Thirty years after Rifle got its first bolt, the limestone canyon remains America's sport climbing center of the universe. Rock and Ice's exclusive gallery of photos from 18 shooters dominates the October issue of Rock and Ice.
In other featured content:
*Ryan Jennings ate alpine climbing for breakfast. When he didn't return one morning, the climbing community mourned the loss of a keeper of the flame:
*Arlene Blum on sexism, Annapurna and the most polluted place on earth.
*How to do an impossible move.
*The Pacific Northwest - the best blocks outside of Switzerland.
*The Southern Sequoia - the High Sierra you've never heard of.

In our Annual Winter Gear Issue:

THE ODYSSEY: A Mentor is supposed to keep us safe, right? By Jeff Jackson

CEUSE: Seeing is believing just how great this mountain-top crag in the Hautes-Alpes really is. By Same Bie

FLUID MACHINE: His father stricken with terminal cancer, one climber seeks meaning on a very wet, very loose island tower. By Tyler Rohr

PROJECT TAHOE: A rejuvenation of hard climbing on the shores of a California high lake. 

COLD RUSH: Thumping Wyoming's off-the-grid high scape in a journey for frozen gold. By Aaron Mulkey. 

DEATH OF PERFECTION: Paul Preuss was the Alex Honnold of his day, onsight soloing hundreds of big, free first ascents - over a century ago. By David Smart

STRANDS: Cold and Beautiful. Getting vertical in the Canadian Rockies. By Tim Banfield

In our November issue of Rock and Ice, 

THE NEW NORMAL: Climate change is erasing routes and altering others in the Alps. Climbers adapt as granite faces and seracs collapse. By Katy Dartford.

THE BIG PICTURE: Climbing in all its glory and majesty-our annual photo gallery, and, we think, our best ever. 

LEGENDS AND LEGACIES: A Yosemite pioneer returns to El Cap to try Freerider at age 63. By Samuel Crosley

GENESIS: The first big pro competition in our country was in 1988. At a ski lodge. In a time of skepticism, at best. By Alison Osius

In our September issue of Rock and Ice, 
RED RISING: The Red River Gorge is world-famous for sport climbing, but check out the trad climbing (way) off the beaten track. By Bryan Miller. 
SPEED TRAP: The race against the clock on El Cap has had triumphs and plenty of tragedy. The first climber to do the Nose in a day brings us literally up to speed on the high price of speed climbing. By John Long. 
DREAM MERCHANTS: Three Japanese climbers died on Denali in winter 1989. Pressure from sponsorship may have propelled them onward in adverse conditions. Or perhaps they simply made bad decisions. The cause of their deaths has been a 30-year mystery. By Jon Waterman
BROKEN NECK NIK: Who would have thought a 40-foot fall into a crevasse could be... humorous? By Nikolai Paterak.


PROJECT WAIT: As the pandemic hits, a lifelong climber contemplates giving it up. By Jeff Jackson. 

THE BADGE: We define ourselves as climbers, but are we really special? Do we need to be? Lockdown provides a lens. By Niall Grimes. 

THE CLIMB THAT TIME FORGOT: A remote Guyanese tower, a trek through deep jungle and a wall that defines suffering. By Leo Houlding. 

ART OFF THE LOCKDOWN: As life is n the alpine center of the universe screeches to a halt, a climber turns the quarantine into art. By Ben Tibetts. 

THE ACHIEVER: FActor upon factor seemed stacked against Marcilea Rosales becoming a climber, let alone a leading light. By Charlie Lieu. 

CALCULATED RISK: If you climb, you can't help but put yourself in harm's way. Understanding the logic of risk and danger can keep ou safer. By Pete Whittaker. 

GRANITE STATE OF MIND: Ever more rock, always surprises at North Conway's Cathedral and Whitehorse Ledges and beyond. By Freddie Wilkinson. 

