Steven Potter

This isn't a guide to 2025's flashiest new kicks. These are the shoes we return to when we’re not testing the latest and greatest.

The world’s second highest peak remains much more difficult and dangerous than Everest, but it’s rapidly commercializing. For true adventure, look beyond the mountain's standard routes.

The media giant’s removal of a key climber in “Jirishanca” sparked intense debate in the climbing-film industry.

Bailey has now climbed both V17 and 5.15c—making him one of the most accomplished outdoor climbers of all time.

Whether you’re picking gifts for a gym rat, a diehard alpinist, or any climber in between, our holiday gift guide has you covered.

'Dreamtime' was the world first proposed V15 boulder. In climbing it, Kiersch becomes the ninth woman to climb the grade.

Our tester found the Arpia—which is billed as a performance all-arounder for intermediate climbers—both comfortable and highly functional out of the box. But, at times, he yearned for a more specialized shoe.

Will Bosi recently became the first person to climb four proposed V17 boulders. The catch: he's still not sure what V17 is.

Jason Crist is accused of nine felonies by three women. 

Upside-down whippers are dangerous but almost always avoidable... so learn to avoid them.

Wedge Climbing just dropped the video. So we’re dropping our interview.

This 83-foot-tall wall—perhaps the world’s tallest home “woodie”—climbs through a retractable ceiling panel and boasts fantastic views of one of New York City’s poshest neighborhoods. 

Jorge Díaz-Rullo spent two months in Flatanger this summer and sent Adam Ondra's "Change" and "Move." He says they were equally difficult.

Three pairs of climbing shoes, a down hoodie, a sport harness—these are my personal favorite climbing deals of the week. 

Black Diamond’s new Erratic is ideal for smaller climbers engaged in large approaches… or for anyone else who likes hiking in comfort.

Sendtember is coming! Re-up your rock kicks with these deals from Backcountry and REI.

Three climbers fell to their deaths on the mountain’s trade route last week—a sobering reminder that even “easy” climbing can be highly consequential. 

"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."

An epic Bouldering round sets up a big showdown in Lead

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

After we published what you might call a “review of the reviews” on the AllTrails page for Everest’s South Col route, admins took the page down.

Everest’s overcrowded South Col route has found its home on one of the world’s biggest digital hiking guides, where it’s “generally considered a very challenging route.”

The Roll Up Stick Clip is a truly remarkable piece of gear. Just don’t look too closely at the price.

‘Anemology’ is one of just a handful 5.15b’s in the United States. Siegrist got the FA after seven weeks of effort.

Sam Lawson's Wedge Climbing is is one of the most artful climbing channels on YouTube. But he worries that relying his passion for his livelihood “would potentially ruin it for me.” We asked why.

Punting can be heartbreaking. But it’s also kind of funny. We all do it.

For Tom Bolger, being a pro climber also means being an Airbnb host and an offshore oil rigger. His philosophy: being a pro is about doing whatever you can to climb as much as you can.

If I was going to Céüse or Siurana or the New River Gorge tomorrow, I’d pack the Sigma first.

Added bonus: Ondra takes the most surprising whipper I’ve ever seen.

"Best" is a strong word. So is "strangest." But the Ondra Comp's is something of a masterpiece, with an innovative design that doesn't sacrifice structure in order to achieve its extreme smearing capabilities.

The News Roundup! Elias Iagnemma uses some wild beta on the world’s most straightforward V17 // The first confirmed E12 gets its third ascent // Matt Fultz takes down his hardest climb yet // Bronwyn Hodgins hits the sport world with a 5.14c

It’s all fun and games until you start ruining narrative flow.

First climbed by Daniel Woods in 2015, ‘The Process’ gathered rumor and cobwebs for nine years before Zach Galla finally scrubbed them away with his recent ascent.

Bosi, who has now climbed three V17 boulders, considers ‘Return of the Sleepwalker’ harder than ‘Alphane’ but easier than ‘Burden of Dreams’

We chatted with Kai Lightner about diversity in the climbing world; misconceptions about how accessible climbing is for people of color; his nonprofit Climbing For Change; and—of course—his current climbing and training goals

A longtime favorite in the Patagonia line, the Cragsmith (which comes in 32L and 45L) has gotten some updates.

