The Slovak Direct, Denali’s South Face, with Scott Backes and Mark Twight

“You’re on belay Steve,” Scott says before I have time to look up from organizing the ice screws and nuts and pitons. I climb up 10 feet, place a good stopper in a crack, and lower 15 feet down to my left to gain a ramp. The topo shows this to be ice, but the ice is gone now.

Alpine Umbrella

MY TEETH HAD BEEN CHATTERING FOR 36 HOURS; my summit expectations had been blown away. All that work, I thought: All those steep moves I’d aided, because it was too cold to put on climbing shoes, how Mikey defied death in an icy offwidth, and Dana led endless pitches of névé. Was it really time to give up on the summit?

Reef Err Madness

It was suspended motionless in the cleft of a coral reef, a slot where the citrine shallows deepened to a bruised blue. All barracuda give the onlooker pause, but this particular specimen – a great silver cylinder of muscle that looked to go 50, maybe 60 pounds, cusped with a frowning jaw held agape by a cram of X-Acto Blade teeth – made my neck hairs tingle.

The Value of Craftsmanship

I’ve always thought that one of the coolest things about surfing is that there are so many different ways to do it. No two waves are the same and, until recently, no two boards were the same. You can surf the same spot everyday and have a completely different experience every time. Switch boards and it feels like a totally different sport.

The Indignity of it All

A rivulet of baby vomit streamed down my hand and disappeared into my cast. “Rookie!” I scolded myself. “How did I end up here?” I dabbed at the mouth of the baby I was tending for a friend as my mind wandered back to that defining moment when the ice fractured around me, and the plate I was climbing on detached.

Each Board has to be the Best

Ten years ago I decided to not have any regrets, so I started surfing and it turned into an addiction. When I was offered a job in the surfboard manufacturing industry I jumped on it.

The Nose. High Exposure. Pinch Overhang.

The Nose. High Exposure. Pinch Overhang. Yellow Edge. Cassin Ridge. Midnight Lightning. North Face of North Twin. Primrose Dihedral. Astroman. Dream of White Horses. Bridalveil Falls. Walker Spur. The best-of-the-best, every one a masterpiece, an outstanding example of its particular discipline, a line that begs to be climbed. A classic.

Aguja Guillaumet, Chalten

The northeast pillar of Aguja Guillaumet is perched 5,000 feet above the Río Eléctrico valley, overlooking Patagonia’s Fitz Roy massif. The route climbs a steep pillar of wind-sculpted golden granite; its pockets and steep cracks would fulfill anybody’s expectations.

Hotline, Yosemite

Hotline was first climbed in ’73 by Mark Chapman and Jim Bridwell, two of my free-climbing inspirations. In the early ’70s I was in high school sitting in the back of the class reading Bridwell’s article “Brave New World” in Mountain Magazine. The photos of Chapman attempting The Owl Roof were so impressive to me. This was the beginning of a real push of opening up free climbing in Yosemite.

Vandals, Shawangunks

In the early fall of 1983, my friend and climbing partner Jeff Gruenberg had started working on a line at Sky Top, in the Shawangunks of upstate New York. “Working” indeed is the proper description. He had cleared the deck of various-sized blocks in preparation for the falls the unprotected initial boulder problem on this climb would produce.

Ahab, Yosemite

The weight of the obstacle ahead of me was almost unbearable. Wide and open, the crack was about to throw itself down on top of me. I shook a few minutes at the last resting position, reminding myself what brought me here: On expedition in Patagonia I was once told, “No Euro can onsight Ahab.”

Zap Crack, Squamish

The first time I saw Zap Crack it was completely soaked. I had spent an hour hiking up to the Valley of Shaddai, an obscure and remote (by Squamish standards) crag with a steep approach through beautiful old-growth forest. Despite the fact that I had only seen the climb in the guidebook photo, I recognized it immediately as I walked along the base of the cliff.

Field Report Archive

Since 1990, Patagonia field reports have offered intense glimpses of nature’s front lines through the eyes of athletes, travelers and adventurers. Covering the diverse ground between geography lesson, sport journal and anecdotal meandering, these essays all share a passion for life.