Steven Potter

Climbing is hard when it's hot. But these warm-weather tactics will help you excel. Plus: Here are our 12 favorite warm-weather climbing destinations!

The 20-year-old Canadian, a former competitive swimmer, did his first V15 last winter. He’s also at the heart of a vibrant young bouldering scene in Squamish.

THE WEEKLY NEWS ROUND UP: Italian alpinists establish 'Gold Rush' (5.12a A1+; 1,970ft) on their first trip to Alaska; Drew Ruana has his "best week ever"; Katie Lamb makes the probable first female ascent of 'Chocolate Jesus' (V13).

Field Tested: Trango's Stratus Crashpad

THE WEEKLY NEWS ROUNDUP: Austin Purdy breaks into the V16 grade; Canada's hardest-graded boulder sees a second ascent; Drew Ruana continues crushing Colorado; and Elnaz Rekabi competes for the first time since doing so without a headscarf last year.

Is the world's greatest endurance sport climber going to turn into a crimp specialist?

THE WEEKLY ROUNDUP: Dave Graham does another V16 FA; Denali gets a new speed record; Michaela Kiersch's "La Rambla" video and Will Bosi's"Burden of Dreams" video both drop.

Will Bosi has dropped the video of his send of Alphane—and Lattice has dropped a longer video about Bosi’s training history.

It’s Friday, it’s June, and if you’re anything like me, that means it’s time to watch all the week’s new climbing videos. Here are some that I thought were especially worth your time.

By repurposing old climbing-media tropes, Barr, Bisharat, and Rosen reveal a core truth about our sport, while also bringing our attention to one of the world’s most marginalized communities.

THE WEEKLY ROUNDUP: Duo climbs 100 V6s in a day; Niky Ceria logs a highball stunner; One of the UK's hardest boulders is downgraded; Amity Warme ticks 'Father Time' (5.13b; 2,000ft); Meru South gets a new route.

Chris Winter is stepping down, but he leaves Access Fund in strong hands 

THE WEEKLY ROUNDUP: One of the world’s first 5.15b’s is now 5.14d, thanks to kneepads; Vadim Timonov FA’s a V16/17; Allison Vest has her best ever back-to-back climbing days—and more.

A new film by Savannah Cummins dives into the mystical history of “El Gavilan” (5.13a, 9 pitches) and Hodgins’ multi-year mission to bring it back to life—and then climb it.

On December 5, 2022, Timothy Kang brought a logical (if terrifying) progression into the sport of bouldering by doing five of Bishop’s biggest, hardest, and most historic highballs in the same day.

Field Tested: Outdoor Vital's Ventus Active Hoodie

The 24-year-old Scot says that the problem is by far his hardest to date.

“I was like, My life has been completely meaningless up to this point. What do I need to do to change that? What do I need to do to prevent myself from feeling this way ever again?”

THE WEEKLY ROUNDUP: Jorge Díaz-Rullo has the most successful “unsuccessful” climbing season we've ever seen; Anna Liina Laitinen ticks 5.14d; Aidan Roberts flashes V14; 5.14 R trad gets three quick repeats (including a flash!).

Best practice for climbers is now to pack out your poo.

There are a lot of misunderstandings around about why exactly we need to protect wilderness climbing and what those protections actually mean. Here are the facts.

THE NEWS ROUNDUP: Comeback sends, a promising crew at Burden of Dreams, a Swiss first ascent, and the best recent YouTube videos.

Empty MoonBoards are nice, but you might be missing something else.

Putting the new Mago to work on everything from board-style granite boulders to limestone sport routes, our testers loved the shoe’s versatility

This isn't a guide to 2023's freshest gear. It's just what we're psyched on.

Will Bosi has been livestreaming his attempts on Burden of Dreams. There's a lot to talk about.

Was it a freak almost-accident? A parable about life and fate? Both?

With federal land management agencies poised to reinterpret the Wilderness Act and ban bolts in wilderness areas, a new bipartisan bill aims to provide legislative protection for America’s rock climbing

We interviewed the 24-year-old Spanish phenom about his new 5.15c. Díaz-Rullo became the eighth climber (and first Spaniard) to climb the grade

We’re launching a new weekly series celebrating a few outstanding ascents that caught our attention recently. We hope you enjoy it.

It was the deadliest accident of the winter so far in the U.S.

“This route took me longer than any other route or boulder I’ve ever tried,” he says, but he’s nonetheless hesitant to give it a grade.

I was young, dumb, and ambitious. But I should have known that 5.10 slab wasn’t a great place to start.

By proposing V16 for his new problem, The Megg, Gabe Lawson propels Canadian bouldering to the next level—and brings a new spotlight on himself.  

Bouin FA’d the route, “Nordic Marathon,” earlier this year. It ascends through the steepest part of the Hanshelleren Cave and gives a new definition to the word long.

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.

“One of my strengths, I think, is that I have good grace for myself. When I regress, or if I’m not climbing how I feel like I should be, I’m able to step back and look at it a little more objectively.”

He spent 20+ days on the climb and says "Alphane" and "Soudain Seul" feel comparable

This excellent film by Cameron Maier captures the moody soul of the Fortress of Solitude

Because good friction and warm weather have very little in common.

