Mountaineering
ArchiveTop-notch gear for wrangling singletrack adventures
In her new memoir, 'The Secret to Superhuman Strength,' the 'Fun Home' cartoonist scrutinizes her quest for spiritual solace through 60 years of athletic obsessions
Put this Alaska gem high on your bucket list for epic backpacking, rafting, and mountaineering, says our 62 Parks columnist about the 34th stop on her journey to visit every U.S. national park
The Explorer has been part of our Gear Guy’s spring ski-mountaineering kit for nine years
The pandemic continues to complicate hopes for a normal season on the world’s highest mountain
This season the Nepalese government says it will require climbers and guides to get permission from its Department of Tourism before disseminating images of others on the mountain. Enforcing it won’t be easy.
After Sequoia Schmidt’s family was torn apart by climbing, her own desire to reach higher was born
Long stigmatized in the United States, wider adoption of guided backcountry skiing will boost knowledge, reduce gatekeeping, and promote human-powered skiing on public lands
How to embrace tough situations and use them in your favor
The company sponsors some of the best athletes in the world, from Emily Harrington to Alex Honnold, all of whom are vying for a slice of the brand’s annual budget to support their expeditions. The process can be as competitive as getting into an Ivy League university—except, if approved, the athletes are often taking on death-defying adventures.
After more than three decades of attempts, there has finally been a winter summit on the Savage Mountain
As the world warms, the amount of oxygen at the top of earth's highest peak is increasing. That could make it easier to summit without using supplemental oxygen.
'The Moth and the Mountain,' by Ed Caesar, and 'Shook,' by Jennifer Hull, examine expeditions that took place in different time periods, but both demonstrate how the mountain can bring out the best and worst in people
Wilderness pros are trained to deal with physical injuries, but what about the psychological trauma that can result while on an expedition, from fear and stress, or from watching someone die in a fall, an avalanche, or whitewater? Australian psychologist and mountaineer Kate Baecher created a training program to equip guides and athletes with a tool kit to handle the worst mental distress we encounter when we're far from help.
Ski faster and safer this winter
Dialed and ready for big loads, these bags will help you keep the pace
Leading gear for frozen alpine missions
As the mountains thaw, rocks are coming loose from the ice, increasing the risk of injury or death for even the most experienced mountaineers
In the fall of 2019, Garrett Madison canceled his expedition on the world's highest peak. Then one of his clients sued him for breach of contract.
In 'Above the Clouds,' the world's greatest ultrarunner recounts the lifelong effort that led him to the tallest mountain on earth
The new American Alpine Club CEO talks about his background, living the #vanlife before it was cool, and his goals for the organization
'Common Ground,' narrated by photographer Jimmy Chin, reminds us that turning a passion for the outdoors into action requires a plan
'A Grand Journey' follows Kira Brazinski, a pro adaptive athlete on a quest to conquer her childhood dream of climbing the Grand Teton
The odds of dying on Everest are about one in 100. A new pulse oximeter claims it can drastically reduce that risk.
An off-trail adventure through perhaps the prettiest chunk of the lower 48
The knife edge of Switzerland's Hardergrat is 16 miles long with more than 10,000 feet of vertical gain
Two bold men, one reckless plan: to watch the sun go dark atop a huge snow-covered peak in South America. You won't believe what happened next.
An attempt that was fraught with complications, high jinks, and bad decisions
Spanish-speaking guides call the drug "levanta muertos" for the way it "brings life to a dead person"
The anonymous finder now has a million-dollar headache
Practice now and they'll come in handy on future adventures
Our writer was looking to find solace on the congested slopes of Snowdon in Wales when COVID-19 shut it down. He soon realized that a mountain devoid of humans isn't the vision he thought it would be.
