Part 2 of our conversation with Sonnie Trotter, author of the new book “Uplifted” and host of the podcast “Stronger Than You Think”. 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: https://alnk.to/3ye6GT2 Subscribe/…
Joshua Tree National Park is a refuge. I don’t know if I’d decided this by then, sitting folded into the crook of Cyclops Rock, but I felt it. The stone bench was smooth, from water and wind and hands and feet and seats, narrow enough to let our legs dangle over the edge, leaning back…
The black-and-white photograph is small and square, half a century old, showing my grandmother posing in front of the dark, mysterious walls of the Black Canyon. As I study the image, I quickly realize that she is witnessing a time period in 1961 when there is not a single documented rock climb of any significance…
In the late 1300s, experts point to drought and other environmental stressors impacting the Puebloan people in the Southwest leading toward societal collapse. My people, the Diné, the Athabaskan-speaking migrants from the north, also began to place pressures on these societies. Resources like food and water became increasingly scarce, and preventing theft or raids by…
I was tempted to stop climbing altogether. At the very least, I wanted to quit off-width. I lost a lot of enthusiasm for wide climbing and felt like my naïve, hopeful “gumby” phase was over. That phase is special to me because being new at something was all about the experience, everything is awesome, and…
“There were no girls when I started climbing [in England],” Alan said, in a tone more serious than joking. I’d just met Alan Carne only twenty-four hours before, on a warm September day seeking refuge in the shade of the 4×4 Wall at Indian Creek, and we instantly became friends, that kind of instant friendship…
As I’ve said and written before, my favorite thing about publishing The Zine is the connections it helps create. I am able to connect with people that I wouldn’t otherwise be connected to if I didn’t publish this zine. Thus is the case with the legendary climber Jimmie Dunn. by Luke Mehall I met…
UPDATE: the paperback edition of Squeak! has been released. You can get a copy of the book here. Longtime Zine contributor and all around good guy, D Scott Borden announced the release of his children’s book, Squeak Goes Climbing in Yosemite National Park. Borden wrote the story and our wonderful designer, Mallory Logan did the…