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Close Calls, Core Shots, and Space Shots by Amanda Kiessel

LocationsBy LukeFebruary 24, 2021Leave a comment

It was getting dark, and I was wedged hot dog–style in a two-man tent between two college boys who hadn’t…

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Patience by Chris Schulte

LocationsBy LukeFebruary 23, 2021Leave a comment

It starts with a plan like a break in the clouds. We set out thinking on the lines, the foods,…

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Shane in the Clouds

Hypoxic Dreams by Vic Zeilman

LocationsBy LukeFebruary 20, 2021Leave a comment

It’s a dingy bar. Dark and musty. Where, I’m not exactly sure, but there is a feeling of sadness that…

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Parallel Traditions by Angela Lee

LocationsBy LukeFebruary 19, 2021Leave a comment

The Korean folklore goes: the Creator called upon all domes and boulders of Korea to gather up north, where they…

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VENMO specials: $5, $10, and $20 options

Climbing CultureBy LukeFebruary 16, 2021Leave a comment

We are offering a unique way to score some stickers / zines by simply sending us some dough on Venmo.…

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Climbing Past War by Stacy Bare

LocationsBy LukeFebruary 16, 20211 Comment

The uninitiated, those who don’t climb, always ask me why I do. I normally begin my response with the statement…

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We Didn’t Have Much Time by Joanna Spindler (a poem)

LocationsBy LukeFebruary 15, 2021Leave a comment

by Joanna Spindler, published in Volume 16, now available. Banner art by Rhiannon Williams We didn’t have much time Because…

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The Zine Introduces The Complete Package

Climbing CultureBy LukeFebruary 15, 2021Leave a comment

The Climbing Zine creates stories for all our readers; whether you’re able to pay to read them or not. Most…

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A Love Letter To Climbing by Ana Ally

LocationsBy LukeFebruary 14, 20211 Comment

In 2016 at the International Climbers’ Festival in Lander, Wyoming, we held a “love letter to climbing” contest. Ana Ally was…

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On Fear, Climbing, and Depression by Sonya Pevzner

LocationsBy LukeFebruary 13, 20211 Comment

Trigger warning: This article discusses topics of depression, suicidal thoughts, and anxiety. For some, the content may be triggering. Please…

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Volume 19 – now available to order / or subscribe for 2 years for $37.99

Climbing CultureBy LukeFebruary 11, 2021Leave a comment

Although the issue was delayed by COVID, we’re proud to announce that Volume 19 is now off the press. Banner…

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The Long Run, a profile of Alan Carne by Luke Mehall

Climbing CultureBy LukeFebruary 11, 20211 Comment

“There were no girls when I started climbing [in England],” Alan said, in a tone more serious than joking. I’d…

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Powders of Persuasion by Luke Mehall (from The Desert)

DirtbaggingBy LukeFebruary 9, 2021Leave a comment

My college years in The Desert were adventurous and crazy, a complete immersion in the unknown. After I graduated, I…

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More To Give, The First Solo-Free Single-Day Ascent of El Capitan by Pete Whittaker

LocationsBy LukeFebruary 4, 2021Leave a comment

Walking up to the base of Freerider, I felt rested, light, but increasingly nervous. Two years ago, I’d never climbed…

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Show Up As You Are: The Rise of a Routesetter by Devin Dabney

Climbing CultureBy LukeFebruary 3, 2021Leave a comment

The Factory Bouldering Gym in Orange, California, was by no means small, but it felt small that day. In addition…

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Toe The Edge by Patrick Hodge

LocationsBy LukeFebruary 2, 2021Leave a comment

I promised my father I’d never free solo. I remember, as a young kid, how his voice rocked back and…

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Elegant and Brutal by Cristina Marcalow

LocationsBy LukeJanuary 31, 2021Leave a comment

I. Trapped Kaiser Santa Clara Hospital, June 2018 The haul bag sits, a stuffed pig in the trunk. Cams, nuts,…

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Escape From The Hand Brain by Luke Mehall

Climbing CultureBy LukeJanuary 30, 2021Leave a comment

Note: this piece is published in Volume 17, and it is an excerpt from his book, The Desert. Both are…

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A Journey Through Time by Adam Ferro

Climbing CultureBy LukeJanuary 29, 2021Leave a comment

The expenditure of energy on a trip of this sort is massive and one only has so much of this…

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The Zine Now Available in Europe

LocationsBy LukeJanuary 28, 2021Leave a comment

As The Zine grows in popularity we have seen more and more interest from our European readers. We are psyched…

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My Helmet by David Rozul

Climbing CultureBy LukeJanuary 28, 2021Leave a comment

I hold and turn my helmet like a classroom globe, dragging my fingers over each mark, each sign of wear.…

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Traumzeit: Sandstone Dreamtime by Tanager

Climbing CultureBy LukeJanuary 27, 2021Leave a comment

A black fin of sandstone protrudes from the right side of the crack. I pinch it like a tufa and…

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Going Out To Come Home by Stacy Bare

LocationsBy LukeJanuary 27, 20211 Comment

The night was cold, and where the moon and stars shone around patches of clouds, they were incredibly bright. There…

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30 – Grateful Hussle, Season 1 Finale

PodcastBy LukeJanuary 20, 2021Leave a comment

Our final episode for Season 1. Shout outs for the climbing podcasts that inspired us, plus Mehall reads his poem Grateful…

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An Open Letter To The Buttermilks by Georgie Abel

Climbing CultureBy LukeJanuary 19, 2021Leave a comment

An Open Letter to the Buttermilks by Georgie Abel Photos by Tristan Greszko  Dear person who climbed the Peabody boulders at…

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Just A Climber For Bears Ears by Luke Mehall and Greg Cairns

VideosBy LukeJanuary 19, 2021Leave a comment

Just A Climber (For Bears Ears) is the result of 20 years of thinking and recreating in Indian Creek. When…

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Texas Tower Redux by Josh Smith

LocationsBy LukeJanuary 17, 2021Leave a comment

Think back over your climbing career. I bet you’ll find a climb—or two—that define you. These won’t be your hardest…

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Fill The Void by Shay Skinner

Climbing CultureBy LukeJanuary 14, 2021Leave a comment

The reflection targets my disfigurement. If only the borders of this mirror could protect the rest of the world from…

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What We Talk About When We Talk About Choss by Steve “Crusher” Bartlett

LocationsBy LukeJanuary 13, 2021Leave a comment

Mudstrosity Yes, it wobbled. Three feet high, one foot wide, a foot deep, probably outweighing me, the block sat at…

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The Art of The First Ascent by Luke Mehall

LocationsBy LukeJanuary 12, 2021Leave a comment

You know you’re getting old when they start replacing the bolts you used for a first ascent. That was my…

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Do Not Go Outside To Cry by Kathy Karlo

LocationsBy LukeJanuary 10, 2021Leave a comment

I see it being used all around me to describe women, often by other women: badass. I have always considered…

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29 – Silent Partners

PodcastBy LukeJanuary 9, 2021Leave a comment

A remembrance of our fallen comrades, as well as the long gone friendships. Originally published in The Climbing Zine Book.…

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From Midas’s Touch to A Green Thumb: Remembering Doug Tompkins by Joy Martin

Climbing CultureBy LukeJanuary 9, 2021Leave a comment

Doug Tompkins opens the door to a South American summer evening. At seventy-one—stooped and shuffling, a button-down shirt tucked into…

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Silent Partners by Luke Mehall

LocationsBy LukeJanuary 6, 2021Leave a comment

I know he knows. Adam Lawton is proud. In every group of adventurers, there is a leader, and every great…

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Replacing The Seamstress Corner with Dave Marcinowski by Luke Mehall

Climbing CultureBy LukeJanuary 5, 20211 Comment

There are climbing partners, and there are the climbing partners. The partner you want to climb to the ends of…

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Friction Season in Germany by Tanager

LocationsBy LukeJanuary 3, 2021Leave a comment

My left hand cups a full undercling while my right shades the sun from my eyes. Above me, the short…

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Pain and Perseverance: Linking Sixteen Towers in a Day by Matt Pickren

LocationsBy LukeJanuary 3, 2021Leave a comment

“If you just stop for a second, I can show you there’s no road out there!” Ben said. “I know…

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28 – Somewhere in Between Dreams and Smog is Love

PodcastBy LukeDecember 31, 2020Leave a comment

Mehall gets a reminder of what life is like without climbing when he is suffering from some bad tendonitis. Stuck…

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Old Becomes New in Indian Creek by Chris Schulte

LocationsBy LukeDecember 31, 2020Leave a comment

November is closing in fast, and on this turn around the fireball, we reach a strange and interesting milestone in…

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Climbing En Plein Air by Birch Malotky

LocationsBy LukeDecember 30, 2020Leave a comment

The dance of renewal, the dance that made the world,  was always danced here at the edge of things…  …

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The Salajeet Collectors by Amanda Forrest

Climbing CultureBy LukeDecember 28, 2020Leave a comment

This story starts and ends with a chicken. On a bright morning in a high valley of the Hindu Kush,…

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Grateful Hussle

VideosBy LukeDecember 27, 2020Leave a comment

For 20 years Luke Mehall, publisher of The Climbing Zine has been writing climbing poems. In 2020 he’s decided to…

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Brad Gobright, Pure of Heart by Lucas Roman (Full Story)

Climbing CultureBy LukeDecember 23, 2020Leave a comment

by Lucas Roman. This story is published in Volume 18. Banner photo by Hobo Greg Brad Gobright is pure of…

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27 – Lost

PodcastBy LukeDecember 22, 2020Leave a comment

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. How did this happen? Luke and his brother Clint, get lost in the Colorado wilderness. This story…

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A Venture Backward, Inward, and Upward by Rhiannon Williams

Climbing CultureBy LukeDecember 19, 2020Leave a comment

In Memory of Towyn Williams (1926 – 2016) I associate much of my childhood with a little white farmhouse in…

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Write for The Climbing Zine

Climbing CultureBy LukeDecember 14, 2020Leave a comment

The Climbing Zine is always accepting stories, photography, and art. Below are our loose guidelines. Words The Climbing Zine publishes…

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The Joy Pendulum, Swinging High and Low in Yosemite Valley by Lauren DeLaunay

LocationsBy LukeDecember 14, 2020Leave a comment

As I listened to my boyfriend make his tenth phone call of the hour, I absentmindedly stirred vegetables and reflected…

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Biophilia On The Rocks by Birch Malotky

Climbing CultureBy LukeDecember 11, 2020Leave a comment

June’s humid breath settles in waves over the Mount Washington Valley as the sun dips low in the west. A…

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26 – Twenty Four Hours of Vegas

PodcastBy LukeDecember 7, 2020Leave a comment

Mehall and his friends come up with a way to enjoy a long multi-pitch adventure in Red Rocks, near Las…

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Not for Me to Wonder Why: An Early Ascent of The Naked Edge with Layton Kor by Pat Ament

Climbing CultureBy LukeDecember 4, 2020Leave a comment

“I am glad / For every thought that puts my memory / On my past time.” —Michelangelo   This piece…

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Climber Gratitude (I MISS + I AM GRATEFUL 4) by Luke Mehall and Jake Burchmore

VideosBy LukeDecember 4, 2020Leave a comment

Dedicated to Mehall’s fiancee Amber DeHerrera and all the medical professionals out there fighting COVID (and everything else).

