Five Steps to Becoming a Real Climber and Sending All Your Projects
I asked the old man for advice, and he came through with five tried and true panaceas.
I asked the old man for advice, and he came through with five tried and true panaceas.
'Love as a Weapon' is a stiff new route in Squamish, BC.
Buster Martin just became the second person to clip the chains of the two routes in contention for being the world’s first 9a (5.14d).
The Access Fund does many things, but one of their most effective strategies has been to help local climbing organizations acquire and protect threatened climbing areas.
The route features hard slab, 5.13+ seams, and a 5.13c finger crack of such high quality that the climbers named the ropelength "As Good as It Gets."
Hangboarding is one of the most sport-specific strength exercises that you can do for climbing, and the benefits translate immediately to the rock. Here's what you need to know to get stronger without getting injured.
Gym-climbing movements are more varied than ever. And amidst the deadpoint hucks and run-and-jump dynos, the Mantra is perhaps the best new shoe to take on such limitless variety.
Siegrist has an encyclopedic familiarity with America’s hardest routes; he’s skeptical about the recent upgrade to 5.15b.
Big wall permits are here to stay in Yosemite. But what they look like is still evolving. Make yourself heard before November 16.
From the archive: James Lucas finds his way (and our history) at the Virgin River Gorge.
Climbers, particularly climbers who boulder, are at increased risk of knee injury. Here's how to come back from such an injury.
JG gave me some samples. Naturally, I took the little brown pills.
In 2007 Cedar Wright and Renan Ozturk made an alpine-style FA of the 2,500-foot Northern Cat’s Ear Spire, the last unclimbed spire in the Great Trango Group. In the process he realized a thing or two about "style."
Each January we post a farewell tribute to those members of our community lost in the year just past. Some of the people you may have heard of, some not. All are part of our community and contributed to climbing.
This new climber didn't know how to belay or even lower from a fixed anchor, bungling both in unimaginably awful ways.
"Female climbers are often less confident than their male counterparts, but it’s nurture, not nature. And that’s something we can beat."
Those “easy sends” can still leave a mark.
Casual cragging is anything but—the law of gravity still applies. Use this four-part checklist to beat complacency and prevent accidents.
"I think over the years—and I couldn’t have told myself this when I was younger—I’ve learned ... not to have my life’s worth be dependent on one thing."
Getting old can be a real mind warp: you train just as hard, you rest more, you clean up your diet. And nevertheless, you get weaker. By the end of the 2021 season, at age 48, I knew something had to give.
Suprême Jumbo Love (5.15c) is a 65-foot direct start to Jumbo Love: America’s first 5.15b.
How headpointing became a legitimate, go-to tactic on Peak District gritstone.
An experience on the purple boulder problem at the gym altered the author's life course in an unexpected way.
“I personally felt that ‘Honey Badger’ (V16) was more of a challenge for me.”
"In a sport that prizes youth and energy and boldness and good health, it is, I realize, anathema to confess to any sort of weakness..." But sometimes embracing your weakness can help.
Have a kid and life as you know it is over. Retire those kneepads and downturned shoes, welcome to strollers and diapers and poos.
Get safety tips and other advice from one of climbing's most prolific and knowledgeable climbers in this three part online video course.
Aconcagua is perhaps the easiest climb of its elevation, but kills climbers each year—and shouldn’t be underestimated.
On October 20, Aidan Roberts made the second ascent of “Alphane,” a V17 established by Shawn Raboutou in Switzerland last spring. We caught up with Aidan to chat about it.
Toothy front points and a super-secure adjustment system make the G22 PLUS EVO a must-have for technical mountain travel
Any time spent helping your partner achieve his goals is time not crushing your projects.
From Red Rock to Acadia, Asheville to Maui, these climbing destination are unforgettable stocking stuffers.
How personality traits and hangdogging can be leveraged to make you a better first-effort climber.
Slovenian athletes Domen Škofic and Jernej Kruder took an early lead in the race. Then the unexpected happened.
Kristin Harila was unable to obtain an entry permit from China to climb Cho Oyu and Shishapangma, putting her two peaks shy of the record.
The big question was when—or even if— a party would eclipse the 24-minute mark on one of the finest multi-pitch climbs in North America.
"Snake Dike is a lovely route on one of the great monoliths of our planet. Had we had more time and more bolts, we would have [placed more bolts] ourselves during the first ascent."
Eating the right foods, staying hydrated and active can keep you out of the sick bed and climbing all season long.
The BLM’s decision, made in acknowledgement of the site’s importance to the Shoshone-Bannock people, will remove hundreds of routes—significantly changing climbing opportunities in southeast Idaho.
Aid climbing is the one sure-fire way to accelerate the trad climbing learning curve
In 1937, Washburn left his cameras and gear behind while attempting to hike out of the Saint Elias Range. Almost a century later, freeskier Griffin Post set out to find the cache.
