We surveyed readers and more than a dozen climbing historians and writers in North America and Europe to collect 25 stories of stamina, ingenuity, and human will, some well-known, others not. Our hope is to remind readers to take care and prevent accidents--to"do nothing in haste, look well to each step," as Whymper famously said after the Matterhorn tragedy.
Avalanche danger will always be a hazard for those seeking to climb some of the world's most sought-after peaks. Here's a look at some facts about the deadly snow slides.
Call them what you will--"sloppy," "desperate," "intimidating," "amazing"--but dynamic moves are essential to our repertoire.
You know those shiny gadgets, techy techniques, and bizzled training facilities we use to hone our sport climbing? Well, guess what: they weren't invented in a vacuum.
Inside the world's busiest alpine-rescue service - Francis Claudon, of the Peloton de Gendarmerie de Haute Montagne (PGHM) in Chamonix, France, was on second call that July evening. With one team already out on a rescue, he was kitted up and ready for the next mission, boots on and rucksack packed.
Yosemite Search and Rescue is one of the most well-oiled SAR machines in the world.
One of the most iconic crags in the country, the Third Flatiron rises majestically just to the west of Boulder, Colorado.
Knots: they attach us to ropes, connect slings to trees, substitute for dropped gear, secure tents, create belay anchors. Even a sport climber whose shoes close with Velcro knows a few knots. But here are a few things you might not know.
Granite. Climbers love it, even as it tears their flesh, steals their gear, and makes them feel oh-so-small. You know how granite feels under your hands and feet, how it smells, and the way it turns to gold in the last light of day, but here are a few things you probably didn't know.
1970, picture it: a cherry-red Mustang guns it up the back roads out of a podunk Hudson Valley college town, burning rubber past farmhouses and orchards and around tree-lined hairpins toward a notch in ridge-top cliffs.
Alaska, 1991: a ptarmigan spoke to me from 90 feet up Middle Triple Peak (8,835 feet), in the Kichatna Range. Seth Shaw and I had just ticked the second ascent of the venerable East Buttress (VI 5.9 A3; 3,300 feet) in grotesque conditions. As we made the last of 20-some raps to the glacier, the Fates dished out more adventure ...
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