Cedar Wright^[1] and Matt Segal^[2] are not new names in the adventure world. Both are professional climbers who have been sending it on the most difficult cliffs and crags, with more than 43 years of experience between them. But last year, they decided to become beginners again and start at square one, learning how to paraglide. The result? Wright’s new film, Fledglings, and a lot of lessons about what it means to be humble, aim high, and take a few falls.

“I wanted my experience of learning to paraglide to be a testament that every expert was a bumbling beginner at one point,” Wright says. “I’ve been climbing for 25 years — at that point your relationship changes with a sport. I’m passionate about it, but learning to paraglide brought back that insatiable obsession that you get when you find something fresh. It captured my imagination and I couldn’t help myself — it is a beautiful discovery to be able to learn to improve every day.”

RELATED: Paragliding Off the Most Dramatic Cliff in the U.S.^[3]

Only nine months after Wright and Segal started paragliding training with professional pilot and coach Matt Henzi^[4], they set their sights on their first air expedition: being the first people to paraglide off the summit of Mexico’s tallest mountain — the 18,491-foot Pico De Orizaba. “Like all great modern adventures, it started with a Google search. I searched ‘really big volcanoes’ and thought Orizaba looked perfect.”

But it wasn’t going to be easy to the summit from square one. “I think that when you’re new to something it’s easy to put constraints on yourself and not dream big enough, but I wanted to prove that even as an amateur you can pull off something that’s amazing,” Wright says. “But learning to paraglide was such a humbling thing. When we started I couldn’t even get the parachute over my head.”

After crashes into trees, out-of-control spiraling in the air, countless hard landings, and failed takeoffs in their short time as paragliders, Wright and Segal certainly seemed to be aiming high and risky when they chose Orizaba. Launching off the summit of a mountain into a Jetstream of air was not going to be easy to pull off. “I was super nervous,” says Wright. “All I could think was, ‘Holy crap, we’re at 18,000 feet and we need to keep our shit together.’ ”

And they did. The team launched and descended over 9,000 feet over the course of about 25 minutes, landing about 10 miles away from the summit. “It was a cathartic, rapturous flight,” says Wright. “The odds were stacked against us, and we pulled it off.”

RELATED: Climbers Cedar Wright and Alex Honnold Respond to Clif Bar^[5]

That kind of reclamation to the joy of sports and adventure is what Segal and Wright hope to inspire with the Fledglings project. “It’s good for all of us to try something new. What’s a better feeling than to be excited to learn?”

An extended version of Fledglings is set to premiere at the Telluride Film Festival^[6], which will be held September 2–5. In the meantime, Wright says he plans to continue flying down mountains and cliffs, instead of hiking and rappelling. “I never have to dread going back down a mountain again — I just get to fly away.”

References

1. ^{^} Cedar Wright (www.cedarwright.com)
2. ^{^} Matt Segal (www.mattsegal.com)
3. ^{^} RELATED: Paragliding Off the Most Dramatic Cliff in the U.S. (www.mensjournal.com)
4. ^{^} Matt Henzi (www.surftheclouds.com)
5. ^{^} RELATED: Climbers Cedar Wright and Alex Honnold Respond to Clif Bar (www.mensjournal.com)
6. ^{^} Telluride Film Festival (www.telluridefilmfestival.org)

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If you aren't a competitive rock climber, you may have missed a very interesting trend in the sport: Teenage girls are dominating. In January, at USA Climbing’s 2016 Bouldering Open National Championships, an 18-year-old named Megan Mascarenas handed reigning women’s champion Alex Puccio her first loss since 2006. In March, 17-year-old Margo Hayes from Boulder, Colorado, won the women’s sport climbing division at USA Climbing’s 2016 Sport & Speed Open National Championships. Her fiercest competitor was another 17-year-old, Grace McKeehan from Texas. Simultaneously, Claire Buhrfeind, 17, also from Texas, captured the National title for Speed Climbing, setting a new U.S. women’s record for 10 m in 5.64 seconds.

"In the past few years we've seen a growing field of young women climbers pushing limits to the highest level and beyond,” says Dave Burleson, Petzl’s athlete manager. “For 2016, for the first time ever, we have teenage girls standing as national champions in bouldering, sport, and speed — all three disciplines of competitive climbing.”

