Climbing
ArchiveFor those that have always wanted a climbing wall in their living room, but worried it would look a little too dirtbag, now there’s the Nova. This stylish new bouldering wall offers a variety of lit, color-specific routes when it’s on, and a soft glow that…
Cory Richards, the award-winning photographer and climber for the North Face, will not return to Mount Everest after suffering respiratory distress that forced his evacuation from 23,000 feet on Saturday. Doctors in Kathmandu cleared Richards to return to the mountain after finding no evidence of altitude-related…
High-altitude alpinist Hilaree O’Neill is unlike most of her fellow climbers hunkered down at Everest Base Camp this week, waiting for a weather window to make their summit push. For starters, she came prepared to ski off the South Col. And out of some 600 alpinists vying for…
Ahead of the 50th anniversary of the first American ascent of Everest, multiple teams are planning commemorative climbs. We’ll be there reporting on them as they happen.
The North Face released a video of Cory Richards' evacuation from Everest to Lukla, Nepal. The climber was suffering from shortness of breath and doctors feared a pulmonary embolism. He eventually ended up feeling better after receiving tests…
The First Ascent team of Jake Norton, Brent Bishop, Charley Mace, and David Morton is through a patch of brittle ice and has fixed lines to within 1,200 feet of the West Shoulder.
Meet the man sewing jackets and pants on the slopes of the world’s tallest mountain…
Cory Richards, a North Face team athlete and member of the National Geographic Society, was flown by helicopter from Everest Base Camp to the nearby medical facility of Lukla, Nepal, after doctors feared a pulmonary embolism. The celebrated photographer—he was just recently awarded the Rowell…
Simone Moro talks about the latest rescue after a massive avalanche injured a Sherpa in the Khumbu Icefall. Read the story here.
A major avalanche swept down off the shoulder of Nuptse, crossing the Everest route between Camps I and II.
On Wednesday morning, sport climbing phenom Sasha DiGiulian added another hard route to her resume when she sent Era Vella (5.14d), a long, severely overhanging limestone climb established by Chris Sharma in Margalef, Spain. The send, DiGiulian's second of the grade, is the latest…
The surprisingly simple tools behind Grayson Schaffer's digital dispatches from Base Camp
With the 2012 climbing season underway, we look back at some of the most incredible moments to take place on the world's tallest mountain over the last 150 years
After three days of rest, the Eddie Bauer team ascends the West Ridge to establish Camp III…
A brief history of glory, tragedy, and dubious achievement on the world's highest summit
Having spent three days resting, the Eddie Bauer team headed back into the Khumbu Icefall at dawn. This time, their goal is to establish Camp III on the shoulder of the West Ridge.
Behind the tragic accident that took Namgya Tshering Sherpa's life
The First Ascent West Ridge team finished their first rotation acclimatizing and shuttling gear to Camp 2 (21,000 feet) and returned safely to Base Camp on April 22.
ext_script = "//player.ooyala.com/player.js?deepLinkEmbedCode=g1Z3BpNDpHnQnqwyRNtm0z3B46QptDU8&height=360&width=640&video_pcode=1jZG06vQqWlGOe2jr1WK6VaYFHtK&embedCode=g1Z3BpNDpHnQnqwyRNtm0z3B46QptDU8" American Dean Potter walked 130 feet across a slackline placed roughly 6,000 feet above the floor of Enshi Grand Canyon without a safety net, harness, or BASE rig for back up this past Sunday. The video…
It’s not often that you can sign up to learn a sport from some of the best adventure athletes in the world. But next month, three of the world’s best climbers will teach their trade at Brooklyn Boulders in New…
ext_script = "//player.ooyala.com/player.js?embedCode=I5ZnFpNDpiFqfOcVdoGSIgG0cqCi5apO&deepLinkEmbedCode=I5ZnFpNDpiFqfOcVdoGSIgG0cqCi5apO&height=359&width=639&video_pcode=1jZG06vQqWlGOe2jr1WK6VaYFHtK" In mid-March, Italian climber Michele Caminati took a ground fall from near the top of The New Statesman, a classic, sketchy gritstone route in Ilkley Quarry, Yorkshire, England. He fell about 25 feet, ripping out the micronuts and cams protecting the climb and slamming…
The Khumbu Icefall has already claimed one mountaineer this season, but the obstacle is no more dangerous than most years. Here's the one place that has Everest climbers on edge.
