Half a dozen climbers, wearing nothing more than shorts and rubber-soled climbing shoes, are gathered around a large boulder in Camp 4 in Yosemite National Park. They are all trying to crack Midnight Lightning. With its 20-ft. overhanging rock face and minuscule handholds, it presents one of the best-known bouldering challenges in the country. As yet another climber burns out after only two moves and falls back onto the mattress-like crash pad, the talk turns to the impact of climbing on the natural environment--a hot topic among climbers. Kurt Hack, 37, from South Bend, Ind., points to a cedar tree that...
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