Virtual view of real-world highs

Climber.org

The beauty of this site lies not in stunning graphics or Web design but in its simplicity. Apart from some whimsical home page art, climber.org leaves the dazzle to contributing climbers’ and hikers’ personal dispatches and updated reports on scaling the heights of the American West and peaks around the world. A trove of firsthand climbing information (especially for California peaks), this site is also a community, and the people who contribute are passionate about their trips.

Its massive database of trip reports is the core of the site. Here fellow climbers take you high and outside with detailed run-downs of their climbs.

Other departments include feature articles, maps and driving directions to trailheads. The site also provides links to online hiking and climbing resources, clubs, discussion boards and even a page on how to build your own backpack.

-- Michael Koehn