RELATED: Are Climbing Gyms the New CrossFit?^[1]

Competitive climbing is booming right now, with the biggest growth among teenage women whose numbers have nearly doubled in the past five years. It’s no wonder the sport is experiencing dramatic leaps in progression (look at snowboarding in the early 2000s), but why the dominance among young women?

Many think that at least part of it is physical. In climbing, the strength-to-weight ratio plays a huge role in an athlete’s success. It could be that small, lightweight teenage girls who’ve already gone through puberty — and therefore possess the strength and coordination that comes with an adult woman’s body — have a unique advantage.

This is the case in gymnastics, where teenagers often outperform their adult counterparts. “I remember reading that a 13- or 14-year-old female gymnast has the best strength-to-weight ratio of any athlete in the world” says Garrett Gregor, head coach of Team ABC^[2], a competitive youth team based out of ABC Kids Climbing in Boulder, Colorado.

But in climbing, unlike gymnastics, there's a level playing field between the genders. Men and women train together indoors, and outside they aspire to climb the same lines. So will women soon be out-climbing men?

ALSO: The Best New Climbing Gyms^[3]

If you take Ashima Shiraishi, the 15-year-old from New York as an example, they already are. Shiraishi became the first woman, and the youngest person male or female, to climb a V15 last month (a 30-move bouldering problem named Horizon, located at Mount Hiei, Japan). Shiraishi is already the first female climber ever to send a 5.15 sport-climbing route, which she accomplished when she was just 13 years old. Only a handful of adult male climbers have succeeded in sending routes at this level — which is at or near the limit of what’s currently possible.

For now, however, Shiraishi is something of an outlier. The website 8a.nu^[4], which tracks self-reported ascents in the outdoors and ranks climbers worldwide, still shows a performance gap between junior women, defined as 18 and under, and junior men. In bouldering, for example, Megan Mascarenas, the reining U.S. National Champion in the discipline, is ranked 1st among junior women worldwide, but drops to 5th when you add in the junior men. “It’s certainly true that there are a lot of young ladies pushing the sport right now,” says Alex Honnold. “But so are the boys.”

Some contend that the dividing line isn’t gender, but rather type of climbing. “My prediction is that in the future, women will prove to be the best on certain styles of climbing, and men on others,” says professional climber Tommy Caldwell. 

When you look to what's happening on the big walls outside of competitive climbing, the general consensus is that there are too many variables to crown any one person king (or queen). “You’ve got people like Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson — guys in their 30s — making the first ascent of the Dawn Wall on El Capitan, considered the hardest free-climbing route in the world,” says Robyn Raboutou, former World Cup Climbing Champion and the founder of ABC Kids Climbing. “How do you compare that to, say, Ashima being the first woman on earth to send a 5.15, and doing it when she was just 13-years-old?”

References

1. ^{^} RELATED: Are Climbing Gyms the New CrossFit? (www.mensjournal.com)
2. ^{^} Team ABC (www.abckidsboulder.com)
3. ^{^} ALSO: The Best New Climbing Gyms (www.mensjournal.com)
4. ^{^} 8a.nu (www.8a.nu)

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Everest is open for business for the first time in two years, but can the mountain survive another year of turmoil? Credit: Jonathan Griffith / Aurora / Getty Images

Everest is open for business for the first time in two years, and while the climbing season is now well underway, it won’t be business as usual. Last year’s earthquake, which killed 22 people in Base Camp — and more than 8,000 in the tiny Himalayan country — may have irreparably changed the way that climbers, guides, and Sherpas approach the mountain. Many outfitters, citing a lack of clients, decided against expeditions this year. Those that are going must deal with fallout from the earthquake and the previous year’s avalanche in the Khumbu Icefall, which killed 16 Nepalese climbing guides and raised a host of questions about the ethics of climbing a mountain that requires so much hired help. We talked to the biggest names on the mountain to hear their thoughts. Here’s what they said.

RELATED: Is It Ethical to Climb Everest? Conrad Anker's Take^[1]

North vs. South Side

The South Side has long been the go-to route for Everest climbers, but after the tragedies of the last two years, many guides began to reconsider the north side, which avoids the deadly Khumbu Icefall, but puts climbers in the “death zone,” above 26,000 feet, longer. Even more problematic from a guiding standpoint, the north side Base Camp is in Tibet, and China has often pulled permits on a whim because of political turmoil there. Getting scuttled in that manner could be ruinous to a guiding company that’s invested huge sums into a trip.