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25 – Adventures in (Dirtbag) House Sitting

PodcastBy LukeNovember 30, 2020Leave a comment

Three years of dirtbag house sitting adventures in Durango. All to keep the climbing and writing dreams alive. This story…

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The Crimson Bunny (Going at it alone) by Alexis McLean

Climbing CultureBy LukeNovember 28, 20202 Comments

A roommate and dear friend of mine used to talk both eloquently and incessantly about her Purple Rabbit. She would…

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The Desert and The Dog by Luke Mehall

Climbing CultureBy LukeNovember 26, 2020Leave a comment

This is the most beautiful place on Earth, but of course, like Cactus Ed Abbey said, every person carries in…

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Brooke Sandahl on the beginnings of freeing The Nose

LocationsBy LukeNovember 25, 2020Leave a comment

Man what a route! As a child, I remember looking at photos of it in my Dad’s climbing books thinking,…

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24 – Adventures with Two Tent Timmy

PodcastBy LukeNovember 23, 2020Leave a comment

Luke takes us on some adventures with Two Tent Timmy, his best friend since high school, and climbing inspiration. This…

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Reflections in The Black by Vic Zeilman

LocationsBy LukeNovember 22, 2020Leave a comment

The black-and-white photograph is small and square, half a century old, showing my grandmother posing in front of the dark,…

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23 – This Is Buildering

PodcastBy LukeNovember 19, 2020Leave a comment

A story about buildering. Originally published in Mehall’s first book: Climbing Out of Bed. Names changed to protect the guilty.…

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Benighted in The Black Canyon – (excerpt from American Climber by Luke Mehall)

LocationsBy LukeNovember 17, 2020Leave a comment

My path as a climber had to face a most real enemy: pure unadulterated fear. This fear manifested itself in…

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Adventures With Two Tent Timmy

LocationsBy LukeNovember 9, 2020Leave a comment

“If Jesus can’t save you, life starts when the church ends.” Empire State of Mind by Jay Z Some call…

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22 – Wide Eyes, High Times, and Hard Times, A Story of Climbing With Mark Grundon

PodcastBy LukeNovember 8, 2020Leave a comment

Adventures with Mark Grundon, a climber with an infinite amount of energy, who endures an avalanche and cancer all while…

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Wide Is Love by Chris Schulte

LocationsBy LukeNovember 4, 2020Leave a comment

Gray and white clouds rack up in billowed folds like the belly scales of a snake and curl widely across…

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Chuck Pratt, Liquid Sunshine by Pat Ament (Part 1)

Climbing CultureBy LukeNovember 4, 2020Leave a comment

Chuck Pratt: Liquid Sunshine by Pat Ament (note the full version of this piece was published in Volume 17, which…

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Mountaineering Changed My Perspective On Beauty by Rebecca Ross

LocationsBy LukeNovember 2, 2020Leave a comment

Most women, at some point in their lives, get discouraged about their appearance because they may not possess the ideal…

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21 – The Painted Wall

Podcast, UncategorizedBy LukeNovember 1, 2020Leave a comment

Luke and Dave cruise The Cruise in The Black Canyon, and then on the Painted Wall, Colorado’s tallest wall, well,…

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Where The Winds Hit Heavy by Matt Spohn

LocationsBy LukeNovember 1, 2020Leave a comment

The granite escarpments of Castle Crags silhouetted the western skyway, massive gargoyles hunched and staring. I thought of my mother’s…

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The Painted Wall by Luke Mehall

Climbing CultureBy LukeOctober 28, 2020Leave a comment

It is like any other start to a day of climbing in the Black Canyon. Dave and I are up…

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20 – Everybody Poops in Indian Creek with Tim Foulkes

Podcast, UncategorizedBy LukeOctober 26, 2020Leave a comment

Everybody poops, including us in Indian Creek. Luke and Tim Foulkes discuss a variety of Indian Creek issues: first ascents,…

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The Giving Bolt, An Ode To The Bolt by Jimmy Keithley

Climbing CultureBy LukeOctober 25, 2020Leave a comment

Well here we are, old bolt; let me just say this before I remove you. You should be proud because…

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Icons In Danger and Desert Medicine by Birch Malotky

LocationsBy LukeOctober 22, 2020Leave a comment

Joshua Tree National Park is a refuge. I don’t know if I’d decided this by then, sitting folded into the…

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Fall on Rock by George Perkins

LocationsBy LukeOctober 21, 2020Leave a comment

I clipped her to the anchor, untied her knot, and pulled the rope through the gear. “I need more time.”…

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Effort and Folly on Mount Waddington by Drew Thayer

Climbing CultureBy LukeOctober 15, 2020Leave a comment

Humbled The cam lobes slide in the fissure as I test it, useless. This dark, metamorphic rock, tortured entrails of…

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A Narrow Escape on Mt. Kenya by Jason Haas

LocationsBy LukeOctober 13, 2020Leave a comment

“Hey, wake up. Wake up!” Brian whispered harshly. “There’s someone out there.” I half opened an eye and begrudgingly listened…

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Flirting with The Nose In A Day in The Valley of Stone

Climbing CultureBy LukeOctober 12, 20202 Comments

“Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.” Goerte I…

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Navajo Rising by Aaron Mike

Navajo Rising by Aaron Mike

Climbing CultureBy LukeOctober 12, 2020Leave a comment

Acknowledging the roots and conceptualizations of the outdoor activities that we so passionately pursue enriches our participation and ties us…

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The Light and Dark Sides of Free Soloing by Alexa Flower

LocationsBy LukeOctober 5, 2020Leave a comment

I’ve heard some describe Yosemite as a vortex, and so is the culture that comes with it. I am sucked…

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19 – Climbing, All The Way To The Moon

PodcastBy LukeOctober 5, 2020Leave a comment

Season Finale. Mehall goes all in on new routes in Indian Creek, Bears Ears National Monument; following the adventure all…

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The Long Way Back by Mike Reddy

Climbing CultureBy LukeOctober 5, 2020Leave a comment

“Oh you feel and you taste it and you want to go higher. So what do you do? And so…

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As Long As Life Endures: A Climber Wedding by Sara Aranda

LocationsBy LukeOctober 5, 2020Leave a comment

“Life can be rugged and cold, or smooth and exciting. The climb these two have just performed today symbolizes life…

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Approach As Pilgrimage by Tim Rogers

LocationsBy LukeOctober 5, 2020Leave a comment

Journal entry from 10/15/2014 Zion is the word. Despite all of our differences, to so many people the meaning of…

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Letter To The Zine by Crystal Presnell

Climbing CultureBy LukeOctober 1, 2020Leave a comment

In the mail that day came The Climbing Zine. It was addressed to Alyssa. I knew she wouldn’t mind me…

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A Marriage On The Rocks by Barbara Noseworthy

LocationsBy LukeOctober 1, 2020Leave a comment

It’s 1981, and I’m 22 years old, about to graduate from college, trying to sort out what happens next. And…

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Hidden Dragons by Chris Schulte

LocationsBy LukeSeptember 29, 2020Leave a comment

I started climbing in Durango, Colorado, a small and isolated burg on the edge of the desert and the mountains,…

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18 – Love, Passion, and New Routes in Indian Creek / Bears Ears

PodcastBy LukeSeptember 28, 2020Leave a comment

Luke Mehall explores Indian Creek, Utah for new routes; the land now part of Bears Ears National Monument. In the…

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Finding Protection In Bears Ears by Josh Ewing

LocationsBy LukeSeptember 23, 2020Leave a comment

“Yucca sandals,” I say to myself. “How’d they do this move in yucca sandals?” The sheer sandstone wall below me…

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I Got 99 Problems and a Bitch Is One by Kathy Karlo

Climbing Culture, UncategorizedBy LukeSeptember 23, 2020Leave a comment

I started seeing it sometime last year, and it got a small chuckle out of me then: #bitchesonpitches. But the…

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Jim Bridwell’s Memorial in Yosemite (a photo essay)

Climbing CultureBy LukeSeptember 22, 2020Leave a comment

When I heard that Jim Bridwell had died, my first thought was, I bet even he didn’t think he’d live…

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17 – Remembering Adam Lawton / Sending the Salathe Wall on El Capitan

PodcastBy LukeSeptember 21, 2020Leave a comment

Remembering our friend Adam Lawton. Finally getting a job in Durango. Getting The Zine going, and eventually having success on…

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16 – Fighting to Write, The Creek in Winter, and The Big Wall Blues

PodcastBy LukeSeptember 14, 2020Leave a comment

Mehall moves to Durango, Colorado, and fights for his soul by writing and climbing. Big wall adventures take him back…

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Basaseachi by Matt Spohn

DirtbaggingBy LukeSeptember 13, 2020Leave a comment

The teenage Federale slings his machine gun over his shoulder and bends toward my bag. Cocaine? he asks. Marijuana? I…

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Going It Alone by Vic Zeilman

DirtbaggingBy LukeSeptember 10, 2020Leave a comment

At some point in my early to midtwenties, I came to the conclusion that life is not about rock climbing.…

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Yucca Ropes: The DIY Ancestral Puebloan Static Line by Len Necefer

LocationsBy LukeSeptember 8, 2020Leave a comment

In the late 1300s, experts point to drought and other environmental stressors impacting the Puebloan people in the Southwest leading…

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15 – The Freedom Mobile Goes To Yosemite

PodcastBy LukeSeptember 7, 2020Leave a comment

Luke and Gene take The Freedom Mobile to Yosemite, to get a taste of failure and success on big walls.…

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Letter To The Zine by Ken Turley

Climbing CultureBy LukeSeptember 1, 2020Leave a comment

To Roy McClenahan by way of The Climbing Zine,   Glancing through the pages of Volume 16 of The Climbing…

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14 – In Love For The First Time, On A Stoner’s Highway in Yosemite

PodcastBy LukeAugust 31, 2020Leave a comment

In love for the first time at 30 years old. Venturing out onto Stoner’s Highway in Yosemite. And a dream…

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For Vedauwoo (a poem) by Birch Malotky

Climbing CultureBy LukeAugust 27, 2020Leave a comment

Have you been to the boneyard? The blank eye on the map perched above an asphalt brow   there, an…

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13 – Writing Zines, Dish Diving, and Moonlight Dreamchasing

PodcastBy LukeAugust 24, 2020Leave a comment

The dirtbag climbing life has highs and lows. Eventually I got to a point where I was tired of it,…

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CLIMBER GRATITUDE: I MISS + I AM GRATEFUL 4 BY LUKE MEHALL AND JAKE BURCHMORE