THE EQUILIBRIUM LINE: The poetry of the Alps, Everest and Ben Nevis. By David Wilson. 
HOLY OF HOLIES: The volcanic rock "where the Incas wept". By Jan Novak. 
FLIGHT OF THE CONDOR: A high, hardline in the Pervuvian Andes. Text by Josh Larson. Photos by Jan Novak. 
THE ICE FARMERS: The work of those who tend to the nozzles, valves, kinks and spray that creat the Ouray Ice Park. Photos by Mike Thurk. Text By Caley Fretz. 
ARTIFACTS: Revere the gear of Yosemite climbing in the golden age. By Dean Fidelman. 
FINDING TOM BALLARD: When the 30-year-old- British climber disappeared on Nanga Parbat, it was tragedy compounded on tragedy. By Michael Levy

In our March issue of Rock and Ice. 

THE EXAMPLE: Shelf Road was Colorado's first sport-climbing area. Beautiful, friendly limestone. High-desert sun. A Great network of trails. And the views aren't ugly, either. No better place we could think of for our annual photo camp. 

HOMELAND: A third-generation American, the author journeys back to Sicily to find his roots-and a whole lot of awesome routes. By Francis Sanzaro. 

THE LAST BIG CLIMB: One of America's greatest alpinist returns to the Himalaya to settle a score. The mission would take him-them-everything. By Steve Swenson.

THE NEVER-NEVER PLAN: Life gets in the way ... and gets in the way ... of climbing. But what are friends for? By Jeff Jackson. 

THE LAST REAL DIRTBAG: A tribute to Brad Gobright- wildly accomplished, truly authentic, and taken from us much too early. 

TO THE GRIT: Two trips, 10 years apart. The boulders are just as good-and as out there, and damp- the second time around. How "God's own rock" earned its cult status, and why it will always be hard. By Chris Schulte.

THE WILD ONES: John Bouchard on the Black Dike - and a motorcycle. Mentorship, new ideas and whole new realms. A small town in New Hampshire became a petri dish for innovation in many genres. By Michael Wejchhert

SONGLINES: From the dense green canopy or along the granite fault lines rise the Carolina domes, offering history and variety. Better bring your A game- or games. By Bryan Miller.

SPIRIT MENTORS: The day the author cleaned out his gear shed became a time to visit the pantheon, and the memories of the half-dozen friends who left him tokens and mostly, left him changed. By Kennan Harvey

THE GEAR SHED: Special section to get you salivating for equipage, plus words of wisdom: The Best of Gear Guy. Next!

SPEED: Fast just keeps getting faster in the mountains as Fastest Known Times on the big peaks are shattered. Will speed climbing's future belong to climbers who can run, or to runners who can climb? By Tracy Ross

MEDITERRANEAN DIET: Three seaside destinations that check all the boxes and then some. Hoist the mainsail! Photos by Jan Novak.

LIFE AND LIMB: A moment of distraction has life-changing consequences. After severely burning her fingers in an electrical accident, the author comes back to inspire us all. By Melissa Strong. 

FAR OUT IN FOULA: One of Scotland's most far-flung inhabited (barely!) islands is the scene for a choss epic of titanic proportions. By Calum Muskett. 

Packed cover to cover with climbing’s most iconic and stunning photography, Rock and Ice’s Photo Annual is a collector’s edition of inspiration. Our 2019 Photo Annual features a showcase of crags, routes and climbers the world over, plus strong women in action, China’s best stone, and a photo documentary by Alex Huber and Fabian Buhl who pulled off a daring, bolt-free first ascent of a committing ridge in the high Himalaya. Never before have so many climbing photos been published in a single issue—it’s a gallery you’ll never forget.

In our June Issue, we focus on the Last Great Challenges 

OUR LOSS: Fifty years later, a pioneer in Alaskan climbing recalls early exploration, and considers those who came before him, the knowledge that has been lost and what commitment really means. By David Robers

DEEP: Deep Water Soloing is climbing purest expression. The mind-blowing lines in storied places. By Niel Gresham

SIBERIA'S LOST CITIES OF STONE: Discovered by accident, a region with thousands of rock towers may be rock climbing's last stand. By Kilian Fischhuber

LAST ON THE LIST: After 150 years of ascents it might seem that climbing has run out of challenges, but as these nine unclimbed objectives prove, we've just been saving the best (and hardest) for last. By Gregory Crouch.

