Green Climbing
Climbing magazine’s most recent issue goes green.
That’s fashionable, of course, but in this case, it’s also pretty well done. In recent years, some of the climbing mags — pretty much off of them, in facts, other than Alpinist — have tilted slowly toward the realm of climbing porn. Super-hard climbing, lots of bluster and spray, and little of substance.
Many of the stories are done by the sport’s young, sponsored hard-men, and they often lack much perspective on what climbing means beyond just getting paid to play.
And that’s what makes the new issue stand out in such stark relief. Yes, many of the pieces are by sponsored climbers, but they’re folks with a sense of climbing’s history, its connection to the natural setting where it takes place, and the responsibility that comes with those places.
Montana’s own Conrad Anker guest-edited the issue, and also has a feature piece. There’s also good stuff the world’s top alpinist, Steve House, whose most recent book, “Beyond the Mountain,” is a must-read.
There’s also a great piece from the Vermin, John Sherman, the inventor of the V scale by which we currently rate boulder problems. Sherman, one of climbing’s most historic wild men, actually holds forth on common courtesy.
Over time, I’ve found there are stories in the climbing mags that even I can’t read because of the “Hey, look at me, I’m radical” posing. But this issue is different. This issue has something to say.
Michael Moore
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