I was told it must’ve been awful for a person like me to spend the large majority of days locked down in a cell. Every “awful” thing is an opportunity for the spirit to rise above. Words and art by Isaac Wright, published in Volume 22, now available The truth is that nature…
Please join us for the first “Zine Thing” of 2026. Details below. Banner photo of Felipe Garcia by Ivan Iozza, which will be the back cover of Volume 26.
I love being challenged by the nature that has been sculpting the rock faces of our planet for many centuries. Nature is the most superior routesetter, and I believe that even for contemporary routesetters in the climbing gyms, nature is the source of their primary inspiration. But just like routesetters in the gym, nature doesn’t…
I’d been driving past this rock, near Hanksville, for years. It’s just begging to be climbed but looked impossible without drilling a ladder of large holes for spikes (rebar? footing stakes?) of some kind. And what kind of fun is that? The “rock” appeared to be too soft to nail, too crumbly to bolt. There…
Shop our redesigned Dirtbag State of Mind design in hoodies, shirts, and stickers. Design by Mallory Logan.
Journal entry from 10/15/2014 Zion is the word. Despite all of our differences, to so many people the meaning of Zion remains the same: a place of refuge, a utopian ideal of peace, unity, and freedom. We may not be religious pilgrims, but even as travelers, as climbers, as humans, when anyone asks where we’re…
I know he knows. Adam Lawton is proud. In every group of adventurers, there is a leader, and every great leader must be a visionary. Adam dreamed the dreams for the entire crew. He found excitement in little breakthroughs, like the time I got a job dishwashing at Crossroads Cafe in Joshua Tree—he couldn’t have…
Banner photo: The author on her winter project, Crystal Dawn (5.13d), Red Rocks, Nevada by Max Barlerin Waiting for a storm to go or the sun to come, or the doubt to go or new shoes to come, or the pump to go or a move to stick, or the snow to snow or waiting…