Jeff Jackson

You may not know Armando Menocal, but when you clip a bolt or climb on public lands you can thank him for it.

On November 30 my dear friend and climbing partner, Benji Fink, died in his sleep in Vail, Colorado. Apparently, he just drifted off peacefully, exactly the way he lived. He was 44 years old.

As cutting edge problems get longer and higher, I was interested to hear what one of the foremost practitioners of the highball game had to say about the proliferation of pads, the practice of headpointing and the future of the “sport.”

When Hawaii sent out a ballistic missile alert the author reevaluates everything. (This feature appears in Ascent 2018. Ascent is a compendium of the best climbing writing.)

Check out Jeff Jackson's author page.

Check out Jeff Jackson's author page.

A Dangerous Trance: Potter free solos Separate Reality and A Dog’s Roof without a hitch on a soloing binge.

Climber mistakes stuck rope for a fixed line on the East Ledges rappels, El Capitan, Yosemite.

An unroped climber falls to death from the East Ridge (IV 5.8) of Bear Creek Spire, a 13,726-foot peak in the eastern Sierra Nevada.

A simul-rappel mistake leads to a tragic death on Reed's Pinnacle in Yosemite Valley, California.

El Cap Climber hit by fully-loaded haulbag suffers a severly broken arm and severe hemorrhaging.

Ryan Kautz, 26, falls to death while rappelling the last pitch of Prime Rib of Goat, a popular 11-pitch 5.9- on the 1,300-foot Goat Wall near Mazama, Washington.