Alpinist Magazine Issue 65 – Spring 2019

Alpinist Magazine Issue 65 – Spring 2019

Alpinist | Spring 2019 | An Obsessive Undertaking Features Crag Profile: The
Black Canyon In 1965 the geologist Wallace R. Hansen observed, «Many great
western canyons are as well remembered for their brightly colored walls as for
their airy depths. Not so the Black Canyon…. The dark-gray tones of its…

Crag Profile: The Black Canyon
In 1965 the geologist Wallace R. Hansen observed, «Many great western canyons
are as well remembered for their brightly colored walls as for their airy
depths. Not so the Black Canyon…. The dark-gray tones of its walls and the
hazy shadows of its gloomy depths join together to make its name well
deserved. Its name conveys an impression, not a picture.» Spanning nearly
fifty miles in western Colorado and plunging over 2,000 feet deep, the Black
Canyon of the Gunnison has allured and repulsed climbers for more than eighty
years with harrowing tales of gothic spires, tumbling blocks and poison ivy.
Herein, Vic Zeilman recounts decades of adventures, from Ute people and early
European American explorers who descended into the deep chasm to modern
climbers who ventured up its steepest, biggest walls. Jamie Logan, Ed Webster
and Amanda Tarr Forrest share some of their encounters with the storied
cliffs, which even today, maintain a sense of mystery.

Rocks, Clouds, Ice and Water
For decades, Indian photojournalist Sujoy Das wandered the Himalaya taking
pictures of the highest peaks—until he realized how much he missed by not
looking more closely at the paths beneath his feet.

Over the Edge and Off the Map
About 110 miles from the Scottish coast, the archipelago of St Kilda was once
home to a centuries› old culture whose members scaled steep cliffs to hunt
seabirds to support their community. To tourists, the islands seemed to form a
surreal utopia, an «Ultima Thule,» where they might live out fantasies of
lost paradises. By 1930, however, the original inhabitants, no longer able to
maintain their traditional way of life, felt compelled to leave. In 2017
Scottish climber Natalie Berry traveled with Dave
MacLeod and Chris Prescott to explore possible new routes and examine some of
the consequences of the desire for terra incognita.

Departments

Sharp End
Our editor-in-chief revisits a few of the many—but often-forgotten—climbing
novels and short stories by nineteenth to twenty-first century women.

On Belay
In May 2018, Matt Spohn sets out to make a ground-up free ascent of El Corazon
on Yosemite’s El Capitan, with the legendary Josh Wharton. Along the way,
Spohn attempts to come to terms with the inescapability of uncertainty—on the
wall, in his own life and in the future of this earth.

Climbing Life
Cameron M. Burns learns to belay from an eccentric mentor. Sarah Audsley seeks
the true meaning of wild. Angela McPherson trains to climb for an unusual
reason. Robbi Mecus realizes her unique perspective. And Ian Wyatt weathers a
storm with a cast of characters.

Full Value
«While some choose the pursuit of rock climbing,» Sasha Turrentine recounts,
«I’d inherited the pastime from my dad.» When she finds herself stuck with
him in an unplanned bivy near the summit of Lone Pine Peak, she contemplates
the ways that heritage could either save or destroy her.

Wired
Struggling with cancer, David Roberts visits the menhirs of France to try to
understand why climbers—and people in general—are drawn to stone as they
search to connect with «something, perhaps, that outlasted human hopes and
fears.»

Local Hero
Our digital editor, Derek Franz, presents Anna Piunova, editor-in-chief of
Mountain.ru.

Off Belay
Joe Whittle meets with Nez Perce elder Allen Pinkham to learn more of the
stories that archive thousands of years of human relationships with the
mountains of the Nimi’ipuu homeland.