Culture

A late-season climb in the Bugaboos turns south when, while on the wall, a heli lands, packs up our camp, and flies away without a word.

But it has changed.

Opinion: Climbers through the ages have found value intentionally courting risk. There's a reason for that. 

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

It was sheer luck that saved his partner's life after he took him off belay on lead.

The death of Hilaree Nelson highlights a double standard that still exists with mothers in the adventure world

Hold on, I know what you’re thinking! Celibacy solves nothing. But here's where you're wrong.

An ice climber, a trad climber, a boulderer, and a sport climbing visit a fortune teller and learn their fates.

The author's gargantuan sausage fingers, swole from decades of rock tugging, are the stuff of circus tents.

After climbing every bolted route below 5.9 in Boulder Canyon, Kevin Corrigan learns an essential truth about rock climbing.

Climbing’s yesteryear has a couple great examples of big dudes who climbed harder than most of us ever will.

Car trouble, an injury, a border police incident, and a pile of human excrement.

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

Climbing partners can be poor substitutes for real friends, but they don't have to be.

The difference between rage quitting and quiet quitting

From the first women recorded in mountaineering in the late eighteenth century, to the first 5.15 female ascent by Margo Hayes in 2017.

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.

If you thought there aren't any liars in climbing, think again.

Paul Gleason was a talent of his generation and would be well-known today, but his greater impact was elsewhere, in firefighting where he revolutionized and saved lives.

When Ken Murphy soloed up an overhanging route to help a climber in a dire situation, he said, climbing “never felt so easy.”

Cast by chance into the frenzy of a dramatic rescue, the author confronts his youthful fears head on.

They were on one of the world's highest and most difficult faces. Then a storm rolled in and the climb went from merely desperate to living hell.

Everyone’s a critic.

“Amity doesn’t seem to take rest days. ... That's probably the biggest influence on her impressive ticklist."

From the archive: In Henry Barber's 2008 interview with Mark Synnott, he discusses his philosophy of minimalism and tolerance: "Let’s make sure that we allow these people to be themselves, and not try to make them all the same. This sport has to be different for everybody—it has to be."

I had seen Dean Potter in the mags and on videos and he seemed like a true ancient spirit. I loved the whole thing he had about being the bird and how different he was from all the other climbers. I thought he was great, still do. He was obviously hot property here for he stood ridiculously tall in the center of a small group arranged around him protectively. He was like a big scruffy lighthouse with wave upon wave of hangers-on breaking onto his rocks. We were psyched.

The world's best all-around climber shares his philosophy on diet and nutrition, the stuff that's powered him behind and in front of the scenes.

Rohr, who recently sent the first pitch of “Change” (5.15a/b), has felt beckoned to Flatanger season after season.

After countless surgeries and skin grafts, the author was left with seven and three-quarter fingers. The road back to climbing wasn't easy.

These famous climbing accidents are equal parts gripping and inspiring. If any reader should someday find themself in such a desperate situation, we hope they too will remember how others endured, living to climb another day.

I thought about it for .0000004 seconds and realized the opportunity was just too good to pass up.

He had big goals. The trip was going to be a veritable sendfest. It wasn't, but it taught him an invaluable lesson 40 years in the making that can change how we view success (and failure).

As a teenager he saw a terrible accident on El Capitan. A chance meeting 40 years later finally brought closure.

Oh, your Tinder date climbed the world’s highest peak? I’m unimpressed.

Originally published in Ascent, in 2012, under the title, "In the Name of Kor," Chris Kalous's classic feature dives into the notion of influence—specifically as it pertains to his obsession with one of climbing's original icons, Layton Kor.

Young and eager for adventure the author and his gang of few pushed bouldering standards higher and higher until the line between bouldering and soloing vanished.

Climbers always think they're injured. They're not injured, they just climb too much! But when it comes to something as urgent as our own performance, climbers will tell themselves anything but the truth.

No water, no sleeping bag, dead car battery, thorns and wind, punctuated Largo's road trip south of the border. And those were the highlights.

Communication can be the difference between life and death in mountaineering. Climbers Scott Lehmann and Shayna Unger know that as well as anyone.

He was known for this first ascents, which remain unequalled for volume and quality, and for detailed guidebooks. What isn't known is how his monomaniacal drive to climb and document sometime got Fred into hairy situations.

Over two decades ago this Slovenian, in a newly minted World Cup competition scene, helped pave the way for today superstars and even the Olympics themselves.

