• Bi-Polar Odyssey

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  Margo Talbot, always dreamed of climbing Weeping Pillar, for years her focus was consumed by her desire to overcome manic-. Bi-Polar Odyssey takes the reader into where these two worlds collide. This is one woman’s journey of self-discovery, healing and leading the hardest ice of her life.

• First Ascent of WI5 “Gurrrl’s Day Off”

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  Sarah Hueniken's first ascent of the ice climbing route WI5 Gurrrl’s Day Of.

• Nicky Messner

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  One ordinary woman’s extraordinary journey to the summit of Mt. Everest

• Curly Abroad

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  Remembering Karen McNeill by Margo Talbot

Issue 8

Dear Adventur-thenas,

Thank you for your patience during our technical difficulties yesterday.  We at Alpine Athena are excited to announce our last issue of 2011, Issue 8.  It’s full of gear reviews to help you pick that perfect gift for your special Adventurista this holiday season, a new article from the Life on Lead column, and a new column – CragMama Chronicles.

Life coach and climber chick, Amy Christensen walks us through how to beat fear of exposure – both in climbing and life in the latest Life on Lead column article.

We have new Gear Reviews of some very cool gear from many of the industry’s top companies: Sterling’s 9.8 mm Evolution Velocity Rope in a snazzy Athena color, Lowa women’s Mountain Expert GTX mountaineering boots, Arc’teryx women’s Atom LT Hoody jacket, Outdoor Research Aria Vest, Black Diamond Woman’s Distance FL Z-Pole, La Sportiva Gamma GTX Boots.

And, we’re excited to announce a new column, CragMama Chronicles, for all you climbing mamas or future climbing mamas (or even future climbing papas, dad’s will get a lot of great information out of this column too).  It’s brought to you by climbing’s own CragMama, Erica Lineberry. Every issue she will share her tips and tricks on continuing to climb after that wee-one joins your family.  The first article is Perspective on Risk Assessment.

Also, we want to hear from you, readers!  Starting in Issue 9, we will be running a Q&A column to answer all your burning climbing questions.  Email your questions to inquiringminds@alpineathena.com and each issue a number of your climbing questions will be answered by our knowledgeable staff.

Lastly, we want to thank all of you for your continued support and readership throughout our first year as a publication.  In 2012, we have many exciting new developments in the works.  To grow the magazine faster and better serve you, our reader, we are restructuring Alpine Athena to a quarterly magazine. That means more great articles, more gear reviews, and lots of important developments on the business end of the magazine.

Please email us here with your thoughts on the magazine, what you would like to see in 2012, suggestions, and any gear you would like to see reviewed.

Happy Holidays,

Genevieve Hathaway, Editor, and all the Alpine Athena staff