Climbing
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Your guide to the United States of climbing. Plus, tips to stay injury-free and some inspiring words from the world’s best big-waller.
Here's the kit one of the country's most ambitious FKT chasers uses when he heads out into the backcountry
Irene Yee, better known as @ladylockoff on Instagram, explains how she shoots climbers of all types with an eye for authenticity
World Champion Boulderer Jule Wurm had a fantastic run within the competitive indoor climbing circuit, but with all the victories came the toll of constantly traveling and training.
The products the pros use to keep their hands and feet happy and healthy
What does it mean to have a body that's ready for a music festival? Nate Dern heads to the gym—and then Coachella—to find out.
The 44-year-old Nepali woman broke her own record on the world’s highest peak
A group of the country's top rock climbers traveled to Washington last week to remind Congress that public lands are valuable assets worth protecting. Here's what I had to say.
Gary Rall opened a rock gym 29 years ago. Then he helped invent indoor climbing.
Rock climbers are flocking to world-class walls in Catalonia. Here's why.
The man known affectionately as the 'Swiss Machine' lived life on the cutting edge. Here, we gather the remembrances of those who knew him best.
As a full-time science student at Depaul University in Chicago, Michaela Kiersch trains at First Ascent Climbing to prepare for her weekend road trips to Red River Gorge.
In 1978, a historic expedition put the first women—and first Americans, period—on the summit of Annapurna, the world’s tenth-highest peak. Despite their triumph, the deaths of two climbers stirred controversy. In an oral history weaving together the perspectives of key team members, Sherpa high-altitude staff, admirers, and critics, Katie Ives discovers that debate still lingers—as does the expedition’s power to inspire.
When Shelma Jun founded Flash Foxy, an all-female rock-climbing community, it was just to post pictures of her and her girlfriends climbing. Now, she's using it as a platform to change how women participate in the world outside.
Here's what we learned about the state of the outdoorswoman in 2017 and the still-prevalent gender gap in the outdoor world
After bursting onto the scene as a teenage gym rat, Beth Rodden became one of the most accomplished climbers of all time. Here, for the first time, she opens up about the price of perfectionism, the kidnapping that almost grounded her, finding love again after her marriage to big-wall prodigy Tommy Caldwell, and balancing motherhood and rock.
From filmmaker Eric Becker, A Higher Crawling is a film starring two titans of climbing. Shelby and Reyka are the rising stars of the under-6-month-old age bracket.
The star climber opens up about her kidnapping and finding love after a broken marriage
Six athletically inclined people—regular folks with regular jobs, just like you—divulge how much money they spend on their fitness routines
An injury forced me to begrudgingly acknowledge that sometimes the best thing you can do for your training is stop it altogether
Last weekend, the North Face’s Chile brand put on Latin America’s biggest—and loudest, and rad-est, and rowdiest—bouldering competition.
It's about time we had emojicons for climbers! For the past year, I’ve been working on creating one.
Our favorite hidden-gem outdoor blogs and websites
The craziest rock-climbing event in the world happens annually in the Ozarks of Arkansas, in a u-shaped canyon with enough routes for 24 straight hours of nonstop ascents. They call it Horseshoe Hell, but don't be fooled: for outdoor athletes who love physical challenges with some partying thrown in, it's heaven.
Watch to see what life is like during the world's wildest climbing event.
Athletes who love climbing outdoors aren't positioning themselves to perform well at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Here's why.
The climbing legend passed away on Tuesday, March 14. Here, we assembled reactions from those who knew, loved, and were inspired by him.
Myles Osborne was poised to summit Mount Everest when a flapping of fabric caught his eye. He thought it was a tent—then it spoke.
Hayes made history by becoming the first woman to climb a 15.5a—the 131-foot La Rambla line up El Pati wall in Siurana, Spain. These photos follow her journey from the bottom of the crag to the anchors.
We pulled records from January 2006 to September 2016 on where, how, and why park visitors are dying. Here’s what we found.
"How can you let her do that? It's so dangerous!" For years, my mom has fielded this question from other parents about my climbing. Here's what she thinks about raising an adventurous daughter in an unfamiliar sport.
You don't have to be a seasoned mountaineer to bag any of these peaks, especially if you hire the right guide
Everything you need to know to plan the ultimate bucket-list escape
Visiting the Colorado outdoor mecca and want to hone your climbing skills? Here's where to start.
Climber turned photographer Sagar Gondalia has carved out his own warm, fuzzy niche in the world of paid portraiture
Rock gyms are about socializing as much as they’re about fitness these days. But before you take your Valentine’s Day crush on an indoor climbing date, there are a few things you should know.
Evolving as an athlete means leaving old passions behind and focusing on factors within your control
Seven people ascended a construction crane in downtown D.C. on Wednesday and unfurled a 65-pound banner in protest of President Trump. Here's how they did it.
