ALPINIST 64

Alpinist Magazine Issue 64 – Winter 2018 / 2019 – An Invisible Compass

Features:
All from Nothing
Forty years ago, Jim Donini, Michael Kennedy, George Lowe and Jeff Lowe made
an attempt on the North Ridge of Latok I that became a legend. Decades later,
the peak has dominated headlines again: in July 2018, Alexander Gukov and
Sergey Glazunov reached a new highpoint before an accident resulted in
Glazunov’s death; in early August, Aleš Česen, Luka Stražar and Tom
Livingstone summited the mountain by a variation of the North Ridge; and later
that month, back in Colorado, Jeff Lowe passed away, after a long struggle
with illness. Herein, Livingstone, Gukov and Donini reflect on the events of
this season and some of the history that continues to reverberate in the
climbing world today.

The Elixir
As climbing artist Sarah Uhl paints mountains, she seeks to capture more than
just their physical outlines—the essence of the wild itself.

The Secret of Silence
From the muting of opposition by the Communist regime of 1970s Poland, to the
quiet of remote wild places in the Himalaya and the Arctic, Polish big-wall
climber Marek Raganowicz has experienced many different varieties of silence.
In 2017, during a winter expedition to the vast granite of Baffin Island, amid
the intense cold and frequent solitude, he encountered his most moving
experience of stillness yet.

Life Compass
In March 2018, Brette Harrington’s life partner, Marc-André Leclerc, died in
the Mendenhall Towers of Alaska, with Ryan Johnson. About a month later, she
traveled to the Canadian Rockies to immerse herself in the wintry alpine
landscapes that remind her most of him. Exploring unclimbed terrain on Mt.
Blane, accompanied by Rose Pearson, she tries to reorient herself within the
void of all she has lost.

Departments:
Sharp End
Our editor-in-chief considers the joint legacy of Tom Frost and Jeff Lowe.

Letters
Doug Robinson continues the correspondence with Terry Gifford (begun in
Alpinist 62).

On Belay
After recovering from a severe illness in the wake of the Gulf War, veteran
Scott Coldiron returns to his long-abandoned climbing dreams—exploring new ice
in remote parts of Montana’s Cabinet Mountains Wilderness.

Tool Users
Our assistant editor examines Western mountaineers› lengthy quest for
waterproof, breathable fabrics—a problem that Inuit people had solved for
themselves centuries ago.

Climbing Life
Mike Getlin contemplates the history of the rock that fell on him. Kelly Sokol
explores the multiple meanings of exposure. Claire Giordano paints on permits.
Katherine Indermaur claws her way toward the light. Alexandra Lev learns the
haunting stories behind a mysterious volume in her father’s bookshelf. And the
unstoppable Tami Knight presents «8000m—The Game.»

Full Value
After his climbing partner nearly dies in an accident on Cerro Torre, Quentin
Lindfield Roberts confronts the long journey home and the occasionally even-
greater dangers of daily life.

Wired
A Navajo (Diné) climber, Len Necefer, takes a white mountaineer, Brody Leven,
on a winter attempt of Sisnaajiní (Blanca Peak), one of the four major sacred
peaks of Dinétah, the Diné homeland. In the process, Necefer hopes to discuss
a more inclusive and effective approach to the environmental threats that all
communities now face.

Local Hero
In search of more climbing stories that are about healing instead of conquest,
Teresa Baker contributes her own tale of Stacy Bare.

Off Belay
Paula Wright presents «Trad Libs.»