Climbing CultureBy LukeAugust 23, 2020Leave a comment

Check out our latest film from Luke Mehall and Jake Burchmore. Dedicated to Mehall’s fiancee Amber DeHerrera and all the…

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Volume 19 ready to preorder

Climbing CultureBy LukeAugust 21, 2020Leave a comment

Volume 19 of The Climbing Zine is now ready to preorder. Here’s a look at our cover and the lineup…

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12 – Living The Dream in J-Tree, California

PodcastBy LukeAugust 17, 2020Leave a comment

A dollar and a dream in Joshua Tree, Califorinia. Easy solos and hard climbs. Living amongst the dirtbags and legend…

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About The Cover (The Climbing Zine Book)

Climbing CultureBy LukeAugust 16, 2020Leave a comment

As I’ve said and written before, my favorite thing about publishing The Zine is the connections it helps create. I…

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11 – Benighted in Zion with Tim and Dave

PodcastBy LukeAugust 10, 2020Leave a comment

Luke and Dave’s first big walls in Zion. Benighted too. High on life and surviving in the vertical. Being a…

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Dirtbag State of Mind podcast / episode 10

10 – All I Wanted To Be Was A Climbing Bum

PodcastBy LukeAugust 3, 2020Leave a comment

“All I wanted to be after graduating college was a climbing bum”…Working in a paper factory in Illinois for dough…

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Monster Cracks by Pete Whittaker

LocationsBy LukeJuly 30, 2020Leave a comment

Over hundreds of thousands of years, water has trickled, raged, and poured down cracks and creases, winding and weaving through…

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9 – Two Gringos in Nicaragua and Benighted in The Black Canyon

PodcastBy LukeJuly 27, 2020Leave a comment

A nibble from a fox of the Western Colorado University campus. Costa Rica and Nicaragua with Amber (Mom) and Greg.…

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Silent Night by Samantha Zim

LocationsBy LukeJuly 20, 2020Leave a comment

I think I’ve read the words afraid, scared, terrified, anxious, and fear more over the last two weeks than in…

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8 – For The Love of Dirtbagging

PodcastBy LukeJuly 18, 2020Leave a comment

Continuing on with American Climber, Luke Mehall’s memoir. To subscribe to The Zine visit our site: https://the-climbing-zine.myshopify.com/ To support us…

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Dirtbag State of Mind podcast / episode 10

7 – The End Of The Rope

PodcastBy LukeJuly 14, 2020Leave a comment

Episode 7 of the Dirtbag State of Mind podcast. Mehall and friends have misadventures from Indian Creek to Yosemite National…

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6 – Living In A Tent, and 9-11

PodcastBy LukeJuly 13, 2020Leave a comment

We are rolling along with Luke Mehall reading from his 2016 memoir American Climber. Here we get into yet another…

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Last Thoughts On The Dirtbag

VideosBy LukeJuly 5, 2020Leave a comment

Words by: Luke Mehall Director: Greg Cairns Mehall is the author of five books, including The Desert, a dirtbag climbing…

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5 – In Love With Gunny

PodcastBy LukeJune 24, 2020Leave a comment

We are back with episode 5 of our first season! This is our first episode that I’ve recorded from my…

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Ray’s Red Truck by Roy McClenahan

Climbing CultureBy LukeJune 21, 2020Leave a comment

In the rich caravan of climbers whom we meet at the crags, people come and go. Some, like the flowing…

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Just A Climber, For Bears Ears…BLOOPER reel

VideosBy LukeJune 18, 2020Leave a comment

Greg Cairns and Luke Mehall joke that it took them 2 years to create the 3 minute film, Just A…

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Brad Gobright, Pure of Heart

Brad Gobright, Pure of Heart, Part 2 by Lucas Roman

UncategorizedBy LukeJune 5, 2020Leave a comment

This piece is published in Volume 18, now available to order. You can read Part 1 of the story here.…

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Empty Heart, Hopeful Mind. Reflecting on the murder of George Floyd and Black Lives Matter. by Luke Mehall

Empty Heart, Hopeful Mind. Reflecting on the murder of George Floyd and Black Lives Matter. by Luke Mehall

Climbing CultureBy LukeJune 4, 2020Leave a comment

I thought that my last column was hard to write, but this one might be even more difficult. Last time I…

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Brad Gobright: Pure of Heart

Brad Gobright: Pure of Heart (Part 1) by Lucas Roman

UncategorizedBy LukeMay 24, 2020Leave a comment

Brad Gobright is pure of heart. So pure, in fact, that he may never have faced a dilemma in all…

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Dan Escalante we will miss you!

Loss In The Time of Corona: Dan Escalante we will miss you!

Climbing Culture, UncategorizedBy LukeMay 19, 2020Leave a comment

There’s a lot to write about these days, yet I’m sure I’m not alone in struggling to find the motivation…

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Volume 18 is now available

Climbing CultureBy LukeMay 8, 2020Leave a comment

The Climbing Zine is proud to announce that Volume 18 is off the printer and will be arriving to subscribers…

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Sitting Here in Limbo by Luke Mehall

Locations, UncategorizedBy LukeMay 7, 2020Leave a comment

Publisher’s Note: As this issue was going to press, the coronavirus began to ravage the United States. This issue is…

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13 Seconds of Try Hard in Indian Creek

VideosBy LukeApril 30, 2020Leave a comment

Footage shot by Jake Burchmore, an outtake from Grateful Hussle

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I MISS + I AM GRATEFUL 4 by Luke Mehall

VideosBy LukeApril 22, 2020Leave a comment

A Message From Mehall 27. The poem one. 4.22 (EARTH DAY)

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4 – An Interview with Shaun Matusewicz

PodcastBy LukeApril 18, 2020Leave a comment

This episode is our first interview with Shaun Matusewicz. We originally intended to have a series of interviews with characters…

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Purple Reign finger crack

VideosBy LukeApril 17, 2020Leave a comment

Footage from Purple Reign, a climb that Luke Mehall and Dave Marcinowski established in Indian Creek, Bears Ears National Monument.…

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3 – Runaway, On The Road

PodcastBy LukeMarch 29, 2020Leave a comment

While we originally planned to drop an episode a week, we are continuing to post these episodes as quickly as…

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2 – The Knot of Eternity

PodcastBy LukeMarch 24, 2020Leave a comment

Friends of The Zine: we are continuing the expediting of this new podcast. We know everyone is looking for more…

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The Power of Close-to-Home Nature In The Time of Coronavirus by the Access Fund

UncategorizedBy LukeMarch 23, 2020Leave a comment

The Power of Close-to-Home Nature In The Time of Coronavirus From the Access Fund Brad Mering grabs the first real…

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1 – Our Premier: A Story To Start Off With

PodcastBy LukeMarch 23, 2020Leave a comment

This first episode features a story I told at the Raven Narratives, a storytelling event held here in Durango.  The…

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The Well by Devin Dabney

Climbing CultureBy LukeMarch 2, 2020Leave a comment

Note: this poem is published in Volume 17, now available. Banner photo of the author bouldering in Coopers Rock State…

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Announcing a Climbing Children’s Book: Squeak

Climbing CultureBy LukeFebruary 26, 2020Leave a comment

UPDATE: the second edition of Squeak! has been released. Same great story, with a couple updates, including The Climbers Pact…

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Wide Eyes, High Times and Hard Times, a Story of Climbing with Mark Grundon by Luke Mehall

Climbing CultureBy LukeFebruary 19, 2020Leave a comment

Say a prayer for those you love and everyone else. That’s what I’ve written on my sleeping pad, and the…

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Just A Climber, For Bears Ears (a short film)

Climbing CultureBy LukeFebruary 16, 2020Leave a comment

Just A Climber (For Bears Ears) is the result of 20 years of thinking and recreating in Indian Creek. When…

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The Great American Dirtbags

VideosBy LukeFebruary 9, 2020Leave a comment

The Great American Dirtbags is Luke Mehall’s second book. This promo was shot by Greg Cairns.

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Grateful Hussle – Trailer

VideosBy LukeFebruary 3, 2020Leave a comment

For 20 years Luke Mehall has been writing climbing poems, and in 2020 he’s decided to give the writers who…

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Part 2: Chuck Pratt, Liquid Sunshine by Pat Ament

LocationsBy LukeFebruary 3, 2020Leave a comment

This is part 2 of Pat Ament’s essay, published in Volume 17. If you missed part 1, you can read…

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Upside Down and Unconscious by Shay Skinner

LocationsBy LukeJanuary 30, 2020Leave a comment

I remember arguing with my partner about wearing his helmet before starting a climb for the day. “It’s only 5.9,”…

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Seventeen Times Alive by Dakota Walz

Climbing Culture, UncategorizedBy LukeJanuary 29, 2020Leave a comment

Screams are a colorful thing. Each one has its own distinct message. An anger, a joy, a pain. The nature…

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Zine Emeritus: a story with Shaun

LocationsBy LukeDecember 23, 2019Leave a comment

This last month, as we raise funds for The Climbing Zine Book, I’ve been telling a lot of stories about…

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Reflections on Dad by Tamara Robbins

LocationsBy LukeDecember 18, 2019Leave a comment

Since November, I’ve been in Modesto, California, with my family and, while here, digitally archiving the multitude of slides, negatives,…

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The Prince P (in memory of Phil Schaal) by Cyrena Lee

LocationsBy LukeDecember 13, 20192 Comments

It would have been hard to write about Phil Schaal even if he were still here—here meaning still alive. Alive…

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Zine Senior Contributor Q&A: Rhiannon Williams

Climbing Culture, UncategorizedBy LukeDecember 10, 2019Leave a comment

As we get The Climbing Zine Book ready for publication we’re going to feature a few of our writers and…

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An Indian Creek Story with Tim Foulkes

VideosBy LukeNovember 27, 2019Leave a comment

Tim Foulkes of TFTV tells a story for a Creeksgiving film project. Filmed in Indian Creek, Bears Ears National Monument.

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The Climbing Zine Book video

VideosBy LukeNovember 23, 2019Leave a comment

The Climbing Zine is celebrating our 10th anniversary by releasing a Climbing Zine Book featuring the best essays from Volumes…

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Creeksgiving by Luke Mehall

LocationsBy LukeNovember 18, 2019Leave a comment

No place soaks up sun like the Johnny Cat enclave at the Cat Wall, Indian Creek. The maroon cliffs are…

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Mountaineering Changed My Perspective On Beauty by Rebecca Ross

LocationsBy LukeNovember 11, 2019Leave a comment

Most women, at some point in their lives, get discouraged about their appearance because they may not possess the ideal…

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Hip-Hop and Climbing by Luke Mehall

LocationsBy LukeOctober 31, 2019Leave a comment

The fringe is where the magic happens. Four climbers pack into The Freedom Mobile, a graffiti-ed vehicle, spray painted red,…

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Dirtbag State of Mind Hoodies Are In!

