Climbing
A slim, 100-percent polyester skull cap.
Made for mountaineers who need overnight capacity or who carry huge day loads
Hollywood climbing: Survivable or surreal?
A lightweight, crag-tested collection for new climbers
A shoe that easily transitions from gym to sport climbing to bouldering to multipitch routes.
A super safe helmet that you forget you're wearing
Big and beefy carabiners
A harness that's great for both beginners and experts
Deemed a 'go-to workhorse rope' by the editors of Climbing Magazine
Plus, winter boots from Teva that fold as small as regular shoes!
Shoes that stick, rope worth investing in, and a Grigri 2 overhaul.
Kick it up a notch with these quick fixes.
Scramble a class 3 route and claim your own private peak.
Tired of the same old weekend loops? Looking to create memories your grandkids will talk about? In this how-and-where guide, we serve up 15 extraordinary escapes that will shatter your expectations of "normal." From adventure moviemaking to canyoneering, we'll take you places you've never been—but will long to visit again soon.
Climbing's gear editor weighs in on her favorite harness and ice axe.
Master the art of backcountry climbing and skinning.
We teamed up with sister publication
Climbing to bring you the best ice climbing gear.
A 10mm rope that's not too stiff and not too flexible with a Golden Dry treatment for added durability and water resistance.
These screws cost half as much as comparable models but still grind into bulletproof ice with ease.
A tool that's light and easy to swing and fits a woman's hand.
These stainless steel crampons are perfect for all your winter climbing needs.
A all-mountain tool that truly lives up to its name.
Climbing Magazine's favorite alpine harness of 2011.
The ultimate all-mountain boot
The all-aluminum XLC is about half the weight of comparable steel spikes
A great mountaineering helmet that's breathable and easy to adjust
For winding mountain routes these quickdraws with included mini carabiners are a huge help
Say goodbye to buying different belay devices for every type of climbing—the Smart Alpine does it all.
Light enough to carry comfortably, hefty enough to be a lifesaver.
The latest in skull science and safety
BACKPACKER and CLIMBING have teamed up to bring you a one-stop resource for scaling the best treks and technical climbs in the country.
Stainless steel crampons that bite into ice and repel slushy buildup.
A versatile belay device that works with single, double, and some twin ropes. It also offers active braking support.
Head high with an axe, crampons, and more.
Carry in comfort, from dayhikes to hut trips.
A pack built for climbers.
Stay comfortable and safe with this easy on and off harness.
A great lightweight axe for mountaineering.
Keep your pack light with this twin rope.
The best hikes near Moab, Utah.
Helmets are like any good protection; you'd rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it.
Enjoy solitude and fixed-rope scrambling on the East's highest mountain.
The roof of the world is open to everyone, and your personal Mt. Everest is waiting.
Get a taste of the vertical alpine world--no experience required.
Knot tying is an essential skills for the backcountry, and knowing the lingo is essential to learning how to tie knots. Here's a vocab lesson to get you started.
Tackle our toughest and least-crowded routes in the Grand Canyon with this interactive map.
Bag a peak every day (and a view every step) on the country's highest-elevation footpath.
Learn where solitude reigns--and why. Plus: Tackle the hardest Big Ditch route we've ever published.
The top peaks for every type of hiker.
This epic trip is hard, dry, steep--and gorgeous. The Cranberry Route--the final leg of this challenging loop--is the boldest, hardest scramble our scouts have done in the Grand Canyon. Study the key steps of this eight-mile section and see more details at
backpacker.com/hikes/637440. Warning: Don't attempt this route without advanced navigation skills.
Supreme stickiness on rock in a lightweight hiking shoe
The lightest carabiner
Add security on steep terrain with the simple hip belay.
Gross a glacier or handle snow travel on big peaks with this versatile mountaineering axe.
Traverse snow and ice safely with the right set of points.
Get sweaty and stay warm–this is the ideal hat for cold weather climbing.
Explore these redrock mysteries safely with expert tips on gear and technique.
Climb, scramble, and mountaineer with the stable Variant pack.
Tackle trails, boulder fields, and steep peaks with the climber-geared Marmot Eiger 48 backpack.
Bring along your winter toys— L.L. Bean's Mountain Guide pack can carry anything from ice climbing gear to skis.
Take Black Diamond's practical Predator 50 with you on any trail, anytime.
Scramble up anything with the North Face's climber-oriented Spire 40 backpack.
Pack up the weekend toys for your outdoor activity of choice in Marmot's ultralight–and ultra cheap–Alpha 25 backpack.
