When life looks like Easy Street
There is danger at your door
—Grateful Dead, “Uncle John’s Band”
I’m sitting here writing on a cold October morning in El Potrero Chico; yesterday seemed to be summer, and today old man winter showed up. It’s the type of weather, combined with all the war and sadness in the world, that makes me want to listen to Bob Dylan and just sit with it all.
Note: this piece is the introduction for Volume 24 (photo of our crew, El Potrero Chico Season 2023-2024)
Climbing and our community are what keep me from falling into despair. It’s a constant cycle: the joy of doing this is often met with the reality that tragedy is written into our story lines. Lauren Delaunay Miller described the ups and downs of the climbing life as “the joy pendulum” in an essay she wrote in Volume 12, which was later published in The Climbing Zine Book 2. If we seek out the highest of highs, we will often know the lowest of lows.
Ed Webster on the first ascent of the Gothic Pillar, Black Canyon, Colorado. Photo: Ed Webster Collection
For our last issue, I had the honor of working and getting to know Lisa Webster, the wife of the late Ed Webster. Ed had recently died, and at the encouragement of Jimmie Dunn, I connected with Lisa to see if we could republish one of Ed’s essays in The Zine. With the help of Jeff Achey and the librarians at the American Alpine Club, I ended up finding the piece “In The Company of Friends,” which was originally published in 1977. Lisa gave us her blessing and was beyond generous with her time, as we had several phone calls discussing the process.
Our correspondence has continued over the months, and in one card, she wrote something that has stuck with me, a quote of Ed’s that she paraphrased by saying, “Friendship is the first belay.”
Perhaps this quote has stuck with me so much because I am at a cycle of change in my life—a new season. By the time this zine is printed, I’ll have had forty-five years of life. For many years I had the same consistent climbing partners and rarely branched out to meet new ones. But in the last couple of years, I’ve had to meet new people.
Connecting with a climbing partner can be similar to connecting with a romantic partner. Sometimes the magic is there; sometimes it isn’t. The best relationships, on or off the rock, have an unexplained chemistry. Deep connections often make me wonder about past lives—like that feeling when you meet someone who you seem to understand and feel comfortable with right away, with no real explanation of why.
Here in Potrero, I have a mix of both. I try to recruit my old friends to come visit, and I have to meet new people here. I have to admit, even though I am a known figure in the climbing community here, I stress out a lot about finding partners. When there’re stretches of time when my regular partners aren’t here, I wonder if I’ll find people that I cannot only tie in with but also feel comfortable with trusting my life on the sharp end and sharing the downtime with, the small, sacred moments of silence between pitches.
Even though I stress, things always seem to work out. Not everyone I climb with creates a deep, meaningful connection, but those magical partners often seem to emerge out of nowhere.
As I write this, it’s currently the shoulder season in Potrero; only a few climbers are here. Last night I was hanging out with every climber staying at La Posada—six in total—and we were playing a card game called Exploding Kittens, which was hilarious, intricate, and fun.
There were six of us from four different countries, and as I sat there and reflected, I realized that two weeks ago I didn’t know any of these people. Since then we’ve put up new routes, drank and ate together, and shared life. I can’t imagine anything else that I do in my life besides climbing that would create this sort of connection.
Friendship is the first belay. And with that intention, The Climbing Zine has checked your knot, the GriGri is locked, helmets are secure, and you’re on belay. We hope you enjoy this volume as much as we enjoyed putting it together.
Peace,
Luke Mehall
Publisher
Author of American Climber and The Desert
Microdose Mixtape and American Climber 2 coming in 2024!
luke@climbingzine.com
