Culture

Francis Sanzaro's classic book 'The Craft of Bouldering' puts bouldering into conversation with disciplines like dance, skateboarding, painting, martial arts, and parkour.

Johnny Goicoechea—a.k.a. Johnny G—was a prolific bouldering developer in Colorado and Washington in the 2000s and 2010s.

A Melbourne-based climber has a new vision for gym holds: art that climbs like rock. 

Or how many more pairs of rock climbing shoes you'll be able to wear through?

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

Armando Menocal, a Cuban-American civil rights lawyer and climber, dedicated decades of his life to ensuring the sport remained accessible.

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

Google AI says that if you're looking for a climber, just look for the person "standing on one leg.” We think there are more accurate ways to find our kind in the wild.

"Once upon a time, I was a rope gun. Now I’ve become a belay anchor."

Tanner Bauer, 20, has climbed V15, flashed V13, and done 5.14 on gear.

Climbing spoke with the head Boulder and Lead Olympic setters to learn how they felt about the event—and about setting philosophy in general.

Janja Garnbret is the best competition climber of all time—yet she says her coach, Roman Krajnik, is her secret weapon. We caught up with Krajnik to ask about that.

Outdoor enthusiasts, conservationists, and cattle ranchers all want the same thing: a healthy planet for future generations

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

The 30-year-old Olympian talks about her struggles with hair loss, mental training, the joy of competing, and why she’s (finally) focussing on rock climbing full-time.

We chatted with Garnbret about pre-competition pressure, her finger-injury scare, her friendship with Brooke Raboutou—and more.

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.

"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.

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.

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

I never thought I would have to climb alone

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

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

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.

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.

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

The 46-year-old was a beloved community leader in his local New Hampshire.

A family illness seemed to dash Harrison’s Olympic prospects. But in November 2023, he fought for a second chance.

The new HBO film "Here to Climb" offers an analytical and surprisingly candid exploration of Sasha DiGiulian's journey from solitary sport climber to team player. The film debuts Tuesday, June 18 at 9pm ET/PT on HBO.

The most difficult challenge we climbers have ever faced is not the Dawn Wall. It’s explaining rock climbing to non-climbers.

Pedro and Tomas Odell learned how to climb on the Cerro Chaltén skyline. Now, they’re leading a bold new wave of Patagonian alpinists.

In 2021, Kai Lightner helped open a free climbing wall outside Atlanta for an underprivileged community. City officials fought to take it down.

Tsukamoto’s film is a delicate portrait of the climber Ashima and her father grappling with the possibility of greatness.

Cannon has freed El Cap in a day, made the second ascent of 'Cowboy Direct' (VII 5.13a) on Trango Tower, and repeated 'Wet Lycra Nightmare' (5.13d A0) on the Leaning Tower. But his story is much deeper than that.

A big part of 'The Struggle' podcast is an acknowledgment that the process is the same for all of us, regardless of the grade you can climb.

“What’s the biggest, baddest mountain around here?” a youthfully ignorant Jim Donini asked.

A stranger he met at the gym dropped him to the ground. In the aftermath, the author had to relearn how to climb—and to trust.

Head trauma is among the most feared and catastrophic injuries in climbing. So why aren't more rock climbers wearing helmets?

"We hadn’t accomplished our goal of free-climbing 'The Diagonal,' but it was one of the wildest days of my life. After that, I stopped climbing for a few months, spooked."

Are bolt-on holds ugly? Yes. But they can be easily hammered off, whereas chipped holds may be harder to fix. (Of course, it’s best to do neither!)

This painstakingly researched new book collects the forgotten histories of mountaineerings often-overlooked high-altitude workers

In 'A Light Through The Cracks,' Rodden is unflinching in her portrait of herself, freely and viscerally putting her raw emotions on display.

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.

In a sport that basically invented the phrase “inherent risk,” death is common. Yet for all the stories about lives lost to climbing, there are many, many more lives that have been saved by climbs.

You loved the mountains, you taught us how to enjoy them, and you always made us laugh. The world needed more of you.

Most climbers know their ape index, but do you know how to calculate your sloth index? And what about your snake index?

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.

Sidelined by an ignoble injury, Dave Pagel contemplates his return to a sport that has moved on without him—or is it the other way around?

You, me, and everyone else reading this article could go full caveman and it still wouldn’t have a measurable effect on the pace at which our climate is changing. But it’s important to walk the walk.

In an online world showcasing young, impossibly fit climbers, Jeremy Arntz—heavyset, middle aged—is proving that the sport is accessible to all body types.

Famed mountaineer, filmmaker, and Everest pioneer David Breashears died on March 14. Those who knew him best share memories of the legendary alpinist.

Roughly from 1986 to 1993, Armando Menocal was one of the founders and de facto leader of the nascent Access Fund. It is hard to imagine where climbing would be today without him. He fought for climbers’ rights, and though he wasn’t a fan of bolts he believed the government shouldn’t dictate how or where climbers place them. When government agencies tried to ban bolts, Armando stood in their way.

Watch Swiss climber and paragliding pilot Mario Heller team up with Argentina’s Pablo Pontoriero and Switzerland’s Roger Schäli to climb up and fly off Cerro Torre.

Allison Vest is a three-time Canadian Bouldering Champion. Here, in the form of a poem, she offers a mantra for other female climbers.

Establishing new routes is tons of work and takes a vision and drive (and lots of free time), but it's also a selfish pursuit, done to make the FAer happy.

Not everyone has a smooth entry point into climbing, and not everyone starts in a friendly, supportive community. Let’s change that.

It’s easy to think that we can look after our pets’ needs at the cliff, but, in reality, we can’t.

In 2023, Catalina Shirley took a life-threatening fall and questioned whether she’d ever lead again. This year, she returned to the site—and became the first American to podium in an Ice Climbing Lead World Cup.

The trial will be followed by a sentencing hearing, scheduled for May 21. Barrett faces a maximum penalty of life in prison.

Our weirdness also makes us odd dating material, both within our community and with the non-climbing normies, baffled by our filthy, impoverished, obsessive ways

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

Federal prosecutors allege that Charles Barrett—a prominent member of the Northern California climbing community who goes to trial for sexual assault next week—is a serial offender with a shocking history of violence, harassment, and intimidation. An exclusive investigation into his life and alleged actions raises troubling questions about the dangers women continue to face in the outdoors.

Picture a climber in your head. What does that person look like? The institutions that caused this gap in the first place are deeply entrenched and won’t just go away.

A retired physician's efforts to mitigate his Parkinson’s symptoms catalyzed a program that would turn a climbing gym into a research facility.

Kitty Calhoun has climbed hard alpine faces around the world, but her biggest struggles have come at home: dealing with death, identity, and a complex family history.

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.

“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.

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.

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.

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.