Weekly Feature Archives

South Georgia: A Photo Essay

Posted March 26, 2008

Follow French alpinists through poor weather, unexpected obstacles, rough seas and defensive sea lion colonies on their crossing of South Georgia in the southern Atlantic.

Chile: The Crusade for Virgin Rock

Posted March 19, 2008

"Long periods of high pressure, steep granite, moderate glaciers, 'short' approaches from base camp and 500-meter virgin walls seemed the norm in Brujo del Torres. The more research we did, the more we convinced ourselves we had found El Dorado..."

High Crimes, Chapter 11

Posted March 12, 2008

The following story—an excerpt from the recently released nonfiction novel High Crimes—reveals the dark underbelly of high-altitude mountaineering: the loss of valuables, the loss of life.

In Memoriam: Paul Dedi

Posted March 5, 2008

Remembering Alpinist's most acclaimed artist—Paul Dedi—the rare personality whose enthusiastic, witty, scrappy outlook instituted him as an offbeat bastion of the climbing and illustrating communities.

Cochamo: Into the Forest

Posted February 27, 2008

"So far we had little luck finding any climbing in Chile. But in a pension in Pucon there was a small photo on the wall showing a distant view of some interesting-looking cliffs, on a mountaintop above some woods. Our interest was roused immediately when, by chance, a local raft guide commented that no one had climbed on these walls, some of which rose 2,500 feet above the canopy."

Obsession and Ingenuity, Part IV: Kansas

Posted February 20, 2008

"We live in Lawrence, Kansas, my friend, a small college town lost in a sea of plains. If by local crag you mean a two-hour drive to some crumbling, dripping limestone in Missouri, then sure, that's our local crag."

Remembering Sir Edmund Hillary

Posted February 13, 2008

Forty Kiwi mountaineers raised their axes as one to form the New Zealand Alpine Club's honor guard when Sir Edmund Hillary's coffin emerged...

Inspirations, Part III: Gervasutti's Climbs

Posted February 6, 2008

Simon Richardson shares his inspiration: Giusto Gervasutti. "As a teenager, consumed by a newfound passion for mountaineering, I had a voracious appetite for climbing books. I read my way through the school library and then the local town library, seeking out more adventures and experiences on the written page, so that I could gauge my own faltering beginnings in the sport."

Inspirations, Part II: High Alaska

Posted January 30, 2008

Kelly Cordes and Masatoshi Kuriaki share their inspiration. "High Alaska, the classic from Jonathan Waterman, started it all for me. But different writings have influenced me in different ways at different times. For me, influence has come from photos, words and people."

The 2008 Alpinist Film Festival

Posted January 23, 2008

Four nights. Twenty-two films. Eight premieres. One Grand Prize winner. $7,000+ raised for Surf Aid International. One bag of trash.