I walk toward Grandma Peabody, the first boulder we climbed all those years ago. Our friends are with me. We carry climbing shoes and crash pads, sandwiches, Baby, Josh’s ashes.
Some say the most dangerous section of a sport climb is between the second and third bolts.
She sent it in just eight climbing days
CRACK! The jolt back onto the bolt, into which you are still quickdraw-tethered, stuns you. You only fell two feet, but your neck is stiff and your innards feel like they’ve been kicked by a mule.
With nearly 100 adaptive athletes and 60 volunteers, this year’s ACF was more than twice the size of the previous fest.
Each January we post a farewell tribute to those members of our community lost in the year just past. Some of the people you may have heard of, some not. All are part of our community and contributed to climbing.
The key is to increase your training volume but decrease the difficulty. Here's how to do just that.
Punting on routes is the necessary mental chrysalis we use to achieve the next level as climbers. Everyone does it, and it's OK.
Iranian authorities continue to deny any involvement.
To leave a poorly protected, dangerous line without simple updates ... is sort of like saying we shouldn't fix poorly designed roads or traffic intersections.
In recent years, there has been an uptick in indoor-bouldering injuries among newer climbers. Use these tips to help you boulder safely without getting injured.
32 hours, 35 miles, 23 summits, 14 classic rock routes, and 24,000 feet of vertical gain—that’s the Honnold Ultimate Red Rock Traverse
"How do you decide what climbs to write about? What makes a route newsworthy in the first place, and why are the fifth or tenth ascents of a route sometimes newsworthy and sometimes not?"
Despite the rugged approach and harsh desert conditions, the French endurance master sent America’s first confirmed 5.15b after just ten days on the route.
Soloing can be great, but not everyone should do it.
When you don't have climbing gear, you can make your own, and suffer the consequences.
During the storied 1968 ascent of Cerro Chaltén, five climbers spent 30 days sheltered in two different 10' by 10' ice caves on the mountain.
Surprise, surprise, France has yet another barely-touched limestone mecca.
Most walls will stand the test of time. We as climbers will not.
Five veteran climbers, Peter Croft, Jeff Jackson, John Long, Pete Takeda, and Dougald MacDonald argue the issue of retro-bolting older moderate routes with big runouts.
We tried to best this suit's waterproofness while camped out in a coastal rainforest, climbing slushy spring ice, on backcountry ski approaches, and long winter routes. The Dual Aspect hung tough.
Although the correct process to cut a rope is very simple, there are two things to keep in mind when you’re done.
Endurance can’t be built quickly, yet at some point most of us find ourselves in a jam, with a trip booked and only a few weeks to prepare. What are the best, quick strategies for making the grade?
This climber was experienced, too. Just shows that you can't be too careful when you climb.
The IFSC punctuated the 2022 season with a one-off Combined World Cup in Morioka, Japan.
“I’ve been scrubbing climbs that are V15 that I’m literally saving for when Jimmy [Webb] or someone comes back in town... There’s a lifetime of climbing here.”
Not to be confused with the Dawn Wall—a 5.14d on El Capitan—#Dawnwall is actually something less quantifiable and slightly more perplexing for climbers.
In not wearing her hijab, Elnaz Rekabi has become a symbol for the anti-regime movement. We hope she is safe and that her wellbeing is unthreatened, but we fear the worst.
The summit of El Cap was a garbage dump of abandoned equipment with portaledges, static ropes, camping gear, 93 empty water bottles stashed under boulders, and cans of chili.
That could have been a lot worse.
He just wanted to get on the sweet Maui stone, then someone jacked his truck—that's when the trouble started.
If a hold is bigger than your hands, it’s a waste of materials and wall space. Also: I miss taped boulder problems.
Harnden worked Bladerunner (5.14; 3 pitches) for 25 days before sending. Then he returned with a photographer and sent it again.
Us 9-5ers want to climb 5.16, but we don’t have the time to get there because of our jobs. Well, let me let you in on a little secret: You can train for climbing all day every day with these simple exercises.
Being alive is mortally dangerous. As climbers we regularly put ourselves at risk. Rocks fall, but miss. We run it out, but make it to the anchor. The avalanche sweeps camp right after we pack up. And hazards are not always occasioned by putting ourselves in harm’s way.
Dressing up as a climber doesn’t have to be as bland as throwing on a harness and coiling a rope over your shoulder.
Plastic holds are either made from polyester resin or polyurethane. Neither material is simple to recycle.
She was delighted to win, but wasn't sure she should have written the story of leaving a likely illegal migrant girl alone in the desert.
The Moonwalk Traverse and Saraghrar’s Northwest Face, as well as Annapurna III’s Southeast Ridge, will be awarded in Briançon, France next month.