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The tables are turned on our host, Luke Mehall, as we share this episode of his appearance on The Struggle Climbing Show, hosted by Ryan Devlin. Our sponsors for Season 7:  Kilter: http://settercloset.com (email holds@kiltergrips.com for more information) Scarpa: www.scarpa.com Osprey: https://www.osprey.com/ Subscribe/ score some books/clothes/stickers: https://shop.climbingzine.com/

Life Is A Beautiful Struggle: Ryan Devlin and Luke Mehall

The tables are turned on our host, Luke Mehall, as we share this episode of his appearance on The Struggle Climbing Show, hosted by Ryan Devlin.

The Climbing Zine (climbingzine.com)

Mudstrosity Yes, it wobbled. Three feet high, one foot wide, a foot deep, probably outweighing me, the block sat at arm’s reach above my head. No way to avoid tangling with it—I was standing in aiders, hanging from a piton. I should bolt around it… by Steve “Crusher” Bartlett (Note: this is an excerpt from…

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

What Crusher talks about when he talks about choss. A journey into the world of off the beaten track towers and rock quality that keeps everyone else away.

The Climbing Zine (climbingzine.com)

Journal entry from 10/15/2014 Zion is the word. Despite all of our differences, to so many people the meaning of Zion remains the same: a place of refuge, a utopian ideal of peace, unity, and freedom. We may not be religious pilgrims, but even as travelers, as climbers, as humans, when anyone asks where we’re…

Approach As Pilgrimage by Tim Rogers

Tim Rogers’s essay on biking from Washington to Zion National Park, and then climbing there using only human powered approach mechanisms.

The Climbing Zine (climbingzine.com)

Our premiere for Season 7: a conversation with Andy Vo. Our sponsors for Season 6:  Kilter: http://settercloset.com (email holds@kiltergrips.com for more information) Scarpa: www.scarpa.com Osprey: https://www.osprey.com/

The Art of The Belaytionship with Andy Vo

Our premiere for Season 7: a conversation with Andy Vo. Our sponsors for Season 6: Kilter: http://settercloset.com (email holds@kiltergrips.

The Climbing Zine (climbingzine.com)

The Climbing Zine is now accepting stories, photography, and art for our 2025 volume. Below are our loose guidelines. Words The Climbing Zine publishes thought provoking essays, stories, and poetry. Word count can be anywhere from 200 to 10,000. Our aim to publish work that focuses on the essence of climbing; we’ll publish accounts of…

Contribute To The Climbing Zine

The Climbing Zine is now accepting stories, photography, and art for our 2025 volume. Below are our loose guidelines. Words The Climbing Zine publishes thought…

The Climbing Zine (climbingzine.com)

A second preseason episode before we kick off Season 7. A letter and poem for our dear friend Kurt Blair, who passed away last year. Poem read by Marcus Garcia, and letter read by host Luke Mehall.

A Letter And Poem for Kurt Blair

A second preseason episode before we kick off Season 7. A letter and poem for our dear friend Kurt Blair, who passed away last year. Poem read by Marcus Garcia…

The Climbing Zine (climbingzine.com)

The young buck who offers to take us up Time Wave Zero instead drinks twenty-eight Tecates and keeps the hot tub party going until 2am;   The silent and slight European who walks slumped and duck-footed seamlessly climbs 12a and slouches away, unexpectedly the most badass climber in Virgin Canyon;   The excitable new guy…

Along The Sendero by Bailey Williams

The young buck who offers to take us up Time Wave Zero instead drinks twenty-eight Tecates and keeps the hot tub party going until 2am; The silent and slight…

The Climbing Zine (climbingzine.com)

The Climbing Zine is celebrating 15 years of being in print, and we’re kicking off this year’s “Zine Things” in our hometown of Durango, Colorado. Come join us for this free event on Thursday, April 24th. Banner photo of Adam Ferro on the second ascent of “The Love Movement” at East Animas, Durango, Colorado. Photo:…

“Zine Thing” at Maria’s Bookshop in Durango, Colorado: April 24th

The Climbing Zine is celebrating 15 years of being in print, and we’re kicking off this year’s “Zine Things” in our hometown of Durango, Colorado.

The Climbing Zine (climbingzine.com)

A preseason episode before we launch Season 7. Originally aired in 2020 near the end of Season 1. Season 7 kicks off later this month.

Everybody Climbs in Indian Creek with Tim Foulkes

A preseason episode before we launch Season 7. Originally aired in 2020 near the end of Season 1. Season 7 kicks off later this month.

The Climbing Zine (climbingzine.com)

It starts with a plan like a break in the clouds. We set out thinking on the lines, the foods, the sunrises and campfires, the saving up. And then you set to with the forty-second aspen tree planted that day, the twenty-third special with sauce on the side, the eighty-first stone laid, the fifteenth pair…

Patience by Chris Schulte, Indian Creek bouldering and beyond.

