rock climbing

Spain's Alberto Ginés López climbs during the Sport Climbing men's combined final of the Tokyo Olympic Games.

An 18-Year-Old From Spain Wins The 1st Olympic Gold Medal In Climbing

3:14pm August 05, 2021

by Merrit Kennedy

Several athletes were tied for first as they began the final climb. The elite climbers faced off in three events, testing their speed as well as their problem-solving.

Uluru, seen at sunset from a designated viewing area earlier this year in Australia's Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. The sandstone monolith will be closed to climbers permanently Saturday, in a blow to tourists' aspirations and a boon to the aboriginal p

World News

Ban Will Soon Keep Climbers From Tackling Sacred Monolith In Australia

8:17pm October 24, 2019

by Colin Dwyer

For decades, Uluru's indigenous keepers have watched as visitors tried to scale the massive rock formation that they consider holy. But that's set to change Saturday, when the ban will take effect.

Tommy Caldwell uses "tiny razorblade edges" in the rock wall to support his body weight on El Capitan's Dawn Wall.

Sports
Arts

'It Looked Impossible': New Film Follows Free Climbers Up The 'Dawn Wall'

2:09pm November 20, 2018

by Dave Davies

Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson were the first to free climb to the top of the southeastern face of Yosemite's El Capitan. "It's as sheer and as vertical as the side of a skyscraper," Jorgeson says.

Queue Listen Now

People watch as French urban climber Alain Robert ascends the 46-story Heron Tower in central London on Thursday.

World News

'French Spider-Man' Arrested After Scaling London Skyscraper Without Ropes

5:44pm October 26, 2018

by Ruben Kimmelman

A man who has climbed many of the world's tallest buildings has done it again, this time in London.

How To Survive A 10,000-Foot Fall

6:18pm August 24, 2018

by Paul Chisholm

Sometimes people who fall great distances survive. How do they get so lucky? Scientists share the secrets of an implausible safe landing.

The El Capitan monolith in California's Yosemite National Park, seen in June 2015. On Wednesday, climbers Alex Honnold and Tommy Caldwell managed a feat in under two hours that most climbers take days to achieve — scaling the famous "Nose" route up the

Landmark Climb: Alex Honnold, Tommy Caldwell Scale El Capitan In Under 2 Hours

5:24pm June 07, 2018

by Colin Dwyer

The feat has been compared to the four-minute mile or a two-hour marathon — "but vertically," one climber adds. Still, they beat the impossibly steep odds Wednesday in California's Yosemite Valley.

#NPRreads: Ben Carson's Memory And A 14-Year-Old Rock-Climbing Phenom

3:55pm November 13, 2015

by Laura Wagner

Also this week: a conversation between U.S. and Chinese sailors about pizza and wings (among other everyday topics).

Mount Eiger in the Swiss Alps stands at 13,025 feet and is considered one of the most difficult Alpine climbs in Europe.

Climber Could Become 1st Woman To Conquer 'Wall Of Death' Route

9:05pm August 25, 2015

by Laura Wagner

American Sasha DiGiulian is posting vertigo-inducing updates to social media as she scales the north face of Mount Eiger, an infamous Swiss peak.