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A tribute to this man's best friend.

The prolific Georgian died in a fall during a lightning storm on Shkhelda, a mountain in his native Caucasus.

“We did not feel a lot of joy on the summit,” said Aleš Česen. “Deep down we were happy, but the ascent took everything from us.”

Now, we know what you’re asking: The belayer doesn’t look that much lighter than the climber—so why did he get sucked up so high?

"I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised when, after watching Janja Garnbret win the women’s Combined final, I blinked and found myself training opposition on my office floor."

A reflection on mortality and renewal.

Whether you're in search of a new home or a vacation spot, these towns blend great (and accessible) rock climbing, affordability, and kid-friendly activities.

There were oh so many highlights in today's historic Lead & Boulder Combined event

An epic Bouldering round sets up a big showdown in Lead

Episode one of Ultimate Mountain Athlete, presented by the 2024 Toyota Tacoma, kicks off with the climbing challenge as an elite field of eight seasoned pros begin this first-ever, multistage competition

'La Flecha Perdida' is a…classically bolted sport climb.

Here were the biggest and best moments from the Lead portion, the “grand finale” of the men’s Sport Climbing discipline at the 2024 Olympics.

Today’s Bouldering final was everything the semifinal was not—and thank goodness for that.

Climbing “French free,” Italian Stefano Ragazzo has made the first rope solo ascent of 'Eternal Flame' (VI; 2,100ft).

How does scoring work? How do athletes train? How do the disciplines differ? Why do some climbers wear two different shoes? etc.

This might be the single most exciting Speed competition we've ever watched.

The nearly perfect semifinal route was a fair and exciting test for the athletes. But some big names—including USA’s Natalia Grossman—didn’t make it through.

While mortal injury is highly unlikely, sport climbing is still hard on the body.

In the women’s Olympic Speed event, Aleksandra Mirosław was flawless and dominant. But there were some surprises—and amazingly close races—in the battle for silver and bronze.

After today's tumultuous (and poorly set) lead semifinal, where numerous top names struggled, Friday's final will be a mix of favorites and upstarts.

“Yes!”—“No!”—“Was it even any different?”

Sam Watson and Veddriq Leonardo keep swapping records. But in Paris Watson has raised the bar yet higher.

Three years ago, Jesse Grupper was climbing outside and working full time. He wasn't sure he wanted that to change. Here's how it did.

An interview with Zach Hammer, one of the fastest climbers in the country.

American Sam Watson runs 4.75!

Janja Garnbret, Sorato Anraku, and Jakob Schubert are clear crowd favorites. But there are plenty of others who could snag gold.

Yesterday's men's semifinal bouldering round was too hard—with just seven tops in total and only one athlete topping two boulders—but the setters totally redeemed themselves in today's women's semifinal.

There are two major differences between the Olympic Sport Climbing event (singular) that debuted in Tokyo and the Sport Climbing events (plural) that we’re watching in Paris this week.

Nine highlights (and lowlights) of the women’s Speed Climbing seeding and elimination rounds.

The setters compressed the difficulty into the tops of each of the four boulders. It made for a slow start and an exhilarating finish.

There are two medal events in Olympic Sport Climbing: Speed climbing and Boulder & Lead Combined. Here's how scoring works.

Plus: Pablo Hammack repeats a savage Fred Nicole testpiece & Dylan Chuat overcomes a finger injury to FA a V15.

“Just because you are the belayer,” notes this week’s whippee, “doesn’t mean you can’t get hurt.”

Olympic athletes can’t afford a single foot slip in the Lead and Speed events, where a fall disqualifies you immediately. So they're very particular about which shoes they use.

An ambitious alpine ascent on the West Face has ended in disaster. Elsewhere on the mountain, its speed record is cut in half.

The men’s boulders, for instance, are as hard as V14. We caught up with Paris’s head Boulder setter to learn what strengths and skills a climber needs to grab gold.

Some climbers who didn't qualify for the Olympics may be heartbroken. But others redirected their goals. This has made at least one pundit (me) quite happy.

Bernadette McDonald has spent her career celebrating communities the Western world has trained itself to ignore. Now, at 72, she’s tackled the most complex story of her life.

If you’re new either to climbing (the sport) or Sport Climbing (the Olympic event), you may be baffled by all the jargon. These are the terms the announcers are using.

