FEATURES

GALLERY
Connect the cobbles in Maple Canyon, Utah; boulder sky-high at Donner Summit, California; a Rodellar superproject to melt your face; sports action, Morocco style; and full inversion at the Bouldering World Cup.

“STOP THE CAR”
We all know Pratt’s Crack (5.9), the signature 200-foot offwidth in Pine Creek Canyon, above Bishop, California. But have you heard of the 200 other cragging routes here, on some of the Eastside’s most serene, stonker granite?
By Bruce Willey
Photos by Shawn Reeder

RESPECT YOUR ALDERS
Four women chase domes in wild Alaska, finding mosquitoes, swampland, alder thickets, and not quite enough climbable stone — until they open their eyes to a treasure hidden in plain sight, that is.
By Emily Stifler
Photos by Mikey Schaefer

COMEBACK KIDS
Mauled, battered, crushed, and broken, four heroically determined lifers detail their battles back to fighting form after traumatic injury. Plus, four key tips for your own recovery.
By Eric Perlman

DEPARTMENTS

CONTRIBUTORS
Bruce Willey, Shawn Reeder, Emily Stifler, and Mikey Schaefer

EDITORIAL
Three friends, gone too soon . . .

LETTERS

JUST OUT
Six stylin’ sundries for summer’s vertical travels

HOT FLASHES
Andrada and Sharma roof out in Spain; Will Stanhope skips the bolts on East Face of Monkey Face (5.13d); Shawn Diamond’s new Bishop V14; and more. . . .

OFF THE WALL
Wacky climbing gear found only in Europe; Cave Rock “debolted”; and maximum hilarity: Overheard

PLAYERS
Rowan Jimenez: musician, routesetter, Bay Area hardman, and scleroderma survivor

TEN THINGS . . .
The Diamond, Longs Peak, Colorado

ROADKILL
The Tao of overcrowding, and why none of us are special

SPORTING LIFE
Ten Commandments for aging rock climbers

SUSTAINED
America’s sport areas have passed the two-decade mark — should we worry about the original hardware?

EQUIPMENT
The 2009 Shoe Review: the 22 hottest sport and trad rock shoes; plus, 10 killer new approach boots

CLASSIC CLIMBS
Mountaineers Route (III 5.9), Elephant’s Perch, Sawtooth Range, Idaho: alpine Shangri-La on a 1,000-foot granite wall

TECH TIPS
Technique: stealth your way to better footwork, with Kevin Jorgeson’s “Silent Feet” Training: expert advice on key supplements for joint health

MILEAGE
Tame summer’s sting with a trip north to the chill crags of Bozeman, Montana

REVIEWS
DVD rampage: Masters of Stone VI: Breakthrough and a bloc-hunting trip to Herakleia; plus, a children’s primer on rock formations

ANCHORED
Blake Bowling, giving a “Team Suck” facelift to Kentucky’s Red River Gorge

PERSPECTIVE
Steve Swenson: alpinist, engineer, family man, free spirit, president of the American Alpine Club; Seattle, Washington