Rock Climbing

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The next installment of Street View comes to the 3,000 vertical feet of Yosemite's El Capitan.

This year’s Mountainfilm festival is dominated by feature-length climbing documentaries. The rise of these movies isn’t coincidence.

All you need to tackle unbolted routes.

When you leave your comfort zone, that's when you really grow

Turns out your favorite dirtbag climbers aren't the only gross thing hanging out at the local wall.

You need only the essentials, but make sure you know what to look for

Beginners, we have a secret for you. You don't need high-end gear or a fancy training plan to get better at skiing, running, or climbing. All you have to do is embrace the embarrassment and the pain—and don't forget to laugh. Trust us: It'll be good for your brain.

Tips from legend Lee Sheftel, who sent his first 5.14 after his 59th birthday

A portable sound system built for the demands of the outdoors

In a new effort to protect national parks and wilderness areas from commercial photography, the feds have started going after amateur filmmakers with big social media followings.

Take the guesswork out of head injuries

On January 14 as the sun was falling in Yosemite National Park, Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson completed what is arguably the most difficult ascent in the history of rock climbing. The duo remained on the wall for 19 days, climbing 3,000 vertical feet along widely spaced, razor-thin granite holds. Their prize: the first free ascent of El Capitan's Dawn Wall. With cell service throughout their climb and a team of photographers including Corey Rich and a crew from Big Up Productions tagging along, the pair generated a media buzz rarely seen in the climbing world. With athletes this determined, images this good, and a backdrop of one of America's favorite locations, the ingredients add up: History on the Dawn Wall.

The abrupt move stunned the outdoor industry and infuriated climbers, but it wasn't necessarily a bad choice.

It’s rumored Game Of Thrones star Jason Momoa plans to open a brewery and rock gym in Detroit.

Forest Woodward has an enviable travel schedule. In the last year, the climber, surfer, and pro photographer has visited half a dozen countries, including Spain and Peru, and about 20 states in the U.S. Here are a few of the best shots he's taken over the past year. Don't be too jealous: Woodward's images have a way of bringing you along for the ride.  

Kai Lightner of Fayetteville, North Carolina, is making himself known in pro competitions and confidently tackling some of the toughest routes out there. It's even more impressive when you consider that he's only a high school sophomore.

Yosemite Valley, the birthplace of rebel climber culture is supposed to be all cleaned up and mellowed out. But as a new film shows, the outlaw spirit is alive and well.

Five wild mountain ranges. Hundreds of miles of trails. Zero crowds. That’s what awaits visitors at the country’s newest Naitonal Monument in New Mexico. Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks consists of four separate patches of the Chihuahuan Desert surrounding Las Cruces in southern New Mexico. Encompassing a half-million acres…

The North Shore's hidden routes

Looking for a dry line at the edge of the earth

Getting away from the crowd

The world's most dangerous walkway

You might be one of those who people who doesn’t “get” Vegas. The charms of Sin City are completely lost on you, but there’s a conference at Caesar’s, and your company has sent you. Or maybe it’s the location for your buddy’s bachelor party. So you reluctantly…

Caroline Ciavaldini and James Pearson—The North Face’s premiere rock climbing couple—met on a rock face in Antalya, Turkey; they named their story Once Upon A Climb.

The climbing season may not be closed for business just yet this season, but it may be tough to convince the mountain's most important climbers to carry on.

Welcome to Suesca, Colombia’s best hope for adventure tourism

Okay, so he's been roped into a "media performance" or two, but fact is, Alex Honnold continues to bag some of the boldest climbs on earth.

Step one: Read the essential texts. Rock-star alpinist Conrad Anker, who leads The North Face’s dream team of globetrotting expeditionists, recommends Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills. First published 54 years ago by The Mountaineers climbing club in Seattle, the how-to guide…

“After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb.” —Nelson Mandela

The pint-size climber taking bouldering by storm

A final directive caps years of debate over whether climbing anchors should be allowed inside National Park wilderness. But questions still remain around just how the policy will be enacted—and what impacts it will have on climbing and the environment.

A free guide to Red Rocks in Nevada

The traditional climbing gym is about to evolve—or at least that’s what the owner of Brooklyn Boulders believes. With a second, satellite location slated to open this spring in Somerville, Massachusetts, the company is planning to house an unusual and disparate blend of climbing, retail, working, and community spaces under one roof.

They had only seen five percent of it when Rick and Liz Weber knew they had to buy the land and establish what would become the most prominent climbing property in the Eastern United States. But as the couple ages, they don't know how long they can keep footing the bills.

Indoor climbing could soon replace spin class as the urban professional’s sport of choice—and that has marketers salivating

Ali Carr Troxell spoke to Climbing's Julie Ellison and Jes Nelson, a manager at Bent Gate gear store, after they climbed the 5.7 route about the experience and what pieces of gear were pivotal

As climbing moves toward its shot at the Olympics, the stakes are rising for the next generation of athletes. Will the temptation to get an edge be too much for some of them to handle?

