Alpinist 19,  Spring 2007

Language: English
Country: USA
Published 4 times per year
Web site: www.alpinist.com

EDITOR’S NOTE

LETTERS

FACES: GIULIO MALFER
Mark Wilford’s first climb, at age eleven, was an alpine free solo that nearly killed him. Indeed: the first one’s always free.

THE CLIMBING LIFE
Observations from the field.

FEATURES

First Ascent: Fred Beckey
The only obstacles between Fred Beckey and the first ascent of Mt. Slesse’s 2,700-footnortheast buttress were miles of dense underbrush, exposed slabs, hanging seracs and the wreckage from a horrific plane crash. Problem? No problem. He’s Fred Beckey.

Mountain Profile: The Diamond
Once forbidden, the Diamond has offered two generations of climbers a vertical rock wilderness only a short distance from urban America. Roger Briggs details the history of his 900-foot, high-altitude home crag, while Dave Rearick, Royal Robbins, John Bachar, Charlie Fowler and Tommy Caldwell recount their days on the greatest little big wall in the lower forty-eight.

In a Push: Jon Walsh
No one had ever done a free ascent or a single-push ascent on the north face of Mt. Alberta before. Would a new line go, free and in a day? Of course it would. Welcome to the Canadian Rockies, where it’s not all 5.9 A2 anymore.

Elsewhere: Greg Landreth
At either end of the world lie peaks you’ve never heard of, vistas you’ve never seen, and lines to stir your imagination. All you need to find them is a high-latitude approach vehicle and 5.14 sailing skills.

The Wall of Hate: Freddie Wilkinson
When two young guides open a new route in Patagonia, they discover the most dangerous part of alpinism may be thinking about it.

Little Man, Big Mountain: Evrard Wendenbaum
Photographing climbers on some of the planet’s biggest objectives convinced this Swiss photographer oh one thing: it’s a big world out there. A photographic tribute to the vastness, and to our attempts to find a place within.

The Walls, The Walls: Alexander Odintsov
For someone raised in the rigid confines of Soviet Communism, the mountains represented an escape. When communism collapsed, they became something more: an opportunity to travel and to live. 

CLIMBING NOTES
New routes, September 1 – November 15, 2006

THE SHARP END: Tanja Grmovsek
Fresh off the first female ascent of Trango Tower, Slovenia’s top female alpinist reflects on ballet lessons, role models and the future of women in the mountains.

OFF BELAY
Why Mark Westman isn’t famous.