Features

Mountain Profile: Forbidden Peak

In 1936 Hermann Ulrichs commented in the American Alpine Journal that mountains in the North Cascades sometimes appear like “lonely sentinels...floating like a vision or a mirage above the lower mists, strangely unreal and ethereal.” Herein, longtime Pacific Northwest climber Forest McBrian delves into the history of one of those mountains: Forbidden Peak. McBrian follows the alpine travels of Skagit and Sauk people, the early climbing excursions of the Mazamas and The Mountaineers, the first ascent of the mountain in 1940 and the explorations of additional routes and ski tours in the years since. Along the way, McBrian examines the shifting concepts of what “wild” has meant in the climbing and the conservation history of the region. Meanwhile, Carla Firey—daughter of the famous mountaineering couple Joan and Joe Firey—and ski-mountaineering historian Lowell Skoog, author of Written in the Snows, add tales of their own to the storied peak.

Don’t Look Back

From waitressing in mountain towns to editing at Climbing magazine to full-time freelancing, Julie Ellison confronts the uncertainties of a photojournalism career, while discovering her own artistic vision.

Fourteen Years in the Abyss

On March 25, 2022, Clint Helander and Andres Marin completed the first ascent of the east face of Golgotha (8,940') in the Revelation Mountains of Alaska. For Helander, this climb was the culmination of a fourteen-year odyssey that began when he read accounts of the first mountaineering expedition to the range and wondered about its “trove of unclimbed peaks that would take multiple lifetimes to explore.” Looking back on a dozen expeditions to the region, he con- templates the meaning of loss and risk and of realized and unrealized dreams.

Departments

Sharp End

Alpinist’s departing editor-in-chief ponders the fates of climbing magazines.

On Belay

In 2018 Lor Sabourin set out to make the first free ascent of All Systems Go, one of the hardest climbs in Sedona, Arizona, hoping to find acceptance in the local climbing community—only to come to a different understanding of what true belonging might mean.

Namesake

Oh Young-hoon unfolds some of the meanings behind one of Korean climber and poet Kim Ki-seop’s most lyrical routes.

Tool User

Matt Samet recounts the history of one of climbers’ most common addictions.

The Climbing Life

Madaleine Sorkin composes a poem about a free ascent in a day of the Hallucinogen Wall. John Long shares three flash fiction tales. Mark Rodell revisits the memories encased in a hand-me-down jacket. And Sara Ann Aranda traverses the Wind River Range.

Full Value

During a winter ascent of the Traversée Berhault in the Alps, Babsi Vigl confronted a sudden, life-threatening illness that brought all her questions about alpinism into focus.

Wired

After coming across a 1952 photo of a woman who forged pitons, Lauren DeLaunay Miller embarked on a journey to learn more about Bea Vogel, an early Yosemite climber and ardent activist, for whom the right to choose was paramount—on the rock and in the rest of life.

Local Hero

Tami Knight celebrates the creator of “Sketchy Beta.”

Off Belay

Hanniah Tariq pays tribute to the great Pakistani climber Abdul “Little” Karim.