He survived avalanche, crevasse fall, storm, being struck by lightning, but always scraped through, somehow.

The author held Johnny Dawes, one of Britain's most influential and accomplished climbers, in the highest regard. Now, if he could just repeat one of his climbs ...

If you observe any of these symptoms in your friends or in yourself, don’t delay. Consult your crag doctor as soon as possible. Together, we can beat common climbing diseases.

Learning how to try hard is hard. And it’s so easy to be stupid.

Two best friends battled every difficulty you can imagine, and some you can't.

The American is a pioneering mixed and alpine climber, and one of the best female free soloists of all time.

Stonemaster John Long recounts his time with Jeff, a one-time climbing bum and the son of an affluent family. Jeff leaves climbing and dutifully follows his family's riches, while John stays true to the only rule that counts.

The rocks below a solo aren’t the only things that hurt when you slip.

The Canadian climber was largely unknown for much of his short life, but was among the most bold, talented, and prolific solo alpinists of his generation.

Climbing can be a way to practice facing fear, coping with adversity, pushing yourself through hardship, or just learning how to stay present in the face of difficulty. But after losing my dog, I learned grief just doesn't get easier.

A visiting Brit arrived in this country just as sport climbing did, and witnessed the war between trad and sport.

"I ran, ice axe gripped in one hand above my head, stretching for the other side, but . . . horror . . . the edge collapsed and I was falling."

Climbing at your physical limit requires a five-star belay. Here’s how to cultivate one, and the types of sketchy belayers who are hopeless.

The artist’s first-ever Web3 collection tells the story of his own journey into the outdoors

It is time to make up new tropes if the sport is to actually progress. Or, leave it for the next generation?

The hippest new month is “Don’t-Try July,” when your best bet is to do as little as possible so you’re not a burned-out strip of human beef jerky come August.

Wes Schweitzer, a seven-year NFL offensive guard, began rock climbing five years into his professional career. He believes it’s had a remarkable effect.

Climbing is full of flying toenails, smelly shoes, gross-spider scares, people pooping off portaledges, and—the cherry on top—the shame of not sending.

Remembering Michael Reardon, the free soloist, husband, father, and free spirit who passed away on July 13, 2007, after being swept away by a rogue wave.

John Long recounts his wild adventures with a fellow Stonemaster you might not know about, but should.

Many climbers settle into a niche discipline in the vast expanse of the climbing universe. Some—for better or worse—get so stuck at their grade that their personalities begin to mimic the rocks and routes they choose to climb. 

Addiction. Encounters with death. The weight of everything, including happiness. Here are five personal essays about the intersection of climbing and dark manifestations.

Alex Honnold's free solo of El Capitan did not occur in a bubble of solitude and inspiration. In this archive piece, originally published shortly after Honnold's ascent, James Lucas dives into the story (and backstory) of Honnold's path to Freerider.

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

Jeff Long led a world-class team to climb the uncharted west face of Makalu. The attempt failed, and he was held responsible for an illegal act by an ousted member.

Vasu Sojitra lost a leg, but that hasn't kept him out of the mountains and going big.

"The Bird" was a leading and often controversial Yosemite climber who overlapped with the Valley's "Golden Era" that included Royal Robbins and Warren Harding, and the Stonemasters, for whom he was the defacto leader. Here, he muses over what was then the new concept of detailed climbing grades, and how ego affects ratings—thinking that still applies.

He dropped into a 40-foot crevasse in British Columbia, and the lights went out. When they came back on, it hurt.

As climbers, we can—perhaps all too easily—make sense of a comrade falling to their death. It’s a grim reality, but we understand that these things happen. If you climb long enough, you will lose people.

Sometimes those streak-and-solo missions don’t go quite according to plan. 

“Once the hearing community and Deaf community partner, it’s deeper than just climbing. It’s cultural awareness, language acquisition, really A-Z on understanding different communities.”

In 2017, Anak Verhoeven became the second woman in history to climb 5.15. Since then, she has ticked off four more of the grade. 

Ph.D., biophysical chemist, author, executive director of Green Science Policy Institute.

Lookout Mountain was seen as “off limits” by the city’s Black communities—until local students helped reclaim the blocks.

The author was young, stoked on life and had a sweet loaner van to tool around Europe in. The trip ended with a real bang.

In the past I’d had the same concerns, but this time it all hit me again. That could have been me.

The author built his life around climbing but years on realizes that pulling your body up rock might not be enough.

And the secret to living with a serious climber is.... don't take it too seriously.

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