FEATURES

GALLERY
Shark Bitten: wide-eyed and dirty on the FFA of the very muddy, very serious (5.12a R/X) Wiggins Route up the Shark’s Fin, Monument Basin, Utah.
Photos by Andrew Burr

FEAR IS OPTIONAL
The German Ines Papert has climbed 5.13c/d Dolomites walls, established M12, put up a multi-pitch trad/alpine 5.13a, crushed the Ice World Cups, and FA’ed a massive mixed wall on Kwangde Shar — she’s the world’s best female all-arounder. But there’s one thing the single mother can’t do, and that’s drive a motorcycle . . . at least, not safely.
Story and Photos by Cory Richards

LADDER(S) TO THE SKY
In 1492 — the year Columbus bumped into the Americas — the Frenchman Antoine de Ville established the world’s first technical climb. Combining ladders, scaffolding, and pure bravado, it was de Ville’s line up Mont Aiguille that made our sport possible.
By Andrew Finkelstein

TEAM AMERICA: GRIT POLICE
In autumn 2008, a trio of leading Americans went on the gritstone warpath, onsighting, redpointing, and going groundup on the edges’ top testpieces. Here, they reveal the terror behind the scenes and how, even as these three Yanks shook up the UK scene, the trip similarly reshaped their climbing.
By Alex Honnold, Kevin Jorgeson, and Matt Segal
Photos by Cory Richards and David Simmonite

DEPARTMENTS

CONTRIBUTORS
Andrew Finkelstein, Kevin Jorgeson, Dev. S. Sukumar, and Cory Richards

EDITORIAL
Why climbing’s heroes are anything but disposable

LETTERS

JUST OUT 6
fresh-to-the-def gearios for winter and spring

HOT FLASHES
Jonathan Siegrist brings the ruckus to the Red, recalling other top global road-trip performances; Erik Weihenmayer’s sight-free ascent of the Naked Edge; and the 2009 Golden Piton Awards

THE HAULBAG
An eye-popping Off Route; Overheard (whee!); The Crux: a High E encounter with the late, great Hans Kraus; antibiotics and tendon rupture; and MSA recalls/discontinues two auto-belayer models

OFF THE WALL
Chaos theory meets rock-gym route-setting: will computers win?

PLAYERS
The “Indian Spiderman”: the man behind the viral YouTube video

TEN THINGS . . .
Bold, brilliant belayers

ROADKILL
Though this be madness: a tragicomic Nor Cal road trip in four acts

OPEN BIVY
Climber philanthropy: Conrad Anker reveals our true summit

SUSTAINED
The pros and cons of the much-discussed “Gym Effect”

CLASSIC CLIMBS
The Daddy (III 5.6 or 5.8), Linville Gorge, North Carolina: adventure quartzite for starry-eyed neophytes and grizzled trad dads alike

TECH TIPS
Training: Steve Bechtel reveals the real key to building power
Alpine: quick-and-easy tips for hydration on the go

MILEAGE
Tennessee Wall, Tennessee: steep, sunny Southern-sandstone splitters — two miles of ‘em!

REVIEWS
The secret’s out — Durango Bouldering; George Ingle Finch’s The Struggle for Everest; your mammoth, new guide to Arkansas’ killer sandstone; the Eiger nordwand, in the film North Face

ANCHORED
Michael Moore, a vigilant eye on the Calico Hills’ aging sandstone sport climbs

PERSPECTIVE
Tommy Caldwell: big-wall free climber, sport pioneer, boulderer, author; Estes Park, Colorado