The Adirondack Alpine Journal began publishing in 1983, based in Keene Valley, NY – the heart of the Adirondacks. It began as a passion and hobby until the end of Issue 8, when the business model to keep going was unsuccessful.  The following posts are articles digitized from the Journal.

  • Ice: the Final Frontier

    Ice: the Final Frontier

    Often I wonder to myself why certain people are drawn to frozen water. Not just from the perspective of an ice skater, but to that of those who search out […]


  • Ski Adventures in the Adirondacks

    Ski Adventures in the Adirondacks

    The High Peaks receive an average annual snowfall of 120″. Much of this falls in single storm accumulations of 8-12″. In February and March, just after one of these storms, […]


  • Chapel Pond Pass Drawing

    Chapel Pond Pass Drawing

    Chapel Pond pass is a rock climber’s paradise. Some lovely slab climbing on one side, steep steep Spider’s Web on the other. Click on the drawing to get a 1100 […]


  • Hike the Northville Lake Placid Trail

    Hike the Northville Lake Placid Trail

    A book review by Robert Hey, 1986. The 132 mile long Northville-Placid Trail is a sleeper among the East’s extended hiking trails. The Appalachian Trail from the New Hampshire border […]


  • Ski-Shoeing

    Ski-Shoeing

    Written by Carl Heilman, March 1984 Well, there’s downhill skiing, cross country skiing, skijoring, and now ski-shoeing. Skis-shoeing isn’t exactly a combination of activities at once, but rather a combination […]


  • Skiing Off The High Peaks

    Skiing Off The High Peaks

    In winter, distances shrink when traveling on skis in the Adirondack High Peaks. Remote summits and hidden slides can be reached in a single day. First there is the aerobic […]


  • The Zen Belay

    The Zen Belay

    Nothing foils the lead climber more than the zen belayer. So picture two climbers up a route on a crag. They are hundreds of feet off the deck and the […]


  • A Day in the Life

    A Day in the Life

    It was a sluggish beginning. A yawn and a stretch led to motivation and the ritual of dressing: a step into the polypropylene, followed by wool pants and a sweater. […]


  • The Great Mountain

    The Great Mountain

    written by Geoffrey Johnson, May 2008 Trees were not alwaysAs they are thusSwaying languidly in tranquil dazeLong ago they were ferociousAnd roamed wild through the landsFeet of root and strong […]


  • Ice is Nice in Chapel Pond

    Ice is Nice in Chapel Pond

    This is a cool collection of photos about ice-climbing in one of the Adirondack ice playgrounds. Besides the wonders of Chouinard’s Gully and the heinous icicles right over Chapel Pond, […]


  • Out on Ausable Lake

    Out on Ausable Lake

    Out on Ausable Lake in the High Peaks of the Adirondacks. These pictures go way back twenty years ago to the age of Black and White photography. Lots of interesting […]


  • The North Face of Gothics

    The North Face of Gothics

    This is an image gallery from an April 1984 climb of the North Face of Gothics.


  • PDF Issues of Adirondack Alpine Journal

    PDF Issues of Adirondack Alpine Journal

    Here are the available documents you may download:


  • Camping Packing List

    For the last car camping I took to New Hampshire, here’s the list I compiled:


  • The Pick of the Matter

    The Pick of the Matter

    An Insight in Ice Technique Written by Rob Cotter, 1984 “We are Homo Sapiens, the tool users. We earn The name by developing tools to increase our leverage on the […]


  • India: A New Discovery in an Old World

    India: A New Discovery in an Old World

    Written by Eric Pfirman in January 1984. Pictures by Eric Pfirman. In May 1984, three adventurers from Syracuse, New York left for a Himalayan journey. Eric Pfirman and Micheal Rodriguez […]


  • The Top Ten Adirondack Peaks

    The Top Ten Adirondack Peaks

    The following descriptions concern the discovery, naming, and first ascent information for a few of the Adirondack High Peaks. All of the data and drawings in this article were taken […]


  • Mountains Of The Middle Kingdom

    Mountains Of The Middle Kingdom

    The Pamir plains would one day be the meeting place of Afghanistan, Russia and China. But now this high elevation steppe was not claimed by any human government; and it […]