Cover:
A 22-year-old Hienz Mariacher on the summit of the Marmolada, after the first ascent of his Hatschi Bratschi (5.9, 750m), in 1978. PHOTO: Hienz Mariacher Collection

14 CONTRIBS
Keith Ladzinski, Cedar Wright, Kristin Bjornsen, and Jim Thornburg want you to want them.

16 EDITORIAL
The rebirth of cool: remember your first time?

20 LETTERS

26 BASECAMP

28 HOT FLASHES
Women that rock, and rock… and rock some more, from V10, to 5.14, to 5.13 onsights; an obsessed Slovenian tops the Alps’ 82 high points in 104 long, wintry days (but doesn’t hallucinate); and Dean Potter gets retro-chic on Hong Kong Phooey — Indian Creek’s hardest — and goes wayyy highball in Yosemite.

38 OFF THE WALL
Downward Dog on the slackline — why you should care — and what it means to the YogaSlackers; a revealing study emerges on climber-injury patterns; ha-ha-funny Overheards; and a Players sit-down with Dr. Luanne Freer, running the Everest Base Camp Clinic since 2003.

44 JUST OUT
Summer comforts: new gear to make life cleaner, drier, warmer, lighter, and safer this season.

46 TEN THINGS
Climber slang.

48 GET SCRAPPY
The maiden voyage of Cedar Wright’s new column, Get Scrappy, featuring lurid tales from the bottom o’ the dirtbagging barrel.

52 ROADKILL
The Road Warrior meets Kids meets Viva Las Vegas — you don’t wanna miss this one.

54 SUSTAINED
Selfish climbers get Red River Gorge mega-crag Torrent Falls closed; selfless climbers reopen it.

56 GALLERY
The oil paintings of Steve Dieckhoff; Sharma in the West; shots from the sharp end; the marriage of climber to rock at Lover’s Leap, California; and Swiss multi-pitch paradise.

64 FREE BLAST
The south face of the Marmolada, the highest point in the Italian Dolomites, is one of the most impressive rock walls in the Alps. Although it towers 3,000 feet and stretches more than a mile, this proving ground for Messner, Maestri, and Mariacher remains a cipher to most.
By Jeff Achey

72 MORE GUNKY THAN FUNKY
We’ve all heard the standard Shawangunks refrain — ”How can 5.9 be so damned overhanging?!” — but you rarely get to see it. Here, the photographer Jim Thornburg takes you up the dizzying moderate heights of this East Coast quartzite paradise in a photo essay that redefines  “5.9.”
Story and photos by Jim Thornburg • Sidebar by Nicky Dyal

80 BLACK HOLE
Where do you boulder when everyone’s out to get you? Flagstaff, Arizona.
By Dan Dewell • Photos by Keith Ladzinski

88 GLBT And Joshua Tree
Queering Climbing, a first-person essay.
By Tanya Pluth

92 CLASSIC CLIMBS
Eldorado Springs Canyon’s Yellow Spur is all that and more: vibrant lichen, fussy cracks, little crimps, and skyscraper air.

94 TECH TIPS
Bouldering: The 10 Essentials of Alpine Bouldering
Training: Hang on for serious power-endurance gains,
Andy Raether-style, as he lays out The Month.

98 GEAR YOU NEED
For a summer session at Ceüse, the French mega-crag.

100 REVIEWS
Book club: flashback to Yosemite in the Sixties, read up on Bishop Bouldering and Smith Rock Select, and go True Green.

114 PERSPECTIVE
Pat Ament: writer, artist, musician, photographer, climber