Field Journal

Exclusive Sidetracked Promotion

Whether you are a longtime, dedicated climber or someone who has never climbed, you will find the stories a balance of educational, informative, and entertaining.’ — Julie Ellison, co-editor of Cliffhanger

Cliffhanger — New Climbing Culture & Adventures gives an overview of the worldwide climbing phenomenon. By highlighting people, places, history, culture, technique, ethics, and other interesting topics, it takes an in-depth look at some of the most notable aspects of this fascinating activity.

Co-edited by Julie Ellison, Climbing Magazine’s first female Editor in Chief, Cliffhanger is an exhaustive look into the global sport of climbing, including the history and basics of each of the major disciplines: bouldering, sport climbing, trad climbing, and alpinism. 15 of the world’s favourite climbing destinations are highlighted, along with an in-depth look into the life of a mountain guide, the growth of paraclimbing, the pitfalls of growing popularity in climbing, and deeper explanations on each climbing discipline.

A dozen of the world’s leading climbers are profiled, including the UK’s own Pete Whittaker, who is known for tackling the hardest, most painful, wide and thin cracks around the world. When Whittaker was 17 (10 years after he started climbing with his parents on the United Kingdom’s infamous gritstone), he met fellow Brit Tom Randall at the local climbing wall in Sheffield. Randall was working as a route-setter and looking for someone to help him break the world record for the number of routes climbed in a day (at the time, 536). From there they went on a few European trips together, and then to America to discover the hardest offwidths. They wanted to be fully prepared for the trip, so they dedicated two years to train for these gruelling wide cracks. To do that in the United Kingdom, a place that notably has very few wide cracks, they built their own crack simulators using wood in Randall’s cellar.

The training paid off for that first US trip. ‘My technique for offwidthing was pretty crap’, recalls Whittaker, ‘But I was fit and strong from so much training.’ Crack climbing, particularly wide cracks, is known for its tricky techniques, or ways of putting your hands and feet in the crack to be able to move your body up.

Cliffhanger — New Climbing Culture & Adventures is available now, with an exclusive discount* via the Sidetracked online shop.