Cover: Steph Davis climbs Glad to be Trad (5.13) in Utah’s Mineral Canyon. “A pitch so long, I jumped off the top, because why not?” Davis recalled on social media. Chris Noble

Features

The Beauty We Love

Chris Noble has been photographing cutting-edge climbers, skiers and snowboarders since the 1980s. In this essay, he reflects on his career and the artists and athletes who influenced him, from Rumi to Jeff Long, from Alex Lowe to Alex Honnold. “Much has changed in the world since I began climbing in 1973,” he writes, “but some things still endure.”

Stepping into the Syllabus

“Our sport has reached an inflection point,” writes Pete Takeda, whose climbing and writing career has spanned generations. “Climbing history has recently become an object of study ... in the halls of a top-tier college in upstate New York.” Herein, Takeda joins sixteen Hamilton College students from Maurice Isserman’s HIST 367 course on a trek to Annapurna Base Camp, where he sees our pastime through new eyes.

A Door in the Mountain

“On a mountainside where the marmots chirp and the horned larks nest, where the lichen murmurs softly to the talus, a door winks in noon sunshine,” writes Leath Tonino, who encountered his first door—a sudden entrance into another world—in The Hobbit. Since then, doors into mountains have appeared to him in history, poetry, caves, trees, glaciers and more. Tonino explains.

Heart of the World

Brian Dillon and Zan Ray wanted to experience an obscure place when they set their sights on Pico Cristóbal Colón (5713m) in Colombia’s Santa Marta Range. Even with their guide Mateo Isaza, getting to the peak would be the greatest challenge. They would need permission from the reclusive Indigenous inhabitants, and they would be passing through jungles where drug traffickers still pose a threat.

Departments

Sharp End

Derek Franz considers the culture that produced Dean Potter.

Escape Route

Abbey Collins, Katherine Indermaur and Mike Parri share reading and playing recommendations.

On Belay

Russ Clune reconnects with his past while celebrating his sixty-sixth birthday.

The Climbing Life

After witnessing a friend’s fatal fall, Shara Zaia begins to heal. Nicole LoBiondo confronts avalanches at home and in the mountains. Alexandra Lev returns to the Tetons after losing her father. And Abbey Collins lets go of past lives—but holds on to pants.

Wired

Diana Boyer seeks answers on Diné lands, and leaves with new perspectives.

Local Hero

Óscar Gogorza celebrates Carolina Codó’s many contributions to El Chaltén.

Off Belay

Kelsey Gray fifinds community in Kurdistan.