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No place soaks up sun like the Johnny Cat enclave at the Cat Wall, Indian Creek. The maroon cliffs are striped with perfect cleaved fissures, like vertical gateways into a hidden world. The desert heat can be oppressive, but in late autumn, the low golden rays cast long shadows over the walls. by Luke Mehall… https://climbingzine.com/creeksgiving-luke-mehall/

How did I end up becoming an off-width climber?  I used to absolutely hate off-widths—mostly because I didn’t like the way it felt thrashing blindly inside of them. It hurt. It felt unpleasant. And I never had enough wide gear. The whole endeavor felt like a waste of time.  My first visit to the off-width… https://climbingzine.com/the-wide-tour-by-mary-eden-an-excerpt-from-volume-25/

I started this painting over a year ago after seeing a beautiful sunrise over the North Six-Shooter. It was a quiet morning at camp as folks roused from tents and vehicles, sand lodged in their eyes and deep under their fingernails. I started hot water for coffee, let Izzy, my dog, out of the van,… https://climbingzine.com/message-board-magic-by-molly-malone/

This month, Peter W Gilroy announced that he will no longer be making his classic hats, and we realized we’ve got a small stash of his classic “dirtbag state of mind” beanies. Score one at the link below! Hats https://climbingzine.com/closeout-of-the-peter-w-gilroy-dirtbag-state-of-mind-beanie/

All Zine Shirts and Tanks Are On Sale For $25 SHOP HERE SHOP HERE All Zine Shirts and Tanks Are On Sale For $25 https://climbingzine.com/all-zine-shirts-and-tanks-are-on-sale-for-25/

In the late 1300s, experts point to drought and other environmental stressors impacting the Puebloan people in the Southwest leading toward societal collapse. My people, the Diné, the Athabaskan-speaking migrants from the north, also began to place pressures on these societies. Resources like food and water became increasingly scarce, and preventing theft or raids by… https://climbingzine.com/yucca-ropes-the-diy-ancestral-puebloan-static-line-by-len-necefer/

I started listening to the Grateful Dead a week before Jerry Garcia died. The year was 1995 and it happened as it always happened then: a friend played me some Dead tunes, and then I made a tape recording of the ones I liked.  I played Uncle John’s Band, over and over again, entranced by… https://climbingzine.com/unbroken-chain-a-letter-for-phil-lesh-by-luke-mehall/

In the rich caravan of climbers whom we meet at the crags, people come and go. Some, like the flowing of mountain streams, make a daily ritual of their appearance on the stone. Others show up every weekend, while outliers make the scene only once a month, or less. Climbers who’ve shared the bonds of… https://climbingzine.com/rays-red-truck-by-roy-mcclenahan/

“I climb my best 4,000 feet off the ground” – Alex Honnold. Luke Mehall + Alex Honnold in dirtbag state of mind. https://climbingzine.com/untroubled-with-alex-honnold/

open jug filled by authentic rubber and stretched leather laces of Velcro rooted in gravity toward the edge of rock then toward inverted air the body of a bat hangs weightless cemented in time where wingspan takes flight, autopilot into nocturnal sleep for seconds as blood rushes to the start of a dream and your… https://climbingzine.com/bat-hang-a-poem-by-lex-abbruscato/

Brad Gobright is pure of heart. So pure, in fact, that he may never have faced a dilemma in all his life. That’s not exactly serving him well right now, as he’s stuck in a pickle of his own making, at the top of the first pitch of Southern California’s gem climb, The Vampire. He’s… https://climbingzine.com/brad-gobright-pure-of-heart-part-1-by-lucas-roman/

We are 234 subscribers away from reaching our goal for our “Keep The Zine Alive” campaign. Subscribe here, Volume 25 is in the final stages of editing and goes to the printer later this month. https://shop.climbingzine.com/ https://climbingzine.com/keep-the-zine-alive-we-need-234-more-subscribers-to-meet-our-goal/

New “Send Your Face” hoodies are now available to order. Design by Mike Handzlik https://climbingzine.com/send-your-face-hoodies/

I love being challenged by the nature that has been sculpting the rock faces of our planet for many centuries. Nature is the most superior routesetter, and I believe that even for contemporary routesetters in the climbing gyms, nature is the source of their primary inspiration. But just like routesetters in the gym, nature doesn’t… https://climbingzine.com/to-chip-or-not-to-chip-by-adam-ondra/

I am a writer, too, kinda. I am also writing a novel. I’m working on a novel. I also write. I’ve been working on this novel.   These were the phrases always trotted out when I had a desk job and never had the mental state or time to write. For years, I had countless… https://climbingzine.com/why-climbers-should-write-and-writers-should-climb-by-cyrena-lee/

Score 400 pages of reading material + three dope stickers for $40 NEW Bundle Sale Volumes 21 – 24 https://climbingzine.com/new-sale-bundle-volumes-21-24-for-40/

I hold and turn my helmet like a classroom globe, dragging my fingers over each mark, each sign of wear. Every indent, every groove represents a route, a pitch, a move, a memory. Note: this piece is published in the new Zine, Volume 17, now available to order. In my hands is my beaten-up shield.… https://climbingzine.com/my-helmet-by-david-rozul/

Story/poetry list for our upcoming Zine, due out later this fall. Big congratulations to all the writers. Due to the high volume of material we are sent for consideration only 1-2% of the pieces we are submitted are eventually published in The Climbing Zine! You can preorder/subscribe here.  Dirtbag by Sam McIlwaine Words for Aaron… https://climbingzine.com/volume-25-story-list-now-available/

Well here we are, old bolt; let me just say this before I remove you. You should be proud because great care was taken when you were placed. Questions were asked, such as: Was this the best spot for you? Was there any place for passive pro? Would you be chopped? Would the coming onslaught… https://climbingzine.com/giving-bolt-ode-bolt-jimmy-keithley/

And so castles made of sand Fall into the sea eventually —Jimi Hendrix, “Castles Made of Sand”  “Did you hear the Crooked Arrow Spire fell down?” my buddy, Ben Kiessel, asked me.  Another one bites the dust, I thought. I used to be surprised when I heard a climb or a major section of a… https://climbingzine.com/climbs-fall-apart-by-luke-mehall-an-excerpt/