Petzl's new Neox is a sleek assisted-braking belay device. How does it stack up to the Grigri? We put it to the test.

For GP81, the city's only remaining independent climbing gym, surviving in expensive Brooklyn has meant leaning on its community.

The fact that anyone could win is why we’ll all tune in starting August 5.

When we fail on large moves, most of us tend to think we just need to pull more and pull harder—and our training reflects this bias toward the upper body.

Some rivalries are just as career-defining as the actual accolades athletes earn on the wall.

“New Heights” is the first video game to capture the physics of rock climbing. Every climber should give it a try.

Astra Lincoln confronts the shame that kept her from the crag while on an international climbing trip.

A new video highlights the important role SAR teams play—and why we should help fund them. 

Speed climbers were dealt a rough hand at the Tokyo Olympics. This time around, we'll finally get to see who the best speed climbers in the world are.

Once you watch this clip, you’ll understand his revelation.

The IFSC has disqualified all American climbers scheduled to compete in Briançon after a representative failed to confirm their attendance.

With a field this stacked, it's hard to pick winners. But these eight women are leading the pack.

I never thought I would have to climb alone

Awardees will undertake projects that address barriers to sustainable climbing access while promoting conservation and stewardship

With an athlete field this stacked, it's hard to pick winners. But these nine climbers are all poised to excel in Paris.

In what he describes as a momentary lapse of judgment, Rajesh Lama decided to walk from his doorstep to the highest point on Earth.

Turns out, becoming your worst nightmare isn’t actually so bad.

Are you a climber with a deep editorial background? We want to hear from you.

Looking to blend climbing and leisure? You can't go wrong at one of these beachside climbing areas.

John Middendorf revolutionized portaledge technology, allowing climbers to survive terrible storms on big walls.

With a route name like “Slammin’,” perhaps this violent whipper isn’t so surprising.

For years, Sam Weir was one of Colorado’s most prolific boulderers, sending dozens of boulders graded V14 and V15 while also holding a full time job. When he moved to Europe, he largely dropped off social media. But he’s only gotten better.

An unknown American climber found the corpse, searched it for identification, and found a perfectly preserved driver’s license alongside various personal affects.

The White Rim in Canyonlands, Utah, has some of the world's best and hardest roof cracks. But climbing there takes planning and insider knowledge—get those permits now!

Giuliano Cameroni and Jimmy Webb weigh in on the June 30 landslides that hit the alpine valley of Bavona—home to many top-shelf boulder problems.

After getting dropped off by plane in a narrow, threatened valley, the “easiest” way back to civilization was up the giant East Face of Mount Hunter.

Sunna Shinn went from fundamentalist Baptist teacher to nonbinary climbing TikTok influencer in five years. As they learned to climb, they learned to embrace their queerness.

Becoming an Olympic climber involves submitting your body to intense training loads. And for that training to work, you've got to fuel correctly.

Watch this belayer’s gold-medal worthy performance.

It's been a long road to get here. Let's take a look at the history.

“Should I prioritize saving my life, or should I prioritize climbing? When I thought about it, I became convinced climbing was an essential part of my life.”

The United States is sending a full slate of eight climbers to Paris—four for the Speed discipline and four for the Combined Boulder & Lead.

How to watch Olympic Sport Climbing at Paris 2024 (Lead & Boulder Combined, or Speed).

OTG is ideal for boulderers and sport climbers with a performance-oriented mindset, particularly those who have an interest in combining training with nutrition. I was surprised to see numerical gains in my testing after just 4 weeks of training.

When a cadre of climbers developed one of New England’s biggest sport crags, weekend warriors came in droves. The problem? Climbing in Merriam Woods wasn’t exactly allowed.

Shoes are expensive! But these ones are a bit less so.

From historic gyms to massive multi-pitch structures, these 16 artificial climbing paradises may even rival many "real" climbing destinations.

It’s not just errant legs that flip us upside down.

Our reviewer says La Sportiva has (finally) nailed their No Edge shoe tech with the Mandala. He quickly added the new-school weapons to his steep sport climbing quiver.

"Since so many modern climbers rarely leave the gym, I think the classic list of 10 essential survival items could use an update."

Grades were meant to guide climbers to appropriate challenges—but a new anti-grade sentiment seems to be gaining steam.