A high-profile accident is just the latest reason that climbers need to rethink the tools they've been using

This year, Czech climber Adam Ondra established the world's hardest sport route in Norway and onsighted the Red River Gorge's most difficult lines on his first trip to the United States. He talked to Outside about projecting 5.15d and pushing the limits of the sport.

Katie Heaney confronts her two greatest fears: going up and going down

The seventh edition of America's biggest climbing film show features sport climbing showdowns and high-altitude epics

Climber Alex Honnold and filmmaker Peter Mortimer talk about their new collaboration and the pressures of fame

The International Olympic Committee is set to add a new sport for the 2020 Summer Games, and climbing is on the shortlist. Here's why the Olympics needs it.

From paddling to biking to hiking, here are the top spots from Nova Scotia to the Northwest Territories

I live in Minneapolis and have begun to take up rock climbing. Where do you think are the best places to go bouldering in the Midwest?

Sasha DiGiulian has already climbed harder than any American woman in history. We caught up with her to talk about college and whether women will ever outclimb men.

Professional climber; two-time junior national speed-climbing champion

A multimedia guide to seven of North America’s best adventure destinations—featuring Duct Tape Then Beer’s new videos series

The first American woman to send 5.14d shares her five favorite pre-climb songs

The best sites for bouldering news, beginner-friendly advice, and longform adventure journalism

Our favorite flicks from Canada’s premier adventure film fest

My pre-climb warm-up feels unstructured. Are there any stretches I can do to be a better climber?

Surf reports, bouldering routes, bike shops, and more—all at your fingertips

From farm shares to bike shares, these seven flashes of genius are reinventing a metropolis near you

Bouldering climbs are short, but they demand as much strength, agility, and puzzle solving as anything done on rock. Here are the fine points of a classic challenge—Paul Robinson’s V16 route Lucid Dreaming—to show how the game is played.

Most alpinists call it a great year if they summit one 8,000-meter peak. Last spring, a Swiss mountaineer tried to knock off three.

Why did Alex Puccio become so successful as a climber? A move to Boulder had something to do with it.

Friends, family, fellow dirtbags, and the man himself on one of the world's best aerialists

Outside reviews the best gear in the 2011 Summer Buyers Guide, including the Arc'teryx S-220 LT Harness.

Outside reviews the best gear in the 2011 Summer Buyers Guide, including the Mammut 9.6 Climax Rope.

Outside reviews the best gear in the 2011 Summer Buyers Guide, including the Black Diamond Hoodwire quickdraws.

Outside reviews the best gear in the 2011 Summer Buyers Guide, including the Millet Wall 32 pack.

Outside reviews the best gear in the 2011 Summer Buyers Guide, including the Metolius Wood Grips Compact Training Board.

Outside reviews the best gear in the 2011 Summer Buyers Guide, including the Five Ten Hornet shoe.

Outside reviews the best gear in the 2011 Summer Buyers Guide, including the La Sportiva Python Slipper.

Outside reviews the best gear in the 2011 Summer Buyers Guide, including the Petzl Grigri 2 belay device.

Outside reviews the best gear in the 2011 Summer Buyers Guide, including the Black Diamond Gridlock Screwgate Carabiner.

I bought a pair of beginner Evolv climbing shoes and they have fared well, but I'm getting better and need something with aggressive heel and toe. What's the next step for a shoe? Greg Freeport, ME

We've got your all-access pass to summer: 21 DIY and outfitted adventures guaranteed to recharge for less than $500*. Just pick one—or five—and leave your lawnmower behind. *Transportation not included

I'm looking for a backpack for traditional, one-day, multi-pitch climbing. Which is the best one? I'm inclined to the Marmot Ascent 40. AndreaSao Jose

At 25, climber Alex Honnold is already the undisputed master of the most dangerous sport around; scaling iconic rock walls without any ropes. Is he the next great thing in modern climbing? Or a suicide mission in sticky shoes?

The key to finding fresh adventure in the national parks? These ten strategies will get you far beyond the camera-toting hordes to where empty peaks, forgotten trails, and lonely rivers await.

What qualifies an adventure lodge as one of the world's best? Hot tubs and high thread counts, sure. But what sets these ten launchpads apart is access—to remote trails, steep runs, and lonely peaks.

The annals of adventure are filled with people who didn't come back alive. Here, those closest to six departed luminaries share their memories and the keepsakes that have helped them move forward.

In the age of DIY filmmaking and featherweight satellite modems, capturing the action—and uploading it ASAP—is just as important as nailing the summit. Nobody does it better than Jimmy Chin and the climber-producers of Camp 4 Collective. Last November, the author recruited them for an assault on the sandstone spires of Chad's Ennedi desert.