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URBAN CLIMBER MAGAZINE - STARTING HOLD
An Editorial by UCMAG Editor Joe Iurato
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 STARTING HOLD - #26 > DECEMBER 2008/JANUARY 2009
Finding Forever - If deep down you think of yourself as a climber, that means at one point, somewhere, you got the notion that scaling rocks could fill a void in your life or otherwise offer satisfaction unsurpassed by any other activity. And, know it or not, that notion set the stage for the rest of your life.  STARTING HOLD - #25 > OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2008
Illustration by Joe Iurato - We’re all sick of the summer. Tired of it. Just want it to be over. Dank, frictionless, sweltering rock sucks. Feel like we’ve been starving over here. This past summer was like a diet of rice and water. We’re ready for hearty portions of Atlantic salmon and full glasses of Pinot Noir; big ole’ hunks of rich cheeses and dark, meaty brews; homemade pumpkin pies, apple cider donuts and cinnamon spiced cappuccinos.  STARTING HOLD - #24 > August/September 2008
Yep. For some strange reason, while Mr. Winston “Burning Spear” Rodney was singing Foggy Road, I began thinking about how much story lies behind each story we write. Climbers are really interesting characters. Sure, we get all fired up when we read about JC Hunter, mother of four, sending solid double-digit problems; or Alain Robert, the “French Spiderman”, soloing a 1,000-foot NYC Skyscraper; or Chris Sierzant, climber/entrepreneur, just killin’ it in the South.  STARTING HOLD - #23 > JUNE/JULY 2008
“Meet me in Canche Aux Merciers. I have a beautiful traverse for you to try.” This is how our day started. Jo Montchaussé was on the phone, eager to show us one of his favorite traverses. Our logic was such: Fontainebleau is his home. He’s probably touched every single nook of every single boulder. In fact, he opened many of Bleau’s most classic climbs.  STARTING HOLD - #22 > APRIL/MAY 2008
by Joe Iurato - On the side of a river, factories and smokestacks reach up to a dead sky of soot and ash — a unique sight that can be witnessed from any plane coming in for a landing at Newark International Airport. The world gets strange around 20,000 feet. Crystalline blue skies suddenly turn as muddy as the marshes below. Down further, the air is thicker than water. Grass dare not grow where the highway thrives.  STARTING HOLD - #20 > FEBRUARY/MARCH 2008
It’s cold out there, isn’t it? 20 degrees or so. Even colder, maybe. Not too much sunshine, and there’s a fresh dusting of snow in the street. Might take a little oomph to motivate and go rock climbing today. Thinking about it, first there’s the layering: thermals, heavy socks, pants, shirt, fleece, down fatty, boots, and the skull cap. Ahh, might as well throw in some gloves for good measure and make it official. Then there’s the actual opening of the front door, which completely murders what was once a cozy little heat bubble of an apartment.  STARTING HOLD - #21 > FEBRUARY/MARCH 2008
I remember sitting on my mother’s couch on a rainy afternoon back in 94, watching the 25-year anniversary of the Woodstock festival on TV. While hundreds of thousands gathered in Saugerties for “2 More Days of Peace and Music”, I blissfully perched in front of the tube with my younger brother.  STARTING HOLD - #19 > OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2007
My friends call me “No Tips”. Not because I stiff restaurant help or know something that you don’t, and won’t share. Nah, it’s much worse than that. It’s because my damn fingertips bleed so much it warrants a nickname.  STARTING HOLD - #18 > AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2007
It looks like you've been swallowed by soil and regurgitated back to life. Damn, what a mess. You're gonna hurt someone with that stank. You could also probably charge rent for those welts on your back. No, no, no...stop crying! You'll send it, but probably not right now. I mean come on, look at that nasty crimp anyway. It hasn't seen a good brushing in, well, ever. Right now you need to work with the heat - not against it. Here, have a sip of water, sit down, take a good look at the state of your nemesis, and listen up. We need to get that thing shiny and pristine for Autumn.  STARTING HOLD - #17 > JUNE/JULY 2007
Last weekend, during a feel-good lap on a 5.8 “aggro” offwidth somethin’ or other (and of course, keeping true to boulderer code, locking off somewhere mid- route on shitty crimps just right of the ginormous jug) in the Peter’s Kill area of the Gunks, my fingers went numb, signaling the anticipated sure thing - I was going to have to quit climbing, again. It was the first time I tried to climb since February, when a chronic hand injury flared up and shut me down.  STARTING HOLD - #16 > APRIL/MAY 2007
