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  4. This 5.9 Is Worth the 20-Mile Approach

This 5.9 Is Worth the 20-Mile Approach

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  • American Alpine ClubA

    Safer Than Socks in Your Hat

    General News climbing
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    American Alpine ClubA
    Less than a thousand feet from the summit, on the north face of the Eiger, Gaston Rébuffat hooked a finger into a piton, left behind from a previous ascent. The night before, as they bivvied, Rébuffat was surprised to find himself sleepless, with a sense of bad omens. “The stars seemed so near that you could touch them, and the Milky Way shone with sinister brightness,” he wrote in his book Starlight and Storm. On that July day in 1952, their surroundings did prove sinister. Stuck behind several slower parties and faced with warming temperatures, Rébuffat’s team had to inch their way across the tedious traverses that guarded the summit, often taking alternate routes in order to avoid bottlenecks. As luck would have it, Rébuffat hooked that piton at the exact moment a thunderous crack boomed from above. A massive rock came tumbling down, bursting and splitting into pieces that struck Rébuffat on the head. “But the finger hooked through the piton still held. It was very painful, and felt as if it had been sawn through.... A little blood fell from my cap and reddened the snow-flecked rock.” Yet, with his head aching and the motivation drained out of him, Rébuffat carried on. Rumor has it that Rébuffat had stuffed his hat with socks, as was the custom at the time when climbing in areas with rockfall danger, and some credit this habit for saving his life. Well, that and the piton. Without the padding of his rudimentary “helmet,” Rébuffat might not have become the first man to climb all six of the great north faces of the Alps. Since then, it’s fair to say climbing helmets have undergone an evolution. The history of head protection in climbing starts earlier than Gaston Rébuffat’s injury on the Eiger. There was a parallel evolution, but staggered, between those climbing in the mountains and those exploring underground in caves. In 1936, the trailblazing French caver Pierre Chevalier reported, “Helmets are beginning to be considered essential in sport caving.” However, during this period, and until around 1950, climbers aboveground were still wearing wool berets as the standard headwear. In 1948, Chevalier’s Escalades Souterraines (Subterranean Climbers) was published. It was one of the seminal works in early caving. In the early 1950s felt hats became the norm. When there was risk of rockfall, they would occasionally be stuffed with socks or newspaper. This is where Rébuffat’s story takes the stage. Four years later, in 1956, the ninth edition of Accidents in North American Mountaineering (now Accidents in North American Climbing) already showed an increasing preference for protective headgear. In comments preceding the accident reports, the editors wrote: “Another point that should be re-emphasized is the desirability of wearing a plastic helmet to protect the head from falling rock in areas where this danger is present. This has become a standard practice for some rock climbers in the Yosemite area.” As helmets for other sports evolved, so too did climbing helmets. In 1954, Amisano Gino Valenza (AGV) produced the first fiberglass motorcycle helmet. It was used by many climbers until climbing-specific models became available. Walter Bonatti knew helmets were critical. Describing his last ascent of the north face of the Matterhorn, done solo in winter, he wrote: Again once more, I look to lighten my pack to move more rapidly. I toss food, two étriers, some pitons. I am tempted to get rid of my helmet as well, the glorious plastic helmet that, for four years, accompanied me on the most difficult enterprises. But after an instant of hesitation, I stay my hand and hold the helmet to my chest. I caress its bumps as if they were wounds: each one of them corresponding to a rock, fallen off Mont Blanc, the Andes, so many other mountains. I placed it back in my pack. It’s clear Bonatti recognized how many times the helmet had prevented injury. Despite the weight of early helmets, anyone who had their life saved by one would appreciate their value. The new, lighter fiberglass motorcycle helmet and its growing use by serious climbers spurred the creation of helmets designed for climbers. Sporthaus Schuster was one of the earliest to come... https://americanalpineclub.org/news/2026/2/12/safer-than-socks-in-your-hat
  • American Alpine ClubA