“I specifically wanted to climb it from the north side. You avoid the Khumbu Icefall. And it’s not nearly as crowded as the south side. I understand the risks of the north side: It is colder and windier. And on your summit push, you spend a lot more time up high in the so-called death zone. But I felt this was a more acceptable risk than the crowds and the Khumbu Icefall.” —Chad Jukes, climber

“I prefer climbing from the south (Nepal) side for several reasons: The summit day is safer, less exposure to high winds means generally warmer temperatures, less distance means less time out exposed, and its easier to pass other climbers than on the north side [where a long ridge makes passing challenging]. I also enjoy the Sherpa culture and the very beautiful trek through the Khumbu valley to Base Camp. On the north side, you drive to base camp, and it's a barren plateau with a longer, less technical climb overall. Permits are also less certain.” —Garrett Madison, guide

“I weighed the cost-benefit of both sides, but I realized my boyhood dream when I pictured Everest was always climbing it on the south side; I always just kind of pictured it that way.” —Colin O’Brady, climber hoping to complete the Explorer’s Grand Slam in six months

ALSO: Kilian Jornet Offers First Details of 2016 Everest Speed Record Bid^[2]

The New Khumbu Icefall Route

In 2014^[3], a serac broke loose high up on the mountain, creating an avalanche that caught a team of 25 Sherpas ferrying loads through the icefall, killing 16 of them. At the time it was the single biggest disaster on the mountain, and caused many people to reconsider the route through the icefall, with many arguing that climate-change-driven ice melt was making the usual route unsafe. Last year the route, which is installed by a crew of Sherpas called the Icefall Doctors, was moved toward the center of the icefall, away from high peaks that could let loose massive chunks of ice, but climbers were never fully able to test it out before the season came to a sudden end after the earthquake.

“There were changes after the 2014 avalanche that needed to occur as the local Nepalese consortium that were `fixing’ the climbing route through the icefall had been positioning the route under a very active set of ice cliffs that posed an extreme hazard to a large number of people. The reason they had the route going that way was because the terrain underneath it was easier than a less threatened route out in the center of the icefall. It was easier precisely because of the avalanches that sweep that part of the icefall and fill up the crevasses. Efforts to get them to place the route were met with resistance, and it was only after the 2014 event that they agreed to reposition the route.” —Guy Cotter, CEO of Adventure Consultants

“It’s more work to put the route into the middle of the icefall because there are more crevasses there, so it requires more rope, more ladders, and more manpower. But from a natural hazard point of view, it’s safer.” —Dawa Steven Sherpa, managing director at Asian Trekking

“Sherpas are carrying loads father distances, and climbers are climbing longer distances, but it leaves you less exposed to avalanches and big pieces of ice that have come down in the past.” —Colin O’Brady, climber

“It’s basically the same as 2015, and that was not a whole lot different than 2014 — just a few meters towards Nuptse. Each year the route is different and changes throughout the season, so a comment about the condition today would not be valid tomorrow. When I went half way up a few days ago, I found few ladders and more real climbing involved. It was fun!” —Alan Arnette, climber and Everest chronicler

Sherpas Taking Over The Guiding Companies

On Everest, western guides and their companies have long dominated the scene, hiring Sherpas as support staff primarily. The western guides booked the clients; the Sherpa do the hard labor to carry food and equipment up the mountain and set ropes to the top. The Sherpa guides get paid extremely well for this work by Nepalese standards, but the 2014 icefall avalanche, which killed 16 Sherpa, brought to light an uncomfortable reality: Western guides were essentially outsourcing their riskiest jobs to a people who would be extremely reluctant to say no. It’s even viewed these days as a form of neo-Colonialism. But in recent years the mountain has seen a dramatic rise in the number of Sherpa-lead and Sherpa-owned expeditions, which means they can make decisions for themselves, but also comes with it’s own downsides.

