Uplifted: Sonnie Trotter
Sonnie Trotter would never admit to being Canada’s best rock climber, but his multi-decade career of cutting-edge trad climbs and nails-sport routes certainly puts him in that conversation. In his new book, Sonnie looks back to the people, experiences and community that defined his path into professional climbing. Just don’t take financial advice from him.
Image credit: Paul Bride
Thirty Below: Cassidy Randall
Writer Cassidy Randall’s new book Thirty Below unearths the story of the first all-female ascent of Denali in 1970 and reveals a deeper story of ambition and teamwork. It’s an incredible story with complex characters. In a sport obsessed with legends and heroics, why did the Denali Damsels nearly fade into history?
Image credit: Margaret Young
Chris Sharma: Olympic Hopeful
Elite competition is a young person's game, but when 44-year-old legend Chris Sharma witnessed climbing on the Olympic stage last summer, it lit a fire in him, or at least a small flame. Chris undeniably changed climbing bringing the sport into its modern era, establishing the 5.15 grade, winning World Cups and World Championships as a teen, but an Olympics appearance is the one thing missing. LA 2028 is definitely on his mind. First stop– New Jersey.
Image Credit: Dan Gajda/ USA Climbing
TryHardness: Amity Warme
Amity Warme first showed up in Yosemite Valley in 2019 young, scrappy and in love with the adventurous side of our sport. What’s followed since is a meteoric rise through the discipline of traditional and big wall free climbing. What’s taken some of the world’s best to do over decades, Amity has squeezed into five years. What makes Amity so special? We dig in.
Image: Felipe Nordenflycht
Vitaliy and Goliath
In 2021, Vitaliy Musiyenko closed the chapter on a years-long obsession with a 32-mile-ridge line featuring 60 summits in the heart of the Sierra. The Goliath Traverse is likely the longest ridge traverse ever completed on the planet. For Vitaliy, it was part of a much larger journey that began with the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.
Image: Vitaliy Musiyenko
Michaela Kiersch: The Path To Dreamtime
In 2024, Michaela Kiersch became the first woman to climb both V15 and 5.15 putting her on climbing’s global radar. To midwest climbers and those in the know, she was already a legend for her incredible training sessions and ability to balance a career outside climbing. Alex and Michaela chat about what it’s like to become a part of history, the lessons learned from losing a parent at a young age and her incredible 2024.
Image: Jan Novak
Ups and Downs: Cody Townsend
After rising to the highest echelon of professional skiing, Cody Townsend took a step back and embraced climbing to take him to the next chapter of his career. Today, Cody sits on the cusp of completing an all-time goal – climbing and skiing the 50 Classic Ski Descents of North America.
Image: Bjarne Salén & The Fifty Project
Janja Garnbret: The Lioness
We are back with the Greatest of All Time – Janja Garnbret. For the last decade, Janja has dominated competitive climbing, capping it off with her second gold medal at the Olympics last summer. Where does she find the motivation to keep improving when she’s won everything there is to win?
Image: Grega Valančič Photography
Ben Mayforth: Growth Mindset
Ben Mayforth’s strength is a sight to behold. The professional paraclimber’s social clips of campusing double digit boulder problems may have made it into your social feed, but his story runs much deeper than any grade or route. It’s a story of hard work, belonging and finding a path in the world.
Image: Dudes vs Gravity
The Devil’s Climb
Last summer, Alex and Tommy Caldwell rode bikes from Estes Park, Colorado to SE Alaska where they boarded a sailboat which dropped them beneath the fabled Devil’s Thumb. Their adventure is now a film on Disney+, but a lot of the experience got left on the cutting room floor. We sat down with Tommy and their photographer/wingman, Taylor Shaffer, to dive deeper into the journey.
