Vertical Life

Vertical Life is a climbing magazine in Australasia, available in both digital and print options. Here at Vertical Life we love climbing, be it beanied bouldering, clip-up sportclimbing, old-school daddy-tradding, big-wall suffering, alpine extremism, spandex-clad competition climbing, desperate-times-call-for-desperate-measures buildering, the lot – if it involves monkey business we will cover it.

Vertical Life

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY

Time FLIES WHEN YOU’RE HAVING FUN

GALLERY

READ WATCH LISTEN

SPIRIT MOUNTAIN • Allie Pepper is now several months into 14 Peaks No O2–her attempt to climb the world’s 14 highest peaks, without supplemental oxygen in record time. Here she shares the story of Manaslu (8,163m), both the climb and the mental journey as she steeled herself to learn from each attempt.

Q&A WITH RISING COMP STAR, DYLAN PARKS

Mike FORWARD • Guest interviewer Lachlan Gordon, gets to know Mike Forward, author of the recently released Sydney Bouldering Guide.

AUSSIES IN YOSEMITE

HOW I GOT THE SHOT FROZEN • Ever tried ice-climbing at 30 degrees Celsius below freezing? Ever tried dragging a camera up with you, and hanging off an anchor to snap photos one-handed while belaying at the same time? William has. Because apparently multipitch ice-climbing isn’t hard enough on its own.

HOW MANY WORDS FOR SNOW? • IT’S NO SECRET THAT MOUNTAINEERING ISN’T THE CHEAPEST OR MOST STRAIGHTFORWARD SPORT TO PURSUE. THAT’S EXACTLY WHY THE LEGENDS AT THE NORTH FACE DECIDED TO TAKE A LONG HARD LOOK AT WHAT BARRIERS ASPIRING MOUNTAINEERS MIGHT COME UP AGAINST, AND WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT. AND THUS THE MOUNTAIN DEVELOPMENT SCHOLARSHIP WAS BORN. PARTICIPANT XAB CASTOR SHARES HOW THE SCHOLARSHIP HAS HELPED BRING HER ONCE-OUT-OF-REACH OBJECTIVES JUST THAT MUCH CLOSER.

CRAG STEWARDSHIP • AUSTRALIAN CLIMBERS HAVE LONG CARED FOR THE ENVIRONMENTS THEY’VE CLIMBED IN. BUT NOW—AS A RESULT OF GREATER UNDERSTANDING, AS WELL AS FACING GREATER CLIMBER NUMBERS, AND MORE RESTRICTED ACCESS—THE MOVEMENT TO CARE FOR OUR CRAGS IS STRONGER THAN EVER.

ROOKIES OF THE FUTURE • MANY A CLIMBER HAS DREAMED OF QUESTING THEIR WAY UP A NEW LINE, DEVELOPING A NEW ROUTE TO SHARE WITH FELLOW FROTHERS. HERE, MITCHELL STEWART SHARES THE JOURNEY AND THE PROCESS OF SEEKING OUT AND SETTING A NEW CLIMB IN AN ICONIC NSW LOCATION—THE 100M MULTIPITCH, ROOKIES OF THE FUTURE (22).

GET FREE TICKETS TO REEL ROCK 18!

FINDING MY FEET, AFTER A BREAK… • THREE YEARS AGO, BLUE MOUNTAINS TRAD LEGEND MACCIZA MADE THE NEWS AS HE WAS CHOPPERED OFF THE SIDE OF A CLIFF, HAVING SURVIVED A TERRIFYING FALL THAT SHATTERED BOTH HIS LEGS AND A WRIST. HE REFLECTS ON HIS (MANY) ACCIDENTS, AND WHAT EXACTLY “RECOVERY” MEANS.

(IN)SECURITY WITH MY gri gri • Climbing safety is everyone’s responsibility, and it’s something our editorial team are incredibly passionate about. Our Tale of Whoa column is our continued commitment to creating a culture of safety within our community. This edition, we are thrilled to have guest contributor Mikl Law talking GriGris, sharing his experiences of what can—and has—gone wrong.

Anchors Away!

AN EXPLORATION OF RISK TOLERANCE ON THE ROCK AND IN THE MOUNTAINS • Psychologist and mountaineer, Dr Kate Baecher, gets inside the minds of climbers once more to explore how we approach the intrinsic risks in our sport—what motivates us to take risks and how we can manage this.

RISK MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

2023 GEAR GIFT GUIDE

PATAGONIA NETPLUS • TURNING RECYCLED FISHING NETS INTO FABRICS

FROM THE Field

A GUIDE TO POUR-OVERS