Cover Photo is by Featured Photographer Michaël Bortoluzzi Climber Mike Oldroyd (IG: @mikejjo) is on "Traverse on Huecos" at Contos Beach, Margaret River, Western Australia.
Welcome to the August/September 2021 edition!
Featured Photographer: Michaël Bortoluzzi
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Michaël Bortoluzzi was born in France, spent a lot of time in the U.K. as a child, and currently lives in Western Australia. Michaël is our featured photographer for this combined August/September 2021 edition.
Through his photos we see a unique side of Australian climbing that's often over looked - Western Australia. Hop inside, get stoked for Western Australia, and learn a little more about Michaël Bortoluzzi along the way. |
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Editorial
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We all need a vacation...
You may have noticed that this edition combines two months, August and September. That's because I need to go play! As you may know, Common Climber is an all-volunteer magazine, but it actually takes huge time (and monetary) commitments on my my part to keep it going. I'd liken it to a voluntary full-time job. In addition to all of the behind-the-scenes work to keep CC up and running, I have my business Climb-On Maps to tend to, and, of course there is personal side of life, that takes it's own twists and turns. As everyone knows, life throws curve balls and daily stresses add up. Thus taking time for ourselves to play (and climb!) is critical to well being. So, yeah, I'm going on a vacay! Now, part of this vacay is going to the Idaho Mountain Festival at City of Rocks/Castle Rocks, Idaho and promoting Common Climber. I will be selling the last few remaining copies of the Anthology and what's left of the "Proud to be a Common Climber" t-shirt (get yours now before they are gone!) and then hanging out longer and climbing on their incredible granite. City of Rocks/Castle Rocks happens to be my all-time favorite granite climbing area (and I've climbed on a bunch of different granite!), so I'm pretty psyched to head there. Then we climb our way north, all the way up to Whitefish, Montana. While I'm away, I will continue to work on and assemble content for upcoming editions of Common Climber (hmmmm, what did I say about a vacation? - Haha!), but for now we have another wonderful, full edition for you to bury yourself into. If you need a good laugh - which I'm sure with the COVID Delta Variant challenging our lives again, you just might - I highly recommend immediately checking out the Climberisms videos! |
Editor Stefani Dawn climbing at Castle Rocks State Park, Idaho
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.Then, after you have expended your laughs, work your way through a diversity of content - from an excellent and insightful long read about climbing The Nose on El Capitan (Yosemite) to a funny series of errors trying to climb a challenging John Ewbank classic Echo Crack in the Blue Mountains of Australia.
If you ever grumble about climbing scales and the "what's next?" competitiveness those scales can engender, give Common Climber Assistant Editor Jeff Smoot's story Absolutely Hypothetical: Introducing the Graham Scale a go! (And we have incorporated one of Dylan Taylor's funny climberisms videos of John Sherman - aka. the Verm - in that story too.)
On a more serious side (there is a trigger warning with this piece), we have Derek DeBruin's Don't Burn Out, where he thoughtfully, poetically, and powerfully interweaves both call of climbing to calm the mind and the futility of climbing relative to the misogyny and sexual violence in this world. Lastly, we have a new and super-helpful interview of healthy lifestyles coach Brianna Boney setting us straight on questions surrounding Protein and Climbing.
If you return in September and find you've run out of content from this edition and want more, I invite you to explore the many wonderful stories and profiles here on the Common Climber website. I'm betting you haven't read them all! We have a complete list here: Articles by Title.
Until next time - may the rock rise to your feet and fingers and the path give you an awesome send!
- Stef
If you ever grumble about climbing scales and the "what's next?" competitiveness those scales can engender, give Common Climber Assistant Editor Jeff Smoot's story Absolutely Hypothetical: Introducing the Graham Scale a go! (And we have incorporated one of Dylan Taylor's funny climberisms videos of John Sherman - aka. the Verm - in that story too.)
On a more serious side (there is a trigger warning with this piece), we have Derek DeBruin's Don't Burn Out, where he thoughtfully, poetically, and powerfully interweaves both call of climbing to calm the mind and the futility of climbing relative to the misogyny and sexual violence in this world. Lastly, we have a new and super-helpful interview of healthy lifestyles coach Brianna Boney setting us straight on questions surrounding Protein and Climbing.
If you return in September and find you've run out of content from this edition and want more, I invite you to explore the many wonderful stories and profiles here on the Common Climber website. I'm betting you haven't read them all! We have a complete list here: Articles by Title.
Until next time - may the rock rise to your feet and fingers and the path give you an awesome send!
- Stef
Stories
Thumbing The Nose at Mr. C.F. Jingus
(By Alex Barlow) Author Alex Barlow takes us on a big-wall journey up The Nose of El Capitan (Yosemite, California), where a budding friendship, a failing marriage, and a battle with alcohol, age, and Mr. C.F. Jingus form the backdrop of his climb. |
Echo Crack and Cracked Egos
(By Anton Korsun) Anton and his mate Zac had a plan - Echo Crack, a classic and challenging John Ewbank four-pitch trad climb in the Blue Mountains of Australia - but their plan got foiled again, and again, and again... Anton weaves an entertaining tale about the quest for a climb and the photos to accompany it. |
Absolutely Hypothetical: Introducing the Graham Scale
(By Jeff Smoot) John Sherman, the father of the V-scale for bouldering, says, "Learn to mistrust rating systems and pity those who are slaves to them.” Jeff Smoot agrees with this sentiment and ponders the bouldering grading systems, ultimately proposing the Graham Scale. This tongue-in-cheek - or maybe not-so-tongue-in-cheek - piece gets you thinking about how climbing can be approached beyond being "slaves to the ratings." |
Don't Burn Out
(By Derek DeBruin) TRIGGER WARNING (This articles contains references to rape, sexual abuse, and self-abuse): A poetic and deeply thoughtful piece that interweaves the call of climbing to calm the mind and the futility of climbing relative to the misogyny and sexual violence in this world. Author and mountain guide Derek Debruin writes: "The headlights cast a pallor, the white and yellow lines glow. The shadows of peaks hulk in the periphery, a darker shade of navy than the night sky, blotting out the stars. It doesn’t matter where I am - the West Slope, northern Utah, fucking Amarillo - or where I’m leaving - the Tetons, Red Rock, the Valley - it’s always the same. But in this case, it’s southern Idaho en route from the Cascades. The road trip is intoxicating, for the same reason climbing has always inebriated me: the flow of the stone quiets all else." |
Video
Climberisms by Dylan TaylorDylan Taylor is a climber, comedian, and impressionist and has exploded on Instagram with his hilarious impersonations of famous rock climbers. Check out this interview of Dylan and some of his rock climber impersonation videos!
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NUTRITION: Protein and ClimbingIn this video we interview Brianna Boney, climber and healthy lifestyles fitness and nutritional coach, about protein needs and climbing.
We hit lots of great topics including: + How much protein do you need as a climber? + What's the difference between the quality of protein sources? + What are BCAAs and how are they used in training? + Are there timing considerations when eating protein? + How do protein needs change as we age? + Are protein needs different for women? + What is the keto diet and what should I know about it? Brianna is a highly educated and science-based trainer who also contributes to Common Climber. |