Photo Credit: Bryn Sillorequez
Who doesn't like a good climbing travel story to take us away on a mental adventure?
- ARGENTINA: A Unique, Big City Crag: Buenos Aires, Argentina Climbing (By Stefani Dawn) You’ve probably never seen a crag like this one!
- BLUE MOUNTAINS, AUSTRALIA: Bliss: Climbing in the Blueys (By Stefani Dawn) - Epics, mini-epics, near-epics, and zones of craptitude make for good stories...But, most of the time things are pretty dang chill. Fun. Enjoyable. Cool. Sometimes there is even bliss.
- BRAZIL: Brazil - The Adventures of Jorge (By Jorge Packer) - Jorge Packer is originally from Brazil and lives in Australia. Jorge and his wife Marion are taking some extended time off to climb (hell yeah!). The first stop is Brazil, to visit family and hit places he's never climbed. Jorge created some fun climbing videos of the trip, which we share with you in this story.
- BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA: A Unique Urban Crag (By Stefani Dawn) - A unique, completely climber-made, big-city rock climbing crag in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
- BOULDER, COLORADO: Calling Pat Ament (By Jeff Smoot) - An adventure story of two young climbers just trying to find a place to sleep.
- DOLOMITES, ITALY: Lost Love in the Dolomites (by Tony McKenny) - Tony McKenny climbs the Piz Pordoi towers in the Dolomites and finds a glorious and sometimes sketchy climb along with an old love letter from days past.
- ECUADOR: Climbing in Ecuador - A Nation of Four Worlds (By Dave Barnes and Felipe Proaño) - Guidebook author Felipe Proaño and Assistant Editor Dave Barnes takes us on a tour of rock climbing in Ecuador.
- EL POTRERO CHICO, MEXICO: Riding the Dirty Dog (By Jack Waterhouse) - From Salt Lake City, Utah to El Potrero Chico, Mexico - a climber rides the "dirty dog" for $144 to get on some of the worlds longest bolted climbs. Creative story telling takes you for a ride.
- EGYPT: The Sinai Sampler: Climbing Egypt (By Radek Chalupa) - Radek Chalupa and his wife take their climbing vacations in remote areas of the world. Despite COVID's grip on the world, they were able to sneak away to Egypt. Here they take us along for the climb, sharing some of the highlights in this photo essay.
- FRANCE: Adventures of Jorge (By Jorge Packer) - From climbing in the Alps, to deep water soloing, to cliffs high above the seas - France has it all. Jorge Packer and his wife Marion continue their climbing travels, this time to France. They hit Hieres-Sur-Amby, Pen Hir, Cassis, and Briançon.
- HUECO TANKS, TEXAS: Desert Special Forces Adventures: Part 1 By James Crump - If you haven't read one of James Crump's larger-than-life Texas tales, then now is the time to begin. This time James takes us to Hueco Tanks, Texas (where James has numerous FAs and wrote a guidebook, BTW). On one of his trips he encounters some Green Berets and...
- INDIA: ALEO MANALI (By Pankaj Lagwal) - Nestled in the majestic Himalayas, Aleo in Manali, India offers adventure for climbers of all levels - with a diverse range of routes, from gentle slabs to challenging multi-pitches. And, you get some incredible views.
- LOVER'S LEAP, CALIFORNIA: Zone of Craptitude (by Stefani Dawn) - A climber enters the zone - a different kind of zone...
- MOONARIE, AUSTRALIA: Moonarie (By Caleb Skirrow) - Caleb Skirrow, a 20-year-old University student from Adelaide, Australia, shares his magical climbing experiences in the remote trad climbing area of Australia, Moonarie.
- RED ROCK CANYON, NEVADA: Race Through Red Rock (By Chris Koppl) - Chris and Bella are field biologists doing research on the endangered desert tortoise. When they end up in southern Nevada, they had to hit as many Red Rock classics in three days as possible.
- RIO DE JANIERO, BRAZIL: Photo Essay: Classic Climbs Sampler of Rio De Janiero (By Radek Chalupa) - A visually beautiful and descriptive photo essay about several classic climbs in and around Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
- SIERRA NEVADAS, CALIFORNIA: From Saddle to Summit: Horsepacking and climbing in the High Sierra (By Zach Lovell) - Zach Lovell and friends went deep into the Sierra Nevadas with some pack horses to find some spectacular unclimbed granite.
- SINTRA, PORTUGAL: (By Massimo Cappuccio) - Photographer Massimo Cappuccio takes us on a beautiful tour of the climbing in Sintra, Portugal - submerged in cool forests or next to the ocean waves; from trad, to sport, to bouldering on a variety of rock including granite to limestone. If you are looking to climb in Europe, or want to be inspired for your next adventure, this article is a must-read.
