Weekly Feature Archives

Charlie!

Posted July 22, 2014

Sibylle Hechtel remembers Charlie Porter as the "burly, and utterly huggable" boyfriend of Bev Johnson, with whom Hechtel made the first all-female ascent of El Capitan. Her story continues our series on Porter's life, as told by his friends and climbing partners.

Waiting for Dawn

Posted July 21, 2014

In Part 1 of this series on Charlie Porter, told by some of climbing partners and friends through the decades, Gary Bocarde recalls their days together in Yosemite, where Porter pushed the upper limits of hard aid in the early 1970s and climbed not for ego but for joy.

Visions of Charlie Porter: Introduction

Posted July 21, 2014

"...[A]ll was done quietly, unremarked upon, in classic Porter fashion. With his reticence, [Charlie] Porter was "old-school," a classical figure from the pre-social, un-hyperlinked past in which actions carried greater weight than words and images.... Thus it's mainly through hist friends and partners, a few of whom have contributed the essays that follow, that we know anything of Porter's feats."

An Interview with Alpinist Contributor Forest McBrian

Posted July 17, 2014

Fresh off deadline, the author of our latest Mountain Profile—the North Cascades' Picket Range—Forest McBrian sat down to debrief and explain why, among other nuggets of wisdom, "climbing is like mapping is like writing."

The Picket Range: Contagious Magic

Posted July 17, 2014

Picket Range Mountain Profile writer Forest McBrian writes a short story about sharing his spiritual reconnection to the Pickets with his late stepmother.

Video: Revelations Climbing, A Day in the Life

Posted July 10, 2014

Songwriter and videographer Evan Phillips tells the story of a Revelation Mountains first ascent—without any hype.

Scenes from the Alpinist Office on Deadline

Posted July 7, 2014

After months of working with writers to edit, revise and fact-check the stories that make up Issue 47 of our magazine, all that's left for editors Katie Ives, Gwen Cameron and Shey Kiester to do is proofread.

Soloist Jes Meiris on Going Up the Nose and Falling Down

Posted July 3, 2014

"I wanted to climb it solo in a push, without hauling or sleeping, and I knew that if I was successful I would break the record.... It was appealing because no woman had done it in that style before, and besides, let's face it—hauling sucks."

Slideshow: A Busy Season in the Revelations

Posted June 26, 2014

Following years of quiet climbing, Alaska's Revelation Mountains see their most active season on record.

Video: 'A Tribute to Discomfort'

Posted June 24, 2014

Cory Richards, a regular Alpinist contributor, considers the realm of the uncomfortable along with the realities of modern alpinism.