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Climbing Magazine Feature Articles
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 2012 Golden Piton Awards
On frozen Karakoram peaks, fierce alpine faces, and crags around the world, climbers killed it last year. Here, Climbing presents the 10th annual Golden Piton Awards for top performances in six disciplines: mountaineering, big wall, traditional climbing, crack climbing, sport climbing, and breakaway success. Thank you, athletes, for your inspiration!  A Question of Balance
Six essential yoga poses for climbers - My physical therapist, a triathlete, recently told me that climbing puts more intense stress on my body than any other sport does. “Your lats are overdeveloped, your shoulders pull forward, your neck is strained, your hamstrings are tight,” she told me. “Just stop climbing.” Of course, I won’t stop climbing. So what to do? Start stretching consistently. And the smartest way to stretch? Yoga.  Survivors
Most climbing accidents happen suddenly, progress quickly, and they’re soon over. A stone falls, a piece pulls, a leg is broken. A rescue begins. Very few climbs result in true survival situations, in which the misery and uncertainty are prolonged for days or even weeks. Because of their rarity and inherent drama, many such incidents become legendary tales. Others remain private experiences, known only to family and friends.  Staying Alive
Survival tips from climbing rangers - Nobody expects to be loaded onto a litter and evacuated off his first big wall. Or stuck in a snow cave, out of food and fuel, hypothermic, and praying that a storm will quit and someone will find him. Yet it happens, every year, and not just to newbies. Climbers make mistakes, or get unlucky, and rescue rangers drop from the sky and save our asses.  More Than Able
Craig DeMartino’s heartbeat bounded and then stumbled beneath ranger and climber Erik Gabriel’s fingers. DeMartino was losing blood. Broken ribs had ripped a hole in his right lung. With each breath, a deep gurgle choked from his torso. His neck was broken. The lower spinal column was worse; the fall’s impact had traveled up through his legs and pulverized the lower vertebrae. The feeling in his legs was gone. The shock wave had ripped the climbing shoes from his feet and peeled back the skin of his soles. Flecks of granite clung to open flesh. The pain was unmitigated; DeMartino’s heartbeat was too faint to risk morphine.  Towering Heights
Stand atop these spindly spires - In November 2010, I did my first desert tower in Utah: Ancient Art in the Fisher Towers. After holding my breath across the narrow sidewalk three pitches up and winding my way up the final sandstone corkscrew, I stood atop that bizarre summit at dusk, barely able to make out the Rectory across the valley. This was a defining and exhilarating moment in my climbing career: I, like many first-time tower climbers, wanted more.  10 Things You Didn't Know about Avalanches
Avalanches have killed some of climbing’s most luminous stars. In 1979, Willi Unsoeld—who summitted Everest in 1963 as part of the first American expedition—died in an avalanche while leading a winter ascent of Mt. Rainier. In September 1999, a massive avalanche triggered by a serac fall killed Alex Lowe and David Bridges on the flanks of Shishapangma. More recently, an avalanche on Mt. Edgar in China in 2009 killed young alpinists Jonny Copp and Micah Dash along with cameraman Wade Johnson.  Where it All Began
These six crags shaped American rock climbing and are still amazing destinations today. - When Climbing began publishing in 1970, the majority of climbers aspired to do big walls and Himalayan mountains. Short rock climbs were regarded mostly as practice for bigger things. But, over the next few decades, as this magazine reported, issue after issue, American climbing changed profoundly. Free climbing, bouldering, and eventually sport climbing shook the sport’s tweedy foundations and revealed a new emphasis on athleticism, an explosion of route development, and the recognition that rock climbing should be mostly about having fun.  50 Ways to Flail
Here are some all-too-common climbing mistakes that could kill, hurt, beat, or delay you—or at least ruin your image. And, of course, how to prevent them. - I’ve been climbing for more than 15 years, and the mistakes I’ve made cover the gamut. My knot came partly untied while I was climbing at Joshua Tree; I’ve threaded my belay device backward; partway up El Capitan, my partner once completely unclipped me from a belay. Worst, I dropped a dear friend while lowering him off a sport climb in Rifle with a too-short rope. If you’re lucky, like I’ve been, your mistakes result in close calls that help keep you vigilant. If you’re not, the results can be tragic.  Winning and Losing in the Revelations
The first ascent of Mt. Mausolus - Biting cold numbs my face, but between deep breaths I hardly notice. The last stretch of rope feeds through my belay device as Scotty crests the final snow pyramid of Mt. Mausolus. Beyond him, a fiery sun sinks behind the erratic spine of the Revelations. The air is deathly still. The western sky burns in a spectrum of oranges and pinks. “We did it, Seth,” I whisper. “We did it.”  Northern Exposure