- FREE SPIRIT: Parting words from Dean Potter, bohemian, climbing talent, soloist, BASE jumper, wingsuit flier, dog lover. - Patty Hodapp

- WILD ICE: Going subterranean in Alaska. - Tim Thompson

- DESERT SONGS: Our photographers give their views on the blocks outside Bishop, CA. - N/A 

- MOUNTAIN ABSTRACT: Mountain paintings the likes of which haven't been seen before. - Conrad Jon Godly

- ZONING IN: One pitch, four hours of torment on the sea cliffs of North Wales. - Nick Bullock

- UNNATURAL WONDERS: The are of building. - Sam Bie and Jan Novak

- LE MINIMALISTE: Jean-Christophe Lafaille free soloed 5.13c, climbing 8,000 meter peaks alone, raced up the Alps, and did A5 walls. An intimate look at one of the best all-arounders of all time. - Michael Wejchert

- BIRTH STONE: A multipitch route on Maui lends itself to a compendium of verse. - Jeff Jackson and Friends 

- HUNGRY GHOSTS: Specters, "third men" and otherworldly encounters may be trying to tell us something. - Francis Sanzaro 

- BIRDING DOWN SOUTH: A radical expedition in Antarctica redefines possibilities - and what it means to hang it out. - Leo Holding 

- REQUIEM: The went up to clean the bodies off Everest, and found unholy hell. - Jeff Long/Art by Sam Lubicz 

- PARTING SHOT: A titanic photo. - Christian Pondella

CALCULUS: A Lifelong climber does the math of risk versus reward on big ice in China, and wonders, "Is ice climbing ever really safe?". By Will Gadd

SEARCHING FOR ADOLFO: Two climbers vanished on the South Face of Aconcagua in 1990. The brother of one has been searching for him ever since, and the more he looks the more the mystery deepens. By Chris Walker

ORDEAL BY SHIELD: High on El Cap during the disastrous storm of 1997, two best friends battled every difficulty you can imagine, and some you can. By Marcus Garcia

BEYOND HELP: In trouble high on Nanga Parbat after a rare winter ascent, two climbers with no realistic hope for a rescue fought for their lives. Then the miraculous happened. By Michael Levy

MIDDLE OF SOMEWHERE: Pull back a leaf in the jungle- and find a trad treasury. The hidden basalt columns of Ecuador: corner upon corner, pitch upon pitch, in a sacred and mysterious space. By Sarah Anne Perry. 

In the special issue of Rock and Ice - "Gear Guide"

LATOK 1: Forty years after it was nearly climbed the North Ridge of Latok remains a savage adversary. By Michael Wejchert

EL CAP FREE SOLO: Yes, it's a big deal. A chat with Alex Honnold. Interview by Alex Honnold. Francis Sanzaro. 

ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?: The film, the reviews and the scheme of things. By John Long.

DIRECTOR'S CUT: Jimmy Chin, the wiz behind the lens of "Free Solo.". Interview by Alison Osius.

SPECIAL BIG GEAR SELECTION: Plus, announcing the annual Best in Gear Awards.

In the special issue of Rock and Ice - "Road Trip Issue"

RHODE TRIP: A first road trip goes awry down South. By Curran McMahon

LET'S BRING OUTSIDE, INSIDE: Finally, a solution to exposing gym rats to real rock climbing. By Andrew Bisharat.

MOUNTAIN OF MOUNTAINS: The Matterhorn is the Disneyland of mountains, but you still need to climb it. By Ben Tibbetts.

COLORS OF EMOTION: Penitente, Colorado, was one of our very first sport crags, and it remains among the best. By Chris Schulte.

BULGARIAN GOLD: Remote... mysterious... and packed with climbing. Caves, tufas, big walls - and when did you last your an abandoned communist monument? By Steve McClure.

