Crack Addiction - Fissures of the West, from seams to bomb-bays

Jacques Strappe, Hyper-Crack on the Anchor Chain (5.11), Merrimac Butte, Moab, Utah

Chimneys, especially squeezers in the desert, are a sure way to earn your “been there, done that, and will never do that again/ scared as shit” merit badge. To tackle a beastie like Hyper-Crack, you need to enjoy tight spaces — exhale, inch upwards, breathe, breathe again, repeat. And if you’re lucky, you’ll stumble across an old star drive, drilled angle, buttonhead, or warthog. Clip it, hope the rope’s weight doesn’t rip it, and keep on shimmying, despite any bruised knees, chafed elbows, and tears in your favorite longsleeved thrift-store shirt that might come.

The photographer Andrew Burr, of Salt Lake City, says he’s yet to meet a Western crack he didn’t love.