Meet Mark Coleman, Prana's mindfulness ambassador. The Indian-sitting, mono-talking, easy-smiling, poetry-writing, meditating, Englishman-moved-to-the-United States-who-then-discovered-he's-a-nature-lover is the clothing company's zen adviser to athletes and employees. He sits down with everyone at Prana, from the rock climbers to the sales team, to unlock their potential by opening them up to mindful…
Will Unsoeld and Barry Bishop on the West Ridge The spring 2012 Everest season is in full swing, with teams arriving at Base Camp in preparation for their summit attempts. There are no shortage of planned ascents, and…
Ueli Steck and Freddie Wilkinson reveal how Nepal's permitting system is holding climbers back in the Khumbu
Picture via EBay Before you guffaw at the $178.50 price tag, consider that the pink number above was signed by World Champion climber Sasha DiGiulian and that 90 percent of profits from…
Photographer Cory Richards Climber-slash-photographer-slash-filmmaker-slash-humanitarian Cory Richards won this year's Rowell Award from the American Alpine Club. The organization honors a great adventure photographer in memory of Galen and Barbara Rowell, who…
On the morning of April 11th, on my way between the Himalayan villages of Monju and Namche Bazar, I was passed by a thickly built Nepalese pounding by at a dead run. The Everest Marathon isn’t until May 29 (the day Tenzing and Hillary summited);…
Getting into BASE jumping isn’t easy or cheap. Before prospective jumpers can take their first leap, they typically have to make hundreds of skydives, find a mentor, and accumulate thousands of dollars worth of gear. That could all change this spring with the launch of…
Multiple teams of climbers will attempt the West Ridge this May, following the route first climbed by Tom Hornbein and Willi Unsoeld in 1963. ϳԹ senior editor Grayson Schaffer is embedding with the team from Eddie Bauer to send back dispatches and photos. Here's a look at the route and the team.
Go local with Nepalese guide Jiban Ghimire's Sherpa Shangri La Treks & Expeditions
Dave Hahn trains in Taos, New Mexico, for another attempt on Everest. Get all the latest news from this year’s Everest climbing season here.
Twenty-one-year-old phenom David Lama represents a new breed of super-alpinist. He also has more detractors than Lebron James. When he took his talents to South America's iconic Cerro Torre last January, his bold free ascent highlighted an eventful season that will go down in history—and infamy.
ext_script = "//player.ooyala.com/player.js?embedCode=s3bjAwMzoJJqy801gKr9kYvWlnMgKbEI&deepLinkEmbedCode=s3bjAwMzoJJqy801gKr9kYvWlnMgKbEI&height=315&width=560" Ashima Shiraishi, the 10-year-old prodigy who has torn through some of Hueco Tanks' hardest problems over the past two years, notched another landmark ascent on Tuesday when she completed the V13 testpiece Crown of Aragorn. The climb, which took Shiraishi two days, means…
Watch movies about climbers Ueli Steck, Alex Honnold, and Dean Potter Thursday March 22, at 8 P.M. EST. Then join the athletes and Peter Mortimer and Nick Rosen of Sender Films for an online discussion about risk.
Nobody climbs faster than Swiss superman Ueli Steck, whose rapid ascents of classic routes are just as demanding as three-minute miles. Now Steck is taking his death-challenging act to the Himalayas, which have a way of slowing even the best men down.