WEST VIRGINIA: Oly four miles as the crow flies from Seneca Rocks, yet an hour and a world away, are the obscure charms of historic Smoke Hole Canyon. By Christopher Beauchamp

THE OTHER SIDE OF OBITUARIES: What it's like to write them in our climbing world. By Alison Osius.

2018 Photo Special Edition


BEHIND THE LENS The men and women who make the photo  issue happen. BY OWEN CLARKE.

DOUBLE EXPOSURE Two looks, one climb. BRADLEY SPENCE AND HEINZ ZAK.

INCHES FROM DEATH The day Tommy Caldwell saved a photographer. COREY RICH.

In the special issue of Rock and Ice - "El Cap: The Free Revolution"

THE CAPTAIN: Tommy Caldwell, master of stone. By Jeff Jackson

EL CAP FREE TIMELINE: The illustrated history of landmark ascents

LYNN HILL'S FINEST HOUR: She Freed the Nose then upped the ante. By Alison Osius. 

ADAM ONDRA: Making short work of the Dawn Wall.Interview by Francis Sanzaro and Hayden Carpenter. 

THE NOSE, FIRST TRY: The didn't think it'd go free, but gave it their best. By Dale Bard. 

NO FEAR: Lurking Fear was one of El Cap's earliest free routes, and remains unrepeated. By Beth Rodden.

In our special AMAZING Issue:

AURORAS: Bouldering in Norway. Living dreams in the wild and spectacular Lofoten Islands. By Rannveig Aamodt.

THE WINNING MIND: One of climbing's all-greats, Jerry Moffatt, digs into the mindset required for success in comps and on the rock. By Jerry Moffatt.

DARK DOME: Plumbing mysteries and finding heat and delirium on a brilliant adventure route in Colombia. By Kieran Brownie. 

CLIMATE AND CLIMBERS: Climbers are on the front lines of witnessing climate change. We can do more to help. By Conrad Anker.

THE OTHER ANNAPURNA: Yannick Graziani and Stephane Benoist stood atop Annapurna following a major ascent on the gigantic South Face, and subsequently survived an epic fight for their lives. How is it possible that their story was largely overshadowed? By Ed Douglas.

In the Annual issue of ASCENT:

VOODOO CHILD: Golden decades of first and early ascents with Richard Harrison, one of the least-known but most influential Stonemasters, before shadows caught him up. By John Long

THREE STARS: Writing gear reviews might seem mundane, but - like writing about, well, climbing- it's harder than you think. By Andrew Bisharat.

MY LETTER TO GOD: A lifelong climber pens the Big Guy a note wondering: Why do you keep trying to snuff me? Considering all his too-close calls, it seems a fair question. By Eric Sanford.

PARADOX IN PARADISE: On a normal day in the tropics of Maui, with its blossoming climbing scene, an alarm warns of an inbound ballistic missile. The author thinks about his sons, his life, and a long-ago climb. By Jeff Jackson.

THE ART OF CLIMBING: The history of climbing art hasn't been told, until now. While much has changed about how we view the mountains, the underlying theme of adventure still resonates. By Francis Sanzaro.

In the April issue of Rock and Ice:
THE DIRTBAG DOCTOR. Michael Pang, ER physician, has both met and confounded expectations. A road trip with the climber whom Alex Honnold calls a cult figure.
GAME OF DOMES. Once known for its runouts and general spookiness, Cochise Stronghold in Arizona hasn't been high on everyone's list, but a spate of development, with troves of new trad and sport routes, is changing all that.
INTO THE SUN. A world-class boulderer breaks his back in a fall. Told he'll never climb again, Bernd Zangerl delves into the healing powers of the mystical world and bounces back stronger and bolder than ever. 
FIELD TESTED. Gregory Alpinisto 35, Concept Climbing Solution Hangboard, Misty Mountain Custom Harness, and Black Diamond Momentum shoes.

