climbing

As metaphors for the American dream go, Gabriel Tallent’s taut and engrossing second novel, “Crux,” is exceedingly direct: It’s literally a book about climbing.

Its two main characters, Dan and Tamma (short for Tamarisk) are 17-year-old high-schoolers living in the scruffy outskirts of Joshua Tree National Park. Whatever free time they can scrape together is wholly dedicated to climbing boulders, despite their lack of equipment — neither can afford pads or ropes to break their falls, and Dan salvaged his climbing shoes from a dumpster. (Hard living is Tallent’s specialty: His 2017 debut, “My Absolute Darling,” centered on a tween girl living by her wits in a forest near the Mendocino coast.)

No romance is in the offing between the two — Dan is straight and Tamma is exuberantly profane about being gay — so their bond is built almost entirely around climbing. “Any day you were going to climb granite was the best day in the world,” Tallent writes.

Tallent is well-versed in the lingo of the sport, and some of the book’s finest, most lyrical passages are constructed around it: “Her left foot greased out from beneath her, and she came cheesegrating down the slab,” he writes of Tamma slipping on a boulder. There’s no glossary, but the main terms are clear enough: to “send” a climb is to finish it; a “crux” is a crucial pivot point. The language is infused with intensity, lust and earthy rudeness: Climbs have names like Fingerbang Princess and Tinkerbell Bandersnatch.

Dan and Tamma are climbing toward something, of course: He’s pursuing a college scholarship and she is determined to infiltrate the world of professional climbers. If that doesn’t pan out for either of them, Tamma figures they’ll just chuck it all and live off the grid in Utah: “After graduation, you just go, ‘I’m not going to college! PSYCH! I’m going to Canyonlands with Tamma! Later, bitches!’ Then spike your diploma to the floor and walk out.”

But as her intensity suggests, both of them are running from things too. Each of their families are struggling, laid low by astronomical, ever-escalating medical costs and poor relationship decisions. Tamma’s mother is partnered with a drug-dealing layabout; Dan’s mother, a onetime successful novelist, has a worsening heart condition.

It doesn’t help that civilization seems determined to cut them off from the desert’s wonders. Crowds of weekend warriors limit their ability to climb in isolation, and the region is rapidly filling up with “mansions, survivalist compounds, movie-star bungalows” and more.

“Don’t ever mistake this for a country in which you can set off on your own,” Dan’s father tells him. “It’s not a place dreams come true, at least not anymore.”

If the novel stayed in that lecturing, gloomy zone, it’d be easy to lose patience with it. More often, though, Tallent demonstrates his characters’ precarity rather than declaiming about it. Dan has legitimate reason to wonder whether his college applications are worth filing in an era of late capitalism and a dying mother. Tamma is trying to find the emotional stillness to deal with a dysfunctional family that makes plenty of demands but offers little support. In that regard, “Crux” recalls the best recent novels that have drilled deep into the physical and emotional damage of life on America’s lower rungs: Atticus Lish’s “The War for Gloria” (2021), Barbara Kingsolver’s “Demon Copperhead” (2022) and Ayana Mathis’ “The Unsettled” (2023).

Such a list might also include “My Absolute Darling” too. But where that novel was intentionally defined to make the reader feel closed in, here the Mojave Desert vistas are free and expansive; whenever Dan and Tamma make a break for the boulders, it’s as if their hearts have cracked wide-open. “Every crunching footstep was real,” Tallent writes. “And when you were up on the rock, then every crystal, crack, and ripple was endowed with indissoluble, life-saving importance, each dike and chickenhead inalienably itself.”

But if the desert offers a source of inspiration and possibility, it’s also an inescapably punishing landscape, and the main theme of the novel is how much success — especially now, especially in America — is going to have to depend on individual resolve. Culturally, this typically gets framed as alpha-male, gym-rat bluster about bootstrapping. Here, a woman commands most of the stage. Tamma’s best lines in the novel are unquotable in a newspaper — they involve physically strenuous sexual fantasies involving Ryan Reynolds and various members of Fleetwood Mac — but her exhortations are typically 10 parts insult to five parts inspiration, with a dash of terror that she may fail. “I’ve seen into your heart, dude,” she tells Dan. “Your mom, she doesn’t know who you are, but I do. You’re not that guy. You don’t want to be safe.” It’s fun, headlong reading with a shot of melancholy. She’s trying to convince him, and her — and maybe us.

Dan, as bookish as he is athletic, approaches matters in a calmer register: “How should I conduct my life? Do you trust yourself, or do you not?” Still, the fear and frustration are much the same, and in this novel the tension, smartly and lyrically rendered, is at once wide as the horizon — how do we survive in this country? — and narrow as the slightest of nearly invisible footholds its characters require to get even a little bit ahead.

Athitakis is a writer in Phoenix and author of “The New Midwest.”