Climbing CultureBy LukeOctober 28, 2019Leave a comment

We are super psyched to announce that the new DIRTBAG STATE OF MIND hoodies are in, and to celebrate their…

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Luke Mehall, The King, Indian Creek

VideosBy LukeOctober 28, 2019Leave a comment

A short clip of The King, a 5.12+ in Indian Creek, Bears Ears National Monument. From an upcoming movie by…

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Dave Marcinowski on Purple Reign in Indian Creek.

VideosBy LukeOctober 28, 2019Leave a comment

Another clip from an upcoming film by Jake Burchmore and Luke Mehall.

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Dave Marcinowski working out the climb Purple Reign, a 5.12+ in Indian Creek.

VideosBy LukeOctober 22, 2019Leave a comment

Dave Marcinowski working out the final moves to Purple Reign, a climb in Indian Creek, part of Bears Ears National…

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Respect by Luke Mehall

Climbing CultureBy LukeOctober 18, 2019Leave a comment

“I’m glad Royal Robbins isn’t here to see this shit show,” I said to myself as I watched the youngsters…

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Purple Reign short clip by Jake Burchmore

Uncategorized, VideosBy LukeOctober 17, 2019Leave a comment

A short clip of Luke Mehall working out a project in Indian Creek. Full film will be released in 2020.

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Arno’s Dragon by Devin Dabney (a poem)

Climbing CultureBy LukeOctober 2, 2019Leave a comment

Long before we decide, the path is carved for us. Sliced through existence to be forged for this one, and…

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Beyonce’s Balcony by Luke Mehall

Climbing CultureBy LukeOctober 1, 2019Leave a comment

Standing there, gaping at this monstrous and inhuman spectacle of rock and cloud and sky and space, I feel a…

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Keep the Zine alive and subscribe today! (update: we are going for 200!)

UncategorizedBy LukeSeptember 27, 2019Leave a comment

We’ve never done this, and perhaps it would be a failure (anything can be) but I’m hoping to rally a…

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Crowbars, anger, and new routes, from The Desert by Luke Mehall

Climbing CultureBy LukeSeptember 9, 2019Leave a comment

“I’m not saying I’m going to rule the world, or I’m going to change the world, but I guarantee you…

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Titan Project

Climbing CultureBy LukeSeptember 4, 2019Leave a comment

One of the greatest joys I have as a publisher is discovering an amazing climbing project, and then being able…

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Trundle in the desert. Cleaning a climbing route.

VideosBy LukeAugust 29, 2019Leave a comment

Luke Mehall cleaning a loose rock while establishing a climb called Help On The Way in Indian Creek, Utah. Forgive…

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The Desert, fall book tour kickoff in Crested Butte.

UncategorizedBy LukeAugust 29, 2019Leave a comment

From Townie Books in Crested Butte, Luke Mehall and friends tell stories from his books American Climber and The Desert,…

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Luke Mehall presents The Desert, a dirtbag climbing book

VideosBy LukeAugust 28, 2019Leave a comment

From Townie Books in Crested Butte, Luke Mehall and friends tell stories from his books American Climber and The Desert,…

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Up (and over) the Pope’s Nose by Josh Smith

LocationsBy LukeAugust 25, 2019Leave a comment

“Think we could throw a haul bag out of an airplane? That would make the approach really easy.” Kennan was…

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Do Not Go Outside To Cry by Kathy Karlo

LocationsBy LukeAugust 23, 2019Leave a comment

I see it being used all around me to describe women, often by other women: badass. I have always considered…

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Failing Forward with The Climbing Zine

VideosBy LukeAugust 18, 2019Leave a comment

Publisher Emeritus Shaun Matusewicz tells some stories of failure by The Zine. Filmed at the fall book tour kickoff for…

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The Zine has a YouTube channel

UncategorizedBy LukeAugust 5, 2019Leave a comment

We may be late to the game but better late than never…we’ve got a YouTube channel now!

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Tim speaks on a chapter from Luke Mehalls The Desert

VideosBy LukeAugust 5, 2019Leave a comment

Tim Foulkes yarns a tale speaking on Luke Mehall’s fifth dirtbag climbing book called The Desert. The Desert is Luke…

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Luke reads The Climbing Zine 1 of 6

VideosBy LukeAugust 4, 2019Leave a comment

Publisher of The Climbing Zine, Luke Mehall, reads from Volume 16. Inspired by Mr. Rogers! One of six in a…

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The Desert by Luke Mehall, Fall Tour Kicks off in Crested Butte

UncategorizedBy LukeAugust 1, 2019Leave a comment

Fall Tour Kickoff: Thursday, August 15th 7:00 p.m. Townie Books 414 Elk Ave. Crested Butte, Colorado Dear readers, reviewers, promoters,…

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Granite Trinity by Michelle Dedischew

LocationsBy LukeJuly 18, 2019Leave a comment

One thousand twenty-seven. One thousand twenty-eight. One thousand twenty-nine. My head is lost in some sort of vortex. I’m not…

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Suicide and Pirates by Andrew Allport

LocationsBy LukeMay 17, 20195 Comments

My father taught me how to climb, just as he taught me how to play guitar and ski—badly, I could…

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Actual night out outfits

UncategorizedBy LukeMay 1, 2019Leave a comment

Egestas augue ac molestie pharetra. Sed porta dui interdum elit blandit, volutpat nibh. Cras rutrum est et velit semper sodales.…

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Susie and The Gnar by Joshua Smith

LocationsBy LukeMay 1, 2019Leave a comment

Some are blessed by fate With thews and spines of steel, Some work hard and fiercely fight To rise above…

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The Desert – is now officially released (plus Spring Book Tour)

UncategorizedBy LukeApril 23, 2019Leave a comment

“I’m not saying I’m going to rule the world, or I’m going to change the world, but I guarantee you…

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Off Root on El Capitan

LocationsBy LukeMarch 12, 2019Leave a comment

I wasn’t sure if I should start this piece with being three thousand feet off the ground on El Capitan,…

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A Culture of Climbing: An Interview with Len Necefer

LocationsBy LukeJanuary 27, 2019Leave a comment

“I try to pursue my enjoyment with the idea that folks care and love for the land the way I…

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Just A Climber, For Bears Ears (a short film) by Luke Mehall and Greg Cairns

LocationsBy LukeJanuary 9, 2019Leave a comment

Greg Cairns and Luke Mehall have finished their second short film together, called “Just a Climber, For Bears Ears” and…

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A Campfire Tale With The Old Man In The Desert by Stewart M. Green

LocationsBy LukeJanuary 6, 2019Leave a comment

The sun’s last rays glance across the underside of a cloud-swept November sky as it sets south of the La…

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Luke’s Vignettes by Luke Mehall

LocationsBy LukeJanuary 5, 2019Leave a comment

“Everybody must give something back / For something they get” —Bob Dylan, “Fourth Time Around” On Writing (about climbing) Writing…

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Events We Support: Get Complimentary Zines for YOUR Event

DirtbaggingBy LukeDecember 21, 2018Leave a comment

At The Zine we’ve got a plan. We started out small, really small, and we printed like 100 copies per…

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Where to Find The Climbing Zine – Independent Outlets

Climbing CultureBy LukeDecember 9, 2018Leave a comment

The Climbing Zine and Benighted Publications pride ourselves on independent distribution. Below is a list of our beloved retailers where…

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The Best Crag in America by Eleanor Krause

LocationsBy LukeDecember 5, 2018Leave a comment

It’s the beginning of August, 2018. Two months earlier, I’d been fortunate enough to be working for a prestigious think…

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The Desert (Mehall’s fifth book)

UncategorizedBy LukeNovember 12, 2018Leave a comment

The Desert, Luke Mehall’s fifth and final book in his “dirtbag climber series” begins a Kickstarter campaign today to fund…

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Mentors (from The Desert)

LocationsBy LukeNovember 11, 2018Leave a comment

It was just weeks into this move that I realized just how much closer I was to Indian Creek, that…

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24 Hours of Vegas

LocationsBy LukeNovember 4, 2018Leave a comment

The best thing about America is that it gives you space. I like that. I like that you buy into…

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Sanni McCandless: A Force of Nature by Joy Martin

LocationsBy LukeNovember 1, 20184 Comments

Fear is the cheapest room in the house. I would like to see you in better living conditions. —Hafiz I’ve…

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Portaledge Protesting In Tasmania by Joy Martin

LocationsBy LukeOctober 3, 2018Leave a comment

“They’re not like those trees,” said five-year-old Remi Middendorf, pointing at the young birches lining the hot springs. “They’re special…

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An Existence of Persistence (a poem) by Devin Dabney

LocationsBy LukeAugust 20, 2018Leave a comment

A passion that fuels Is one that burns brightly   Words by Devin Dabney. Photos by Angelique Brown. Published in…

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A Climber Who Cries (a poem) by Luke Mehall

LocationsBy LukeAugust 17, 2018Leave a comment

Do only writers cry when a writer dies? Do only musicians cry when a guitar player dies? Do only climbers…

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Volume 13 Now Available

LocationsBy LukeAugust 3, 2018Leave a comment

Volume 13 of The Zine is now printed and available to order. Here’s a look at the introduction from our…

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Love Letter To Climbing by Sara Aranda

LocationsBy LukeJuly 27, 2018Leave a comment

Every once and a while I bust out my typewriters for a writing contest. This year at the International Climbers…

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Time Continuum of Desert Road Tripping by Kevin Volkening

Climbing CultureBy LukeJune 5, 20182 Comments

The Pinnacle of Technology, as we called her drifted through the endless space, the time continuum that is road tripping.…

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Review: Climb Tech Top Anchor Hook

GearBy LukeJune 3, 2018Leave a comment

The construction style “Mussy Hook” has always been one of my least favorite pieces of climbing hardware to see at…

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Review: Edelrid Topaz Rope

GearBy LukeMay 28, 2018Leave a comment

Doing a gear review Climbing Zine style for a rope is difficult. For starters our method for reviewing gear is simple:…

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The Mom Crux by Mallory Logan

LocationsBy LukeMay 10, 2018Leave a comment

Many a metaphoric parallel can be drawn between climbing and motherhood, and it’s plain to see neither activity makes the…

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Dirtbag Paradise by Amber Roepke (a poem)

UncategorizedBy LukeMay 2, 2018Leave a comment

It’s your mom’s minivan pimped out And only seats two Because if it wasn’t hard enough to live in a…

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Keep Calm and Climb On by D. Scott Borden

Climbing Culture, UncategorizedBy LukeMay 1, 2018Leave a comment

Squish Squash, Squish Squash, Squish, the English mud through my toes feels soothing as I perch 30 feet above a…

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Hayden by Andrew Bisharat

Climbing CultureBy LukeApril 20, 2018Leave a comment

Hayden, I am just so sad that you’re gone. The news struck me like a train. It literally knocked me…

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The Enormocast: A Review

LocationsBy LukeApril 17, 2018Leave a comment

Note: this piece was originally written for The Gulch, a fine, free magazine out of Durango, Colorado.  Enormocast: climbing’s favorite…

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Looking Out The Window While Driving by Matt Spohn (a poem)

