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Urban Climber Magazine Feature Articles
Feature articles and photo essays from Urban Climber Magazine.
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 The Southerner
Words by Abbey Smith > Photos by Brian Solano / bsproductions.us - At first glance, Chris Sierzant isn’t the type of guy you’d bring home to your mother. A true Southern bad boy from Kennesaw, Georgia, he stands proudly and speaks his mind without hesitation in a direct, honest, often abrasive manner. He sports a wiry, ripped frame decorated in finely detailed ink; and Lucifer, his massive Doberman Pincher, is always by his side.  Homage to the Lowball
Words by Justin Roth - The lowball boulder problem is perhaps the most derided of rock climbs. On a boldness scale, it lies somewhere between toproping in the gym and standing on a chair to change a light bulb. No one makes films about lowballs, or writes books about them — how many lowballs have you seen in the photo galleries of this magazine?  Urbanity: Buildering in Florida
Words and photos by Chris Brown - Climbing is where you find it. Some people have marvelous crags a mere stone's throw away from their homes, while others - well, they may not be so fortunate. What's amazing though, are the numbers of climbers that populate, travel to, and travel from areas with no rocky crags, boulders, or cliffs to speak of. The passion of rock climbing has a lesser-known half sibling - buildering.  Spray
It all started with a fateful encounter with Chris Lindner at the 2006 Outdoor Retailer Show, in Salt Lake City. We started sharing thoughts about making a movie together. Our ideas were similar, and we knew almost instantly that we were going to make it happen.We had only one problem: we had no plan. We didn’t know where we’d shoot or who the climbers would be. All we knew was it was going to be fresh, unique…badass. Luckily, sometimes psych and motivation are all you really need.  King Lines
My brother Brett and I have been filming climbing for a decade now. What started as a whimsical pastime has grown into an obsession and a career, and climbing films have come of age. Meanwhile the realm of possibility in climbing has continued to expand, and Chris Sharma has been at the forefront of progressing standards for just as long. We've shot together for years and have always dreamed of making the ultimate climbing film.  Paul Robinson - Silent Destroyer
Intro and Interview by Andrew Zalewski / Photos by Tim Kemple -My earliest meetings with Paul Robinson, in retrospect, remain my most defining impressions of his character and personality. I first met him as a young teenager. He’d come into Rock and Snow, the New Paltz climbing shop where I work, with his dad and maybe a friend and hang out for a while, talking about climbing and looking at bouldering guidebooks to far-off areas.  A New Day’s Comin’
Words by Jackie Hueftle - Josh Haynes is 19 years old and he’s sobbing. He’s flat on his back in the Harris Hospital Emergency Room in Fort Worth, Texas, and can’t move for the IV in his arm and tubes sticking out of his chest. He is about to have surgery to repair a collapsed lung for the second time in as many weeks. After the first one the doctors told him that lung surgery ranks up there with giving birth in terms of pain. Now he’s back for more pain, both physical and emotional.  Centre Court - Welcome to Boullllllllllllder
Words by Matt Samet / Photos by Brian Solano - In the early 1990s, during a dirt-broke stretch of endless road tripping, my friend John Myrick and I shared a running joke. Whenever we met someone from the People’s Republic — aka Boulder, aka the Center of the Universe — cragging, he’d invariably throw in a little bro-speak. But the rub was this: Ask where dudeman hailed from, and he’d say, “I’m from Boullllllllllllder,” the “oul” running longer than the crux lead-out on the fourth pitch of Jules Verne  The Mantra of the Whiskey Ghost - Bringing Everest to Joshua Tree
WORDS BY MICHAEL REARDON > PHOTOS BY DAMON CORSO - Blood etched my fingerprints into the quartz. Underneath my shivering knees, the frozen bricks of my feet stuttered on worthless smears. My limbs had lost all sensation to the cold, but high in the coffin zone without a rope, I needed skin against the rock. A hurricane gust clocking in at 60 miles per hour gallops up the cliff and billows my jacket over my head. The zipper repeatedly cracks against my temple.  Check Your Ego at the Door
WORDS BY CS DANIELSON > PHOTOS BY BRIAN SOLANO - When you first walk into a climbing gym, regardless of your ability, you might generally look around at the surroundings, check out the walls, and get a feel for the place. You might gauge how “serious” it is by the attitude of the folks at the door, the grade of the route markings, or just by surveying the clientele. If you're interested in “serious” climbing, the conventional wisdom suggests avoiding facilities overflowing with kids for fear of the inclement noise or walls that have chaotic route tape and old, unwashed holds, which might be a sign of management neglect.  To Live and Climb in L.A.
