ALPINIST 53

ALPINIST Spring 2016

A Quartet for Silent Lands

A team of French and Argentinean alpinists—Lise Billon, Antoine Moineville,
Diego Simari and Jerome Sullivan Sullivan—journey to the western edge of the
Southern Patagonian Icefield. Climbing a new route on Cerro Riso Patron, they
encounter a realm so vast and unfamiliar they need all four of their
imaginations to tell even part of the tale. Lise Billon, Jerome Sullivan,
Diego Simari, Antoine Moineville
Mountain Profile: Zion National Park

In 1904 the artist Frederick Samuel Dellenbaugh wrote of the landscape that
became Zion National Park: «Never before has such a naked mountain of rock
entered into our minds!… There is almost nothing to compare to it. Niagara
has the beauty of energy; the Grand Canyon, of immensity; the Yellowstone, of
singularity; the Yosemite, of altitude; the ocean, of power; this great
temple, of eternity.» Ethan Newman
Through the Field

Ever since he started climbing, Graham Zimmerman imagined alpinism as a form
of pilgrimage. When he gets a chance to visit the Karakoram Range with Steve
Swenson, Scott Bennett and Hajji Ghulam Rasool, he realizes the goal might be
different than he’d thought. Graham Zimmerman

Full Value

Hoping to make Nepali alpinists more visible—and to boost a struggling local
economy—Mingma Gyalje Sherpa decides to solo a peak above his village in the
Rolwaling Himal. Mingma Gyalje Sherpa
Letters: Fire in the Cascades

In which a reader, asking for replacement copy of Alpinist 43, shares a grim
tale of how the original was lost. Christopher Elliott
Off Belay

Pat Ament pays tribute to Mort Hempel (1943-2015), bard of the Golden Age. Pat
Ament
On Belay

Born in Taiwan, Szu-ting Yi first learned to climb in the States. Years later,
establishing routes in the Qionglai Mountains, she explores the intersections
of cultures that formed her vision of alpinism. Meanwhile, Derek Franz
recounts the tricks behind an Indian Creek classic, and Andy Kirkpatrick finds
a novel use for a hefty book.
Sharp End: The Ice World, Beyond

During the Victorian Age, an intrepid group of women helped pioneer winter
mountaineering—only to have their contributions largely vanish from mainstream
history. Katie Ives
The Climbing Life

Douglas Pope tries to make it work. Claire J. Carter finds solid ground. Bree
Loewen goes on a rescue. Rachel Fixsen hears snakes in the wall.
Tool Users

Ross Taylor, studying the evolution of footwear, present a sticky topic. Ross
Taylor
Wired: The Bighorn Writers Convention

Mark Jenkins recounts a tale of three climbing writers discussing their craft
while making probable first ascents in Wyoming’s Cloud Peak Wilderness. Mark
Jenkins