UncategorizedBy LukeApril 3, 2018Leave a comment

Dusk comes gold Off the dust of farmlands Where tractors still plow Fields nestled below mountains Dressed in ribbons of…

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Volume 12 now available

UncategorizedBy LukeMarch 2, 2018Leave a comment

Volume 12 is now printed and can be ordered here.  The story only version is also available on Kindle.  Below is a list…

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Lawton’s Wall, Wild Mexico

LocationsBy LukeFebruary 12, 20183 Comments

Again, this one starts with a crying baby. This time the baby is Isabella, and we’re deep in a wild…

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The Road and First Walls in Zion – from American Climber

LocationsBy LukeFebruary 6, 2018Leave a comment

This is an excerpt from the book, which documents Mehall’s tumultuous journey to climbing, which ultimately saved his life. You…

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Fresh Zine Store and New Access Fund Member Discounts

UncategorizedBy LukeFebruary 1, 2018Leave a comment

The Climbing Zine has recently updated our online store – with your experience in mind – and we’ve even added…

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Luke Mehall 2018 Book Tour/Presentation Schedule

UncategorizedBy LukeJanuary 28, 2018Leave a comment

Luke Mehall, Publisher of The Climbing Zine will be embarking on a modest U.S. book tour this year, celebrating the…

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Review: Black Diamond Creek 50 Backpack

GearBy LukeJanuary 17, 2018Leave a comment

The Creek 50 from Black Diamond was one of those pieces of gear I just had to check out. Since…

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J Tree Dreaming by Brooke Sandahl (from the old school photo essay)

UncategorizedBy LukeJanuary 7, 2018Leave a comment

Steve Byrne on Equinox, Joshua Tree – CA (1986) Photo and Essay: Brooke Sandahl Note: This is included in Sandahl’s photo…

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Old School-South Face of Mount Watkins by Brooke Sandahl

UncategorizedBy LukeJanuary 1, 2018Leave a comment

The single most important choice you’ll make before any big (or little) climb is your partner. The right partner hopefully…

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Explosives and Exploring in OUR Bears Ears National Monument by Luke Mehall

LocationsBy LukeDecember 21, 2017Leave a comment

We were about thirty minutes into our adventure and five minutes away from finding the explosives. I looked back to…

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Volume 11 – Solos, Choss, and Reflection (plus new subscription rates)

UncategorizedBy LukeDecember 20, 2017Leave a comment

As we’ve grown from a black and white stapled together zine to our full color book/magazine hybrid we currently have…

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Last Thoughts on The Dirtbag, A Short Film

LocationsBy LukeDecember 6, 2017Leave a comment

Two years ago I pitched an idea about a film I really had nothing more than a spark of an…

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Just A Climber, For Bears Ears Needs Your Footage

UncategorizedBy LukeDecember 5, 2017Leave a comment

To all our Climbing Zine friends and family: for the last year Greg Cairns and I have been working on our follow…

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The Ten Sleep Dream (a poem) by Georgie Abel

LocationsBy LukeDecember 3, 2017Leave a comment

It takes ten sleeps Of sleeping in Ten Sleep To enter into the dream The Ten Sleep dream by Georgie…

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Review: Edelrid Bulletproof Carabiners/Quickdraws

GearBy LukeDecember 1, 2017Leave a comment

Every once and awhile a climbing product will come along and as a community we’ll collectively be like, “that’s a…

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Review: Patagonia Micro Puff Hoody

GearBy LukeDecember 1, 2017Leave a comment

There are certain products that come along on every adventure. This past fall, as temps cooled and the stoke rose,…

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Sugar Daddy (from the photo essay, Choss) by Steve “Crusher” Bartlett

UncategorizedBy LukeNovember 27, 2017Leave a comment

I’d been driving past this rock, near Hanksville, for years. It’s just begging to be climbed but looked impossible without…

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Lizard Head (from the Choss photo essay) by Steve “Crusher” Bartlett

UncategorizedBy LukeNovember 21, 2017Leave a comment

And then there’s Lizard Head. I have never climbed such rotten volcanic rock in my life. I didn’t know volcanic…

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Bad Climbing Daddy by D Scott Borden

LocationsBy LukeNovember 7, 20171 Comment

My one-year-old and I are in Rocklands, South Africa, when I let a stinky one slip inside a bouldering cave,…

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Creeksgiving: Rising In Flame/Out of Darkness/With The Sun by Sara Aranda

UncategorizedBy LukeNovember 6, 2017Leave a comment

Creeksgiving, 11.24.2016 Hungry, fervent hyenas, eyeing the foil and fire, giggling with the steam and prospect of turkey. Side dishes…

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Off Route: Naked Nose In A Day by Jonathan Fleury

LocationsBy LukeNovember 2, 2017Leave a comment

Back in May, while hanging out in El Cap Meadow, I overheard a friend talking about Leah’s goal to climb…

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For The Sake Of The Song by Chris Parker

LocationsBy LukeOctober 31, 2017Leave a comment

Maybe she just has to sing, for the sake of the song And who do I think that I am…

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Enter The Hobo by Hobo Greg

UncategorizedBy LukeOctober 24, 2017Leave a comment

How did this happen? I grew up in Queens, New York, and New Jersey after that, and now I’m a…

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Blue Eyes Climbing In The Rain (a poem) by Luke Mehall

LocationsBy LukeOctober 11, 2017Leave a comment

In the desert in rains In the desert climber brains Can think of nothing but climbing But climbing is not…

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The Burnout by Luke Mehall

UncategorizedBy LukeAugust 9, 2017Leave a comment

It was many, many years before I realized that this environment in The Desert was the ultimate. I just didn’t…

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Dirtbag State of Mind Hats by Peter W Gilroy

UncategorizedBy LukeAugust 1, 2017Leave a comment

We always wanted to make some Zine hats, we were just waiting for the right design. Years of waiting led…

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Return of The Dirtbag in Crested Butte, Colorado

UncategorizedBy LukeJuly 29, 2017Leave a comment

  Tuesday, September 5th  6:00 p.m. Townie Books 414 Elk Ave. Crested Butte, Colorado The dirtbags are coming! As Bob…

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Review: Mammut Smart Alpine and Petzl GRIGRI + (belay devices)

GearBy LukeJune 23, 20172 Comments

With more and more options for a safer belay, The Zine got its hands on two of the most innovative…

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Dead, In Jail, Or Climbing

UncategorizedBy LukeJune 22, 20172 Comments

I was put on drugs by the time I was seven years old, a kid labeled as having Attention Deficit…

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A Geologist Falls in Love with Gravity by Drew Thayer

LocationsBy LukeJune 6, 2017Leave a comment

Erosion [i roh zhun] The process by which the surface of the Earth is gradually worn away by the action…

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Rules for Dating a Dirtbag by Brendan Leonard

LocationsBy LukeJune 2, 2017Leave a comment

It’s a singular feeling when you’re 33 and talking to your mother and she says, “You know what I think…

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Growing Up Skinner by Becca Skinner

LocationsBy LukeMay 29, 20171 Comment

I looked down at my Gri-Gri as a salty tear rolled off my cheek into a thousand feet of space…

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Review: Grivel Stealth Helmet

GearBy LukeMay 28, 2017Leave a comment

Climbing helmets have come a long way in the last few years—mostly by shedding weight and becoming ultralight. I’ve realized…

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Kansas City Urban Summits, a buildering adventure by Dakota Walz

Climbing CultureBy LukeMay 26, 2017Leave a comment

I could see him clearly from directly across the alleyway. A light was on and a white balding office worker…

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Stacy Bare on Bears Ears and Ryan Zinke’s Visit to Utah

UncategorizedBy LukeMay 12, 2017Leave a comment

On Sunday, Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke stood in front of a small, windowless conference room in Salt Lake…

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Tom Randall: Wide Boy, Small Ego, Big Heart by Luke Mehall

Climbing CultureBy LukeMay 9, 2017Leave a comment

Like most desert rats, I first heard of Tom Randall during his and Pete Whittaker’s infamous off-width tour of the…

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Technology and Climbing by Cyrena Lee

UncategorizedBy LukeMay 9, 2017Leave a comment

If you are sick of new climbers coming in and ruining everything, do something about it. If you hate how…

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Springtime Crazy (a poem) by Georgie Abel

UncategorizedBy LukeMay 8, 2017Leave a comment

We’ve got that springtime crazy Our hearts have grown hungry under desert skies by Georgie Abel, Contributing Editor, author of Go…

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A Sponsorship Pitch to Sriracha by Spenser Tang-Smith

LocationsBy LukeMay 8, 2017Leave a comment

by Spenser Tang-Smith To the Tamers of the Fiery Rooster God, We three travelers attend no church, recite no prayers,…

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Are We Born to Climb? by D Scott Borden

Climbing CultureBy LukeMay 7, 20173 Comments

Is climbing as innate as sharing, copulating, greed, or even walking? Many evolutionary biologists would offer that the essence of…

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Review: The North Face Progressor Insulated Hybrid Hoodie

GearBy LukeMay 5, 2017Leave a comment

This spring I got to check out some items from The North Face’s Progressor Collection, and this piece, the Insulated…

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Go To The Desert (a poem) by Luke Mehall

Climbing CultureBy LukeMay 3, 2017Leave a comment

Go to the desert Or whatever place Is The Desert To You by Luke Mehall, photo by: Greg Cairns For…

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ISO: My Dirtbag Princess

LocationsBy LukeApril 21, 2017Leave a comment

Note: this piece appears in the Off Route column of the newest Zine, Volume 10, The Raw Issue.  Hello, I…

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Oh Baby I Like It Raw, New Routes In The Desert by Luke Mehall

UncategorizedBy LukeApril 14, 2017Leave a comment

Oh baby I like it raw,  Yeah baby I like it raw  —Ol’ Dirty Bastard, “Shimmy Shimmy Ya” It’s a…

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For The Love of Indian Creek

LocationsBy LukeApril 10, 2017Leave a comment

“Holy, shit!” was all anyone of us could say. A buddy of ours was showing us a ring off an anchor…

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Explaining a Memorial Toilet

Climbing CultureBy LukeMarch 30, 20172 Comments

A memorial toilet is a hard thing to explain. But that’s exactly what my friends were constructing last weekend, a…

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Review: Deuter Gravity Haul 50

GearBy LukeMarch 29, 2017Leave a comment

The Deuter Gravity Haul 50 is advertised as a backpack that can turn into a haul bag. That’s a combination…

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Hear Mehall on The Enormocast

Climbing CultureBy LukeMarch 27, 2017Leave a comment

Check out Climbing Zine publisher, Luke Mehall on the Enormocast with Chris Kalous. Please throw the Enormocast a buck or…

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Walmart Parking Lot (a poem) by Georgie Abel

Climbing CultureBy LukeMarch 16, 2017Leave a comment

by Georgie Abel (photo by Dylan Hightower) I was this close To forgetting what it feels like To sleep in…

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Fear and The College Try (in the Black Canyon)