Words by Michael Reardon / Photos by Damon Corso - 4:00 am: The alarm clock rips me from my dream. Bogie and I were sharing a cigar by the piano when the plane landed. Now I'm sitting up, my mind refusing the colors of reality as the faint strains of Sam tickling the ivories fades into the background. Fog from the ocean enters through the open windows, attempting to calm the summer heat but only adding to the humidity, while caressing the skin of the woman sharing my bed.  Send The States
We're not professionals and we don't do this for a living, but we've put our lives on hold, sublet our apartments, and have said our goodbyes. This trip wouldn't be about a tick list of how many V-double-digits we could climb, it would be about three ordinary people taking the plunge to live "the dream", even if only for a moment. So now, with two comrades, Danielle Jablonski and Rory O'Leary, I was about to set off on a journey, hoping to catch a glimpse of what life is like for people who've dedicated themselves to this sport - the sport we love.  Rich Simpson: Englishman in New York
Words and Interview by Joe Iurato / Photos by Alex Messenger and Joe Iurato - 10:00 A.M. on Thursday, April 13th, I received a text message. "We're heading up. Going to try and make it. Cheers. Rich." The rain was already falling steadily from New York City and up through New England. I knew the Gunks wouldn't be climbable in an hour, but failed to remember one thing; in parts of England it rains six days a week. The precipitation in Soho might as well have been an illusion, our visiting friend Rich Simpson was going climbing.  Iron Resolution
Words by Damon Corso / Photos by Boone Speed and Damon Corso - In Early February of 2003, a huge rainstorm ripped through Joshua Tree and dislodged a huge block between two classic crack climbs, "Enter the Dragon" and "Fists of Fury". Tony Yaniro first lead the two stellar moderates in 1978 and now, after 25 years, another line was waiting to be sent on this "new classic" boulder. On January 1st 2006, after nearly three years of failed attempts, a climber stepped up to lead the charge, Chris Sharma. J-Tree now has its hardest problem established, Iron Resolution.  Hangin' With Chris 'Lick' Lindner
Intro, Interview and Photos by Damon Corso - I was heading out to Red Rock Rendezvous with my close friend Cary Carmichael. I was psyched because it was going to be another day of climbing and meeting new friends. Little did I know that Cary was going to introduce me to his long time pal Chris Lindner, a guy whose name I recognized from various climbing mags. After some exhilarating climbing, I got to sit down with Chris and learn about his character. We quickly became friends.  Petzl/Arc'Teryx RocTrip: Squamish, British Columbia
Words by M@ - Photos by Juan Castro - When you’re at the crag and someone is working a route or boulder, and giving all they have on the problem, couple of passers-by might congregate to watch. But when climbers like Chris Sharma, Lisa Rands, Lynn Hill and Dave Graham come together to climb, crowds gather in silence and awe. Welcome to the 2005 RocTrip in Squamish, British Columbia.  Summerland: Bouldering on Nova Scotia's Dover Island Granite Playground
Words by Frank Corl - Canada has always been the last frontier. After crossing the Canadian border you are less than a day's drive away from unmapped roads. On some of these paved highways you may see more moose and bears than cars and within a few hour's drive from Toronto, mazes of woodland lakes are home to packs of wolves.  The Capture Collective
Words by Joe Iurato with Josh Lowell, Mike Call, Peter Mortimer, and Cooper Roberts - Artistic expression is a powerful tool. As a handful of great climbing filmmakers have demonstrated over the past decade, art in the form of video or film can steer the mind to search the soul, spark the desire to take a journey, and offer the reality of possibility. |
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