Unforgettable cycle ride on the Tour de France route

When tackling a big cycling challenge, choose an event with strong support – it makes all the difference. Riding the full Tour de France route with Ride Le Loop was tough, but the incredible staff turned it into an unforgettable experience (riders can tackle individual stages too). Their infectious enthusiasm and constant encouragement kept spirits high, even on the hardest climbs. They not only looked after logistics but created a warm, positive atmosphere that bonded riders together and amplified the joy of the journey. My advice: pick an organised challenge where the team cares as much about your success as you do. The next one is 27 June to 20 July 2026.
Neil Phillips

Running the quieter trails of the Swiss Alps

If you’ve got a week to spare and want to experience quieter parts of the Alps in summer, then the Swiss Peaks Trail races, ranging from 10km to 643km along some of Switzerland’s most runnable mountain trails, are for you. I chose the 100km route and disappeared into a world of barely trodden peaks, challenging scree slopes and turquoise tarns, sustaining myself on punchy raclette cooked by enthusiastic aid station volunteers. The run finishes at Le Bouveret on the south-eastern shores of Lac Léman (Lake Geneva) for a cold plunge. From 25 August-6 September in 2026.
Eleanor

Running from Asia to Europe in the Istanbul Marathon

Last November, I participated in perhaps the only organised running race in the world that starts in one continent and finishes in another: the Istanbul Marathon. I booked a week there to get a feel of the city and culture but the race itself allows you to do this, passing modern and ancient landmarks on the route. A £50 entry fee secures you free use of public transport on the day of the race, including ferries. The start is so spectacular, with runners streaming west across the 15 July Martyrs Bridge as the water laps below, heading towards Beşiktaş then to the Dolmabahçe Palace on the coast road hugging the banks of the Bosphorus. I found it inspiring to look up as I ran to see the city skyline with its majestic minarets glistening in the sunshine, seeming to urge us on. The Golden Horn and the beautiful Blue Mosque beckoned me onwards to the finishing line where delicious Turkish tea, meze and figs served by the race organisers and supportive spectators awaited all runners. The 2026 race is on 1 November.
April

Swimming in Lord Byron’s wake, Italy

I was lucky enough to live in Genoa for several years and participated in the most poetical swim of my life in more ways than one. The Coppa Byron is an annual swim across the Gulf of Poets, from Portovenere to Lerici, to commemorate the legendary aquatic feat of Lord Byron when he was visiting his friend Percy Shelley back in the 19th century. It happens on a Sunday at the end of July or early August (2026 not yet announced) when the water is warm and the views are to die for. Anyone can do it for an entry fee of about €20 (depending on when you register), which includes a swimming cap, drinking water, advice and a completion certificate. The 8km crossing takes 2-3 hours and there are boats accompanying the swimmers for support. All participants are greeted by cheering well-wishers on arrival in Lerici, where a hearty lunch is on offer at the Ristorante delle Palme.
Nick

Trekking Kilimanjaro the right way

The Lemosho route up Kilimanjaro takes trekkers through rainforests, moorland and alpine desert, with lots of opportunities for spotting wildlife including monkeys, antelope and beautiful birds. The effects of altitude can hit anyone, but taking a longer route makes this a challenge achievable for most fit and trained walkers. The summit day is long, but the adrenaline will see you through, and there is no technical climbing anywhere on the route. However, be aware that there are a lot of unscrupulous operators offering quick trips up Kilimanjaro, treks that don’t provide enough acclimatisation time, using poorly treated staff. I paid a premium to do the climb with Ian Taylor Trekking and am so glad I did – the conditions were great for trekkers and I was reassured that the staff supporting us were well paid and equipped, with good training to support their career development. Other good companies exist – do your research!
Pamela

The scenic route from the Dolomites to Venice on two wheels

We recently cycled 200 miles from Bolzano to Venice – the scenic route. Starting in the dramatic scenery of the Dolomites, we then pedalled through lanes surrounded by vineyards. We sampled soave and valpolicella wines at unhurried lunchtimes. Descending southward, we enjoyed a ferry passage along the beautiful Lake Garda on our way to Verona, city of Romeo and Juliet. We loved exploring the architectural genius of Palladio in Vicenza, before continuing on to Padua, cradle of the arts. After a wonderful week with all our luggage and hotels taken care of by cycling specialists Girolibero, we reached the Venetian lagoon, and the timeless beauty of Venice.
David Innes-Wilkin

Abseil from London’s highest helipad

Hitting my 70s, I was keen to do a charity challenge. Seeing the London Air Ambulance in Hyde Park frequently, I discovered it was their waiting zone for emergencies. I got chatting with the pilot who told me about the charity abseil from one of the highest helipads in Europe, at 90 metres. What a challenge, staggering views and an amazing charity. Something truly different.
Angela

Winning tip: a fancy dress marathon through Bordeaux vineyards

“A marathon?!” I scoffed. Surely not a feasible plan for a glaringly average runner like me. But the marathon in question was the iconic Marathon du Médoc, a festival-esque affair north of Bordeaux with more than 20 stops that allow runners to savour the Gironde region’s world-famous red wine and cuisine. The dealmaker? Each stop allows access to the grounds of the area’s most beautiful chateaux, a timeless elegance that is re-dressed each September with the arrival of 8,500 raucous participants in fancy dress. The estuary town of Pauillac is the central base for the race, and, of course, the surrounding countryside is best enjoyed with a bottle of bordeaux red, gifted enthusiastically at the finish line of this brilliantly festive affair. This year’s is held on 5 September.
Adam McCormack