The Climbing Zine is a creative collective fueled by passion, dirt, and rocks.
Luke’s conversation with Sam MacIlwaine, who contributed the poem “Dirtbag” to Volume 25 of The Climbing Zine, and is also featured on the back cover of that issue. Subscribe/ score some books/clothes/stickers: https://shop.climbingzine.com/ Our sponsors for Season 7: Kilter: http://settercloset.com (email holds@kiltergrips.com for more information) Osprey: https://www.osprey.com/ Scarpa. Use this link to shop Scarpa products, and The Zine…
Typical Sunday used gear peruse. Filing through overpriced ultralights. Old green rock empire robot. Outdated, unwanted, undervalued… “Perfect.” This cam had chemistry, To be there for someone in the thinnest of situations, In the wildest of areas, Attached at the hip. Now devoid of adventure, Grown apart, Told that it’s not the…
Screams are a colorful thing. Each one has its own distinct message. An anger, a joy, a pain. The nature of each rings clear somewhere deep in our instincts. From the sound alone, you can practically see the scrunched nose and raised upper lip of a shout delivered in loud fury. Yet slightly muffled as…
Is climbing as innate as sharing, copulating, greed, or even walking? Many evolutionary biologists would offer that the essence of climbing can be found in our DNA. It is hardwired into us, this desire to be in the vertical world. And beyond that desire, our bodies are built for the physical challenges of climbing. by…
To kick off Luke’s summer climbing road trip, he stopped in Moab, Utah for this conversation with Mary Eden, also known as the Trad Princess. Our sponsors for Season 7: Kilter: http://settercloset.com (email holds@kiltergrips.com for more information) Osprey: https://www.osprey.com/ Scarpa. Use this link to shop Scarpa products, and The Zine will get a portion of the sale:…
The reflection targets my disfigurement. If only the borders of this mirror could protect the rest of the world from my hideousness. My life’s insignificance rampages through my thoughts like an atrociously loud party that never ends. Nothing I do is good enough. I want to expunge my existence on a daily basis. Not even…
A black fin of sandstone protrudes from the right side of the crack. I pinch it like a tufa and look up at the iron ring. Next stop, ring, I tell myself. Feet up, then hands. I layback the crack for a few moves and then pull in to stand atop the fin. It wiggles…
There are climbing partners, and there are the climbing partners. The partner you want to climb to the ends of the Earth and back with. The one you’d follow all the way to the moon. The one who eats, drinks, and breathes climbing. The climber who is not only skilled but also a student of…
