What is Alpinist?
Alpinist is a quarterly magazine of climbing writing, founded in Jackson Hole, Wyoming in 2002 by Christian Beckwith and Marc Ewing, closed for financial reasons on 16 October 2008, and relaunched on 15 April 2009 by Height of Land Publications of Jeffersonville, Vermont, which bought the brand and also publishes Backcountry. Its editor-in-chief since August 2022 is Derek Franz.[1] [2]
What does it cover?
“The art of ascent in its most powerful manifestations”: long-form features and narrative, mountain profiles, climbing notes and first ascents, alpinism’s history and its art, in print four times a year with a web newswire between issues. It carries minimal advertising, no sponsored content, and is funded by sales and subscriptions.[1]
What is its reach and standing?
No circulation is published. Its standing is literary: it is the English-language journal in which alpinism’s significant ascents are written up at length by the climbers and by the genre’s established writers, under editors — Michael Kennedy (2009–12), Katie Ives (2012–22), Franz — who are themselves part of that culture.[1] [2]
Since when?
2002; suspended October 2008; continuous since April 2009.[1] [2]
Why does it matter in mountaineering?
Because mountaineering has no championships and its record is written, not scored. A first ascent recorded in Alpinist is the sport’s equivalent of a result in a federation database — the durable, edited account of what was climbed.[1]
References
- Alpinist — About Alpinist. Accessed September 2026.
- Wikipedia — Alpinist (magazine) (background: 2008 closure, 2009 relaunch). Accessed September 2026.