ext_script = "//player.ooyala.com/player.js?embedCode=tmZXFtMzqYFQvpYcLaRzYTQ0cKjF9pIH&deepLinkEmbedCode=tmZXFtMzqYFQvpYcLaRzYTQ0cKjF9pIH&height=315&width=560" Jonathan Siegrist is one of the few American sport climbers who has dedicated himself almost entirely to developing routes on his home ground. As Chris Sharma has settled in Spain and Ethan Pringle and Dave Graham have bounced between continents over the past…
We hear a lot about young people climbing big mountains. However, we rarely hear about the steady-handed partners climbing alongside them and keeping an eye out for them. In 2010, I covered 12 -year-old Matt Moniz as he set a High Pointer record by standing on the…
How much does it cost to climb Everest? This is probably the most popular question I get asked. The short answer is the price of a a car. The long answer is that it's personal decision that depends on several factors. Everest is not the place to save money. There…
Wenger Evowood Nail Clipper: Swiss Army Knives and Leathermans are handy, but any committed climber will tell you that the tool they're most often pining for at the crag is a nail clipper. Ever tried to jam your feet into climbing shoes having forgotten to cut your toe nails? Crimpping,…
ext_script = "//player.ooyala.com/player.js?embedCode=Zzc2NoMzpYiYsU8L_PlhCi9U2joXPIf9&height=315&deepLinkEmbedCode=Zzc2NoMzpYiYsU8L_PlhCi9U2joXPIf9&width=560" On Sunday, National Geographic Channel will premiere The Man Who Can Fly, a special featuring climber and BASE jumper Dean Potter. The program follows Potter as he attempts to climb and BASE jump from Canada's Mt.
The first American woman to send 5.14d shares her five favorite pre-climb songs
Did two North American alpinists do the right thing when they took the bolts out of one of Patagonia's most famous climbing routes?
Photo: SN#1 Last Monday, Jason Kruk and Hayden Kennedy made the first fair-means ascent of the Compressor on Cerro Torre's southeast ridge, a controversial climb dominated by a massive, 400-bolt ladder up a blank face. On the way…
I’ve been in many base camps but I knew I was somewhere special when I was told “… and this is our garbage tent.” Welcome to Everest Base Camp, Russell Brice style. In 2011 while climbing Everest, I spent the afternoon with Brice getting to know this man and how…
Photo: Geoff Livingston/Flickr Jason Kruk and Hayden Kennedy nabbed one of Patagonia's most sought-after objectives on Monday when they made the first “fair means” ascent of Cerro Torre's infamous southeast ridge, bypassing the bolt ladders placed by first…
Along with my annual coverage of Everest, I always update information on the climbing routes on Everest. I am surprised that there is always something new. For Everest 2012 season, I want to discuss an acclimatization technique that is becoming more common on Nepal expeditions, the climb of nearby Lobuche…
I'm constantly impressed by Iker Pou. It's not just that the Basque climber, who's sport climbed up to 5.15a and established big wall routes in Europe and Antarctica, is one of the world's greatest all-rounders at a time when climbers…
This interview with Bill Burke is part of an ongoing series of interviews I do each season with Everest climbers. Not the famous, sponsored ones who get plenty of publicity but the regular people, who have full time jobs, full time families in many cases and climb for the love…
Most climbers have had fantasies about buying an old van or camper, ditching their jobs, and living the life of a full-time dirtbag. Alf Randell is one of the few who's followed through with them. Randell, 53, has spent the past ten years climbing the splitter cracks of Indian Creek,…
From drama in the Greater Ranges to cutting-edge bouldering problems, 2011 was a great year for climbing. We pick the top ten ascents of the past 12 months.
Climbers are fond of saying that there's no such thing as a “best climber”, and in a broad sense, they're right. But in terms of pure difficulty, it's becoming harder and harder to deny Adam Ondra's dominance. On Tuesday, the 18-year-old Czech climber…
Click Here to Watch Video Here's a cool video we picked up from The Goat blog. It documents the first winter ascent of Mount…
VIDEO PROFILE: BD athlete Conrad Anker ice climbing in Hyalite Canyon, Montana from Black Diamond Equipment on Vimeo. The Black Diamond film crew visited Conrad Anker in Montana and put together this quick short. It's a simple video with a relaxed pace: Anker making coffee, packing his…
Watch Anson Fogel's award-winning documentary short about the first winter ascent of the 8,000-meter peak Gasherbrum II
The best sites for bouldering news, beginner-friendly advice, and longform adventure journalism
Tom Randall and Pete Whittaker spent two months in Wyoming and Utah this fall climbing the United States's hardest offwidths—awkwardly sized, unpopular cracks that are too wide to fist jam but too narrow to chimney. In October, the pair established what is believed to be the world's most difficult offwidth…
Climber Jake Norton began tackling mountains at the age of 12 with an ascent of Mount Rainer. Since then, he has bagged that peak 98 times, climbed on six continents, and traveled to Everest six times. He has summited Everest three times. He helped discover Mallory's remains on Everest…
Climber Aaron Tague taught Tom Cruise how to scale a climbing wall for a scene in the upcoming film Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol.
