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URBAN CLIMBER MAGAZINE - STARTING HOLD
An Editorial by UCMAG Editor Andrew Tower
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 Starting Hold #45 - December/January 2011
How to embarrass yourself in front of the world's best - I'm fairly confident that nearly every climber has done something stupid that resulted in a near-death experience, or caused such an experience for people nearby. You see and hear about these incidents all the time. I’ve been guilty, I’m sure (though I was probably too ignorant to notice, much less prevent, such actions). It had been a while, though, since I’d managed to screw up too badly.  Starting Hold #44 - November 2010
The Dull End: Ascending to Awesome - I have a few confessions to make. I’ve never been to the Red River Gorge. On my only trip to Yosemite, I bouldered for half a day on Midnight Lightning, which I stood no chance of sending, and then left. I’ve never climbed in Rocky Mountain National Park. Actually, now that I think of it, I’ve never even driven around RMNP. I’m a terrible boulderer. I think I just lack that ferocity ever-present in a fair majority of the climbers out there today.  Starting Hold #43 - October 2010
Cheese and Whine - Has anyone else noticed an unprecedented amount of whining happening lately, or is that just me? As a magazine editor, I have the opportunity to occasionally rub elbows with the industry’s elite, and because of that, I have the “privilege” of being privy to the wayward opinions and sanctimonious problems of some of the most fickle people on the planet. (That’s a harsh generalization, of course.)  Starting Hold #41 - August 2010
That fantastic photo is of the second pitch of Rosy Crucifixion (5.10a) in Eldorado Canyon outside Boulder, Colorado, which my friend Adam dragged me up not so long ago. As a climber who spent his formative years trad climbing but subsequently stopped upon my relocation to the Front Range in exchange for the incredibly convenient sport climbing scene, this was a proud day for me. It’s not a terribly difficult climb, but when I led the first pitch, I felt like a superstar as I crimped on tiny holds, flagged my feet like the French, and sunk gear so bomb-proof it would have saved Hiroshima.  Starting Hold #40 - July 2010 - Photo Annual
Istarted shooting pretty much the day I started climbing. That doesn’t mean I’m any sort of real photographer. I had found a new activity/sport/lifestyle that I wanted to share with as many people as possible — not to mention make memories from my early days of gumbyism that shaped me into the climber I am today (a slightly less dangerous gumby). From my first outdoor trip to the terrible problems and routes we set in my college’s even more terrible climbing gym, we tried to capture everything.  STARTING HOLD #38 - MAY 2010
SPRING FEVER - AS TEMPS CHANGE, SO DOES EVERYTHING ELSE // Outside our offices in Boulder, Colorado, there are two dudes tailgating in the parking lot. They’re shirtless, sipping Coronas, and munching chips, salsa, and guac. The computer resting in the trunk space of their SUV is pumping some indefinable music...  STARTING HOLD - #37 > 2010 GEAR GUIDE
ENLIGHTENMENT FOR THE GEAR HEAD // I’ve had a tumultuous relationship with gear over the course of my climbing life. My attitude on the matter has morphed from love, to disdain to, ultimately, a healthy respect. I started, like many, as a naïve little gumby who didn’t know a pecker from a Reverso and thought they both probably had something to do with bedtime activities.  STARTING HOLD - #36 > JANUARY 2009
FAR AND WIDE - CLIMBING AND THE IMPORTANCE OF TRAVEL //It was freezing and dark in the tent when I woke. My threeseason sleeping bag wasn’t holding enough heat in the Australian winter night, which had turned out to be much colder than I’d planned for. I wedged my fingers under my arms and tried not to think about the piss I had to take, concentrating fruitlessly on sleep.  STARTING HOLD - #35 > DECEMBER 2009
WELL, THAT WAS FUN - 2009’S A WRAP. NOW WHAT? // Where the hell did this decade go? Is time accelerating? Intellectually, I know that the distance between years is pretty much consistent, delineated by the Earth’s rotation around the sun, but experientially, each year grows shorter and shorter as I age. I’ve decided it has something to do with relativity — i.e., relative to the amount of time you’re alive, a year is increasingly small.  STARTING HOLD - #34 > NOVEMBER 2009
