Rock Climbers

Chris Sharma

Invisible Wounds

Hours before sunup, we click on our headlamps and follow the blue-hued cones of light on the first steps of what will surely be a very long day. We’re embarking on a 20-mile traverse of the Mummy Range in Rocky Mountain National Park, over the course of which we’ll summit seven peaks over 13,000 feet. For the first half hour or so, our crew of eight military veterans doesn’t say a word—the only sounds are gravelly footfalls and varied degrees of labored breathing in the thin alpine air.

Rock Therapy

The rope arches in an unbroken loop from me to Lucho, 30 feet above. “At least there’s no rope drag,” I quip, trying to make light of his predicament. We are six pitches up the South Dragon’s Horn on Tioman Island, off the coast of Malaysia, living proof that climbing can go from fun to fubar in a microsecond.

Red River Gorge vs. New River Gorge

When the Red River Gorge and New River Gorge rivalry threatened to boil over, there was only one place to settle it: on the basketball court. - Huge spotlights suddenly lit up the small community basketball court in Lansing, West Virginia, near the rim of the New River Gorge. Lights, really? Who rigged those?

Stephanie Forte’s Story

Every few years, Stephanie Forte, 44, whips herself into top shape and climbs a flurry of hard 5.13s. A New Jersey girl with a sharp wit, a publicist's poise, and fierce athleticism on the rock, Forte has written for Climbing many times and has had her hands on all kinds of climbing-related events and causes.

Survivors – Enduring Desperate Situations

We surveyed readers and more than a dozen climbing historians and writers in North America and Europe to collect 25 stories of stamina, ingenuity, and human will, some well-known, others not. Our hope is to remind readers to take care and prevent accidents--to"do nothing in haste, look well to each step," as Whymper famously said after the Matterhorn tragedy.

Staying Alive

Survival tips from climbing rangers - Nobody expects to be loaded onto a litter and evacuated off his first big wall. Or stuck in a snow cave, out of food and fuel, hypothermic, and praying that a storm will quit and someone will find him. Yet it happens, every year, and not just to newbies. Climbers make mistakes, or get unlucky, and rescue rangers drop from the sky and save our asses.

Half Life: Chris Sharma Turns 30

Sharma has delivered everything that "the next generation" is supposed to in rock climbing. He has been setting new standards for 15 years--half his life. And now, on April 23, he turns 30.

AMPED: The climbs back home for three veterans

Three wounded Iraq War Veterans recount their near-death stories and triumphant climbs back home.

21 Questions with Boone Speed

Portland Oregon Based pro-photographer, father and 5.14+ climber, Boone Speed recently had his work showcased on the highly acclaimed and widely respected Feature Shoot website "featuring" photos and interviews with both up-and-coming and established photographers.

The Guidebook Odyssey – Unearthing the epic task of writing a guidebook

Never a fan of guidebooks, I’ve long had a “just pick a route that looks good and climb“ mentality. “It’s supposed to be an adventure!“ I’d tell myself. Until one fateful day at Colorado‘s Eldorado Canyon.

Steve McClure’s New 5.15a

On May 20, 2008, Steve McClure, 37, freed his super-sustained 100-foot crimpfest project on the North Buttress at Kilnsey Crag, in Yorkshire, U.K., on his second redpoint attempt. Climbing interviewed McClure about the route, his training, and other climbs.