This portfolio captures the energy, focus, and athleticism of vertical movement across the iconic and craggy cliffs of the American West. I’ve photographed climbers on everything from the granite walls of Yosemite, the Sierra, and Cascades to the sun-scorched sandstones of Red Rock and Grand Canyon. In images spanning routes such as desperate sport clip-ups at the Hurricave, to trad routes at underground classics such as “More Sand than Stone,” to alpine ridge routes found in Steck and Roper’s “50 Classics,” I’ve attempted to blend the action of climbing with serene moments of introspection. Sprinkled amidst the portfolio are images depicting the peripheral moments and details core to climbing.