Cover: Rachel Hallnan climbs Pente (5.11-) on Reservoir Wall in Utah’s Bears Ears National Monument. [Photo] Nathalie DuPré

Features

Revelation on Mt. Kenya

Last January, Mark Jenkins found himself shivering through the night on a slender ledge high on Mt. Kenya with Justin Bowen during a first ascent on the mountain’s southwest face. In their push to summit and descend before snowfall engulfs them, Jenkins reflects on his fifty years of climbing experience and ponders his future as he comes to rely on a partner half his age.

Reading Between the Lines

After Faye Rhiannon Latham picked up a copy of F.S. Smythe’s British Mountaineers, she set out to create something new from the classic text: a collection of erasure poetry that reveals an account from the perspective of an imagined avalanche victim buried between the lines.

Holding On to Mountains

When Nathan Conroy first dreamed of climbing El Monstruo, the tallest wall in the Cochamó region of Chile, he was unaware of the environmental threats to the area. As he returns over the years, Conroy witnesses the mounting challenges from various industries and learns what it means to love and advocate for a place at risk.

Onward and Upward

Since Eleanor Davis made the first female ascent of the Grand Teton in 1923, countless women have taken the lead in the range. Julie Ellison shares stories of nine influential Teton women: Irene Beardsley, Jane Baldwin, Patty McDonald, Jean Dempsey, Bev Boynton, Catherine Cullinane, Evelyn Lees, Kit DesLauriers and Dana Larkin.

Departments

Sharp End

Derek Franz examines bolts in wilderness areas.

Letters

Our readers write.

Escape Route

Abbey Collins and Derek Franz share book recommendations. Paula LaRochelle recounts the origins of the Beveridge Block. Plus a Q&A with Albert Youngjun Lee, Alpinist Korea publisher and editor-in-chief, and a photo gallery.

On Belay

After immigrating to New York in 1929, Fritz Wiessner became one of the most prolific first ascensionists in the Gunks and established many more climbs throughout the Northeast. On his own journey to repeat Wiessner’s routes, Adirondacks writer Phil Brown discovers more about the historic climber— and himself—along the way. Meanwhile, Young Hoon Oh considers what’s in a name.

Tool User

Matt Samet traces the development of sticky-rubber kneepads.

The Climbing Life

Rosie Bates finds the courage to bail. Andy Munas climbs through the fog. Clint Willis portrays Dougal Haston on Everest. And a short story by Nick Bullock.

Full Value

In order to come to terms with his son’s interest in rock climbing, Francesco Presutti confronts the truth about his mother’s cousin, who died in 1950 while climbing in the Dolomites.

Local Hero

Edmund February celebrates the boldness of South African climber Martin “Tinie” Versfeld.

Off Belay

A poem from Madaleine Sorkin, composed after her August 2022 free ascent of the Dunn-Westbay Direct on Longs Peak (Neniisoteyou'u).