Why one little-used technique can make or break your fall. I’ve always viewed trad- or ice-climbing falls as more serious than sport whippers.

The search for the source.

The mossy green forest of Magic Woods radiates upward out of the steep valley until it meets the sharp, snow-capped peaks of the Swiss Alps. The contrast is sublime.

Who is this kid living in an old Volvo, climbing burly cracks across the country and beyond?

Joe Josephson phoned with an interesting proposal: Fred Beckey had come to town for a reunion of Montana's Dirty Sox Club, a guild of Montana climbers from the 1960s through the 1980s.

If anyone has earned an honorary membership in a group named Dirty Sox it is Washington's Fred Beckey, sovereign of American DirtBag Climbers.

Winter is now the only time of year when I actually feel warm, and I have this new behemoth of a down jacket to thank for that. First Ascent, a new line of technical mountaineering apparel from Eddie Bauer, has introduced its Peak XV Down Jacket, undoubtedly the warmest coat I've tested.