“Nepali companies have become stronger, more professional, and more capable of organizing expeditions. Meanwhile, Sherpa climbers have become internationally certified just like Western climbers. These sorts of things are changing the scene at Everest. There are more Nepali-owned companies on Everest, on other mountains, and on trekking routes now than ever before.” —Dawa Steven Sherpa, managing director at Asian Trekking

“Everest belongs to the Sherpas, but the biggest issue we’re seeing is the increase of low-budget Nepalese companies who are selling the trip for $25–30K per client. The downside to that is, with the Nepal government taking $11,000 per person for the permit, plus other fees, which brings the cost per person up to $12–$13K, those companies aren’t left with enough money to run a proper expedition, to pay their staff well, and to have properly trained Sherpas. Any American who decides to go climb Everest for $30k needs to understand that in order to do that, someone is paying the consequences, like Sherpas with no training who are put in a position to be so-called guides but don’t know how to tie a figure-eight knot. And they make absolutely nothing; they have the lowest possible salary. And no emergency protocols. If something goes wrong, if someone gets hurt, it’s the expeditions with the proper training and resources who are called upon to help.” —Guillermo (Willie) Benegas, guide and co-owner of Benegas Brothers Expeditions

“I have written extensively about the change on the Himalayan mountains with Nepali companies competing on price while the traditional companies compete on service. There is room for everyone. The market is large for Himalayan climbing.” —Alan Arnette, climber and Everest chronicler

Should People Still Be Climbing Everest?

In the wake of two disasters, it’s a question that’s on the mind of many climbers present and past, like Jon Krakauer, who calls climbing Everest his “biggest mistake,” and says that he wishes he’d never gone. “I’m the last person [who] should tell people not to do crazy shit, but think twice about it,” he told The Daily Beast.

“This is the first time in 20 years that I’m not going to the Himalaya in the spring. Like many of us, I had to do some soul searching [regarding Everest], not just after last year, but after the last couple of years, to decide if I wanted to be there. Ultimately, I decided I did, but it had to be under the right circumstances. And those circumstances didn’t come together for 2016. I told RMI [Rainier Mountaineering, Inc.] that I didn’t want to lead group trips anymore. The nature of guiding a group is there will be some people who are very ready for Everest and some people who aren’t. When you agree to guide a group, you’re going to take all of that on, that’s part of it. I hate to sound old and tired, but my preference now is to scale that down and take responsibility for only myself and a client or two. That means I only want to do private guiding for select clients who are willing to pay a premium. So I guess I raised my standards at a time when perhaps that priced me out of the market. What can I say? The last couple years were pretty difficult over there. If I had to beg to go this year and scramble to find a way, well no.” —Dave Hahn, Rainier Mountaineering Inc. guide who’s summitted Everest 15 times

“We probably could have run something this season; it would have been smaller than our usual four to six people, but sitting back just feels like the right thing to do. At the same time, I wouldn’t be honest if I didn’t say it was also due to a lack of clients. People want to sit and wait and watch right now. We’ve been super fortunate in the last couple of years not to have had any mishaps with our folks or our Sherpa. It’s been some really rough times on Everest, and we’re comfortable sitting this year out. We plan to go back next year.” —Peter Whittaker, guide and co-owner of Rainier Mountaineering, Inc.

“We decided not to do Everest this year. We didn’t have enough clients to make a full trip. We had interest — two clients, but decided to postpone to next year. We do an entire year of training offerings, so we’ll have a group that’s super capable of climbing Everest next season.” —Guillermo (Willie) Benegas, guide and co-owner of Benegas Brothers Expeditions

“When people have a camera pointed in their face directly after a tragedy, of course they’re going to say, ‘That’s it; I’m not coming back.’ Some of our older Sherpa staff have retired, and some guides have called it a day or taken a break from going to Everest. That is no surprise in the face of the events of the last three years. However, because of that, we have a few new faces in our Sherpa team who are young and enthusiastic who have been trying to get a position with us for some time.” —Guy Cotter, CEO of Adventure Consultants

“Yes, there are some Sherpas I know who have quit. Yes, there are some Western guides I know who have quit. But to chalk it all up to the avalanche or earthquake I don’t think is fair, because in the meantime there have been many changes in the industry.” —Dawa Steven Sherpa, managing director at Asian Trekking

