Mt. Arapiles

Good weather, abundant holds, bomber gear and a blissed-out camplife: Mt. Arapiles has packed a lot into the forty years of its existence. Greg Pritchard provides the introduction to this surprising "mountain," while Chris Baxter, Greg Child, Mike Law, Glenn Tempest and Dave Jones recall moments of absurdity and adventure both on and off the cliffs. Greg Pritchard

GRANDES JORASSES, EAST FACE

Philippe Batoux

AIGUILLE VERTE AND GRANDES JORASSES

Aymeric Clouet

AGUJA DESMOCHADA

Alexander Huber

VALLE COCHAMO

MT. ANDROMEDA

Raphael Slawinski

JANAK

Andrej Stremfelj

MT. GROSVENOR AND BROKEN TOOTH

Mark Westman

MOONLIGHT BUTTRESS

Matt Wilder

BROKEN TOOTH

Editor's Note

The Editors

Contributors

Ladies and gentlemen, may we present the talent.

Letters

Hot air, superstition and grammatical faux pas.

Lynn Hill

Born at the start of the 1960s, Lynn Hill has sought out liberation in many forms: freedom from artificial aid, from fear and from her own limitations. Now motherhood has given a new dimension to her quest. Lynn Hill

The Climbing Life

Fantasia (II 5.9R)

When the founder of a British climbing magazine came to visit, Royal Robbins took him first of the obvious Yosemite classics, then to a more esoteric destination-and a new route that surpassed even the Brit's taste for adventure and strict ethics. Royal Robbins

The Sharp End

Matt Wilder teaches math and computer science to high-school students. Out of the classroom, he finds boulders and bigwall free climbs share a problem-solving challenge his students know much about. The Editors and Matt Wilder

Off Belay

Doubts? Hesitations? Stark-raving terror? Consult the Alpine Oracle. Tami Knight

Scattered Ashes

When an alpinist's father dies before they can climb Fitz Roy together, he and a childhood friend look for healing on its summit; along the way they achieve one of Patagonia's most challenging routes in the fastest time and best style the range has ever seen. Topher Donahue and Tommy Caldwell

Eternal Snow

In a closed area of Tibet, guarded by a legion of hard-to-obtain permits, a British alpinist discovered that sometimes a mountain can offer more than just another climb. Mick Fowler

Verite Bites

First Ascent was to be the perfect film: a montage of new routes depicted with an authenticity the climbing world had rarely seen. Now if only reality would cooperate. Peter Mortimer and Nick Rosen

Gone with the Wind

Cerro Murallon's profound isolation renders even the approach uncertain. Creating a dream route on its stunning north face required a long and hazardous journey, three times in the making. Stefan Glowacz

Yosemite Quicksilver

Words eluded one man as he strove to capture the climbing experience, but photos gave him a way to stop time. Fortunately for us, the moment he chose was one of the greatest eras of Yosemite climbing. Glen Denny