December 2008 – 271
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FEATURES
GALLERYHard-5.13 headpointing, seaside (and high-country) highballing, roof-crack madness, and Garhwal splendor.
COUNTRY STYLETake a trad tour with two American hardwomen in South Africa, where await lifetimes of brilliant orange, grey, and tan sandstone and quartzite.By Majka Burhardt • Photos by James Q Martin
MAINE LINERSAce climbers (but bumbly sailors) Mark Synnott and Jared Ogden search, in a 27-foot sloop, for sea cliffs along austere Downeast Maine.By Mark Synnott • Photos by Jared Ogden
ZILLERTAL 2.1Deep in the Austrian Tyrol there’s a granite wonderland blocs, clip-ups, cracks, and walls with generations of climbing history. Quarrying threats, however, loom just over the horizon. . . .By Justin Roth • Photos by John Evans
EVEREST: CHARADE AND FAÇADEThe climbing historian Pat Ament inks his pen and sharpens his drawing pencils, to shed light on the divine madness that is today’s Mount Everest.Story and Illustrations by Pat Ament

DEPARTMENTS
CONTRIBUTORS Dave Sheldon, Andy Mann, Jared Ogden, and John Evans
EDITORIAL “First-Ascentionist’s Burden” and the power of psychology
LETTERS
BASECAMP JUST OUT HOT FLASHES OFF THE WALL PLAYERS TEN THINGS OPEN BIVY SPORTING LIFE SUSTAINED
EQUIPMENT Twelve mid-range alpine packs the size we all love to love put through their paces
CLASSIC CLIMBSLiving on the Edge (II 5.10c) exposed crimping in St. George, Utah’s red-desert heaven
TECH TIPSport: 8 smart ways to teach newbies the ropes
PERSPECTIVEDavid Ethan Graham: professional climber, loner gypsy, cult-sci-fi fanatic, laptop beat maker, nocturnal tweaker; formerly of Portland, Maine