LocationsBy LukeMarch 14, 2017Leave a comment

When my college crew began climbing in the Black Canyon, topos were scribbled out on beer soaked napkins, during big…

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Review: Grivel Salamander 2.0 helmet

GearBy LukeMarch 13, 2017Leave a comment

The Grivel Salamander 2.0, while designed with zero frills to keep operation straight-forward, is a versatile helmet with a few…

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The Pain (of the desert) by Luke Mehall

Climbing CultureBy LukeMarch 6, 2017Leave a comment

The other day, on the Internet, I read about a climber whose fingertip broke off in a crack when he…

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The Secret Spot by Joy Martin

Climbing CultureBy LukeMarch 1, 2017Leave a comment

If these rocks could talk, they’d tell a hell of a story: one of nature and development, of perseverance and…

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Awake On El Cap by Tristan Greszko

Climbing CultureBy LukeFebruary 21, 20172 Comments

Awake. Alone. It’s 3 am. Only two more hours to sleep, the clock is ticking. The world is silent.  Maybe…

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The Old Lady of Tuolumne by Alexa Flower

UncategorizedBy LukeFebruary 13, 2017Leave a comment

I guess you could call it a town. It’s open three or four months per year. Driving east, hues of…

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Review: Scarpa Vapor Lace

GearBy LukeFebruary 12, 2017Leave a comment

Scarpa’s Vapor V rock shoe now has an upgraded model. The new Vapor Lace shoe offers a more customizable fit,…

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DU/ER Jeans – Performance Denim

GearBy LukeFebruary 11, 2017Leave a comment

The trend of “stretchy jeans” for men in climbing seems to be gaining traction ever since Outdoor Research introduced the…

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Holding the Rock Together

LocationsBy LukeFebruary 9, 20174 Comments

I won’t say that I’m afraid of heights, but to be standing on the edge of anything looking down more…

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Jugs on Jugs by Gaelen Engler

Climbing CultureBy LukeFebruary 8, 201722 Comments

Pulling into The Chief campground in Squamish for my first time, I had to double-check the sign to make sure…

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Rambling In The Bugaboos by David Fay

Climbing CultureBy LukeFebruary 7, 2017Leave a comment

We rounded the bend and there were half a dozen people lining up at the base of the route. Rock…

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A Climber In The Winter of His Content

Indian CreekBy LukeJanuary 28, 20171 Comment

“You know there’s something special you’re needing. And you know there’s no drug that’ll do the healing, and no liquor…

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As Long As Life Endures, A Climber Wedding (On The Hulk) a short film

LocationsBy LukeJanuary 23, 20172 Comments

We couldn’t have planned for how perfect this truly went. The weather for that whole week in July was bluebird…

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Rasta, A Wise and Crafty Crag Dog by D Scott Borden

Climbing CultureBy LukeDecember 25, 2016Leave a comment

Editor’s note: Longtime Climbing Zine contributor D Scott Borden wrote this piece for Volume 7, and sadly as the Zine…

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Review: Patagonia Fitz Roy Down Parka

GearBy LukeDecember 23, 2016Leave a comment

If you’re a climber, you have a puffy coat. That’s a given—the best climbing days usually give way to cold…

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The ’59 Sound, Remembering Eric Klimt by Kathy Karlo

Climbing CultureBy LukeDecember 2, 2016Leave a comment

The alarm blared repeatedly until I was jolted awake, not knowing what was a dream and what was real. I…

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The Next Generation, an excerpt from Graduating From College Me by Luke Mehall

LocationsBy LukeNovember 28, 2016Leave a comment

This young hippie left a bag of his groceries with my stuff after last weekend climbing in the Creek—granola, ramen,…

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The Sensitive Climber Guy

LocationsBy LukeNovember 2, 2016Leave a comment

Times are scary, and common sense decency seems to quickly be fading from day to day life. We’ve got a…

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The Sharing of The Rack

UncategorizedBy LukeOctober 25, 2016Leave a comment

I’ll never forget it — we were three newbie climbers racked up for Supercrack in Indian Creek when an older…

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Graduating From College Me, Mehall grows up (and embarrasses himself)

UncategorizedBy LukeOctober 17, 2016Leave a comment

When I was 33 I set a goal to write five books by the time I was forty—for a while…

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Free Moab (and Boulder)

LocationsBy LukeOctober 5, 2016Leave a comment

Utah and Colorado. We are neighbors, and many of us go back and forth between our borders so often it’s…

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Review: Yeti Tundra 50 Cooler

GearBy LukeOctober 4, 20161 Comment

The longer I review gear, the more jaded I become. It’s hard to be impressed. I’ve become more selective about…

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Minivan Adventures With Married People

UncategorizedBy LukeSeptember 26, 2016Leave a comment

It was a sign of the times, a turning of the page, a shift in aesthetics for these two climbers.…

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Thoughts on the Passing of Scott Adamson, an extraordinary human by Drew Thayer

LocationsBy LukeSeptember 12, 2016Leave a comment

Scott Adamson and Kyle Dempster no longer walk among us in this life. They died in Pakistan some time in…

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Hope In The Desert (an excerpt from American Climber by Luke Mehall)

LocationsBy LukeSeptember 9, 2016Leave a comment

Then, when all seemed like peace had been restored to my existence, 9/11 happened. I was out on a morning…

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A Tribute To The Gumby

UncategorizedBy LukeAugust 31, 20161 Comment

We sometimes treat them like the lowest of the low — like a new recruit in boot camp in the…

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The Eleventh Hour of Half Dome by Jason Haas

LocationsBy LukeAugust 15, 2016Leave a comment

Climbing with a pack on is the worst. It’s heavy, it’s awkward, and you don’t even use half its contents…

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For The Love of Climbing, A Short Film by Kathy Karlo

UncategorizedBy LukeAugust 9, 2016Leave a comment

Good friend of The Climbing Zine, and contributor for our next issue, Kathy Karlo recently created this beautiful short film…

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Sacred Space by Drew Thayer (art by Rhiannon Williams)

LocationsBy LukeJuly 31, 2016Leave a comment

Right now, this detail is all that matters: the carabiner just fell back into the crack, and you’re staring it…

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Review: Sterling Velocity Rope

GearBy LukeJuly 29, 2016Leave a comment

I needed the perfect rope for my project. It had to be an 80 meter rope and it had to…

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The Rest of The Story from Our Open Letter to Climbing Magazine

UncategorizedBy LukeJuly 22, 2016Leave a comment

When one seeks out to know the full truth in a situation it seems like there are always twists and…

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Review: Rinsekit

GearBy LukeJuly 20, 2016Leave a comment

The RinseKit is one of those outdoor products that at first glance seems a little unnecessary—until you use it. I…

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Freedom (a poem) by Luke Mehall

LocationsBy LukeJuly 1, 2016Leave a comment

Freedom, where are you? I found you briefly, growing up in the flatlands And then, you were flattened By growing…

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Review: Mammut Whymper Jacket

GearBy LukeJune 25, 2016Leave a comment

Mammut designed the Whymper Jacket to celebrate the 150-year anniversary of Edward Whymper’s ascent of the Matterhorn. With taped seams,…

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Modern Climbers: The Ever Evolving and Expansive Climbing Scene by Cyrena Lee

UncategorizedBy LukeJune 24, 20165 Comments

I’ve been climbing for a just over a year now. The first time I pulled on real rock was only…

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Review: Good-To-Go backpacking meals

GearBy LukeJune 23, 2016Leave a comment

So you’ve spent the last number of weeks, months, and days obsessing about this upcoming adventure, but what have you…

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Stoner’s Highway by Luke Mehall (an excerpt from American Climber)

Books, LocationsBy LukeJune 13, 2016Leave a comment

I figured that it would be just a regular outing on the rock that would pose only minor difficulties given…

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Review: Mammut Rock Rider

GearBy LukeJune 12, 2016Leave a comment

When climbing in remote areas beyond the reach of immediate help you learn to understand the importance of having a…

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Review: Patagonia Dual Aspect Hoody

GearBy LukeJune 11, 2016Leave a comment

Marketed as a piece that blurs the line between a mid-layer and a shell, the Patagonia Dual Aspect Hoody turned…

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50 Shades of Dirtbag by Georgie Abel and Luke Mehall

LocationsBy LukeJune 7, 20169 Comments

While many of you are just starting to savor the latest Climbing Zine, Volume 8, The Old School Issue, at…

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Review: Exped Synmat Hyperlite Sleeping Pad

GearBy LukeJune 6, 2016Leave a comment

The gear: Exped Synmat Hyperlite sleeping pad, size Medium (msrp $169) and Schnozzel Pump Bag UL (msrp $40) Reviewed by:…

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My Golden Era (a poem) by Elliot Natz

Climbing CultureBy LukeMay 29, 2016Leave a comment

by Elliot Natz Note: This piece is published in The Climbing Zine, Volume 10 photo of towers in Canyonlands National…

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The Ask: How to Get Permission to Climb by D Scott Borden

Locations, UncategorizedBy LukeMay 6, 2016Leave a comment

“Ummm…honey, you know that nice hiking weekend we have coming up together? Well, ahhh…Dale just asked me if I…ummm…could climb…

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Gear Review: Garmont Sticky Rock

GearBy LukeMay 6, 2016Leave a comment

In the process of looking for a new approach shoe that I could also do some running in I came…

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The Vulnerable Man — My experience writing American Climber

Books, LocationsBy LukeApril 15, 2016Leave a comment

Without climbing I’d be dead or in jail. This is not the first piece I’ve ever started off with those…

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Bear’s Ears Breaking News: Incredible Hand Crack and Others to be Closed to Climbing

UncategorizedBy LukeApril 1, 2016Leave a comment

The climbing community applauded late last year when the proclamation of Bear’s Ears National Monument specifically mentioned climbing as an…

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American Climber – Kickstarter is FUNDED

UncategorizedBy LukeMarch 31, 2016Leave a comment

After a decade of writing, and re-writing, my memoir, American Climber is finally complete. It is a 75,000 word tale…

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Review: Mountainsmith Mayhem 45

GearBy LukeMarch 30, 2016Leave a comment

The Mountainsmith Mayhem 45 is an innovative and creative backpack—perfect for certain uses, but hindering for others. Here’s what I…

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Review: Edelweiss Curve 9.8mm

GearBy LukeMarch 30, 2016Leave a comment

It’s that time again when I need a new cragging rope. It doesn’t have to be fancy, or particularly light,…

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Protecting Abbey Country – Love Letters To The Desert

LocationsBy LukeMarch 20, 2016Leave a comment

I am sitting in front of my computer, doing what I do to make my pennies, but in a few…

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Rock Climbing Gives Us Feminism by Georgie Abel

LocationsBy LukeMarch 18, 20161 Comment

“What about you, Georgie? Are you a feminist?” I was sitting around a campfire with a group of friends. I…

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Review: Voormi Eleven.9

GearBy LukeMarch 17, 2016Leave a comment

Wearing something from Voormi—a clothing line based out of Pagosa Springs, Colorado, attracts attention and curiosity. Retail: $149.00 For the…

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Review – High on Moab by Karl Kelley

LocationsBy LukeMarch 11, 20161 Comment

“This book is a gift…Karl’s gift to you,” writes Fred Knapp from Sharp End Publishing, in the foreword for the…

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Review: Yosemite In The Fifties

LocationsBy LukeMarch 10, 2016Leave a comment

The story of climbing in Yosemite is one that is well known and well told, and at times it seems…

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Review: Arc’teryx Nuclei AR Jacket

GearBy LukeFebruary 16, 2016Leave a comment

The Rockies in winter are known for their cold temperatures and fierce winds. When I’m climbing ice in these mountains…

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Book Review: The Alchemy of Action by Doug Robinson

LocationsBy LukeFebruary 16, 2016Leave a comment

Books often inspire me more than the imagery or dialogue in a movie and I think it has to do…

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Review: Kahtoola MICROspikes

GearBy LukeFebruary 15, 2016Leave a comment

Every single physical activity I do (or don’t do) is related to climbing – even if there’s no climbing involved.…

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Who Will Fight For Our Right?

