Duane Raleigh

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.

A lifer reflects on risks taken (and fates avoided) thanks to the unexpected friendships forged along the way.

Over the years there's been some really, really terrible climbing gear that surprisingly made it to market.

Our gear expert weighs in.

It's tempting to fit your shoes too tight, but easy to size them too large. Here's our advice for getting it just right.

The four-pitch line on Looking Glass Rock in western North Carolina is a masterpiece of route finding, knitting together a confusion of “eyebrows”—horizontal pockets that flair in all directions.

We grouped up in various vehicles and drove straight from Oklahoma to Yosemite, pulled there by the unseeable promise of a salvation only the rock can lay on you. 

I think about that fall nearly every day, and wonder if it had had to happen that way. The experience was one of many that have since made me reflect on the “things” going on around us, unseen and unknown.

"The Roach was nonplussed about snagging the route. He didn’t apologize, nor did he brag, and he obviously had designs on other new lines. We considered chopping the bolts."

Yosemite in the early 1980s was nearly carefree living, but with an undercurrent that could pull you under, suffocate you from not knowing what you were doing or where you were headed.

Every climber should at least once, put up a new route, get stranded on a climb, go ice climbing ... the bucket list goes on.

The air under me when I had started up didn’t seem consequential, but now it was all I could think about, the foot slipping, hands skipping off the polished rock, a long fall to the base.

Three greenhorn wall climbers headed up the Big Stone in 1981. They vowed to reach the top or nearly die trying. They got their wish.

How you hold the rope is just one aspect of the belay—no more or less important than vigilance, rope management, how and where you stand, and communication.

Climb long enough and you’ll have a close encounter ... or several. Of the myriad ways to kill yourself climbing, rappelling is the quickest, but also the easiest to safeguard.

This was the second call to action by Riverside Mountain Rescue at Tahquitz in as many months, the first involving a double fatality.

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.

When you don't have climbing gear, you can make your own, and suffer the consequences.

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 climbers were taking rappel cautions but clipped to a single old sling as their rappel anchor.

Chelsea Walsh and Gavin Escobar died Wednesday in an apparent rappelling accident.

Rescuers arrived on the scene to find the two climbers deceased.

Filip Babicz raced up the North Ridge of the Piz Badile in less time than it takes most of us to quaff a latte.

This tale defies imagination unless you've just read Joe Simpson's Touching The Void and are out of options.

So your buddy tells you that he took a Factor 2 over the weekend, eh? That sounds bad. Or is it? What does that even mean? Read on for everything you need to know about falling, but were afraid to ask.

From knots to selecting your first rock shoes, to training and safety, you'll find it here in our climbing 101 compilation.

This green version of the time-tested Mythos sports 95% recycled components and more Earth-friendly leather tanning and glueing.

Insulated with kapok and with a recycled nylon shell, this jacket gets the thumbs up for being earth friendly—and versatile.

The double bowline gets a bad rap—here's how to use it correctly

Step-by-step tutorials and uses cases for the figure-8, prusik, clove hitch, munter hitch, and more

Check out Duane Raleigh's author page.

Inventor of the Armaid, opera singer, massage therapist and professional deep-sea diver.

Finally, there's an affordable option.

Check out Duane Raleigh's author page.

Stretch denim climbing pants won't hold you back but do hold up to the rock.

Looking for work where no experience is required, the pay is OK, and the job prepares you for the great life of climbing?

Few climbers were as prolific in and out of the mountains as Roberts and he leaves behind a masterclass body of work.

20 of the world's best competition climbers squared off in the sport's Olympic debut. Team USA, Colin Duffy and Nathaniel Coleman, had strong performance. Adam Ondra, while not so fast, landed in a solid position—he wasn't last—going into Boulder and Lead.