In this issue

Josh Wharton - Taking a break from his training dojo in Estes Park, Colorado, one of the world’s best all-arounders talks about hard climbing, the risk in alpinism, his low profile on social media, and balancing life as a father and pro climber.

"Cliff Camping": The Latest Bucket-List Tick

WHILE WE CLIMBERS only camp hanging on a wall when we have to, for many in the non-climbing public, portaledge camping ticks a box on their bucket list.

3 mins

The Freerider

What it took to free solo El Capitan

10 mins

Welcome To Sendhaus TM: America's Hippest New Climbing Gym

HELLO AND THANK YOU SO MUCH for visiting our newest Sendhaus™ Fitness, Lifestyle, and Climbing Center.

3 mins

Climbing For Mental Health

WE OFTEN TALK ABOUT the mental side of climbing, like how to overcome fear, visualize success, and be a better overall climber.

5 mins

Kodak Courage

Are climbers taking more chances for the camera?

10 mins

It's Not A Free Solo, It's A Highball, DAD!

OH. MY. GOD. Stop worrying! You and mom are such babies. I’m not going to “kill myself climbing without a rope” because that doesn’t even make sense. I’m a boulderer. You can’t boulder with a rope because then it wouldn’t be bouldering. Roped climbing is for losers: Do I look like I’d hangdog for an hour wearing orange pants and doing jazz hands so I can climb five more feet to the next bolt and then do it again? I know you saw Alex Honnold on 60 Minutes and suddenly you think you know everything about climbing. But, uh, actually? You don’t know anything. What I do is called HIGHBALL BOULDERING, not FREE SOLOING, and it’s completely different.

3 mins

Next-Gen Visualization

IMAGINE ADAM ONDRA lying on his back, eyes squeezed shut in concentration, while a physiotherapist holds his heel in space, helping him visualize and strengthen his body specifically for a move.

3 mins

Pink Rain

Pink Rain

1 min

Southern Super Nova

Thirty-plus Years Ago, Driven First Ascensionist Rob Robinson Discovered the Tennessee Wall. In His Career, He’s Authored Hundreds of New Routes and Dramatically Expanded Chattanooga Climbing.

9 mins

Green Ice

The Comprehensive Ice and Mixed Climbing of Vermont.

9 mins

New Dawn

On November 21, 2016, after an eight-day push, 23-year-old Czech climber Adam Ondra topped out the 32-pitch Dawn Wall (VI 5.14d) on Yosemite’s El Capitan, a line many consider the hardest free big wall on the planet. With eight pitches of 5.14 and 12 pitches of 5.13, the route garnered mainstream-media attention in January 2015 when Tommy Caldwell, who had put seven years of work into exploring and freeing the route, and Kevin Jorgeson nabbed the first free ascent after 19 days on the wall. Ondra, who had never been to the Valley, trad climbed, or been on a big wall before, nabbed the second ascent, thanks in part to his support team of Pavel Blazek and Heinz Zak.Although Ondra has ticked some of the planet’s hardest sport climbs and boulder problems, critics assumed the experience-driven discipline of big wall free climbing would shut him down. Despite success that seemingly came easy, conditions, skin, and the route’s pure technical difficulty posed challenges along the way. Caldwell, Jorgeson, and Ondra spoke to us about the nuts, bolts, and near-invisible micro-crimps of this historic ascent.

5 mins

Climbing To A Better Future

Against a background of 10,000-foot peaks, icebergs, and the vast Atlantic Ocean, local Inuit kids in East Greenland are growing up stuck somewhere between traditional ways of life and the quickly encroaching modern world. Communities struggle with record suicide, alcoholism, and abuse rates. Four Icelanders and an American asked the question: Can rock climbing help?

10+ mins

A Storied Isle

Don’t Be Fooled by the Stunning Appearance and Easy Approaches of the Coastal Climbing in Maine’s Acadia National Park. Bold Grades, Tricky Movement, and Exposure Demand Extra Effort. 

8 mins

A League Of Her Own

Miranda Oakley’s Impressive Path to Become the First Woman to Solo the Nose in a Day 

8 mins

The Winter Maestro

With four first winter ascents of 8,000-meter peaks, Simone Moro has taken the art of climbing in harsh conditions to new heights, but controversy plagues his climbing résumé.

10+ mins

Two Towers

Pushing limits on Tasmani an sea stacks

10+ mins

Vote for Climbing

Examining two important issues for climbers in the presidential election

9 mins

Science Friction

 The story behind sticky rubber.

7 mins

Sending on Mars: A Simulation

Sending on Mars: A Simulation

3 mins

Progression

How Keenan Takahashi is pushing the highball envelope.

9 mins

Tis' The Season For Ice Climbing … I Guess

IT’S THAT TIME OF YEAR. A white cloak blankets the forest floor, feathery pillows adorn the pine boughs, and the snow dampens all sound, transforming the wilderness into a winter wonderland. It’s terrible. All the rock is either too wet or too cold to climb, and this shit goes on for, like, three months. That’s right—now is the season when you might as well go ice climbing. What else are you going to do? Weave through kids on leashes at the ski resort? Suffocate in a sauna? Snuggle with your significant other under a warm blanket, next to a crackling fire, eating Nutella with a spoon while binge-watching that new HBO series? Those all sound really nice, but you should still go ice climbing, I guess.

3 mins

3-D Printing: The Future Of Climbing Holds?

FORCE CLIMBING, a Vancouver-based climbing-hold-manufacturing company, is ditching traditional hand-sculpting of holds in favor of 3-D printing. With advanced laser scanning and 3-D printing technology, Force is creating a bank of innovative holds featuring a range of unique textures. Many of the designs are scanned directly from classic outdoor climbs, allowing for replication of rock on plastic. This digital innovation led Force to partner with the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) in the holds category, earning the company a spot on the world stage of competition climbing. Force Climbing, conceived in 2012, will play a role in planning the Olympics through close work with the IFSC’s route setters and event organizers. The company hopes to provide all of the holds for the 2020 games. Terry Ziolkowski, president of Force and a route setter of 15 years, spoke about hold design, partnerships, and the future of indoor climbing.

2 mins

Thunder Thighs

Thunder Thighs

2 mins

Double Vision

THE OLD QUIP GOES that an alpinist’s finest asset is a short memory.

2 mins

Read all stories from Climbing

Climbing Magazine Description:

Leaders of the vertical world. For 40 years, Climbing has been the leading source of information about climbing and mountaineering, as well as the values and community that have grown around these sports. Reaching more than 130,000 readers with 10 issues a year, the magazine is known for its stunning photography, expert technical advice, and rich coverage of routes, crags, and mountain ranges all over the world. It’s also beloved for a long heritage of epic survival stories, exclusive accounts of first ascents, and deep portraits of the colorful personalities that make the sport so lively.