If the National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service proposals pass, fixed anchors in wilderness will be considered illegal unless granted special permission.

The Veloce L is an indoor-specific shoe that our tester liked so much he used it on his limit projects outdoors.

Despite overtly acknowledging that climbing is an appropriate use of wilderness land, two new proposals, one from the National Forest Service, another from the National Park Service, would give land administrators the tools to unravel America’s wilderness climbing legacy.

“Climbers We Lost” is an annual tribute to community members we've lost in the past year.

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.

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.

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 Belgian (who found some new beta) is arguably the first person to climb three V17s. He’s also the only person to both FA and repeat the grade.

Plus: Sean Bailey does Lucid Dreaming // Tomoa Narasaki flashes V16 (and downgrades to V14) // and Michaela Kiersch reveals an unlikely key to a recent success

The second ascent of the world’s first V17 // The world’s third 5.15d gets sent on livestream // James Pearson announces (for a second time) that he’s just done the world’s first E12 // And one of the Himalaya’s most intense North Faces finally see a first ascent.

Plus: Zach Galla Sends 'Sleepwalker' (V16) // Maya Ene (13) and her father (49) do 5.14c’s on the same day // and Alex Megos does far too much hard climbing in far too little time

After months of consideration, James Pearson has decided to call 'Bon Voyage' the world’s first E12—fifteen years after first proposing the same grade

Plus: Mari Augusta Salvesen repeats 'Black Mamba' (5.14b roof crack)—Sean Bailey takes his comp fitness outside—Tristan Chen does Desperanza—and Jonathan Siegrist returns to his stylistic roots.

Plus: Jesse Grupper flashes 5.14c; Kai Whaley skips two grades to climb V16; Katie Lamb knocks down two more V14s; and a podcast host finds his best bouldering form yet, thanks to not training.

Sure, they’re strong and skilled. But there’s more to it than that.

Plus: Cédric Lachat sends one of the world’s most controversial routes & Pete Whittaker nabs the 3rd ascent of 'Stranger Than Fiction'

The crux move, a low-percentage V14, is probably one of the hardest single moves in the world.

Alex Honnold has done quite a bit more than just boulder El Cap. Here’s what you didn’t know about climbing’s biggest celebrity

Plus: Brooke Raboutou flashes hard in Switzerland; Seb Bouin climbs a 5.15b; and Andre Branchizio gets the most heart-warming send of the month; and more!

THE WEEKLY ROUNDUP: Watch 'Floatin' get its third ascent. And Paige Claassen does 'Everything is Karate' (5.14c).

He needed “only” 60 days for the climb, he says. But it felt like a longer process. We chatted with him about it.

She called it hard for the grade.

"Most people go to the climbing gym for training. I simply train outdoors on my projects."

THE WEEKLY ROUNDUP: The Free Hallucinogen Wall repeated by Hazel Findlay and Angus Kille; Ondra Flashes 5.14d; Dai Koyamada FA's a V15 at age 47; and how to avoid making an easy (but fatal) anchor-cleaning mistake

Paradox Sports introduces hundreds of people with disabilities to climbing each year.

That’s right: Aidan Roberts’s famous 3D scans of ‘Burden of Dreams’ are being produced at scale.

Plus: A quick send for Amity Warme and a nice slew of downgrades. Gotta love it.

After careful consideration, Schubert decided that the route was a proper step up from his next hardest, ‘Perfecto Mundo.’

Schubert hasn’t commented on the grade or the final name for the new climb—but by all accounts it’s at least 5.15c

Katie Lamb recently made history by becoming the first woman to climb a proposed V16. But she was simply motivated to find the next big step in her climbing.

Lamb has long been one of the leading boulderers in the United States

Sometimes the best gear upgrades are the ones you barely notice.

Ruana's 17-day battle with "The Ice Knife Stand" (V15) is a great reminder of why I don't siege nemesis boulders... and some other things too.

Plus the two best climbing films of the week.