    The Fluidity of Grief and Beauty: A Story from the McNeill-Nott Award

    General News climbing
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    American Alpine ClubA
    I move, therefore I am. I reminded myself of this throughout the journey to and from Arviqtujuq Kangiqtua, formerly known as Eglinton Fjord. Throughout our five-week, multi-sport, primarily human-powered expedition to Baffin Island, in the Canadian Arctic, Kelly Fields, Shira Biner, Natalie Afonina, and I continued to move. We skied over 100 miles across the sea ice in order to get there, and we slogged for another 100 miles over moraine fields, loose talus, sinking meadows, a frozen lake, and a partially frozen river to get out. Movement was our rule, our rhythm. And as a team of three women and a non-binary person, we were motivated to define this movement on our own terms. Kelly, Shira, Natalie, and I met for the first time in person at the Ottawa Airport en route to the Arctic. Only a few of us had tied in together before this trip. Prior to our real-life introduction, we spent months exchanging messages, photos, screenshots, videos, and group calls on WhatsApp. Now, past the logistical chaos of prep for this expedition, we still had a lot of learning to do about each other. I’m lucky in that I know an abundance of female, non-binary, and queer people who are incredible climbing partners. I prefer to rope up with them because of my ongoing struggles with self-confidence and self-trust that I learned in the shadow of my male climbing partners. Here was an opportunity to move toward my goals and the style of climbing that most inspires me, alongside a group of people who uplift one another. When we received our first grant—the McNeill-Nott Award from the American Alpine Club—I started to feel that other people believed in us, which gave me more belief in myself. Representation is important, and the organizations that supported us believed that too. It was coming together all too perfectly. I stared at the vast ice and seascape before me: Circles of white interrupted the piercing blue water that settled up to a foot deep in some places. We were leaving the bay in the small Inuit community of Clyde River. The gray sky let go of gentle snowflakes that melted on my sunglasses, making my surroundings appear as if I were looking out a window on a rainy day. “So...how thick is this ice?” I asked, my voice wavering. The last time I had put skis on was a number of years ago. On snow, on solid ground. However, I was soon submerged within and captivated by the ice’s symphony as we glided, heaved, soared over, walked, and trudged—depending on the conditions of the sea ice—over a hundred miles on a seascape that was constantly changing. Moving through that environment was dictated by the wind, temperature, snow, and our bodies’ needs. One moment, we would be trapped in a cloud, the snow absorbing the sound around us and sticking to our ski skins so thick that we had to take them off. Moments later, after turning a corner, the winds had blown the clouds and snow off the surface, and we found ourselves flying over the best ice conditions we had yet experienced. That landscape spoke to me, telling me that it, too, exists in states of movement and change. I often look to the natural world to find my own sense of belonging. Being a non-binary person often means that I don’t always find a type of belonging that is representative. I struggle in groups of men. In groups of women, I push back on the definitions and create an exclusionary space for myself. Asking for a non-binary category creates the exact thing I don’t want to exist within: a category. One day, I hope I can exist in a way that is outside the confines of man or woman—that I can exist as myself without needing to choose between explaining and educating, or quietly disrespecting myself. The thing about gender, being non-binary specifically, is that it’s simultaneously the most painful and most beautiful experience one can have. There is a deep gratitude in being the truest form of yourself; there is a wholeness in accepting one’s authenticity. It can also often be painful to a core level. My relationship with gender is like the Arctic wind: always present, sometimes gentle and caressing, other times a chaos that threatens to knock me down. I felt the spirits skiing into Arviqtujuq Kangiqtua. Finally, among those great walls, exhausted, hungry, sore, and cold, we debated where to set up our base camp and had a hard time getting anywhere productive with it. I remember feeling confused about how I could be in the greatest place I’ve ever stood, a place that made my soul feel so full, yet in conditions that m... https://americanalpineclub.org/news/2025/11/4/guidebook-xvigrant-spotlight
  • GrippedG

    20 Epic Ascents That Shaped 1970s Climbing

    General News climbing
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    GrippedG
    These were just some of the headline-making climbs from the 1970s The post 20 Epic Ascents That Shaped 1970s Climbing appeared first on Gripped Magazine. https://gripped.com/profiles/20-epic-ascents-that-shaped-1970s-climbing/
  • American Alpine ClubA