Image: Taylor Shaffer
Saving Cochamó
Tucked away in a corner of Chilean Patagonia, Valle Cochamó wasn’t going to stay hidden forever. The soaring unclimbed granite walls instilled dreams of first ascents in climbers. Industrialists eyed its free flowing rivers with their potential for hydroelectric power. Conservationists hoped it could provide a final puzzle piece. This is the story of how a coalition of Chilean gauchos, climbers and activists fought off development efforts for two decades. How do you make the next Yosemite? You start by buying it.
Image: Catalina Claro
Jamie Logan: Going The Distance
5.13 at 78. That’s staggering, but the numbers don’t capture the breadth of Jamie Logan’s climbing career, which now spans seven decades. Through every chapter of our sport, Jamie has been a contributor from pioneering free climbing in the 1960’s to leading design trends of the modern gym. The risk she took in her 70’s may ultimately prove to be the most lasting pillar of her legacy. Never be afraid of who you are.
Image: Tara Kerzhner
Cory Richards: The Unquiet Mind
Alpinist and photographer Cory Richards was living at full speed. A steady stream of Himalayan expeditions and assignments from National Geographic kept him relentlessly moving around the world. Meanwhile, his long struggle with bi-polar disorder, PTSD, alcoholism, and sex addiction hit new lows until Cory’s world came undone. Today, Cory’s stepped away from both climbing and photography, has written two books and in a lot of ways, is happier than he’s ever been.
Image: Cory Richards
Lynn Hill: A Magician Needs A Stage
El Cap. Free. In a day. Putting those words on your resume puts you in the league of legends. How did that become the bar? Lynn Hill. A singular athlete who stepped up to the biggest stage in climbing, Lynn redefined what was athletically possible not just for her generation, but generations to come. Emily Harrington and Beth Rodden add their perspective on the momentous achievement.
Image: Scott Crady
Margo Hayes: Renaissance Woman
Ms. 5.15 – that was the moniker the climbing world bestowed on Margo Hayes after she became the first woman to climb the grade. Two more 5.15’s followed and Margo seemed poised to be a defining climber of her generation. Yet, in the background, Margo was quietly struggling with Lyme disease and exploring other interests when she wasn’t healthy enough to give climbing her all. What does a professional climber owe their sport, their community, and what do they owe themselves?
Image: Tara Kerzhner
Babsi + Jacopo: The Flame Burns Bright
While most of the elite climbing world has turned its attention to raw difficulty in sport and bouldering, Babsi Zangerl and Jacopo Larcher have been carrying the torch for hard, sometimes dangerous, traditional climbing. We talk about Eternal Flame, managing risk and getting sandbagged in Yosemite.
Image: Andrea Cossu
A Light Through The Cracks
Beth Rodden started climbing in 1995, and it wasn’t long before she radically changed the sport. Within three years, she’d become the first woman to climb 5.14; within five, she established a still unrepeated free route on Yosemite’s El Capitan. Today, Beth is leading the climbing community in difficult, vulnerable conversations. Fitz chats with Beth about her new book, A Light Through The Cracks, and what it means to live a big life.
Image: Beth Rodden Collection
Give and Take
After a protracted battle over bolts and sport climbing, American climbers nearly lost the ability to climb on public lands in the early 1990s. It would have completely altered the course of our sport. Fortunately, lawyer and climber Armando Menocal rose to the challenge of protecting climbing for generations to come, despite the fact that many climbers hoped he would fail. We take a peek into the early days of the Access Fund and share an update on what Armando is up to today.
Image: Armando Menocal Collection
Soviet Speed
In 1986, a rag-tag group of dirtbags including Beth Wald, Russ Clune and Todd Skinner came up with a scheme to go behind the Iron Curtain with the goal of competing in the Soviet Union's speed climbing competition. It was audacious as any cutting edge climb.
Image: Beth Wald Collection
Alex Goes To Paris: Olympic Recap
Adieu Paris. After a week at the Olympic games, Alex and the team reflect on an incredible moment for climbing and its brightest competitors.
Image: Jan Virt