In the February Issue of Rock and Ice: 
THE SAVER. A freedom fighter from way back.  Armando Menocal helped shape the sport we enjoy today. Without him, you might be playing golf.

WILD CORSICA. The island of Corsica is known for incredible beauty and climbing variety, from rugged mountain towers to boulder-strewn coasts, and for a hard multi-pitch route, Delicatessen (5.14), done 25 years ago but rarely repeated since. Two top climbers find out why.

THREE BIG FISH. The author had dreamed of the Trilogy: three long, high-end routes in Europe. When life got in the way, he got creative, devising his own trilogy in the Canadian Rockies. Whether he could do it in a season would come down to chance. 

WALES. With thousands of trad routes, winter climbs, sport lines and boulder problems on eight different rock types- all within a few hours drive- North Wales contains some of the most diverse and concentrated climbing on earth

GEAR GUIDE. Check out the best and newest gear of 2018. 


In the January issue of Rock and Ice:
PULLING PICKETS IN THE OLD WEST WILD IRIS. The home of Todd Skinner's masterpieces, Wild Iris is a sport climber's dream ... assuming you're strong enough. A photo essay of Lander's premier destination in an old West alpine setting. It doesn't get better.
A CRUISE UP THE SALATHE. One of climbing's timeless classics, dusted off and proving that some things never change.
ON THE EARL. Before there was Hersey or Honnold, there was Earl Wiggins.
FIELD TESTED. Women's harnesses: A to Z.
CLIFF NOTES. Poudre Canyon, Colorado. Stretching 60 miles from Ted's Place to Cameron Pass, this canyon has been a granite destination for decades.

    In this issue's mega feature, Andrew Bisharat writes that Adam Ondra is an experimenter. A pragmatic visionary. Naturally ambitious. He trains methodically and uses what is at his disposal to better his craft. When Ondra finally sent his 5.15d project, he named it "Silence." Why? After the send, he said he felt "like he was in his own world, with his mind in complete silence."
    In this same issue, Geof Childs ends his story "Leviathan" feeling himself to be a "great, silent thump at the end of the universe." "Leviathan" fictional mountaineering story is funny and tragic, with classic characters, to boot.
     Field tested in this issue shares information about four companies' cams and what distinguishes each of them.

    In this issue, Self Made Superman, Ueli Steck, made speed soloing look so easy it almost seemed safe. This definitive profile brings to life the fastest man in the mountains who insisted on paying for his own expeditions.
    Also in this issue, feast your eyes on Quebec's boulders and crags in this living color photo essay.
    We go back in time with another epic from Ascent's 50-year anniversary. Mirror, Mirror describes the first huge ascent on the feared Troll Wall in Norway.
    Emily Weinstein takes you on a lyrical journey to Joshua Tree  that weaves in a bit of madness and solitude. 
    We also review some of the top approach shoes hitting the market, and Training shows you how to strengthen your other links to improve your climbing.

    Each summer, Rock and Ice presents its annual Road Trip issue. Our focus this year is the Rocky Mountains, a geological spine of rock and snow roughly 3,000 miles long, rising to 14,000 feet at times, beginning in Canada and petering out in New Mexico. We present the best climbing (trad, sport, bouldering, alpine) the Rockies has to offer.
    In another great adventure, Jess Roskelley and Clint Helander managed the first ascent of the arduous sawblade of Mount Huntington's South Ridge.
    California's Pine Creek appears in a photo essay exposing its granite cliffs.
    In our ongoing tribute to 50 years of Ascent, we revisit the Eiger with Clint Eastwood in the filming of "The Eiger Sanction."

Rock and Ice pays tribute to Royal Robbins, who forged and defined the game of climbing with his relentless vision demanding climbing on the rock's terms. In "A Royal Salute,"  some of Robbin's closest partners share some of their stories.

In "Mountains of Realization," Conrad Anker recounts his heart attack during his attempt on Lunag-Ri. Anker questions his motivation and its affect on his familial duties.