It looks like Adam Ondra isn't the only talented climber in his family. This past week, the two-time World Cup champion's older sister, Kristyna Ondrova, became the second Czech woman to climb a 5.14a route when she sent Kudlanka, near the siblings' hometown of Brno.
Ice climbing season is coming up and I need to decide whether to buy a hardshell or a softshell. Which do you prefer for climbing?
Gear4Rocks Links Cams’ appearance doesn’t inspire trust. With their bare-wire stems and roughly-finished lobes, the cams looks like what they are: cheap climbing gear made by a near-anonymous company in eastern Europe. Sketchy, but at $36 a pop, they’re the most affordable cams on the market. And honestly, they’re…
https://www.youtube.com/embed/FAAqZHR0OGg?rel=0 Dean Potter free solos Heaven Talk about upping the ante. Last week, 26-year-old Alex Honnold completed Yosemite's hardest known free solo to date, Cosmic Debris, a 5.13b overhanging finger crack in the Valley. Apparently not satisfied, later that same day he nabbed another hard free solo…
Alan on Kilimanjaro Summit While climbing Kilimanjaro was not the most difficult of my climbing life, getting down was perhaps in the top three! We made the summit in good time and style after leaving the Barafu Camp at 15,000′ around midnight. The climb to…
Magnus Midtboe bolting. Photo: Kieran Kolle/Made Earlier this month, Norwiegan climber Jorg Verhoeven made the first ascent of a project called Nordic Flower in Flatanger Cave, a new sport climbing area an hour and a half from the…
I've been wearing an Avalung II and Avalung backpack for years. Technically known as an artificial air pocket, the device has long been proven to prolong avalanche survival by preventing carbon dioxide displacement asphyxia. Last year, Black Diamond posted an internet report of a skier surviving a non-avalanche…
Trad climber at Smith Rocks, Oregon. Photo: Maria Ly/Flickr Traditional climbing, where climbers place their own removable protection, is best learned slowly. Which is not at all what I did. My first stab at the sport was a thinly-protected 5.5 route up a tower…
Camp 14 is one of the liveliest spots on Denali, where climbers acclimatize and socialize before pushing to the summit. Add a photographer and travel writer to the mix and you get a who’s who on the highest peak in North America.
Will Gadd on Spray On. Photos: Christian Pondella Will Gadd may be the world's strongest ice climber. Consider: Gadd's latest project, a radically overhanging route in British Columbia's Wells Gray Provincial Park dubbed Spray On which he and partner Tim Emmett sent in 2010,…
Without a balance bar or safety equipment, Swiss stuntman Freddy Nock walked more than 3200 feet up a two-inch wide cable car wire to reach the summit of Zugspitze mountain…
Here's a great video by Camp4Collective about climbing in Yosemite—put together for that other adventure magazine. Jimmy Chin takes you behind the scenes during a dream assignment. –Joe…
Alan on the summit of Elbrus Well, I am back in Southern Russia at my hotel after a very fast and successful summit of Mt. Elbrus at 18,583 feet. As usual I will do a complete trip report but here are the highlights. We…
Bouldering climbs are short, but they demand as much strength, agility, and puzzle solving as anything done on rock. Here are the fine points of a classic challenge—Paul Robinson’s V16 route Lucid Dreaming—to show how the game is played.
Back in March, Eric Hansen profiled 87-year-old Himalayan record keeper Elizabeth Hawley for ϳԹ. Now there are plans to film a documentary about the woman whose records contain information about roughly 80,000 ascents of 340 Nepalese peaks. She's the ultimate source on…
Last week I posted a review of “The Ledge”, co-authored by Jim Davidson and Kevin Vaughn. It generated a lot of interest so I'm following up with a short interview with Davidson. But first, a few words about his co-author Kevin Vaughn, who is currently a staff writer…