Even if you're not an aspiring pro athlete, there's a smart way to build a fan base on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter
Pro Climber and Filmmaker Cedar Wright knows a thing or two about adventure, and his gear shed is full to the brim with climbing, paragliding and cycling equipment.
Welcome to professional climber Cedar Wright’s Boulder gear shed, or, as he calls it, his “discombobulated junk show.” It’s also an adventure athlete’s paradise packed into a one-car garage that’s bursting with ice climbing, paragliding, big-wall climbing, and biking equipment stacked in neat—and not so neat—piles.
Tony Krupicka is one of the world’s foremost ultra runners. The 33-year-old Nebraska native is a two-time winner of the Leadville 100 and the 50-Mile Trail National Championships, and he’s placed second in the county’s original ultra—Western States 100. Last month, he let us into his Boulder, Colorado, home, which is strewn with training tools, from road bikes and ski-mo skis to running shoes and cams.
Outside editors and writers weigh in on the one thing that made everything easier and better
From E9 Clothing Company, Because I See is a reflection on the sport of rock climbing.
Watch to get a tour of Tommy Caldwell's gear-filled paradise.
Twenty-years ago Dan Osman set a world record completing the Bear's Reach route of Lover's Leap in 4:25. A young climber at the time, Alex Honnold, was completely inspired by the feat.
How to start from scratch and expand your horizons
The Czech climber just conquered one of the world's hardest routes in record time
Lessons I learned from organizing a homeless-youth outdoors program and how you can apply them to improving your own corner of the world
Andrew Upchurch lives in Yosemite Valley and works as custodial staff for Yosemite Hospitality. With the best granite in California is his backyard, his time off is spent climbing.
In Crested Butte, CO, you may see a group of climbers doing something you've never imagined. They summit mountains without vision.
David Roberts, a major figure in modern adventure literature, has explored risk, death, and loss for more than 50 years. Now he’s fighting cancer while producing new writing—including a series of reflections on his disease—that friends and colleagues believe is his best work yet.
The best runs, rides, climbs, and places to refuel in the Windy City
I called up a handful of skiers, climbers, runners, and kayakers to find out how their tools have helped them during off-the-grid adventures
The world’s most reclusive climber just became a father and opened a gym, which means he's had to dramatically rethink how he stays in rock shape
Fred Beckey all but invented the sport of climbing with daring first ascents of peaks once thought unclimbable. At 93, his brain might be the greatest repository of information about American mountaineering in existence.
We really can't get enough of Fred Beckey. He's ruthless, irreverent, and the grandfather of dirtbagging.
The best runs, rides, climbs, and places to refuel in the city that never sleeps
It may come as a surprise that the world-championship climber's natural habitat isn’t the mountains, it's Manhattan
The one-week boot camp puts paying customers in the middle of the Indonesian jungle, then helps them survive the journey home
Power players from around the world don't subsist on oatmeal alone. We asked athletes to share the hometown dishes that are still part of their training diet.
What do you get when you combine VR, Camp 4 Collective, and some of the best extreme athletes in the game? A series of immersive videos that could get more people into both VR and adventure sports.
Want to learn a new skill and visit a faraway locale? You can now do both, thanks to a boom in instructional outdoor clinics worth traveling for.
Adrian Ballinger and Emily Harrington plan to climb the world’s sixth tallest mountain in record time. If they're successful, it could launch a whole new type of commercial mountaineering.
The founder of women’s climbing community Flash Foxy on the problem sexism in climbing gyms
His journey from dirtbag to rock star, how to choose a climbing partner, and why bottled oxygen might be a performance-enhancing drug
A pair from Utah trying to complete the first ascent of a steep face in the Karakoram mountain range were caught in a snowstorm last month and haven't been seen since
When the author's childhood friend died in a climbing accident last year, her favorite outdoor pursuits took on a new layer of anxiety
One of the world's best climbers on the IOC's problematic approach to climbing—and why she's still excited for the sport to appear at the games for the first time
How six months rock climbing in Moab and around the west led Dan Dennis to the Olympic freestyle wrestling team
Suz Graham is an all around adventurer that participates in some incredibly raw sports. What most folks don't know is that she also values meditation, relaxation and recovery.
And that's according to some of the very athletes they're trying so desperately to woo
While the nation freaks out over the presidential race, a climbing legend is quietly helping the industry become a powerful force
Climbing Tormore Island with Iain Miller.
Hundreds of millions of dollars are being poured into the burgeoning indoor climbing industry. Will the influx of cash help these gyms finally go mainstream?
Discovery's new show 'American Tarzan' pits climbers, runners, and lifters against each other in a 'Survivor' meets 'American Ninja Warrior' showdown
The 42-year-old mountaineer and mother of two just claimed the women’s speed record for the Explorer’s Grand Slam. How did she pull it off?
This May, CLIF Bar brought together four athletes to take on a challenge—snowboard, climb, bike, and surf in a single day