Cover
DJ Underground Chuck, somewhere in Colorado.
Photo by Keith Ladzinski

Crag X
Trad, sport, and bouldering, all safely tucked away somewhere in the desert Southwest. We’ll show you the goods... we just won’t divulge the location.
By Lisa Hathaway Photos by Andrew Burr

Hidden Giants
And all these years you thought Squamish was the bomb when it came to climbing in the western Canadian maritimes — think again. With walls up to 2700 feet, the Eldred Valley could prove to be the next great granite hotspot.
By Aaron Black

Golden Piton Awards
El Cap free routes, Hueco’s newest testpiece, Mr. 8a evolves into Mr. 9a, Indian Creek sickness, an unlikely solo, and one of mountaineering’s last great problems. Celebrate 2005’s best climbs, climbers, and humanitarians with Climbing Magazine’s fourth-annual achievement awards.
By Dougald MacDonald

Gallery
A few secrets, a few you might already know, and a couple new perspectives on the vertical world.

8 > Editorial
Crags may be secret, but climbers are loquacious

12 > Letters
Jack Osbourne-related poetry, 2005 Golden Piton awards

16 > Hot Flashes
Graham establishes his first 9a/9a+ (5.15a), Harry Berger climbs Alps trilogy, Lake Willoughby and Poke-O-Moonshine ice routes, and the world’s stoutest mixed climbs

26 > Off the Wall
Indian Creek land access, Yosemite lawsuit dismissed, Hueco Rock Ranch debacle, rescuing the Red’s new crags

34 > On the Radar
Secrets no more: Crags where climber’s lips got too loose

38 > Passages
Heinrich Harrer, Eigerwand’s first-ascentionist and author of Seven Years in Tibet

66 > Tech Tips
Trad: Rack conservation strategies
Sport: Better climbing through periodization training
Wall: Micro survival gear

72 > Equipment
New rock gear for ‘06

80 > Reviews
Elizabeth Hawley, The Mountaineering Handbook, and more

86 > Classifieds

94 > Vantage Point
The upside and darkside of authoring guidebooks
By Phillip Benningfield

98 > Off Route
Fishing meets big-wall climbing