Area Profile: Valle Cochamo

Tales of Chile's untouched, 1000-meter granite walls have quietly circulated among the cognoscenti for a decade. But as many have found, you might have to go through fire and water to get there. Daniel Seeliger delves into the exploration of Chile's El Dorado, while Crispin Waddy, Thomas Tivadar, Sabine Tittel, Cole Taylor and Boguslaw Kowalski relate their adventures in South America's promised land. Daniel Seeliger

Booty

The Editors

Short Pitches

Cragging News. The Editors

Editor's Note

Of Men and Mobilekind. Katie Ives

Namesake

How CS Concerto got its name. Dick Dorworth

The Big Bro

The Big Bro's rise to power. The Editors

Contributors

Letters

Causes celebrares, a few admonishments and a mythical send.

The Climbing Life

Observations from the field.

Escape Route

Summertime blues? Fortunately for Salt Lake City climbers, one of the coolest escapes is right in their backyard. Kim Csizmazia

First Ascent

Nutcracker Suite represented one of the first steps in a new, all-clean revolution, but it was also an elegant pas de deux for one of climbing's most committed couples. Liz Robbins

Full Value

Peru's Cordillera Vilocanota range promised unclimbed peaks and full adventure. The travel catalogue hadn't mentioned bandits. Lindsay Griffin

Off Belay

An alpine bijou. Marko Prezelj

Wired

Enchainments are new again. Katie Ives

Going Square

People like their mind-bending addictions in a variety of ways. The question for one young alpinist is: Which one is strongest? Colin Haley

K2—The Russian Route

To many alpinists, K2 is the world's hardest mountain. What to make of a team, then, that climbed its hardest route with two grandfathers and no oxygen? Siege style in the Death Zone with Grandpa Shabalin. Pavel Shabalin

Life Is Lilac

The world's best big-wall soloist finds that color, like every other sensation, feels more intense when you're alone. Silvia Vidal

Stripped

When the bottom fell out for one climber, she decided to confront her fears full-on. The results surprised even her. Steph Davis

Vertical Vision

It was his signature European big-wall free climb—until someone desecrated it. Redemption with a view in Italy's Dolomites. With photographs by Michael Meisl. Alexander Huber

Local Hero

If you had to spend weeks committed to a seriously desperate objective, whom would you choose as your climbing partner? Conrad Anker selects one of America's greatest underfunded, overcommitted alpinists: Doug Chabot. With pictures by Gordon Wiltsie. Conrad Anker