Many climbers approach rock climbing with a purely performance-oriented mindset. They want to climb as ‘hard’ as they can. Why? Climbing hard is cool and supposedly makes you a hit with whatever type of person you want to be a hit with at parties. Despite the varying approaches, there’s one thing performance-oriented climbers are all obsessed with—and that’s numbers.

The spring issue of the 2023 New Zealand Alpine Journal is now making its way out to members and subscribers through the mail. We hope you enjoy perusing it over the holiday period.