The Climbing Zine Volume 4 set to be Released on 4/20

The Climbing Zine Volume 4 will be released as an eZine on April 20th, followed by the print version shortly after. Our theme for this issue is Back to the Essence. Here's a sample from the introduction to get a taste of what is to come, and the writers who are bringing the goods.

Cover shot by: Drew Ludwig. Design by Mallory Logan

We’re back to a lineup of having multiple writers featured in The Climbing Zine. The last issue was entirely my own writing, and while that was a fun experiment, I don’t want this zine to be just my words. Every climber has her or his own view of the activity, and their unique experiences which create this perspective. Add in some writing skills, and the potential for great climbing stories is infinite.

Here we are proud to present Mike Reddy’s incredibly brave and honest piece, The Long Way Back, which covers his journey of getting back to climbing after a nearly life ending fall. Even with his doctors saying he would never climb again, Reddy has been determined to do so, with help from the inspiring and empowering organization, Paradox Sports. Mike also contributed valuable editing services to this volume.

We also have a piece from Jesse Zacher titled Blackened, documenting his climb of The Hallucinogen Wall in the Black Canyon. This is Zacher’s first appearance in this publication, and his words beautifully dance with the pure essence of climbing. There’s nothing but brutal honesty in his prose as he takes the reader to The Black, and reveals what surfaced during his adventure.

Cliff Cash is back for this issue, with a fiction piece titled, Trim Season and The Mushroom Wall. Cash tells a cautionary tale about several climbers who get involved in the marijuana business to fund their climbing adventures. Also in the story, the trio of Cliff, Jack and Thurgood, have a psychedelic filled adventure on the made-up route, The Mushroom Wall, in a place that is out of this world, the Black Canyon.

Our final contributor is Scott Borden, who writes about the essence of climbing from a biological standpoint. He writes that our urge to climb, and how good that makes us feel, is imbedded into our DNA. His piece, Sending the Double Helix, is sure to stimulate the remaining brain cells left in every reader’s mind.

We’ve also added a new section to our zine: What We’re Reading, a space for reflections on classic climbing literature, new and old. In this initial installment we look at Jennifer Lowe Anker’s Forget Me Not. 

cheers, 

Luke