Last year, mountaineers Adrian Ballinger and Carla Perez summited K2 without supplemental oxygen
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, three Chinese teams reached the top of the world
How Colorado-based mountaineer Erin Parisi is preparing to bag all seven peaks
A group of eight researchers from China just summited the mountain with the sole mission of getting the most accurate measurement to date of the world's tallest peak
Patagonia's Nano-Air line works for almost any adventure, thanks to its rare combination of durability, stretch, and breathability
The joy of being a masochistic oddball
As every seasoned traveler knows, the most meaningful trips are the ones where everything goes wrong
If you're taking this time to reassess your career or set some new adventure goals, here are four affordable courses to add to your list
The American Mountain Guides Association published tips on how outdoor professionals can use "psychological first aid" to stay mentally healthy during these challenging times. But the advice is useful for all of us during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Assemble a camp kitchen that is both inexpensive and functional
A lesson in perspective
In 2017, big-mountain professional skier Tobin Seagal set off a large avalanche in the mountains of Pemberton, British Columbia
An official declaration from Nepal's Department of Immigration confirms that the world's highest peak will be closed for the season due to coronavirus concerns
For now, despite COVID-19 concerns, the Nepalese side is still open for business
And how to tell if you really need one
Nepal will soon indefinitely suspend visas on arrival for travelers from five countries where the virus has been detected in high numbers
Humans were born to dive, according to some scientists, and that fact helps us thrive at high altitudes
Spend less than you would on a restaurant dinner and get a book that you'll cherish for years to come
'The Brotherhood Escort' profiles splitboarder and Navy SEAL Josh Jespersen as he reckons with the death of his fallen comrades
Skier Greg Hill attempts big-mountain pursuits with only electricity and a front-wheel-drive Chevy Bolt
After losing the trail and his shoes, hiker Nick Noland descended 4.5 miles in 16-degree weather
Give an old tent new life with these at-home fixes
Le Probatoire is one of the toughest challenges in the outdoors, used for decades to pick alpine professionals in France's legendary hub of glacier skiing, climbing, and deadly terrain. Only the strongest make it, but Simon Akam wonders: Is selection by ordeal still the best way to groom competent guides?
He put four standouts through the ringer to see how they stacked up
According to Craig Romano, the local guy who literally wrote the book—actually, 20 of them—on hiking in the area
She's the first person to summit all 846 thirteeners in the lower 48 and Hawaii
Over six months and seven days, the Nepali climber summited all 14 of the world's 8,000-meter peaks
In 1986, Sharon Wood became the first North American woman to climb the world's tallest peak. Now she's opening up about her experience—on and off the mountain.
After a climbing partner became ill, high winds stranded Yev Krasnitskiy and his team on the upper reaches of Mount Rainier for five days with no way to go but up
The reclusive Slovenian made two first descents of 8,000-meter peaks, including the only full descent of Everest. He died in a forestry accident earlier this week.
Two years after his disputed back-to-back summit of the world's tallest mountain, alpinist and ultrarunner Kilian Jornet has received a permit to climb Everest again this fall. If he plans to go for another record, he's not telling people.
In April, alpinists David Lama, Jess Roskelley, and Hansjörg Auer went silent during a harrowing expedition in Canada. The climbing community mobilized, first for a search and then for a memorial. In the wake of the tragedy, writer Nick Heil examines the motives of cutting-edge climbers and wonders: How close should we stand to our own mortality to feel alive?
The country's Ministry of Tourism unveiled a series of proposals aimed at avoiding another disastrous, overcrowded year on the world's highest peak
The man who took the most shocking Everest photo of the year is about to break one of mountaineering's stoutest records
Here's what it takes to get yourself on top of Denali, from Salt Lake City, without a single motor
Ibrahim Cetindemir was pulled off his train and detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents in Montana while making his way back home to North Dakota
Experts from the Wilderness Medical Society have combed through the evidence to assess what works and what doesn’t
'Heart Mountain Children' features a group of climbers as they summit a peak in Greenland
Sunday's episode of 'Last Week Tonight' took a stab at fixing the mountain's overcrowding problem
The Ecuadorian-Swiss climber set a blazing-fast time on North America's highest peak—besting the previous record, set by rival Kilian Jornet in 2014, by one minute
The deadly 2019 climbing season prompted a worldwide demand to reform management of the world's highest peak. Is change really possible? Mark Jenkins, a veteran alpinist who reached the summit in 2012, lays down an emphatic yes.
John and Alyson Kirk have crushed a long list of records in the mountains. This summer, they're chasing another one.
What does it mean to be a well-read outdoorsperson in 2019? We have 54 new ideas. Yes, we still love Cheryl Strayed and John McPhee, but here's an updated class of noteworthy additions.
A group of Indians claimed they reached the top of the peak, but they may not have made it past Camp III
The best way to deal with the wild winter's lingering snowpack
The company claims it has made a more waterproof, more breathable jacket. We took it ski touring to put those specs to the test.
Thoughts on a love/hate relationship with an incline