This 5.9 Is Worth the 20-Mile Approach
One climber’s quest for the promised land
Classic Routes
Classic Routes: Moby Grape
Check out Shelma Jun's author page.
Classic Routes: Spook Book
Check out Chris Kalman's author page.
Classic Routes: Lightning Bolt Cracks
Check out Jeff Achey's author page.
Classic Routes: Fontainebleau's La Marie Rose
Fontainebleau’s groundbreaking first 6a, No. 22 on the Bas-Cuvier Red Circuit
Classic Routes: Black Streak (5.10b), Little Cottonwood Canyon, Utah
Where plaisir climbing first came to American soil
Classic Routes: Evolution Traverse (VI 5.9), Sierra Nevada, California
8 miles, 9 summits—High Sierra air
Classic Routes: Chumstick Snag
Leavenworth’s mysterious, under-the-radar sandstone spire.
Classic Routes: Exasperator (5.10c), Squamish
The exquisite finger crack that inspired the author’s trad-climbing career
Classic Routes: Yellow Wall
Climbing the Needles’ lightning rod of Khayyam Spire
Classic Climbs: High Planes Drifter
The story behind one of Bishop’s most prized (and misspelled) problems
Classic Routes: The Phoenix
The line that cemented new tactics, new gear, and a new grade