“Having been in Nepal training last year, I was curious to see, do the Sherpa people want people to climb in Nepal or do they not? There was an overwhelming sentiment that I felt that they want people to come, they want people to climb, they are proud of their mountains, they are proud of their history, and there is, of course, the economic benefit of having climbers there. So for that reason I hope it’s a successful season for everyone.” —Colin O’Brady, climber

“Every climbing season brings a fresh start after a 10-month gap, so from that perspective there is a lot of optimism. There is also a realization within the government, the industry, the associations, the businesses, and the Sherpa themselves that we need to be collaborating this year to having a smooth season.” —Dawa Steven Sherpa, managing director at Asian Trekking

“There is definitely a lot of pressure for the Sherpa communities who depend on the income from this to have a safe and successful season. You have one bad season, okay, but you have two and now three … at what point do people just stop coming back?” —Colin O’Brady, climber

“A lot of Sherpas want to improve the reputation of Everest that they perceive has been tarnished, and I felt a great degree of collaboration when I was setting up our base camp recently, not only from our staff but amongst people I met from all the teams. The Sherpas working on the mountain are very aware of the risks, yet are keen to re-invigorate the industry that is based around Everest, as it's a lucrative earner of income for many hundreds of people, not only on the mountain but in lodges, portering work, food production, transport, and so on. With Everest returning to ‘normal’ they will once again have money returning to their region with which they can rebuild their homes in the aftermath of the earthquake." —Guy Cotter, CEO of Adventure Consultants

“The climbers and Sherpas I have met are excited to be here — for the work and the opportunity. There is a quiet optimism that 2016 will be a no-drama year with no natural disasters, etc., but of course, no one can control that.” —Alan Arnette, climber and Everest chronicler

References

1. ^{^} RELATED: Is It Ethical to Climb Everest? Conrad Anker's Take (www.mensjournal.com)
2. ^{^} ALSO: Kilian Jornet Offers First Details of 2016 Everest Speed Record Bid (www.mensjournal.com)
3. ^{^} 2014 (www.mensjournal.com)

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Credit: Adam Clark / Getty Images

The phased-out battle of snowboarders versus skiers is raging again after a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday in favor of Alta Ski Area^[1] east of Salt Lake City, Utah, upholding the resorts ban on snowboarding.

The case has been ongoing since 2014, when nonprofit organization Wasatch Equality^[2], helmed by pro snowboarder Bjorn Leines, filed suit against Alta, stating that their ban violated the U.S. Equal Protection Clause. Fast forward two years later and a few appeals and the same big question remains: Does a private business (such as Alta) have the right to prohibit or discriminate specific users and access to federal public land that is being leased?

RELATED: Sick Spring Ski Deals to Jump on Now^[3]

The 10th Court Circuit of Appeals states that Alta does have a right to continue upholding its ban on the basis that the U.S. Forest Service didn't influence the decision and therefore it wasn't a blanket "state action" that could have amounted to discrimination.

Bans have been attributed to marketing appeal in the past, with Alta’s slogan of “Alta Is For Skiers” and pushing the area as the toughest skiers-only mountain in the west. Management has claimed in the past that its guests simply don’t want to share the slopes with snowboarders, and it is in their best interest to cater to a more exclusive clientele. Only two other resorts in the country, Deer Valley^[4] (which is also just outside Salt Lake City) and Mad River Glen^[5] in Vermont still ban snowboarding. And it sure doesn't look like any of them will be changing their client-base anytime soon.

RELATED: How a Backcountry Skiier Survived a Night With Pack of Wolves^[6]

If the Court of Appeals had ruled in favor of lifting the ban, all three resorts would have to face questions on the legality of their bans. That ruling could also open the questions regarding use of all public land access, such as use-specific trails, where mountain bikes are not allowed. 

References

1. ^{^} Alta Ski Area (www.alta.com)
2. ^{^} Wasatch Equality (www.facebook.com)
3. ^{^} RELATED: Sick Spring Ski Deals to Jump on Now (www.mensjournal.com)
4. ^{^} Deer Valley (www.deervalley.com)
5. ^{^} Mad River Glen (www.madriverglen.com)
6. ^{^} RELATED: How a Backcountry Skiier Survived a Night With Pack of Wolves (www.mensjournal.com)

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Credit: IFMGA

On the day of her American Mountain Guide Association ski exam, Julia Niles decided to boot pack up the mountain. Her instructor, a certified mountain buff who’s been respected in the industry for more than 25 years, told her that she should skin up. She saw that he was right, but wanted to assert her own choice. So she boot packed. When she reached the summit and threw down her skis to make the descent, one popped off and slid down the mountain. The whole way down. She failed the ski exam simply because of her choice not to skin up.

