Alpinist Magazine Issue 77 – Spring 2022

Between control and catastrophe

Issue 77 features Michael Gardner’s account of a prolific season on Denali. In the spring of 2021, among other accomplishments, he and Sam Hennessey established a new route on the daunting Isis Face of Denali (carrying skis for the descent) and made the first ski descent of the Northwest Buttress with Adam Fabrikant. Weighing on Gardner’s mind, however, were the potential costs of such experiences. Since his father’s death in a climbing accident in 2008, he has known intimately how “every loss creates an irreplaceable void” and how “the fabric of a community is altered forever.”

Elsewhere in the magazine, photojournalist Sujoy Das describes how a bivouac scene in Tom Hornbein’s Everest: The West Ridge inspired him to set out on his own expeditions to document the haunting beauty of Himalayan nights. And climbing artist Tami Knight recounts how her memories of alpine adventures sustained her while she took care of her elderly mother during the pandemic.

Meanwhile, Katie Ives ponders her obsession with early season ice. Choi Suk-mun, first ascensionist of routes on Himalayan giants, remains haunted by a five-pitch rock route in South Korea. Paula LaRochelle recounts tales of a Lost City in the Gunks. John Middendorf finds the original hooking pitons in an unexpected place. Erin Connery learns to write from the mountains. Novelist Jerry Auld offers a new story about a climber who tries to undo a diabolical pact. Talley V. Kayser pens an ode to the alpine shelter of a stunted tree. Rosie Bates examines the intersection of climbing, storytelling, eating disorders and recovery. Claire Waichler paints climate change. Ranger Robbi Mecus considers the weight of past missions as she begins another rescue on a cold, windy night. Micheli Oliver contemplates some of many metaphors of ascent for herself and other Indigenous women. Shawnté Salabert shares the climbing philosophy of Erynne M. Gilpin, founder of Indigenous Womxn Climb. And Leslie Hsu Oh tells the story behind a photo that offered her a glimpse beyond the edges of maps.

And much, much more….

Cover: Sébastien Berthe on the Changing Corners pitch (5.14a) on the seventh free ascent of the Nose of El Capitan (Tu-Tok-A-Nu-La) in 2019. He was the first to free climb the route ground up without rappelling from the top to practice any of the cruxes beforehand. The climb took him eight days, during which he ran low on rations. Lynn Hill was the first to free climb the Nose in 1993. In 1994 she became the first to free climb it in a day. This year, to minimize his carbon footprint, Berthe sailed across the At- lantic to join Siebe Vanhee in a bid to free climb the Dawn Wall (VI 5.14d). [Photo] Alex Eggermont