Chris Schulte, Senior Contributor to The Climbing Zine, shows that sometimes you need, just a little patience. Or, a lot.

The Climbing Zine (climbingzine.com)

“I am glad / For every thought that puts my memory / On my past time.” —Michelangelo   This piece is published in Volume 19 of The Climbing Zine. Banner photo of Layton Kor by Paul Mayrose   Nothing slowed Layton Kor. April, 1962, he drove to Yosemite with Jack Turner and wrote me a…

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

Pat Ament writes about an early ascent of Eldorado Canyon’s Naked Edge, with his mentor and friend Layton Kor. Published in Vol. 19.

The Climbing Zine (climbingzine.com)

The distinction between a “climber” and “someone who climbs” has always fascinated me; it’s a nuance I’ve observed throughout a decade of routesetting, teaching, and exploring anyplace I could find rock. These observations started small, with friends who found the sport around the same time I did. Gradually, one by one, they stopped telling people,…

Get Sends or Die Tryin’ by Devin Dabney

Devin Dabney writes about the intersection of hip-hop and climbing through the lens of the “gangster” and the “dirtbag” myths.

The Climbing Zine (climbingzine.com)

I started seeing it sometime last year, and it got a small chuckle out of me then: #bitchesonpitches. But the more I thought about it, the more I wondered: in a world full of bad bitches and rich bitches and boss bitches and basic ones too, what does that word even mean anymore? by Kathy…

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

Kathy Karlo examine the use of the word bitch in climbing culture. Published in the new issue of The Climbing Zine, Volume 16.

The Climbing Zine (climbingzine.com)

A roommate and dear friend of mine used to talk both eloquently and incessantly about her Purple Rabbit. She would describe its power, its pleasuring capabilities with the benefits of independence and non-attachment. Often I thought she shared to entertain our friends’ appalled reactions, although over time, I realized her serious appreciation for her rabbit.…

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

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

The Climbing Zine (climbingzine.com)

Fifteen meters up Rutabaga, a moderate 5.9 splitter at the base of Squamish, BC’s Stawamus Chief, stretches a traverse between cracks. The move crosses jugs and offers fine, slabby feet, but still, I find it exhilarating. In fact, for reasons related only slantwise to climbing, it is exactly the sort of move that I seek…

A Knot Like Infinity by North Bennett

North Bennett writes about the intersection of Tinder and rock climbing, in this essay for The Climbing Zine, Volume 20.

The Climbing Zine (climbingzine.com)

Ring the bells in elegy For the last engine Of the last Saturn On (semi) permanent loan From the buddy of the last dirtbag To struggle off rock You were bitching the other day That the artists weren’t starving anymore That the spirit was no longer willing to suffer for it maybe, But the flesh…

Elegy For The (Apparent) Last True Dirtbag (a poem)

Ring the bells in elegy For the last engine Of the last Saturn On (semi) permanent loan From the buddy of the last dirtbag To struggle off rock You were…

The Climbing Zine (climbingzine.com)

The Dirtbag is Dead, the second version by The Dead Dirtbag, Mike Handzlik. Stickers are available to order now. Shirts and hoodies coming soon. (Including our first ever tie die.) Order stickers here: https://shop.climbingzine.com/collections/stickers

The Dirtbag Is Dead in Tie-Dye (shirts and hoodies now available)

The Dirtbag is Dead, the second version by The Dead Dirtbag, Mike Handzlik. Stickers are available to order now. Shirts and hoodies are also now available.

The Climbing Zine (climbingzine.com)

In 2016 at the International Climbers’ Festival in Lander, Wyoming, we held a “love letter to climbing” contest. Ana Ally was the winner, this is her letter. Enjoy.  Banner photo of the author by Scott Keating Climbing, my love. As I sit here, I struggle to find the right words to describe you. I am about…

A Love Letter To Climbing by Ana Ally

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

The Climbing Zine (climbingzine.com)

Think back over your climbing career. I bet you’ll find a climb—or two—that define you. These won’t be your hardest sends necessarily. They will be the beautiful ones, the scary ones, the ones that came into your life at just the right time. The ones that tested you, that possessed you, that shaped your character…

Texas Tower Redux by Josh Smith

Josh Smith reflects on a long journey to the top of Texas Tower, in Bears Ears National Monument. From Volume 19 of The Zine.

The Climbing Zine (climbingzine.com)

Jimmie Dunn is perhaps the first person who envisioned single-pitch climbing in Indian Creek. In the mid-1970s, he walked up to an unclimbed Supercrack and thought, This place is going to be great for training someday. I was first introduced to Jimmie by Stewart Green, who is seen in this photo bouldering in the Fringe…

The Last Pitch, from Volume 25

Jimmie Dunn is perhaps the first person who envisioned single-pitch climbing in Indian Creek. In the mid-1970s, he walked up to an unclimbed Supercrack and…

The Climbing Zine (climbingzine.com)