Feature

When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Ukrainian climbers mobilized against the invaders in many ways. CLIMBING sent longtime contributor Ed Douglas to Ukraine to hear some of their stories.

The story so far of Tom Randall and Pete Whittaker's journey to send The Recovery Drink (5.14c) in Jøssingfjord, Norway.

Ethan Pringle calls it "a little piece of France in Northern California.”

Canada’s Vampire Spires are an impossibly rugged range in a seldom-visited wilderness. Follow contributor Jeff Achey on a rollicking amphibious assault: 100 miles by raft down the rowdy Nahanni River, followed by a first ascent to an untouched summit.

In 1976, Nanda Devi Unsoeld, the daughter of legendary alpinist Willi Unsoeld, died while climbing the massive Indian peak for which she was named. Decades later, friends, family, and surviving expedition members offer new insights into what went wrong during this controversial adventure, shedding light on an enigmatic young woman who lived without limits.

As a prologue, it should be noted that all three of us—Baqar Gelashvili, Giorgi Tepnadze, and I—feel grateful to have lived this adventure. The whole escapade felt like a return to a romantic era of mountaineering, yet in a natural, ecological style, with a small circle of friends, dishing out a powerful test of our capabilities.

'The Crack in The Cosmic Egg’ is a 10-pitch aid route on Mt. Moroni. It went free at 5.13- R in November 2021.

Uncovering approachable routes for the everyday climber in South Patagonia.

A Himalayan expedition ends in ruin, but leads the author to follow the footsteps of Shipton in a quest to find a real-life monster.

Ever.

“It only takes a few people a year to really do some damage.”

The route features hard slab, 5.13+ seams, and a 5.13c finger crack of such high quality that the climbers named the ropelength "As Good as It Gets."

How headpointing became a legitimate, go-to tactic on Peak District gritstone.

Peter Habeler and Reinhold Messner took alpine tactics to the Himalaya, blowing minds and redefining the sport itself. Over 40 years later, they speak about the first oxygenless ascent of Everest, and the rift that broke up the greatest climbing partnership of all time.

Are rocks beings? Most climbers, when asked, would say “No.” But in our conversations, stones often becomes animate—they take the subject position, acting on the human sphere. What could this mean for our world?

The science behind fear and how to overcome it to achieve your climbing goals.

In 1966 competing teams raced up the Petit Dru in the Alps above Chamonix, France, to save climbers stranded on the wall.

With four first winter ascents of 8,000-meter peaks, Simone Moro has taken the art of climbing in harsh conditions to new heights, but controversy plagues his climbing résumé.

Against a background of 10,000-foot peaks, icebergs, and the vast Atlantic Ocean, local Inuit kids in East Greenland are growing up stuck somewhere between traditional ways of life and the quickly encroaching modern world. Communities struggle with record suicide, alcoholism, and abuse rates. Four Icelanders and an American asked the question: Can rock climbing help?

Mugs Stump spearheaded a fast-and-light approach to alpinism during the 1970s and 1980s when siege-style expeditions were still the norm. His style was a form of artistic expression: He sought purity through simplicity.

Matt Fultz dominated his first Hueco Rock Rodeo—on rock he had never touched. The low-key Idahoan has quietly become one of the best boulderers in the world.

Dakota Walz set out in 2019 to climb 5,280 vertical feet of first ascents in the American Southwest. Along the way, he faced uncertainty, fear, doubt, loose rock, and runouts—and many times wondered: Is the project even worth it? In the end, he learned it was the process that mattered—not just the summits.

He left us with nothing and everything.

A TBI, a climb, and an altered state

Check out Jonathan Vickers's author page.

Paul Robinson details his 17-year journey to send 1,000 8a-or-harder boulder problems.

In Kenya’s far north, the semi-nomadic Samburu tribesmen are exploring their ancestral landscape in a radical new direction—vertically.

Adventuring on the sea cliffs of southern Wales

The price of freedom on the East Face of Washington’s Liberty Bell

Deciphering the cryptic lore of the Sierra Nevada's remote, seldom-visited Citadel

Life, love, and vertigo in Paklenica—a traveler’s journal

Eating disorders, dangerous dieting, and bad body images run rampant in the climbing community. We’re all playing a game with gravity, but what happens when we push our bodies and minds into unhealthy territory—and how do we stop it?

Bali, Indonesia, is known for its vibrant culture, yoga retreats, epic surf breaks, and lush jungle. However, there’s also a thriving climbing scene in this most unlikely of venues, proving that climbers will find community the world over.

Check out Kevin Corrigan's author page.

Check out Matt Samet's author page.

Check out William Butierez's author page.

Check out Sonnie Trotter's author page.

Women guides’ uphill battle to succeed in a male-dominated industry

Check out Carl Tobin, with Matt VanEnkevort's author page.

How The Climbing Academy—a traveling high school centered on rock climbing— is building the next generation of redpoint and academic crushers

Check out Andrew Burr's author page.

The big, the bad, the bold, and the beautiful

The thousand faces of Central Europe's karstic gem

Check out Megan Walsh's author page.

Check out Climbing Staff's author page.

Check out Jenny Abegg's author page.

After decades of alpine climbing, Mark Jenkins reaches a simple truth.

Check out Chris Kassar's author page.

How the nonprofit climbing organization Escalando Fronteras has shown kids from the barrio in Monterrey, Mexico, a different way to live.

Check out Tommy Caldwell's author page.

Ben Rueck and Mayan Smith-Gobat push their limits on the ephemeral and frigid sea stacks of Tasmanian

Summersville Lake in West Virginia features the best deep water soloing in the country, and it has the potential to bring in major dollars for the local economy. The catch? It’s technically illegal. The wild and unique PsicoRoc event wants to change that.

Two elite climbers conquer an eight-pitch 5.14b, one of the steepest, most sustained routes in the world.

With new responsibilities as a business owner, husband, and father, America’s greatest climber talks about training, motivation, and his future.

Check out Monica Prelle's author page.

Lessons in Pulling on Gear in Zion

How to have big fun at small crags during a short visit to a faraway island

An experienced sport climber teams up with a veteran route developer to learn new skills, push her limits, and discover adventure in North Africa.

Climbers just like you who rose to the occasion and saved a life

The best climbing trips are about more than filling a tick list. One climber finds epic beauty and stark reality in Kalymnos.

A climbing trip to a formerly war-torn country? With your kids? You bet!

One climber searches worldwide for major adventures; the other scours the mountains near home for first ascents. They find both in Wyoming’s Cloud Peak Wilderness.

Deep in the Arkansas hills lies a climbing comp unlike any other.

With a full-time job and young kids, the intrepid and always-psyched Rob Pizem is an unlikely hero in the world of professional climbing.

Embracing The Way of the Turtle

With super-sized helpings of moderate sport climbs, pristine beaches, and blissful coastal sunlight, you won’t go hungry in Sardinia.

When four bold climbers got lichen, poison ivy, and rain instead of the bountiful new-routing, beaches, and fresh fish they envisioned on the islands of French Polynesia, they didn’t let that put a stop to their tropical climbing adventure.

When a team of American climbers sets off for Myanmar to determine the highest point in Southeast Asia, they find that the answer matters less than the question

When the pursuit of virgin rock led seven climbers to Venezuela, they found what they came for—first ascents and lifetimes of untouched boulders—but they also learned lessons they’ll never forget.

When four young climbers with big-mountain dreams went north to tackle Canada’s highest peak, they had no idea how close they’d come to never returning. Here are their stories.