LocationsBy LukeFebruary 11, 2016Leave a comment

Note: this article was originally published in The Durango Telegraph. Last week my monthly contribution to the Durango Telegraph was…

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Back…To Climbing by Greg Pettys

DirtbaggingBy LukeFebruary 9, 2016Leave a comment

Note: this piece was published way back in Volume 2. That zine out of print, but you can pick one…

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Review: Cypher Codex

GearBy LukeFebruary 8, 2016Leave a comment

I must admit I’d never heard of Cypher rock shoes, and when I brought them to the gym I got…

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Climbing In The City of Fountains by Allen Schaidle

UncategorizedBy LukeJanuary 19, 2016Leave a comment

Kansas City is situated in the navel of the United States surrounded by rolling hills, which make for beautiful ever-lasting…

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Review: Beal Cocoon Chalk Bag

GearBy LukeJanuary 19, 2016Leave a comment

How much is there to say about a chalk bag? All it has to do is hang out back there…

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Just One More, The Acquired Taste of New Routes in Indian Creek

LocationsBy LukeJanuary 3, 20161 Comment

“Once in a while you get shown the light In the strangest of places if you look at it right”…

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The Mammal In The Mirror by Drew Thayer

LocationsBy LukeJanuary 2, 2016Leave a comment

“Never pass up an opportunity to shut the hell up” I don’t have to squint to read the bumper sticker;…

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Review: Westcomb Recon Cargo Pant

GearBy LukeDecember 22, 2015Leave a comment

Are you looking for a synthetic, 3-season technical pant that moves as you move? If so, read on. Featuring NanoSphere®…

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Review: Alone on the Wall by Alex Honnold

LocationsBy LukeDecember 14, 2015Leave a comment

Every sport has a Michael Jordan, the athlete whose fame stretches well beyond the playing field, and for climbing that…

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A Mt. Whitney Vignette by Hannah Lily Hall

LocationsBy LukeDecember 13, 2015Leave a comment

My hands gripped a small undercling in the alcove I had been resting in. I looked up at the move…

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Review: Black Diamond Cold Forge Hoody

GearBy LukeDecember 9, 2015Leave a comment

As a pure rock climber with zero ambition for the alpine, but a desire to stay warm in cold camping…

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Review: Lowa Alpine Pro GTX (womens)

GearBy LukeDecember 5, 2015Leave a comment

Usually, just the thought of a new pair of mountaineering boots would make my feet ache, but that is not…

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Vertical Desires in the Midwest Flatlands by Dakota Walz

LocationsBy LukeDecember 3, 201510 Comments

Morning light reflects bright off the white granite ledge as my pal Patrick is slowly pushing our rope up pitch…

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The Sisterhood of the Rope by Rhiannon Williams

LocationsBy LukeDecember 2, 20151 Comment

We pull into the Supercrack parking lot in a rusty, mud smothered Subaru, named Shelly. The lot is dotted with…

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Review: Beal’s Venus and Rebel Harnesses (combined gender review)

GearBy LukeDecember 1, 20151 Comment

A combined-gender review: both men’s and women’s versions If you’re a woman, I imagine you might be frustrated by the…

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The Great American Dirtbags by Luke Mehall

Books, UncategorizedBy LukeNovember 20, 20155 Comments

My second book, The Great American Dirtbags is now available in the printed form, and as an e-book. by Luke…

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A Jack In The Box In The Chalk Bag by Spenser Tang-Smith

LocationsBy LukeNovember 11, 2015Leave a comment

I woke up before dawn in the parking lot of an apartment complex. My girlfriend and I had been living on…

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Review: Scarpa Techno X

GearBy LukeNovember 1, 2015Leave a comment

Scarpa redesigned their most popular shoes this year, with a new model to cover each style of climbing. I had…

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A Truly Stolen Chimney, Hilarity on Ancient Art

LocationsBy LukeOctober 18, 2015Leave a comment

True climbing encourages bravery and induces suffering. It’s at the heart of the endeavor, and all seasoned climbers recognize this.…

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Review: Tenaya Tarifa’s

GearBy LukeOctober 18, 2015Leave a comment

This was my first time wearing a pair of Tenayas. I felt like flatlanders must on their first visit to…

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Review: Singing Rock Penta Helmet (updated)

GearBy LukeOctober 16, 20151 Comment

UPDATE: Sometimes initial impressions of a piece of gear change after months of use. After all, that’s what we do with…

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New Wall in Indian Creek

LocationsBy LukeOctober 9, 20153 Comments

As of last weekend there’s a brand new wall in Indian Creek: The Dove Creek Wall. The best part is…

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Review: Mammut Infinity 9.5 Protect

GearBy LukeOctober 8, 2015Leave a comment

For as long as I’ve been climbing Mammut ropes have had a reputation for durability and good handling. The Infinity…

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Review: Evolv Luchador SC’s (updated)

GearBy LukeSeptember 28, 20151 Comment

Note: Since we all know we want our climbing gear to stand the test of time The Zine is starting…

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Crevasses and The Danger of Bad Judgement by Seth Adams

LocationsBy LukeSeptember 27, 2015Leave a comment

It was sunny, warm and beautiful. There was no wind, and we were walking across the glacier to the base…

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Castles Made of Sand

LocationsBy LukeSeptember 22, 2015Leave a comment

As climbers we all have that place, that favorite place where we’ve pushed ourselves to the limit and back, the place…

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Review: 5.10 Team VXi Slippers

GearBy LukeSeptember 21, 2015Leave a comment

This shoe fits like a glove. Perfect for overhanging terrain with foot trickery when you don’t really need to edge…

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Modern Dirtbags: The Workbag

LocationsBy LukeSeptember 14, 2015Leave a comment

Note: this is a new column for the Zine, Modern Dirtbags The dirtbag in us never dies, but we do…

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Straight Outta Squampton

LocationsBy LukeSeptember 8, 2015Leave a comment

I’ve got a confession to make people: I haven’t seen “Straight Outta Compton” yet. Like many hip-hop fans I’ve been…

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Review: Beal Stinger Unicore Golden Dry 9.4 mm rope

GearBy LukeAugust 31, 20152 Comments

How do you choose a single rope for multi-pitch and alpine climbing? Considerations include weight, dry treatment, durability, and the…

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Review: Peregrine Radama Tent

GearBy LukeAugust 28, 2015Leave a comment

This tent is a great value for a 2-person, 3-season backpacking tent with some innovative features. The tent follows the…

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A Tribute To The Golden Hour by Drew Thayer

LocationsBy LukeAugust 8, 2015Leave a comment

Sometimes, the balm of the day is Happy Hour, when we can leave the stress and bustle of work and…

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Is The Dirtbag Dead?

LocationsBy LukeJuly 24, 20151 Comment

“I was crazy and I was wild and I have seen the tiger smile.” Drive On by Johnny Cash This…

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The Dirtbag Dictionary

LocationsBy LukeJuly 23, 20157 Comments

Ever wondered what kind of dirtbag you are? Or have you spotted a hipster that kind of looked like a…

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Rewilding – After Prison, Adventures in The Wild

LocationsBy LukeJuly 18, 20151 Comment

editor’s note: Last month we got word of a very inspiring project called Rewilding. The project is centered around Anthony…

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Review: Arc’teryx AR-395a Harness

GearBy LukeJuly 10, 2015Leave a comment

Canadian ingenuity re-born: an elite all-around harness Let’s cut right to the chase: climbing harnesses range in price from $50…

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Review: DMM Alpha Sport Quickdraws

GearBy LukeJuly 10, 2015Leave a comment

With rock climbing gear we are living in the days of refinement, over pure innovation. Most of the gear is…

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Visions of Clark Mountain by Georgie Abel

LocationsBy LukeJuly 8, 2015Leave a comment

I wish I could tell you all about Clark in the exact way that my brain experiences it. But that has…

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The Hand Jam by Brendan Leonard

LocationsBy LukeJune 23, 2015Leave a comment

Do you know what a perfect hand jam feels like? Do you remember the first time you really nailed one,…

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Review: Of Love and Stone by Alan S. North

LocationsBy LukeJune 16, 2015Leave a comment

There is something to be said about reading books written by rock climbers – they seem to consistently capture the…

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Review: Patagonia Mixed Guide Pants

GearBy LukeJune 15, 2015Leave a comment

I’m standing in the closet, packing for weekend of ice climbing or skiing, holding a pair of pants in each…

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One Year Later by Nick Chambers

LocationsBy LukeJune 8, 2015Leave a comment

Climbing does not always go as planned. Rosa Malloy-Post of Durango, Colorado, is evidence of that. At the age of…

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Review: OR Prusik Pants

GearBy LukeJune 8, 20151 Comment

Summer is finally upon us again and it’s time to get up and seek adventure in the high country. We…

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To Live Is To Fly by Luke Mehall

LocationsBy LukeJune 5, 2015Leave a comment

As I start this piece it’s that time of the year when the Animas River here in Durango looks like…

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A Love Letter To The Cascades From Gaelen Engler

LocationsBy LukeMay 28, 2015Leave a comment

To My Dearest Cascades, Thank you for some of the best four months of my life. After exploring the remotest…

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Review: OR Men’s Goldrush Jeans

GearBy LukeMay 25, 2015Leave a comment

Dirtbag instincts suit the gear reviewer well. Which is why, for each and every day over the last two months…

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Tears of Joy with Tommy Caldwell and Bob Seger

LocationsBy LukeMay 14, 2015Leave a comment

I have a road trip rule: when in doubt, listen to some Bob Seger. This rule stems from a trip…

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The Freedom Mobile by Luke Mehall

LocationsBy LukeApril 27, 2015Leave a comment

Our vehicles make statements about our lifestyles, and in the mountain town of Crested Butte, Colorado there is quite the…

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The Desert is Mightier Than The Sword