CINEMA PARADISO - RE-DISCOVERING CLIMBING AND COMMUNITY IN THE DARK // Mid September, I went to the nationwide premier of the Reel Rock Film Tour at the Boulder Theater in Boulder, Colorado. It came as no surprise that the theater was packed — Boulder is, after all, one of the most climber-dense regions in the country. It was so jammed, in fact, I feared for my safety.  STARTING HOLD - #33 > OCTOBER 2009
GIVING THANKS - AREA DEVELOPERS, WE SALUTE YOU // Ah, fall, my favorite time of year. Many poets and writers equate fall with old age, decay, and the inevitable slide towards death (winter). For us climbers, though, it’s more like spring, a time of energy and new life — ‘tis the season, as they say.  STARTING HOLD - #31 > AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2009
IT'S A PEOPLE THING - The heart and soul of climbing - It almost goes without saying that the most interesting thing about climbing is climbers. The act of climbing - reach, grab, step, repeat - is about as exciting as watching C-SPAN. Of course, there're those turbocharged moments: the all-points-off dyno, the mondo whipper, the down-to-the move comp tie-breaker - but these are the rare homeruns at an otherwise sleepy ballgame.  STARTING HOLD - #30 > PHOTO ANNUAL 2009
THE ART OF EXPERIENCE: Why photography is important for climbing - Talking about climbing can be damned frustrating — those pesky non-climbers just don’t seem to get it. Our parents call our life’s passion a “hobby” and beg us to wear helmets and stay low to the ground — they’d prefer not to know the details. Strangers, the polite ones, anyway, just nod and smile as we relate our tales of whippers, slopers, and sending temps.  STARTING HOLD - #29 > MAY 2009
Only After You’ve Lost - Climbing, like life, has moments where all the effort in the world won’t grant the send you hoped for, constantly strove for, and believed with all your heart one day would come. There’s sometimes a journey involved in climbing a piece of rock that carries with it a spectrum of feelings, ranging from pure optimism, excitement, and childlike giddiness to bouts of anger, confusion, doubt, and unbearable pain.  STARTING HOLD - #27 > FEBRUARY/MARCH 2009
For the love of it - This issue of Urban Climber isn’t about the latest and the greatest. In its pages you won’t find much of today’s Breaking News or tomorrow’s Wunderkind. In the place of spray, you’ll find The Love... the essence of what we do.  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. |
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 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.  STARTING HOLD - #6 > August/September 2005
Recently, I was on short road trip. After the last UCMAG went to print, I flew out West to meet up with a friend I hadn't seen in a while. Adrian and I had worked and climbed together for several years, but with new life adventures, meeting up was hard, so clearing our calendars for week seemed in order. We had been climbing partners for a long time. Being a guide, he would drag me up mountains, icefalls, and trad routes. My contribution was sport routes - I put up the draws and gave him "streaming beta" on just about every hard route he's done. On my projects, he was happy to hold my rope and give me encouragement like, "You're almost at the chains," even though I knew I wasn't half way up the route.  STARTING HOLD - #5 > June/July 2005
Just about every time I get together with my climbing posse, we eventually talk about the far off places that we want to go. You have a list, too, as most every climber does. The thing is, most of us have had that list for a long time. We've all heard it and have probably even said it, "I've always wanted to go climb in..." But, the question is, why haven't you been there? Why haven't you found the time to go? The reasons start to pour out...money, family, school, work, etc. And, yes, these are all valid reasons not to drop every penny you have on an around the world airline ticket or ditch your "regular" life for a month.  STARTING HOLD - #4 > April/May 2005
Someone spent a lot of time, effort, and probably money to develop not just your favorite climbing area, but your favorite climb. Someone deliberately shaped the crux hold that spits you off the yellow problem at the gym. Someone else put the next hold just out of reach. Someone trudged a video camera to the same location every day for a month to get those ten seconds of your favorite climbing footage. Someone organized the last comp where you had such a great time. |
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