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AP
Trad climber
Calgary
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Nov 10, 2011 - 11:43am PT
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These seem to be old articles. Is this because of our ages and memories of what inspired us in our youth, or was the writing better in days gone by?
I think "Art of the States" and "States of the Art" were an inspiration and Mark and Max are still climbing well.
This isn't a mag but Chris Jones' book on Climbing in North America was my bible as a young climber.
I agree the article on North Face North Twin was a classic.
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crunch
Social climber
CO
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Nov 11, 2011 - 09:52am PT
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I used to love reading articles by Alex MacIntyre. Full of humor in the face of serious risk. He died, 27(?), mid-1980s. Such promise.....
He seemed to have some of the wit and lightness of touch of Patey. There were a number of articles in Mountain.
My all-time favorite has to be Pratt's The View from Deadhorse Point. More developed, more confident, more outgoing than his few other other essays. I was very excited when Chuck's cousin, Greg, gave me permission to reprint this in my book, Desert Towers.
A wonderful counterpoint to Chuck's essay is Steve Komito's story of the first ascent of Standing Rock. Not exactly a magazine article, but an essay of similar size printed in Beyond the Vertical.
Pratt conveys a sense that at some point one does not need to actually go climb anything. He has gone so far beyond the shallow tourist experience--largely through his climbing trips--that he is, finally, at one with the vast landscape. Komito conveys the no-nonsense excitement and drive of the Coloradans, Kor and Ingalls, in their element, immersed in the same mythical landscape but rising above it, getting stuff done.
I asked Komito if I could reprint this gem, now long out of print; he agreed. To put these and many more voices in one book was a great privilege and thrill. Seemingly the folks at Banff agreed:
http://www.banffcentre.ca/mountainfestival/competitions/book/2011/#panel-6
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MH2
climber
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Nov 11, 2011 - 12:26pm PT
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was the writing better in days gone by?
I don't think so, but it was different.
I like writing whether funny or hair-raising that I can identify with, that I recognize on some level.
I also like writing that goes outside my own experience but that still has an unmistakable kernel of truth.
I especially like the writing of John Muir.
Stickeen was published in Summit magazine, Spring 1992.
Even writing about John Muir has power. I don't know if a self-styled "blogazine" counts, but here is an excerpt from a lengthier piece in Footless Crow:
http://footlesscrow.blogspot.com/2011/09/this-week-john-muiron-edge-of-abyss.html
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