I can't help but want to get up, grab my jacket, and head for the door. Even that smog, hovering over our lower Manhattan digs, possesses a refreshing quality right about now. I can't think. I can't write. I don't feel like being creative. Somebody needs to get me a bottle of Alsatian Gewurztraminer, a log of Goat's cheese, and a loaf of French baguette, and call me a cab to Central Park; it's 60 degrees and, well, “partly” sunny.  STARTING HOLD - #15 > FEBRUARY/MARCH 2007
"Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a field. I'll meet you there..." - Rumi - You like the GYM?!? Hahaha...gym rat. What's that you said...you're a boulderer? Then you're not really a climber. Oh, you do sport sometimes do ya'?Yeah well, sport is just like doing long boulder problems anyway. Wanna learn trad, huh? Whatever, trad's for the old and arthritic. Oh, come on... Ice? Who the hell climbs ice?  STARTING HOLD - #14 > DECEMBER 2006/JANUARY 2007
Discovery is a funny thing. We walk through it, drive by it, jump over it and sometimes even look directly at it, only to dismiss it. It's right there off the trail that leads to the "classic area", hidden by nature. It's the enormous 45-degree overhanging cave that we've been walking over for years. It's the imaginary voice that repeatedly whispers, "I know there's a ton of rock in there...there has to be," while passing the same mile marker every weekend on route to the crag.  STARTING HOLD - #13 > OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2006
We're seemingly lost in our office, scratching our nappy heads, circling the "meeting room" on skateboards with big, ugly souvenir mugs of coffee in hand, and yawning like choir boys with laryngitis. Today's a serious day. Today we are finishing up our enviro issue, and the vibe around here is plummeting to a rewarding crash. Now, if we could just get someone a bit wiser - someone with a firm, praised voice, to contribute to this Starting Hold.  STARTING HOLD - #12 > AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2006
The sun set behind the silhouetted man like a fire chasing him off the sea. I watched him appear from nowhere and continue to head rapidly in our general direction. All was silent except for the amplifying off-rhythmic hum of an old engine drawing near. It was one of the greatest sounds of our life. Were we being saved?  STARTING HOLD - #11 > June/July 2006
I'm listening to Bruce Springsteen's new record, "We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions", a tribute to folk Americana that conjures the unmistakable spirit of freedom with early songs of hardship, labor, segregation, poverty and loss. They create a true gospel of our nation's youthful struggle, for better or worse, and the hymns of an unpaved road ahead. It brings to my mind a diversity of leaders, wanderers, dreamers, activists and artists: Jack Kerouac, Woodie Guthrie, Martin Luther King Jr., John Muir, Robert Johnson, the list - just beginning. And the more I listen, the more I want to interpret my own America.  STARTING HOLD - #10 > April/May 2006
Climbing. Swimming. Running. These are quite possibly the oldest, most natural sports in the world. Stripped down of performance shoes, goggles, chalk and clothes in general, the human actions of these sports were at one time, well, necessary to survive. Think about it. The world was a harsh place and we were merely animals fighting for big boss status in a merciless jungle: hunting, running, swimming and climbing for life.  STARTING HOLD - #9 > February/March 2006
Hueco. To the non-climber, it's erroneously related to that place in Texas with the crazy compound where the ATF had their showdown about a decade ago. But for climbers (not just boulderers), it's America's premiere bouldering desintation. It's where thousands of climbers migrate to every winter to shred their tips, sore their muscles, and breath in the desert air. Matt Wilder's guidebook states on the cover, "America's Bouldering Mecca." It's hard to argue against that.  STARTING HOLD - #8 > December 2005/January 2006
On a trip to the Gunks with some friends in September, we were had the pleasant surprise of a beautiful day. For the first time in months, the weather broke from its usual "H" factor - hot, hazy, and humid. It wasn't quite sending temps, but at least we weren't soaking our crashpads in sweat every time we landed on them. Sitting there, basking in the sun and cool breeze, the only girl in our group broke the silence with, "It's too bad it's going to start getting cold." Well, that's one way to look at it.  STARTING HOLD - #7 > October/November 2005
The first year of UCMAG was like pulling on to an un-established boulder problem. There's so much that's unknown. Is it doable? Where are the holds? Where is the crux? What's the rock quality like? How is the landing? What's the topout like? It's impossible to know all these things before you leave the ground. But regardless, you put on your shoes, cinch 'em tight, chalk up, take a deep breath...and commit. |
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