Thule

Every spring the summit of Mount Everest draws people from around the world. But in its shadow live the Sherpa, a resilient, religious people, who, despite the riches surrounding the highest peak on earth, are still quite poor and uneducated. A child of the Khumbu, Apa Sherpa climbed Everest 21 times. Pulled away at the age of 12 to work as a high altitude porter, like so many others, he would leave his family for months, risking his life on the mountain. Through his work at the Apa Sherpa Foundation, he aims to create a different future for his people.

"Friction Addiction" brings you an amazing summer of daring run-outs and highball first ascents from the sharp end of South Dakota's Black Hills. John Gill provides historical insights into the cradle of American bouldering, and John "The Verm" Sherman, Kurt Smith and a host of Dakota and Colorado locals check their mettle against the crystalline South Dakota granite.