Patagonia’s Venga Rock Pants are climbing pants—pure and simple. They’re not the sort of fancy hybrid jeans that will serve you equally well at the gym and some overpriced gastropub.

The latest episode of Seb Bouin’s “Hidden Gems” series takes us to a brand new crag in Southern France: French Yosemite.

“The idea that a lawsuit attacking [Bears Ears National Monument] is going to do a better job protecting cultural resources is just absurd.”

Seo is just the second woman to onsight a confirmed 5.14b.

Grupper had a breakout season on the World Cup circuit, nearly taking the overall lead title; but he’s still unsure about how his climbing helps humanity.

“You’ve got to find a cool angle or a cool story or something interesting to say.”

Siegrist has an encyclopedic familiarity with America’s hardest routes; he’s skeptical about the recent upgrade to 5.15b.

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.

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.

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.

If a hold is bigger than your hands, it’s a waste of materials and wall space. Also: I miss taped boulder problems.

Instead of leather, the Skwama Vegan uses a “SkinLike” insole, which is as comfortable as leather and conforms to the foot like leather but (surprise!) isn’t actually leather.

If Utah’s Department of Transportation can get funding for it.

Camp Hale served as a training ground for the 10th Mountain Division during the Second World War, playing an important if indirect role in the creation of the outdoor industry.

Scarpa’s Quantix SF is a high-end all-arounder that outperforms many specialized shoes—and costs less.

A V16, a V15 first ascent, and a V14 first ascent… in just three days.

In a new book, Jeff Smoot, author of “Hangdog Days,” launches an encyclopedic investigation into free soloing’s history… and why we do it.  

Slugg's Bluff has roughly two dozen existing routes and more on the way. Permanently protecting this area is a big win for Upper Peninsula climbers.

Watching Siegrist climb, it’s pretty clear why he thinks most climbers do “too much training and not enough practice.”

Raboutou and Woods repeat “Insomniac” (V16); Puccio does “We Can Build You” (V14) twice in a row; Ruana FA's his "hardest yet"

Since 2007, Paradox Sports has run climbing trips, community nights, and training programs for veterans and adaptive athletes.

Gadd’s dramatic moment—and its aftermath—lies at the center of “Will Power,” episode 9 of the 10-part “The Edge of the Unknown with Jimmy Chin” series. It begins streaming on National Geographic / Disney+ on Tuesday September 13.

Seb Bouin visits the little-known crag of Seranon and repeats a beautiful 5.14d first established by Enzo Oddo.

“The Edge of the Unknown with Jimmy Chin” is a ten-episode, cross-genre investigation into extreme sports athletes and the moments when, thanks to poor judgment or bad luck, they pushed too close to the edge. 

Climbing caught up with Chris Winter, Executive Director of the Access Fund, to talk about what this means for climbers, local tribes, and the long-term health of the region.

Learning to lead climb involves memorizing various systems—how to tie in, how to clip quickdraws, how to clean anchors—AND accumulating fluency and trust in those systems.

It’s Siegrist’s fifth 5.15 in 2022.

Lucas Uchida, a 24-year-old Canadian comp climber-turned outdoor crusher, just sent “Singularity,” one Squamish’s most iconic hard lines. Check out the story and interview.

Last month Bouin got the first repeat of an Ondra 5.15b (downgrading it to 5.15a after finding a kneebar) and FA’d a 430-foot long 5.15b/c. Now, with Adam Ondra’s “Change,” he’s added another 5.15c to his epic summer ticklist.

Josh Wharton and Vince Anderson have done the first integral ascent and first free ascent of the Italian route "Suerte" (5.13a, WI6, M7, 3,500 feet) on Jirishanca (20,100 feet) after turning around just four pitches from the summit in 2019.

The Ratstaman Vibrations project was made semi-famous by a 2012 Petzl video of Chris Sharma bolting the line and working the moves; it memorably includes a gigantic sideways dyno [insert Sharma scream] to a flat edge.

“If you knew nothing about the crag, you’d look at the line from the ground and be like ‘Wow. No. That’s totally crazy. I will never be able to do that.’ But when I knew the crag and the style and the kneebars and how to take down the rope, I was like ‘Yeah, it’s possible.’ ”

On July 21, Bouin made the first ascent of Nordic Marathon, in Flatanger, Norway. The route ascends through the steepest part of the Hanshelleren Cave and gives a new definition to the word long.

Single? Double? Dry? Double dry? Here's what you need to know to buy your first climbing rope.

To spray or not to spray... News of Shawn Raboutou's immediately classic V16 on the Dreamtime boulder has dropped months after the send.

Field Tested: Roll Recovery’s R1 is cheap, portable, and powerful, an excellent product that has insinuated itself into my daily routine.

Turns out, it's pretty easy to make a mistake you know better than to make—but pretty hard to admit having done so.

A no-frills all-arounder that does well across disciplines, especially in the gym.

Naturally, some of Colorado’s hardest are putting up a fight.

A lightweight, supple hoodie, warm but highly breathable, and versatile across climates—equally great for a damp spring climbing day or a cool summer evening.