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Above & Beyond
Feature articles found only on Climbing.com
A collection of climbing stories from climbers around the world. To submit your story to the Above and Beyond section, please send your story and photos to luke.laeser@gmail.com |
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 AMONGST THE CHAOS
By Julie Lilienkamp and photos by Gerri Kier — www.educationelevated.org - Initially, the idea presented to me to climb for charity seemed appealing. After all, I had been rock climbing and mountaineering for the past seven years — just to escape life itself. This trip, however, would mean the complete opposite. View a photo gallery of this trip by Gerri Kier  Yosemite and Rainier Weather Forecasts
Updated 7/24/08 - By Michael Fagin, lead forecaster for West Coast Weather, EverestWeather.com - West Coast weekend forecast and live weather cams for Denali, the Squamish Chief, Mt Rainier, Yosemite and Joshua Tree.  Project 365 – Climbing Devils Tower Every Day for a Year
By Luke Laeser - Frank Sanders, 57, owns Devils Tower Lodge, a guide service and basecamp for climbers located a few hundred yards away from the crack climbing kingdom of Devils Tower National Monument in Northeast Wyoming. Frank succeeded in climbing on the tower every day (except for five days when his back was out). Despite this small hurdle, he still managed to top out 365 times.  Matt Segal Interview
By Caroline Treadway - Matt Segal made climbing history with his first free ascent of Iron Monkey, Eldo's hardest traditional route to date. Lately, Matt's been climbing up a storm, bringing fresh ambition to the trad world, plus a little attitude. We met up for a morning interview at the Trident, Boulder's favorite Buddhist-owned cafe/office. The next day he sent his project up at Independence Pass near Aspen, Colorado.  The Citadels of Sinai Granite
Story and photos by Alexander Orlov — web.mac.com/aorlov - It was a snowless winter in 2006 and all of the previous summer and autumn we, as all climbers do, trained hard and surfed the internet with the aim of learning about new lines and high peaks. I found a site describing about 200 routes on the Sinai Peninsula among the granite citadels, some 600 to 800 meters tall, in a place named St. Catherine, Egypt.  Q & A with Jonathan Siegrist
On Monday, June 2, 2008 Jonathan Siegrist, 22, made the third ascent of Grand Ole Opry at the Monastery, Colorado. Originally rated 5.14a by its creator, Tommy Caldwell, the climb was uprated to 5.14c by Andy Raether after he did the second ascent, in 2007. Climbing hard and under the radar, Siegrist, a full-time student at Naropa University and routesetter at the Boulder Rock Club, did the route in just around 10 days.  Iranian Challengers organize expedition to Nanga Parbat to help save Iran's Karun River
Right now, an extraordinary event is happening. Leyla Estandiari, an Iranian woman has been chosen to lead a team to the top of Nanga Parbat (ninth highest at 26,657 feet), known as the "Man Eater" by some — a peak second in difficulty only to K2.  Homage to the Lowball
Words by Justin Roth - The lowball boulder problem is perhaps the most derided of rock climbs. On a boldness scale, it lies somewhere between toproping in the gym and standing on a chair to change a light bulb. No one makes films about lowballs, or writes books about them — how many lowballs have you seen in the photo galleries of this magazine?  Climb Take Action Seven Summits - Entry 1: Mt. Rainier via Emmons Glacier May 30-June 4, 2008
After eight months of preparation and anticipation, Mt. Rainier (14,410 feet) was finally here. Led by Rainier Mountaineering, Inc. (RMI), I was off for a six-day expedition skills seminar on Mt. Rainier for my last formal training before setting foot on the highest peak in Europe, Russia’s Mt. Elbrus.  Everest Seeds Arrive Home to Winchester Public School
It was top security. They arrived in a hulking grey Brinks truck escorted by three OPP cruisers, emergency lights flashing and sirens heralding their return. Armed guards descended from the armoured car, cradling their precious cargo sealed in a blue security bag.  Behind the scenes of Andy Parkin - "A Life in Adaptation"
“A Life in Adaptation” - looks at the life of the Sheffield lad who found himself naturally drawn to the nearby moorland crags. There he encountered his first ‘real’ rock climbers. Inspired, he dedicated all of his attention to climbing, funding what became a nomadic existence through a variety of climbing-related jobs, anything that would get him to the crags. WATCH THE TRAILER  A Week in the Bugaboos
by Luke Laeser - Mike Brumbaugh and I finally made a trip to the infamous Bugaboo Range within the mighty Canadian Rockies at the end of July, 2007. Mikey’s been a good friend since we met sport climbing at Rifle in Colorado and we’d been talking about taking a trip up to this fantastic British Columbian spot after years of drooling over photos.  Alpine Madness - Maxime Turgeon's Complete Report From a Month in Alaska
Trip report and photos by Maxime Turgeon - Everything is calm. I can’t tell were I am; all the sensations of my body are gone except for a warm feeling all over. No more pain, no more sore muscles. Slowly I feel pressure building up in my bladder, and then my numb limbs come back to life. The pressure is soon too great, and my arm starts searching for the zipper pull.  Hong Kong - Pearl of the Orient
By Wong Ho Fai and Jonn Benedict Lu - Hong Kong is Asia's financial hub for international commerce, and gateway to the burgeoning economic superpower that is China. Although Hong Kong is only 1,104 sq km in size, the entire gamut of tropical climbing activities are available; sport, traditional, multi-pitch, bouldering, and of course buildering.  AMONGST THE CHAOS - Education Elevated's Trek to Mount Everest
In 2006, a seed was planted, has sprout in 2007, and now in 2008, blossomed into reality. Pem Sherpa had a heartfelt idea to change to world, one child at a time by helping the children’s schools in Nepal. Pem and Moni Sherpa are native Nepalese, who live in the Chyangba Village, near Mount Everest. This is his story of how he met an amazing woman who has taken an idea and made it into a reality.  Mt. Everest Weather Report - AAI reaches the summit!
Updated 5/25/08 — stimated summit conditions on Everest at 6 pm Nepal time. -22 C, 35 knots with stronger gusts from the southwest. Cloudy. Daily weather reports by Michael Fagin of Weather Services and dispatches from AlpineAscents.com, MountainGuides.com, and Project-Himalaya.com.  Fried Chicken on Chicken Island
Björn Alber - Photos by Frank Shröter - Sketchy, stoned boatmen that don’t appear on time, no water, bolt glue that doesn’t work, diving to retrieve lost bolts… A lot of work went into setting up the first sport climb on this Krabi, Thailand landmark.  The Stigma: Part III
This compelling story comes to us from a climber you might know who prefers to remain anonymous — My uncle by marriage was an alcoholic. I recall as a kid visiting my Aunt’s house where he’d be stretched out on the sofa. We looked at him from the distance as if he was an alien, and I don’t ever remember exchanging dialogue with him.  The Seduction: Part II
This compelling story comes to us from a climber you might know who prefers to remain anonymous — I have a bottle of alcohol in front of me. It’s vodka. Clean, clear, pure, cheap. I know how it will feel as it glides down my throat. I know how my head will turn off, my anxiety lessen, my senses numb to what has become all-unimportant in my life which is everything.  Ground Zero: Part I
This compelling story comes to us from a climber you might know who prefers to remain anonymous — I came to bouncing around in my car. It felt like I was crossing a field, but I had no idea where I was or what was happening. I only knew I was bouncing around in my car. I came to a stop in a stupor. |
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