [Photo] Earica Brown

Local Hero: Chevon Powell

In this Local Hero story from Alpinist 73–which is now available on newsstands and in our online store–Anaheed Saatchi celebrates the work of Chevon Powell, organizer of the Refuge Outdoor Festival, to create spaces for “healing and belonging” in nature and ” to advocate for a broader picture of who recreates outside.”

Evelio Echevarria in 2018. [Photo] Cameron M. Burns

Remembering Evelio A. Echevarria (1926-2020)

One of the greatest South American mountain scholars has passed. Evelio Echevarria died in October 2020 of colon cancer. Echevarria stands out in the mountaineering world for the massive amount of exploration and research of the Andes he did over the course of his life. He wrote more than 90 reports for the American Alpine Journal and sent a similar amount of information to the British Alpine Journal. “He was one of a small, select handful of mountain writers who were worth their weight in gold, in terms of their depth of interest and rigorous approach,” said Alpine Journal editor Ed Douglas. “His loss might go unremarked by many climbers but those operating in South America will have benefited from his effort and attention to detail.”

The first Make it Real (MIR) student team visits Robert Goh's Shishapangma base camp in 2002. [Photo] Robert Goh

Make It Real

In this story from The Climbing Life section of Alpinist 73–which is now available on newsstands and in our online store–Lim Joel and his friends train for Himalayan peaks in their tropical Singapore home.

[Book cover] Hooking Up: The Ultimate Big Wall and Aid Climbing Manual (2019), by Peter Zabrok and Fabio Elli, $59.95. [Cover photo] Tom Evans

Peter Zabrok and Fabio Elli’s “Hooking Up” big wall aid climbing manual is fun as well as informative

Of Peter Zabrok and Fabio Elli’s recent book “Hooking Up: The Ultimate Big Wall and Aid Climbing Manual,” John Climaco writes: “Until recently and despite 40 years of climbing, I knew almost nothing about big walls. Oh sure, I’ve managed to drag myself up Leaning Tower, Half Dome and even an El Cap route…. But my real big wall skills? By the standards of ‘Pass the Pitons’ Peter Zabrok, aka Dr. Piton…they might as well have been non-existent…. Like any good teachers, the authors go to great lengths throughout the book to break up what are often extremely technical (and necessary) discussions with fun and funny stories and anecdotes.”

George Whitmore in the Canadian Rockies, 1962. [Photo] Ed Cooper

Remembering George Whitmore (1931-2021)

George Whitmore, one of the first ascensionists of the Nose of El Capitan (Tu-Tok-A-Nu-La) in 1958, passed away on New Year’s Day in Fresno, California, from complications of COVID-19 at age 89. Steve Grossman recounts his influential life.

Ethan Berman looking at the Emperor Face from their camp by the river. This was the best view he and Uisdean Hawthorn had before the mist returned. The Texqakallt Nation name for the 3954-meter peak, Yexyexescen, roughly translates to striped rock, a reflection of the multilayered horizontal striations. [Photo] Uisdean Hawthorn

Running into the Shadows

In this On Belay story from Alpinist 73–which is now available on newsstands and in our online store–Uisdean Hawthorn writes about a new route that he and Ethan Berman climbed on the Emperor Face of Yexyexescen (Mt. Robson), which they named Running in the Shadows (VI AI5 M6 A0, 2000m). Hawthorn writes: “People will say, ‘They timed it perfectly and got perfect conditions.’ But in reality, we’d just stood there bleary-eyed in the dark, had a bit of confidence or perhaps a fear of failure, and we’d gone for it. It was only our curiosity that let us discover if the Emperor would be willing to accept our passage.”