In this issue, Rock and Ice rolls out its new gear-review testing program: 50 pitches or 50 days. Each piece of equipment you read about in Field Tested will reveal the nuances that separate the good stuff from the great stuff.

   Assembled in the 50th anniversary edition of Ascent is an all-star case, a curated selection of the finest writings in the canon of climbing literature. First appearing in 1967 in Berkeley, Ascent spearheaded a genre that we take for granted today - climbing literature.
    The brainchild of the visionary editors and climbers Allen Steck and Steve Roper, Ascent published writing that moved beyond summit reports and route descriptions and into experiential, experimental and "the beauty, whimsy and sheer visual delight of mountaineering."
    Ascent appeared sporadically over 32 years before it was resurrected by Rock and Ice in 2011. Even Steck has contributed to the current iteration, and in 2016, Jeff Long's "Searching for Superman" won a Banff Mountain Book Competition. 
    Sit back and enjoy the 2017 Ascent with stories pulled from the past as well as new tales of the vertical world.

In the Rock and Ice April issue, Andy Anderson's profile of Kyle Dempster grapples with not only why Dempster took risks, but why he curated risk to his family. 
*Jeremy Joseph recounts his solo of Ames Ice House and is forced to wonder if he is a strong climber or a lucky idiot.
*An exclusive How to Train is devoted to those 18 and under.
*A Smith Rock resurgence comes with new crags, new routes and a psyched local cast.
*Recent developments in Greece, puts Leonidio on the map.

*Alex Honnold, the unvarnished interview on soloing for dollars, why his critics are right and more. Honnold speaks frankly about soloing, fame, risk and everything in between.
*When American climbers were still deciding whether to accept sport climbing, Scott Cosgrove established some of the world's hardest sport and trad climbs. 
*Will Gadd traces the history of contemporary winter climbing - ice, alpine, mixed and dry.
*The Northeast is as steeped in ice history as it is in ice.
*Monster Mash! It's a world turned upside down...a 330-foot roof near Moab is just of the Wid Boyz's recent discoveries.

In this issue:
*Imaginary Lines - a discovery in Zimbabwe yields world-class bouldering that's out of this world.
*Being Gobright - hailed as the next great free soloist, Brad Gobright would rather be known for his accomplishments with a rope.
*Mountain of Sorrow - a father and son are lost on K2, leaving behind a family member to pick up the piecs.
*Too Cool - Beat the heat in Northwest Spain.
*Ed Viesturs - Only American to climb all 14 of the 8,000-meter peaks, sixth person overall to do it without supplemental oxygen.
*Grip Trainers - Gimmicks or worth the money?

*Eye of the Needles. Pictorial by acclaimed photographer Bernd Zeugsetter shows the Needles of California, home to America's greatest concentration of spectacular classics 5.9 to 5.13.
*Unsung. Marcus Garcia is the rare, off-the-radar climber who earns respect wherever he goes. This core climber is a guide, gym owner, coach, mixed/ice competitor, dad and a sender of big things.
*Gravity. In the 1970's, John Long was on El Cap and witnessed a climber falling from the last pitch of The Nose all the way to the groun. Forty four years later, he still feels the pull of that tragic event.
*Eat right, climb harder. How to fuel up for climbing better and healthier. Includes food, drink and supplement recommendations for improving power, endurance, power/endurance and a diet for maintaining through decades of climbing. By climbing nutritionist Glen Burrows.


December/January 2021

October/November 2020

August/September 2020

June/July 2020

Ascent 2020

February/March 2020

December/January 2020

October/November 2019

August/September 2019

June/July 2019

Ascent 2019

February/March 2019

December/January 2019, #255

November 2018,#254

October 2018, #253

August 2018, #252

Rock and Ice takes readers on a virtual tour of the vertical world of climbing with exciting features, gripping photography, gear reviews, and plenty of tips and techniques from the experts. The magazine covers every aspect of the climbing scene: rock climbing, mountaineering, big wall climbing, ice climbing, bouldering and the indoor climbing gym scene.

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Rock and Ice - October 2016

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