- TAGHIA, MOROCCO: Hardly Failing (By Wil Treasure) - "Failing" in climbing comes in many forms. Climber Wil Treasure reflects upon one of his best, least epic "failures" on a big climb in Taghia, Morocco. Be transported.
- TASMANIA, AUSTRALIA: The Legend of the ‘Unclimbable Cliff’ (by Adam Donoghue) - Adam Donoghue takes us to the place that time forgot -The Tyndals in South West Tasmania for some first ascents.
- THAILAND: Lost and Found: A Mini-Epic in Paradise (By Saxon Johns) - The steep limestone walls protrude from the lush Thai jungle, beckoning to be climbed. Just don't forget your headlamp.
- TONGA: Tonga - Tropical Rock (By Eileen Burnell) - Have you ever thought about holidaying on a remote tropical island, sun, sea, sand and a lot of tropical rock? If you have, then ‘Eua Island (pronounced aywa) could be your next rock-climbing destination. Known as the Friendly Islands the Kingdom of Tonga, which sits on the pacific ring of fire, ‘Eua is the second largest island and the closest to the main island of Tongatapu.
- VEDAUWOO, WYOMING: Inverted Offwidth, Cracks and a Chimney – Oh My! (by Melissa Kline) - A climber shares her offwidth, crack, and chimney experience in the mystical place that is Vedauwoo.
- VERDON, FRANCE: What Two Friends Uncovered in Verdon (By Don McGrath) - Two long-time climbing friends meet up in Verdon, France to experience the long, committing, limestone sport climbs and, in the process, learn a little something new.
- VIETNAM: Vietnam - Yen Thinh Valley (By Massimo Cappuccio) - Climbing photographer Massimo Cappuccio captures images and the story of Jean Verly's discovery and establishment of a new climbing area at the Yen Thinh Valley in Huu Lung, Vietnam. Jean went above and beyond placing bolts in the walls. With a forward-looking vision, Jean assembled a small travel-economy supporting the locals.
- YOSEMITE, CALIFORNIA: Growing Up (By Jack Waterhouse) - Jack Waterhouse had a vision of climbing and living in Yosemite - maybe forever? Or maybe growing up reshapes you in unexpected ways. Jack takes us on his quest to climb El-Cap and the changing landscape of life and Yosemite.
- YOSEMITE, CALIFORNIA: What We Came For (By Austin Beck-Doss) - Two young, strong, enthusiastic climbers hit Yosemite for the first time and...get whipped. A fun, ego-bruising, buddy story I think we can all relate to.
- 20 World Destinations for Adventurous Climbing (by Erin Collins) - This article takes you climbing around the world - let the adventures begin!
Also see our Themed Edition Exploring Our World
- CHINA: From Yangshuo, to Getu, to Liming (By Emilie Pellerin) - Emilie Pellerin is a professional climber, but here she takes us on a personal journey through China, hitting the rock in three different locations and absorbing the sights, sounds, smells, and experiences of China - and sharing them with us.
- FRANCE: Verdon in Winter (By Frothy Thomson) - The author seeks a unique, quiet, and memorable experience in the normally busy Gorge du Verdon. His, and his climbing-partner's, quest is to climb an obscure route under France's grey skies and cold winter air.
- GREECE: Meteora: The Sacred Mountains (By Dave Barnes) - Dave reflects on the pull of climbing - "History records and legends recall how people have gone to the mountains to escape their demons and to understand who they were. Everybody runs from somewhere sometime in their lives - the mountains just make you look brave doing it."
- ITALY: Dolomites (By Matt Tredway) - "My Italian climbing partner was a friend-of-friends...The 45ish, burly Italian scoffed, and said, 'Those sport climbers. They are like the kids today… too lazy to buy the sausage and cut it up… they want it pre sliced. They want to have hard grades, a planned route, no thinking, and don't even look around at the views!' I gulp a little, and nodded - knowing in the back of my mind that Shelf Road is a sport crag I've climbed a couple times a year since forever."
- MEXICO: La Huasteca (By James Crump) - A hilarious and adventurous coming-of-age tale of when a 16-year-old Crump and his buddy Goomba cross the border to Mexico and go adventure climbing in La Huasteca.
- UTAH, U.S.: Maple Canyon: This One Makes You Taller (By Maggie Odette) - At the age of 44 Maggie Odette claimed her first 5.14a. She quit her job, married her climbing parter, and, now, 4.5 years later, became camphost at Maple Canyon so she can project and send T-Rex, a 5.14b at the age of 49. Visit the conglomerate rock of Maple Canyon, UT and experience Maggie's story.