    2025 American Alpine Club Gala Awards

    General News climbing
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    American Alpine ClubA
    Discover their incredible stories, then join us for the 2025 American Alpine Club Gala to hear more! Brooke Raboutou grew up in Boulder, CO, where she began climbing at age two. At 11, Raboutou sent Welcome to Tijuana (5.14b) in Rodellar, Spain, becoming the youngest person to climb the route. From 2020 to 2022, Raboutou pushed bouldering grades, sending Muscle Car (V14), The Atomator (V13), The Shining (V12/13), The Wheel of Chaos (V13), Doppelgänger Poltergeist (V13), Jade (V14), Euro Trash (V12/8a+), Low Low (V13/8b) Trieste (V14), Heritage (V13), La Proue (V13), Lur (V14), Evil Backwards (V13). Raboutou was the first American to qualify for the Olympics, and during the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, she finished 5th.  In October 2023, Raboutou sent Box Therapy in Rocky Mountain National Park and promptly downgraded it from V16 to V15. In 2024, Raboutou won silver in the combined bouldering and lead competition at the Paris Olympics, becoming the first American woman to win an Olympic medal in climbing. In April 2025, Raboutou sent Excalibur (5.15c), becoming the first woman to send the grade.  Outdoor Alliance is a nonprofit coalition of national advocacy organizations that includes American Whitewater, American Canoe Association, Access Fund, International Mountain Bicycling Association, Winter Wildlands Alliance, the Mountaineers, the American Alpine Club, the Mazamas, the Colorado Mountain Club, and the Surfrider Foundation. For more than ten years, Outdoor Alliance has united the human-powered outdoor recreation community to achieve lasting conservation victories. Its work has helped to permanently protect 40 million acres of public land, secure $5.1 billion in funding for the outdoors, and convert more than 100,000 outdoor enthusiasts into outdoor advocates. Adam Cramer will be accepting the award on behalf of Outdoor Alliance. He is the founding Executive Director and present CEO of Outdoor Alliance. During his time as CEO, Adam has brought new sensibilities to conservation work that have resulted in hundreds of thousands more acres of protected landscapes, improved management for outdoor recreation, and thousands of outdoor enthusiasts awakened to conservation and advocacy work. He is an avid whitewater kayaker and mountain biker, but is always on the lookout for a good skatepark.  For 52 years, Jack Tackle has focused on alpine climbing, particularly first ascents, in the Himalayas, South America, and Alaska. Jack Tackle is best known for his climbing in Alaska. He has done 35 separate trips, combining both attempts and successes since 1976, and completed 17 significant first ascents in Alaska’s various ranges. Tackle is a past Board member of the AAC (nine years) and served as Treasurer of the AAC from 2009-2012. He has been a member of the AAC since 1978. He presently serves on the Pinnacle and Grand Teton Climber Ranch committees and is the chairman of the AAC Cutting Edge Grant committee. For 30 years, Tackle was an independent sales rep for outdoor brands, including Patagonia, Black Diamond Equipment, and Vasque Footwear. In addition, Tackle guided for Exum Mountain Guides in the Tetons for 40 years, from 1982 to 2022. Michael Wejchert began climbing as a scared ten-year-old in a swami belt. Now a scared thirty-nine-year-old, rock and ice climbing remain his overriding passion. He began writing about climbing in high school and hasn't stopped. In 2013, he won the Waterman Fund Essay Contest for a piece called Epigoni, Revisited, about a failed attempt to climb Mount Deborah in the Hayes Range of Alaska. His first book, Hidden Mountains, won a National Outdoor Book Award in 2023. His essays and features have appeared in virtually every North American climbing magazine and major media outlets: Alpinist, Ascent, Rock & Ice, Appalachia, and the New York Times, to name a few. He is a proud contributing editor at the new Summit Journal. He lives just down the road from Cathedral Ledge, New England's finest trad cliff. As an undersized kid who wanted to be a cowboy, Kelly Cordes never dreamed that climbing would define his life. But he stumbled upon an obsession that took him to places of unimaginable beauty and infused his world with meaning. He established challenging alpine routes in Alaska, Peru, Patagonia, and Pakista... https://americanalpineclub.org/news/2025/7/9/2025-american-alpine-club-gala-awards
  • AlpineSavvyA

    Climbing Tips: Do This, Not That (Part 5)

    General News climbing alpinesavvy
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    AlpineSavvyA
    Five more quick tips on best practices. This post covers: 1) When to untie your rappel stopper knot, 2) the proper direction for a Grigri when belaying from the anchor, 3) how not to carry your satcom device, 4) how to shorten a sewn loop daisy chain, and 5) why to keep your anchor low on a tree. Premium Article available https://www.alpinesavvy.com/blog/climbing-tips-do-this-not-that-part-4-stp5w
  • GrippedG

    Laura Rogora Onsights a 5.14b in Oliana

    General News climbing
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    GrippedG
    American Hustle 5.14b is her third onsight of the grade The post Laura Rogora Onsights a 5.14b in Oliana appeared first on Gripped Magazine. https://gripped.com/news/laura-rogora-onsights-a-5-14b-in-oliana/
  • ClimbingZineC

    Dancing With The Queen by Luke Mehall

    General News climbing climbingzine
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    ClimbingZineC
    https://climbingzine.com/dancing-with-the-queen-excerpt-from-volume-22-by-luke-mehall/
  • EpicTVE

    EpicTV REACTS: Day 6 Women's Boulder & Lead Finals | #paris2024

    Videos climbing
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    EpicTVE
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dzfm75FxAY8