Run, climb or ski with the low profile Black Diamond RPM pack.
We tested more than 500 products–stoves, clothes, cameras, filters, tech tools, knives, and meals–to find these proven performers.
Trek across the roof of the Andes, mix in some trail riding–on bike and horseback–and climb a 19,000-foot volcano.
Test your scrambling skills–plus sea kayak, rock climb, and scuba dive the Gulf of Orosei Coast.
Walk, bike, and raft between a string of glaciated peaks; then ladder-climb 2,500 feet up a sheer rock face.
Float, backpack, and mountain bike Canada's wild west coast.
Experts dissect the missteps in five recent hiking tragedies
A staged photo op in the Tetons results in a near-crushing.
Stunned by the loss of his friends, a stranded climber struggles down one of Alaska's toughest peaks.
Which is the bigger backcountry threat, grizzlies or flash floods? Find out what should scare you–and how to survive it–with BACKPACKER's Terror Index.
Test your self-arrest skills on Mt. Adams's 12,276-foot fractured glacier.
Get vertical on a tricky class IV route to the top of Granite peak.
Check out the Cloudveil Hobak, EMS Aurora Shell Pant, L.L. Bean Ascent GTX, Mountain Hardwear Dragon, and Sierra Designs Cyclone Eco
With a light climbing rope, shoes, and harness, you'll be packed and ready to hit the rock in no time.
Learn the Dülfersitz rappel and safely lower yourself off of a steep pitch with only a rope.
With the right preparation–and a little help from a half-dozen friends, two exotic techno-gadgets, and one very sweaty hypoxic chamber–can a sea-level-dwelling rookie climb the highest peak in Colorado?
Duct tape isn't always the best fix for busted gear. When a torn strap or blown seam halts your hike, try these strong and simple ties.
Traverse Guadalupe Mountains National Park to the state's airiest perch.
The best gear in the world can be worthless in the wrong conditions. That's where Backpacker's Perfect System comes in.
You won't go far with sore feet. So our testers went the distance–5,000 miles, to be exact–to bring you the best shoes for every foot and hike.
When a scramble turns to a nightmare learn how to help yourself.
Secluded coastline and bikable rain forests are just two things waiting for you in Mexico
By foot, kayak, or on top of a Boulder, North Georgia has plenty of outside activities.
Master these skills to make your axe a tool—not a toy.
Hiking, climbing, and fishing in this New South boomtown.
Hike, bike, and climb in this Utah gem--much more than a skier's paradise
Forget Sunset Boulevard. The City of Angels' abundant coastline and steep canyons will have you creating your own walk of fame.
Got summit fever? The sky's the limit with a fitness plan and climbing tips from world-class mountaineer Ed Viesturs.
Don't let a steep hike keep you from the best views. Put these vital mountaineering tips to use this weekend.
A special pocket makes hydration easier for backpackers carrying this midsize.
Idaho is full of surprises--whitewater in the country's deepest canyon, endless climbing at City of Rocks, and high, wild scrambles in the Sawtooths.
Canyoning, mountaineering, kayaking, and camping, Kiwi-style
You'll never confused Plains with plain after exploring these hard-changing hiking, biking, and climbing routes.
The toughest high point in the lower 48
Hit the high point and move on to the other attractions this park offers.
Here are tons of tree-climbing resources to get you started.
Can't make it to Canada? Try Glacier Peak, Baker Peak, or Catamount Mountain
Helpful tips for scrambling Canada's Rocky Mountain parks
Explore the past on Otero Mesa
Watch out for rough weather and serpentine-like roads as you drive up to this highpoint.
A favorite among mountaineers
Will anyone ever climb the dangerous northwest face of Alaska's Devil's Thumb? Maybe they shouldn't.
Here is your chance to tag six summits in only 3 days.
Why do we bonk at 14,000 feet?
This summit offers the finest view anywhere of the Grand and surrouding peaks.
This summit will put you high above what many consider to be Colorado's finest mountain range.
Explore a glacier-covered forest near the Canadian Rockies' highest peak
Giant cliffs and numerous waterfalls are among the stunning sites that can be viewed along this Colorado hike.
Just minutes from Anchorage lie dozens of world-class hiking and paddling trips. This guide gives you the best, plus gear and travel tips to smooth the way.
Hike to see arty rock sculptures left by the last Ice Age into the Wisconsin rock.
Calculate real mileage by accounting for slope in the mountains, and you'll avoid getting into camp after dark.
A definitive guide to the hottest, sweetest, looniest, and most colorful spots in the great outdoors.
