Alpinist Magazine Issue 60 – Winter 2018
Mountain Profile: La Meije Part II (1877–2017)
Once French climbers reached the summit of the previously unclimbed Grand Pic
de la Meije in 1877, the mountain emerged as a national emblem. Yet la Meije
also retained an elusive and wild identity of its own, an aura of mystery that
contrasted with more developed regions of the Alps. Erin Smart chronicles the
history of the mountain that managed—as the novelist Édouard Estaunié once
wrote—to «live a life apart,» while Paula Wright, Claude Gardien, Bruno
Gardent and Pascal Tournaire share stories from its quiet slopes.
Taking Flight
When Denali guide and artist Leighan Falley gets her commercial pilot’s
license, her drawings from expedition notebooks expand into paintings of vast
mountain landscapes as seen from high above.
The Force of the Soul: Hugues Beauzile
In the winter of 1993, media helicopters flew over the iconic Walker Spur of
the Grandes Jorasses in anticipation of Catherine Destivelle’s winter ascent,
when another solitary figure emerged from the wall: Hugues Beauzile, a
Haitian-French climber who had only recently put on crampons for the first
time. Herein, James Edward Mills recalls the remarkable life and untimely
death of an alpine prodigy.
Into the Blue
A grainy photograph of a half-hidden big wall leads Jérôme Sullivan on a
remote journey into Greenland. Sullivan and his partners eschew a helicopter
flight to Apostelens Tommelfinger in favor of a «fair-means» approach: a
170-kilometer paddle through the icy waters of the North Atlantic and
Ikerasassuaq (Prince Christian Sound).
Departments
Sharp End
An atlas of vanishing landscapes.
Letters
A reader cherishes two minutes of eternity.
On Belay
In 2015 Jeff Snyder journeys into the Grand Canyon with local climber Zach
Harrison and photographer Blake McCord to pursue the elusive first free ascent
of Zoroaster Temple’s Southeast Face. As they descend through layers of
geology and history, they realize that the greatest adventure might not be the
climb, but the approach. Meanwhile, in Yosemite, Shawnté Salabert recalls an
unusual heroine.
Tool Users
Nick Aiello-Popeo uncovers decades of climbing lore—and surprising
debates—circling a little loop of nylon.
Climbing Life
Alexa Flower discovers her yield point. Tami Knight introduces the
#nextgen#GMO-oh climbers. Annie Osburn scrapes the abyss. Alex McKiernan finds
his way back to the sharp end. And after years of climbing at Indian Creek,
McKenzie Long returns to listen to some of the many voices of the Bears Ears
National Monument debate.
Wired
Since the founding of the Club Alpin Français in 1874, alpinists scampered
about the sandstone boulders in the forest of Fontainebleau as practice for
routes in the high mountains. Nearly a century and half later, David Roberts
traverses the forest to discover some of the deeper curiosities that poets and
climbers, artists and wanderers alike sought in its depths.
Full Value
As unexpected snow piled deep drifts around a mountain hut, David Stevenson
encounters a startling omen: a raven at the door.
Off Belay
In memory of Hayden Kennedy and Inge Perkins.