LocationsBy LukeApril 20, 20151 Comment

I always think I’ll write about something else, but these stories keep happening. Then I realize that is the channel…

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Volume 6 in Print – Our Crown Jewel

SubscribeBy LukeApril 15, 2015Leave a comment

The sixth volume of The Climbing Zine is now live on Kindle and available in print. Titled “Prose and Parables From…

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Review: Scarpa Vapor V

GearBy LukeApril 8, 20152 Comments

My first impression of Scarpa’s redesigned Vapor V was how comfortable they were out of the box. I sized mine…

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Review: Climb Tech Steel Biner with Captive Pin

GearBy LukeMarch 18, 20151 Comment

Love them or hate them, fixed draws are becoming more and more of a staple in the sport climbing world.…

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Review: Beal Opera 8.5mm Rope

GearBy LukeMarch 4, 20151 Comment

Amongst the hot new climbing gear released this season, something I’m most excited about is the newest ultra-light triple-rated rope,…

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College Me and The New Members in the Tribe

LocationsBy LukeFebruary 25, 2015Leave a comment

I awoke in the Indian Creek desert to the sound of a crying baby. I tossed and turned over in…

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Remembering How to Believe by Drew Thayer

LocationsBy LukeFebruary 10, 2015Leave a comment

My life is now unmistakably entwined in the rhythms of grad school; work ebbs and flows, and when it flows…

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The Dirtbag Manifesto

LocationsBy LukeFebruary 8, 2015Leave a comment

“The world has enough for man’s need, but not enough for man’s greed.” Gandhi Where do we look for hope,…

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Review: Arc’teryx Alpha Comp

GearBy LukeJanuary 25, 2015Leave a comment

At the Climbing Zine we get lots of gear to test, sometimes too much to really wear something for longer…

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Dawn of a New Age

LocationsBy LukeJanuary 25, 2015Leave a comment

I knew this whole Dawn Wall climb was big when President Obama started tweeting about it. In case you’ve been living…

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Review: Hobie Baja Sunglasses

UncategorizedBy LukeJanuary 18, 2015Leave a comment

A line graph showing the hipness of my sunglasses over the years would look like the jagged silhouette of the…

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Beginner Dirtbagging – Where to Spend and Where to Save

GearBy LukeJanuary 15, 2015Leave a comment

To dirtbag or not to dirtbag, that is the question. The technique of dirtbagging is one that can only truly…

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Review: Osprey Mutant 28

GearBy LukeJanuary 14, 2015Leave a comment

The Mutant 28, by Osprey, packs the essentials for a minimalist looking to get into alpine, ice or vertically mixed…

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Video: The Fitz Traverse with Tommy Caldwell and Alex Honnold

LocationsBy LukeJanuary 12, 2015Leave a comment

For us posting this video, is a case of “I don’t always (fill in the blank) but when I do…”…

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Just a Couple Guys from Colorado on El Cap

LocationsBy LukeJanuary 5, 2015Leave a comment

It’s amazing that climbing El Capitan in Yosemite is no big deal for a lot of people: routes that originally…

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Review: Patagonia Nano-Air Hoody

GearBy LukeJanuary 1, 20152 Comments

For once, I’m actually psyched to “leave it on,” as their ad campaign suggests. For climbers and skiers, the best…

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Review: Westcomb Tango Hoody

GearBy LukeDecember 28, 2014Leave a comment

Westcomb’s Tango Hoody is a formidable layer for a variety of conditions, with a lot to love in a simple,…

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The Art of Roping up with a Rando by Dakota Walz

LocationsBy LukeDecember 20, 2014Leave a comment

I have been alone on the road bouncing from park to park for 2 months. My car is a wreck.…

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Review: Big Turtle Shell – Wireless Speaker (Outdoor Tech)

GearBy LukeNovember 4, 2014Leave a comment

These days, more often than not, someone in a climbing crew of craggers has a speaker. If you want the…

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The Rainbow Wall, Emptying Out by Drew Thayer

LocationsBy LukeNovember 2, 20141 Comment

“This stillness to which all returns, this is reality, and soul and sanity have no more meaning here than a…

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Review: Mammut Sensor Rope

GearBy LukeNovember 1, 2014Leave a comment

The Mammut Sensor is a perfect name for a rope that encourages safety in the way it feels and handles.…

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Review: GSI Outdoors water bottle

GearBy LukeOctober 31, 2014Leave a comment

Green, jasmine, earl, chai and black. Tea. I love it all! A day of climbing ice, I pack my thermos…

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Review: Edelrid Corbie 8.6mm Rope

GearBy LukeOctober 25, 2014Leave a comment

Light is Right! is the new slogan for today’s alpinism. We pare down the grams in our clothing, sleep systems,…

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The Climbing Zine

Indian Creek Reflection, before it all slips away

LocationsBy LukeOctober 13, 2014Leave a comment

The good times are moving fast these days, zipping by as we fly through space on this big ball of…

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Review: Evolv Addict

GearBy LukeOctober 7, 2014Leave a comment

For a climbing slipper priced under $100 the Evolv Addict may be the best out there. The Addicts are a…

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Lindsey Schauer: The Quintessential Climbing Mom

Dirtbagging, LocationsBy LukeSeptember 30, 2014Leave a comment

In the Last Pitch section of the new Climbing Zine, there’s a great, sentimental piece, written by Mallory Logan. Titled…

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Review: Outdoor Research Ferrosi Hoody

GearBy LukeSeptember 11, 2014Leave a comment

Soft-shell clothing has become popular over the years because of its adaptability, allowing athletes to bring fewer clothes and be…

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Female Dirtbags, The Missing Link

LocationsBy LukeSeptember 5, 2014Leave a comment

  There are many sacrifices and struggles to live the dirtbag life, but my most major gripe has always been…

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Review: Edelrid Mega Jul Belay Device

GearBy LukeSeptember 4, 2014Leave a comment

There’s always room for innovation in climbing gear, but I thought belay devices had been pretty well figured out. I…

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Road Trippin’ and Home Trippin’ by Luke Mehall

UncategorizedBy LukeAugust 29, 2014Leave a comment

Canadians are nice, it rains a lot in the Cascades, and Idaho is quiet and quaint. I’d heard these things…

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This is Buildering

LocationsBy LukeAugust 19, 2014Leave a comment

In the deep of the twilight, the night, buzzed on something, spirits, smoke, the usual, a change occurs: an athletic…

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Psicocomp 2014 Photos

UncategorizedBy LukeAugust 14, 2014Leave a comment

“The Psicocomp was even better than last year,” seems to sum up the response to the second annual deep water…

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Review: 5.10 Guides

GearBy LukeAugust 3, 2014Leave a comment

The 5.10 Guide Tennies have long been my favorite approach shoes. I like them primarily for two reasons: the burly sticky…

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Review: The Belaggles, Belay Glasses

GearBy LukeAugust 1, 20141 Comment

“What are those?” I’ve been asked that question 20 times in the last month, while testing out my new belay…

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A First Trip To Yosemite

LocationsBy LukeJuly 30, 2014Leave a comment

The Western United States is a developed land, yet it is also very wild. Especially when you hail from the…

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The Language of Bromance

LocationsBy LukeJuly 29, 20142 Comments

The Climbing Zine’s guide to helping men and women understand the complexities of the ever increasing bromance. bromance: A bond…

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Hippies, Dirtbags, and A Gift From Grandma

DirtbaggingBy LukeJuly 16, 2014Leave a comment

When I was in my later years of being a teenager I was convinced that I was born too late.…

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Dreaming, Waking, and Remembering What Matters by Drew Thayer

Colorado, Locations, The Black CanyonBy LukeJune 29, 20142 Comments

The Dream In May 2012 I leaned against the rail of the overlook on the North Chasm View Wall on…

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Review: Sanuk Hemp

GearBy LukeJune 15, 2014Leave a comment

Sanuks have always looked comfortable and sexy – I’ve wanted to check out a pair for a while now. The…

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A Scenic Cruise and Then Some in the Black Canyon by Alexa Flower

The Black CanyonBy LukeJune 9, 20141 Comment

As we descended further into the dark abyss, that haunting, uncanny mood settled in once again. It was an awareness…

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Hanging with Stacy Bare and Dodging Watermelons

UncategorizedBy LukeJune 4, 2014Leave a comment

When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro. Hunter S. Thompson made a life and a living off that…

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Seth Adams on Negotiating Rest Days and Relationship Building

DirtbaggingBy LukeJune 3, 2014Leave a comment

I’d been reading a book on relationships. It suggests not to spring things on your partner; that if you have…

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Fear and Dehydration in Colorado’s Biggest Hole by Drew Thayer

Colorado, The Black CanyonBy LukeMay 27, 20141 Comment

Early summer in Durango, Colorado is great. Blissful. Idyllic. A typical afternoon usually involves waking up from a sound nap…

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International Climbers’ Festival 2014 in Lander, Wyoming

UncategorizedBy LukeMay 21, 2014Leave a comment

“This is a low key festival that was formed to share the genuine love of climbing.” That’s how Mandy Pohja…

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Review: Scarpa Zen Pro

GearBy LukeMay 20, 2014Leave a comment

Amongst the wide variety of approach shoes available today, these shoes stand out as the armored tank of the fleet.…

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Review: Core Concepts Hot Dome Hoody

GearBy LukeMay 11, 2014Leave a comment

I have a hard time with gear geeks, those who go on and on about features of the equipment for…

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Who is Famous and What Is Hard? with Seth Adams

LocationsBy LukeMay 7, 2014Leave a comment

It was 2004 and Kelly Cordes and Josh Wharton had just climbed the Azeem Ridge on Great Trango Tower in…

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Gear Review: Scarpa Instinct VS

GearBy LukeMay 4, 20142 Comments

“It hurts so good”…Tom Petty must have been wearing these when he sang that line. Scarpa’s new Instinct VS brings…

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An Ego Spanking In The Gunks by Drew Thayer

Gunks, LocationsBy LukeApril 26, 2014Leave a comment

We all need to be taken down a notch, as my mother would say, every once in a while. While…

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The Diamond: A Pervertical Genesis by Alexa Flower

ColoradoBy LukeApril 3, 20146 Comments

The night was silent apart from our winded breaths and quiet footsteps; largely stifled by the dirt and pine needles…

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Climbing Haikus

Climbing CultureBy LukeMarch 31, 2014Leave a comment

Last month The Climbing Zine hosted “Climbers’ Beer Night” at Carver Brewing Company in Durango, Colorado and had a Haiku…

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issue 5

The Climbing Zine, In Print and On Kindle

UncategorizedBy LukeMarch 27, 2014Leave a comment

The Climbing Zine Volume 5, The Dirtbag Issue, is available in print and on Kindle. The all-color print version is…

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A Map To The Skyland Boulders, Crested Butte, Colorado

Colorado, LocationsBy LukeMarch 25, 20141 Comment

[photo of Ben Johnson climbing Blunt Boy (5.10a) Joint Rock]  The Skyland Boulders in Crested Butte have been called “The…

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