Ten of New England’s finest 5.10s - “The history goes deep with some of the cliffs in these parts,” says Bob Parrott, a low-key Maine resident who is one of New England’s most prolific climbers. “Other stuff is just raw and wild.” That’s a fair summary of New England climbing: rich in tradition, ripe for exploration. There’s room for first ascents here, but with New England’s diverse rock, even day trips to long-established cliffs can offer a taste of the unexpected.  Crazy Eights
An octet of wild 5.8 routes - All-day climbs don’t have to be epic, monstrously difficult routes that leave you panting with exhaustion and thirsting for safety. Many adventurous rock climbs have relatively moderate ratings and good protection. (But don’t be too complacent—some of these routes don’t let you off easy!) Here, we’ve collected some of our favorite long 5.8 climbs—each doable in a day from the car—based on personal experience, suggestions from guidebook authors, and general popularity.  Legends: Tommy Caldwell
My first road trip was probably to Yosemite at around age 4—my sister, my mom, my dad, and myself. We did that trip every summer until around the time I was nine. That was kind of my dad’s stomping ground. He always had Yosemite in his heart, and that’s probably where my love for Yosemite came from, because I have all these fond memories of being there as a kid. At first it was just floating down the river in a raft, or sitting in the meadow watching my dad climb. Then around the time I was 6, I can remember pretty vividly doing the Lost Arrow tyrolean.  Legends: George Lowe
I was so unaware of the scope of climbing when I started. I just took it up without knowing much about these crazy people in California who were going out—but at least it got me out of the city. So, I didn’t really have these models directly early on. I mean it’s been 50 years, and my memory isn’t as good as it should be, but I don’t remember anyone explicitly. There was so little communication about climbing—very little within the States. There were some books, like Rebuffat’s book, that sort of inspired me.  Legends: Lynn Hill
[Chuck] was the one who kind of passed on the climbing culture to me, because he read books and was a subscriber to Climbing magazine, and so he would pass me the magazines. So I’d read articles, and I remember Doug Robinson’s article in the Chouinard catalog, whatever it was called, The Art of something—and I just remember that being kind of a defining ethic, you know “leave no trace.” I don’t know why people don’t use this term now, but “climbing by fair means.” Summarized like that it makes sense really quickly to people. Otherwise, it’s a long explanation. Fair means to me meant that we were climbing as if we didn’t have a rope, and if you fell, that was a blemish in style.  Legends: Angie Payne
I climbed a desert tower, Ancient Arts. I got close to the top, and it has this sidewalk that you have to cross and you have to end up on this weird formation. I got across the sidewalk part, and it started raining and storming. I had never been in that kind of situation. And it was surprising to me that so many people go through that, and they really enjoy that, I think. And I was just really terrified. It was a completely different world of climbing that I hadn’t really experienced before. And I felt like a complete wimp.  Climberville
Consider yourself lucky if you live in one of these towns - Thinking of pulling up roots and heading to a town that’s blessed with a vast amount of rock? Want to be able to make a little cash once you get there, and maybe even buy a pad (for living, not bouldering)? We’re here to help. We created an equation that balances quantity of rock, climate, and economic statistics to find the ideal climbing towns for settling down: This formula crunches the data for seven variables to compute each town’s awesomeness quotient.  Colorado Gold
Old classics and new finds in Colorado's South Platte - Déjà vu—or, what do they call it the third time? Once again, the forecast is 40 and sunny—perfect. It’s January, and all my friends are skiing, save for one. Craig has given up a third powder day to help me slay this goliath of a crack, a 300-foot, four-pitch, offwidth squeeze that leaves my inner thighs so sore I can’t walk right for a week after an attempt. Even so, I can’t leave it alone.  Sporting Life: Let the Right One in
How to rid your house of dirtbags - We've all been there: on the road broke, relying on other climbers to provide a safe haven (read: couch) for a night or two… or 57. I did most of my dirtbagging in my teens and 20s, when I lived on $150 a month, most of which went toward gas money for the next crag. My cut-rate tent leaked, I slept in a double layer of threadbare, $30 Coleman sleeping bags, subsisted on Ramen noodles and lemon-crème cookies, and my Therm-a- Rest deflated about 10 minutes after I lay on it (but I was too penurious to buy a patch kit). I could only afford to shower once a week.  Sand Castles
The mysterious towers of the Ennedi - The fin of rock above me, Aloba Arch, was 300 feet wide, 50 feet thick, and stretched all the way across a sandstone canyon, 700 feet above our heads. Alex Honnold and I were discussing a possible route to its untouched summit when I noticed four young men emerge from the rocks in the back of the canyon. Clad in sandals, with scarves partly covering their faces, they wore large knives in their belts and were holding the hilts as they purposefully strode towards us. |
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