Smiley’s Project: North America’s Fifty Classic Routes
Saturday, May 29th, 2010THE GOAL: To be the first people to climb all of the routes made famous by a book published in 1979, Fifty Classic Climbs of North America. No married couple has attempted such an endeavor to climb over 164,000 vertical feet of technical terrain on a road trip that will cover over 25,000 miles.
Mark Smiley’s interest in outdoor recreation is continually evolving. At the age of twelve, he enjoyed rappelling out of maple trees in the front yard, to now putting up first ascents on technical 20,000’+ glaciated peaks. Mark is an AMGA Certified Rock Climbing Guide and AMGA Certified Alpine Aspirant Guide. He has also done a 1st Ascent on Huascaran Norte, Peru (21,858’), sent CloudTower, Red Rocks, NV (5.11d) and done a Ski Descent: Fuhrer Finger, Mt Rainier WA.
Janelle Smiley grew up climbing, skiing, and playing in the mountains of Colorado. Her hunger for snow adventures has taken her to Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, France and Italy where she explored and taught skiing. She is the Director Events & Ski School, Crested Butte Nordic Center, a Wilderness EMT, 5.11 Lead Rock Climber and Randonee, Running & Mountain Bike Racer.
Story and photos by 
Cuba, 
In the early 1970s, a small band of young rock climbers, decked out in bandanas, shades and cutoffs, came together and blew open the conventions of climbing. Dubbing themselves the Stonemasters, these now-legendary adventurers established techniques that allowed for some of the most spectacular climbs to be done with a minimum of apparatus. Beyond their unsurpassed skills as climbers, the Stonemasters embodied a lifestyle-they were loud, proud, smoked dope, chalked their lightning-flash insignia across rockfaces, took the light stuff seriously and the serious stuff lightly-and the glamour of this lifestyle made a massive impact on 1970s youth culture across the world. Among the first Stonemasters were Rick Accomazzo, Richard Harrison, Mike Graham, Robs Muir, Gib Lewis, Bill Antel, Jim Hoagland, Tobin Sorenson, John Bachar and John Long, but the character or myth of the Stonemaster caught on like wildfire, spreading from coast to coast and across the ocean, and spawning Stonemasters everywhere. Here, Dean Fidelman’s thrilling archival photos reveal for the first time an era defined by risk, camaraderie and nonconformity. Tales from original Stonemaster John Long and others recall the highs and lows of the early days-a magical time in the annals of adventure sports.
