Tuesday Night Bouldering

At the bottom of every climber’s heart lies a gnarled twist, like a knot on the root of a magnolia tree, where life without climbing ended, and another strange and vertically crazed path began.

Things fall apart. In climbing, that can mean whole walls in far mountains, sections of cliffs from the San Jacintos to the Adirondacks and White Mountains, and iconic forms or features on area crags.

Climbers are always “injured,” and we endure these perpetually compromised states with the grace of a World Cup soccer player writhing around on the ground like he was just stabbed in the groin with a fork. Fingers, elbows, shoulders, knees, ankles, skin, balls and brains—you can be sure that, among climbers, at least one of these things is either sore, torn or simply just not working.

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.”

Let’s be clear: We aren’t saying we’re fans or not fans. We’re just saying Wow.

A list of businesses founded and run by climbers and mountaineers, ranging from hemp crash pads to nature-inspired art to coffee, coffee, and more coffee.

The author suffers a failed boot test and pays a price.

Search Wikipedia for “Frank Sacherer,” and you’ll find … nothing, at least not in English. Google him and the first listing is often “Find a Grave,” which tells you that he was born in 1940, was a theoretical physicist and a Yosemite rock climber who died in a mountaineering accident. Simply put, Frank Sacherer was one of the fathers of free climbing.

Amid the rot of professional sports, there's a Prince beyond reproach.

It is our deepest desire and oldest challenge to understand where we came from, and thus, who we are.

New trad leader? Here are 10 things we'd like to tell you before you get going.