PHOTOS: 196 Adventures, One in Each Country^[1]

It’s trial-by-fire exams like these that the AMGA believes make good guides great. The severity reinforces that the wrong decision in the field can have a high cost. And when you are in the mountains with clients, it can cost much more than a lost ski.

“That failure was so defeating, but it was the best thing that happened to me during the certification,” Niles says. “It taught me so much about facing the pressure of making choices in the mountains and making them for the right reasons: because you’re confident in yourself, your education, and your experience.”

Niles is now the fifth American woman to attain the International Federation of Mountain Guides Association (IFMGA^[2]) certification through the AMGA. It is the most prestigious accreditation for mountain guides, and was established when the AMGA was inducted into the IFMGA in 1997. Now it’s the only internationally recognized credential that allows guides to work in any country worldwide. And there’s a reason why it’s so respected: It takes, on average, five to seven years to attain. “It’s the doctorate of the mountain guide world,” says Jane Anderson, AMGA Guide Program Manager. “It’s as far as you can take it, and if you get there, you are in the elite of your craft and profession.”

Just like a higher education degree, the IFMGA certification requires hopeful guides to be accomplished in the field before they start the program. First, all guides must be Level II^[3] Avalanche certified, and most have already been working as professional guides for five or more years. Once accepted into the program, hopefuls must pass entry courses, advanced courses, and exams in three disciplines: alpine, rock, and ski guiding. Rock climbing is the pre-requisite for both Alpine and Ski courses, so all candidates start with mastering the cliffs. But simply to be accepted into the entry-level Rock Program, a guide must have experience climbing for at least five years, led 10 traditional climbs graded 5.10a or harder, led or shared-lead on 50 multi-pitch climbs, 10 of which are Grade III or longer. To put it lightly, you have to be a damn good climber to even be considered.

“A track this difficult takes a lot of passion for guiding,” Anderson says. “It takes a lot of patience and perseverance. It takes dedication to getting out and being an active guide, as well as being active with your own personal experience and skills. This level requires commitment to training mentally and physically.”

Alan Rousseau is one of the most recent IFMGA grads at AMGA. He began guiding at age 19, as an intern at Utah Mountain Adventures. He attained his first AMGA rock-climbing certification by age 20, and quickly realized that he wanted to get on the IFGMA track as soon as possible. “A lot of guides I looked up to had the certification," he says. Rousseau enrolled into the IFMGA program in 2008. Eight years later, and now he has a pin (awarded upon graduation) that only 109 other Americans have. “It definitely means a lot to have the certification,” says Rousseau. “During the process you need to take time to reflect on what you are doing and learning to get the most out of it.”

The goal is to graduate with the experience necessary to face any situation Mother Nature could throw at you in the wild. By the time a guide has completed seven courses and are ready to take the final three exams, they have:

• Guided 10 days in diverse alpine terrain since completing the Advanced Alpine Guide Course.
  
• Climbed ice routes rated 4+ or harder.
  
• Guided 20 days on multi-pitch routes, seven of which are Grade III or longer, and three of which are Grade IV or longer.
  
• Guided 10 days in ski mountaineering terrain.
  
• Completed 10 personal ski descents with at least five on glaciated terrain.
  
• Skied at least five personal descents that are on 45-degree slopes or steeper. 
  

“The mountains are scary. They’ve taken the lives of a lot of my friends," Niles says. "Many times, people don’t understand why they did or didn’t get into trouble out there. But I have the framework of knowing why things are safe or not. I have the tools to adapt to any environment, any pursuit, and any mountain. And those are the most amazing things to earn.”

References

1. ^{^} PHOTOS: 196 Adventures, One in Each Country (www.mensjournal.com)
2. ^{^} IFMGA (www.ivbv.info)
3. ^{^} Level II (alpineskills.com)

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