It's as big as California, boasts more volcanoes than Alaska, and counts nearly as many geysers as Yellowstone.
Deep in the heart of the forbidden Tibetan kingdom, a long-awaited adventure inherited from the author's father takes an unexpected twist.
Do you have what it takes to climb Alaska's Denali? Find out with our mountaineer's guide.
Planning to climb Mexico's famous volcano Iztaccíhuatl? Start with our online guide.
Mount Kenya offers classic climbing to all backpackers
The Obelisk offers a remote climbing challenge far removed from other Sierra hotspots.
Jasper National Park, Alberta
Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska
Kilimanjaro National Park, Tanzania
Haystack Mountain offers a sweet climb in Wyoming's remote Wind River Range.
Yoho National Park, British Columbia
Tuolomne Meadows monarch Mount Conness has been a classic Yosemite climb for years -- and for good reason.
Try climbing the standout Banner Peak, just around the corner from Mammoth Lakes.
Aconcagua's West/Southwest Face offers climbers more challenge on the Western Hemisphere's highest peak.
Try this ultra-scenic route if you attempt North America's third highest peak.
Dolomites, Italy
Matthes Crest features superb climbing deep in Yosemite's backcountry.
This spire deep in Wyoming's Wind River Range serves as the climbing pinnacle of the Cirque of the Towers.
Jungles, coral-reef wading and rocky scrambling await Tahitian adventure hikers.
The Bossi Bivouac Hut offers culture and comfort at the base of the Matterhorn.
Hike into the Collegiate Peaks Wilderness and you'll enjoy Colorado's best summer school.
High above the trees you'll find the hike of your dreams: a ridgeline trail where your only companion is an occasional mountain goat.
Everything you need to know about hiking in the high country, from talus hopping to finding the right gear to dealing with wind and glaciers.
Take the finest mountains in the world, add high-country meadows, glacial valleys, alpine lakes, pine-and-hemlock forests, and what do you have? A recipe for backcountry bliss.
Consider these points when deciding if an approach shoe is right for you.
High on a Montana mountain, the mystery of a long-lost climber continues to unravel for those willing to make the arduous trek and search for clues that literally lie at your feet.
Sure, you can summit Mt. Rainier, but the real treasure isn't on top. It's the Wonderland Trail down below.
The French-Canadian trappers are long gone, but the grizzlies and waterfalls remain in this alpine nirvana.
Before you cinch up your gaiters, consider the best way to keep the wicked weather and bits of terrain at bay.
Wyoming's Medicine Bow National Forest is just what the hiker ordered.
If I had to pick, I'd take a carabiner instead of a pocketknife when I hike.
Hike or climb this pristine pink-granite wonderland just outside Austin.
Sometimes walking "backward" is the only way to go in New Hampshire's White Mountains.
Majestic peaks rise in all directions in Washington's Boulder River Wilderness -- elegant, jagged, draped in snow.
Besides being home to a mythical reptile, Colorado's Lizard Head Wilderness is the site of some great hiking.
In the European high-country Alps you can wander through the most stunning mountains in the world. Vive la difference!
After hours of searching through ice chunks and piles of snow on Shishapangma Mountain, searchers have called off an avalanche rescue mission to find American climbers Alex Lowe and Dave Bridges.
Gain a raptor's-eye view of the world in Colorado's Eagles Nest Wilderness.
Jim Lockart of Pughtown, Pennsylvania is part of a unique group who have scaled all 50 states' highest peaks.
What happens when you go from sea level to altitude too fast? One brave editor found out the hard way, and offers her blow-by-blow findings in hopes that you don't suffer a similar fate.
Who needs Everest when you can have these eight summits, all hikeable, all close to home, no sherpas or yaks required.
In every backpacker's life, there comes a time when you stare awestruck at a mountain and wonder, "What's it like to climb that sucker?"
Great Basin's Mt. Moriah is a big mountain of solitude.
Hike like a conquistador through Colorado's Sangre de Cristo Mountains.
Forget what CNN and Your Daily News say about Yosemite's crowds and crime and traffic. the "treasure of the Sierra" is still a golden place for backpackers to escape.
If you like stunning mountains, challenging trails, breathtaking scenery and warm temperatures in winter, New Zealand is your ticket to paradise. Just watch out for the thieving parrots.
The Continental Divide in Rocky Mountain National Park is a place of reckoning and, given its trackless nature, a place of choices. To a young man who came of age here, it offers perspective on paths not taken.
Wilderness doesn't get much better, or higher, than Holy Cross.
