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 • SPRING 2021/2022 VERTICAL LIFE IS PUBLISHED QUARTERLY WINTER / SPRING / SUMMER / AUTUMN

On Looking Back & Moving Forward

Read this THE MOUNTAIN PATH, PAUL PRITCHARD

Watch this

Listen to this • GRADES, BODY COMMENTS AND INTERNET TROLLS

Climbers in lockdown

Laurie’s LONG ROOF

Woodies AND WASHING MACHINES

Mulch AND MOONBOARDS • Aspiring home crushers, Donna Huynh & Phillip Le, built this Moonboard in their backyard between lockdowns, “before we realised that a V4 on the Moonboard feels more like a V10 in the gym”. No ascents were made on the board until 6 months after being built, these days it’s enjoyed with friends on a regular basis (outside of lockdown of course!)

Fake PLANTS, REAL GAINS

The Crux

BoulderLab

THE MOUNTAINS DON'T CARE

Free AS CAN BE • CATCHES UP WITH SAMUEL CROSSLEY, JORDAN CANNON & MARK HUDON

Jedi TRAINING • JEDI TRAINING FILM LOOKS AT ONE CLIMBER’S JOURNEY TO BECOME THE FIRST BLACK WOMAN IN TEXAS TO BOLT AND SEND A NEWLY ESTABLISHED ROUTE. THIS DOCUMENTARY FOLLOWS BREE JAMESON AS SHE WORKS TO ACCOMPLISH SOMETHING THAT’S NEVER BEEN DONE BEFORE IN TEXAS. ALONG THE WAY, SHE MUST LEARN NEW SKILLS AND CONFRONT THE CHALLENGE OF OPENING UP OUTDOOR SPACES FOR HERSELF AND OTHER MARGINALIZED INDIVIDUALS. HER STORY IS AN EXAMPLE TO THE CLIMBING COMMUNITY ON HOW TO BE MORE JUST, EQUITABLE, DIVERSE, AND INCLUSIVE (J.E.D.I.). Jedi

Cold FEET • COLD FEET IS A FILM BY ASH MULAMA THAT FOLLOWS 21-YEAR-OLD KENYAN CLIMBER, PETER NAITULI, IN HIS QUEST TO BECOME THE FIRST CLIMBER TO ASCEND POINT JOHN (4883M) ON MT. KENYA WITH NO ROPE AND NO SHOES. POWERFUL WINDS, FROSTBITE, AND PRESSURE TO LIVE A ‘NORMAL’ LIFE.

LOCAL CLIMBING MAGAZINE

daybreak • THIS LITTLE NUMBER HAS BECOME A REALISATION OF A DREAM. NOT A RADICAL DREAM, LIKE WALTZING BACK INTO THE PINES AFTER CRUSHING PUNKS, BUT MORE OF A “I WISH I KNEW HOW TO USE MANUAL MODE ON MY CAMERA” KIND OF DREAM.

Lor SABOURIN

TRANS AWARENESS week: TRANSQTS SPOTLIGHT

Bogong • A NARROW ROAD WEDGED BETWEEN TRAMS, BLUESTONE COBBLED ALLEYS AND A MISHMASH OF PERIOD AND NEWER BUILDINGS, LITTLE BOURKE STREET IS THE EPICENTRE OF MELBOURNE’S OUTDOOR RETAILERS AND INDEPENDENT STORES. BOGONG EQUIPMENT WAS FOUNDED IN 1989 BY GENUINE OUTDOOR TYPES.

Tale OF WHOA • THERE IS NO ACCESSIBLE PUBLIC INFORMATION OF ALL THE CLIMBING ACCIDENTS THAT HAVE HAPPENED ACROSS THE COUNTRY, AND TALE OF WHOA IS DEDICATED TO DOING JUST THAT — AS MORE AND MORE PEOPLE TRANSITION FROM INDOOR TO OUTDOOR CLIMBING, IT IS OUR RESPONSIBILITY AS A CLIMBING MAGAZINE TO ENSURE THAT WE EXTEND THE EDUCATION ON HOW TO STAY SAFE IN THE OUTDOORS.

Torn VL SPEAKS TO MAX LOWE ON TORN • RARELY DO WE GET THE OPPORTUNITY TO SAY THAT THE VERY FABRIC OF OUR BEING WAS ALTERED AFTER WATCHING A FILM. THIS HAPPENED TO ME FOR THE FIRST TIME ON AN UNASSUMING, REGULAR TUESDAY AFTERNOON AFTER I SAT DOWN TO WATCH A SNEAKY PREVIEW OF MAX LOWE’S NEW FEATURE DOCO TORN. KNOWING THAT MY CO-EDITOR SULE AND I WERE SET TO INTERVIEW MAX IN A FEW DAYS TIME, I PULLED THE BLINDS DOWN ON WHAT WAS A GREY AND DRIZZLY DAY HERE IN NIPALUNA/HOBART, HIT PLAY AND WHIPPED OUT A NOTEBOOK. IT WAS EVIDENT FROM THE FIRST FEW SCENES THAT MY NOTEBOOK WOULD FADE AWAY FROM MY CONSCIOUSNESS AS I WAS SUCKED INTO A STORY THAT, WHILE HAS BEEN TOLD BEFORE, HAS NEVER BEEN VISUALISED WITH SUCH AN...