 The Legacy of 'Rocky Mountain High'
Back a bona fide Colorado-o-phile into an argumentative corner and force him or her to answer the question: “What is the most-famous Colorado song of all time?” (Beer might be required.) You are likely to get the very rational response, “America the Beautiful,” penned by Katherine Lee Bates in 1893 after she stood for little more than an hour atop Pikes Peak.
 Real Colorado Ski Hills
The annual ‘Resort Roundup’ (published last year as “The Ski Bum’s Guide,” MG #137) is easily the most commercial piece of pandering that we publish in the Mountain Gazette. Designed in concert with our regular equipment column, Gear-O-Rama, it’s meant to stoke the fires of Rocky Mountain retail and fatten our magazine with ad pages galore.
 Rocky Mountain Wildflowers
73 photos by Samantha Christen - Climbers who spend more time looking at the ground than at the skyline will enjoy this amazingly colorful collection of wildflowers, sunsets and environment shots from Colorado and Wyoming's Rocky Mountains. You've probably seen them as you stomped by, but can you indentify indian paintbrush, blue flax, aconitum columbianum, anticlea elegans, delphinium nelsoni, stonecrop, bistorta bistortoides ...
 California's Sierra Nevada Mountains
Photos by Nathaniel Walker — Take a tour of some fine, Sierra stone in the Golden State. From yellow-lichen-crusted foothill boulders on the East Side to airy, isolated alpine summits, the "Snowy Range" contains some of the most spectacular granite formations in the world such as: the South Face Charlotte Dome, Yosmeite's El Capitan, The Mathis Crest in Tulomne Meadows, the Evolution Traverse, the Hulk, the East Face of the Whitney Massif, Owens River Gorge and more.
 Ko Lao Liang - Paradise in Thailand
Photos by Gerhard Schaar — On my second trip to the limestone wonderland of Thailand, I started off at the mecca of Ton Sai. After only a couple nights I moved on to Ko Lao Liang which is a great little resort and more quiet. Not far from here is Koh Yao Noi, one huge perfect beach with the adjacent cliffs. After ten days it was time to move on again. Back in Ton Sai, for a few days then to Chiang Mai for a few days of climbing at the Crazy Horse Buttress. Then to a new place, Chiang Daeng, to check out some newly established lines. At the nearby village, we witnessed some real Thai culture, soon to vanish as the the old generation passes away. A great experience and so different to the super touristy south.
 Hampi: Southern India's Bouldering Mecca
Photos by Sonnie Trotter / www.sonnietrotter.com - Located near the town of Vijayanagar in southern India, the granite boulders at Hampi offer something for everyone, whether your seeking double digit V-grades or an enlightened cultural perspective. In January, 2008, the day after News Years Eve, Sonnie Trotter and his girlfriend Lydia Zamorano boarded a plane for southern India in search of rock climbing, yoga, and a new lifestyle experience.
 Jesse Von Fange - East Coast
Photos by Jesse Von Fange - East coast rock and ice climbs from the New River Gorge, WV; Old Rag Mountain, VA; Shenadoah National Park, VA; Red River Gorge, KY; Seneca Rocks, WV; and the Salmon River Gorge, NY. Visit: Fotos & Times of a Blue Ridger — vonfang.blogspot.com for more.
 Earth, Wind, and Rubble
Zion has always been a land of tight spots. The main canyon constricts until it becomes a deep wound in the earth. Hand cracks have a way of widening into 5.9+ squeezes, which have a way of opening into 5.10 chimneys.
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 The Annapurna Circuit
Photos by Marie Jo Valdeyron - World traveler Marie Jo's passion is trekking, mountain climbing and photography. Recently she traveled to Nepal and completed the famed Annapurna Circuit. The route takes most trekkers about twenty days passing by small villages, stunning landscapes and massive 8000 meter peaks. Marie Jo lives in the southern French town of Montpellier. For more adventures visit: dharmaquest.com
 The Mountains of Alaska by Air
Photos by Paul Roderick / TalkeetnaAir.com - Carrying climbers, skiers and sightseers to the remote regions of Alaska is what Talkeetna Air Taxi (TAT) specializes in. Climber, photographer and owner of TAT — Paul Roderick — has years of experience on Denali and other peaks throughout Alaska. In this gallery he's captured a handful of awe-inspiring shots of TAT aircraft, climbers and the wild Alaskan places like: Denali, Huntington, Foraker, Hunter, Dickey, Bradley, Moose's Tooth, Kichatnas, Ruth Gorge, Lacuna Glacier, Whistler Glacier and more.
 Spring Break at Joshua Tree
Photos by Andrew Chasteen — A trip into the west is a welcomed treat for a trio of rock-hungry Midwesterners. Jeremy Collins, Jarod Sickler and I had resolved to brave the LA smog for a chance to crag in the clear skies and desert rocks of Joshua Tree National Park and the San Jacinto Mountains; AKA Tahquitz. An old, used guide was loaned our way and pointed us in the direction of such classics as Loose Lady, Hot Rocks, Left Ski Track, Clean and Jerk, Walk on the Wild Side, and The Vampire. Five days later, we tucked tail and headed back home with aching bodies and a couple of photos to share.
 The Kilimanjaro glaciers are turning straight to vapor
An Interview by Navaya ole Ndaskoi with Alex Lemunge / East African Voyage Ltd - The Arrow Glacier is no longer on Kilimanjaro. The Heim Glacier was a very famous for glacier climbing before 1996 but now almost all of it has evaporated. The Northern ice fields are mostly gone as well and half of the Fortangular glacier has receded.
 Going Greek on the Island of Kalymnos
The street is dark and quiet except for the laughter of a group of climbers stumbling back from a bar and the far-off whine of a scooter. I hear the surf on the gravel beach of the Greek island of Kalymnos, a small, rocky outcropping in the Dodecanese near the coast of Turkey, and my thoughts are of steep moves on climbs whose names end in “-os.”
Omiros, Kerveros, Eros — the routes are tipped-back concoctions of pockets and tufas and stalactites, and my forearms remember them as a butt remembers a spanking.
 Climbing Mont Blanc - Chamonix, France
Story and photos by John Wutzer - In August, 2008, as I checked into my hostel for a week long climbing class in Chamonix, the hostel manager asked me if I had heard. Heard about what I replied? He indicated that a freak ice and snow avalanche buried 8 climbers at 3 am on their way to the Mont Blanc summit via the du Tacul route.
 Legends of the Costa Blanca
Text and photos by Dougald MacDonald - The Costa Blanca, a 50-mile swath of beaches and limestone cliffs on Spain’s eastern coast, between Murcia and Valencia, is one of the great winter climbing destinations of the world.
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